The Editorial Team |

Ivory Coast President Ouattara Says He May Seek Third Term

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara may seek re-election in 2020 after the West African nation adopted a new constitution two years ago that he said allows him to extend his two terms in power. Since assuming office in 2011 after almost a decade of political instability, Ouattara repeatedly said he would step down after completing a second term, which he won in 2015. While his ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and…

South Africa Central Bank Sees Cryptos as Tokens, Not Currency

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s central bank chooses to call digital currencies such as Bitcoin “cyber-tokens” because they don’t meet the requirements to be classified as money. “We don’t use the term ‘cryptocurrency’ because it doesn’t meet the requirements of money in the economic sense of the stable means of exchange, a unit of measure and a stable unit of value,” Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Francois Groepe told reporters in Pretoria on Thursday….

Bitcoin `Scam’ Has South Africa’s Police Chasing Billions

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A unit of the South African Police Service said it’s started an investigation into an alleged cryptocurrency investment fraud that has affected more than 28,000 people and led to losses of more than 1 billion rand ($80.4 million). The allegations involve “BitCaw Trading Company, commonly known as BTC Global,” the police unit said in an emailed statement on Friday. “Members of the public are believed to have been targeted as part…

Glimmers of Optimism Surface After Emerging-Market Selloff

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – For every rout, there’s a buyer — or a least that’s what it looks like now for some emerging-market money managers after a selloff erased most of this year’s gains. BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Asset Management International and Payden & Rygel Investment Counsel say they’re betting on a rebound now that valuations have left some assets a lot cheaper than January. The price-to-earnings ratio of the MSCI Emerging Markets…

Signs Say Yes for South African Bond Sales But Issuers Say No

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – With emerging-market credit spreads near their best levels in more than a decade, 2018 should’ve been the year to borrow. Yet bond sales by South African banks, insurers and property companies are headed for a five-year low. Not everyone is missing the boat. Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd., the country’s fastest-growing major lender, last week sold 500 million rand ($40 million) of three-year floating-rate notes at 153 basis points above the quarterly three-month Johannesburg…

Kenya’s Top Buyer of Banks Is Now Looking Ahead to Profits

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – SBM Holdings Ltd., the Mauritius lender that bought two Kenyan banks within months of each other, expects the combined operations to make a profit within a year. The second-biggest lender in the Indian Ocean island-nation is expanding in East Africa’s largest economy to use it as a hub for the rest of the region as part of a broader strategy funded by debt to add assets in its home…

After Wild Ride, Iron Ore Becalmed as Citi Warns on Outlook

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – $60s may just persist for a while longer. Citigroup Inc. expects prices will probably hold in that range through to the third quarter, while cautioning the raw material may trend lower longer term as scrap usage rises and steel demand weakens in China. The commodity will average $65 a ton this year, before easing to $60 in 2019, according to commodities strategist Tracy Liao. That compares with a year-to-date average…

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