The Editorial Team |

Zambia President Wants Swift Deal in $7.9 Billion Mine-Tax Fight

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa)- Zambian President Edgar Lungu wants his tax authority and First Quantum Minerals Ltd. to speedily resolve a disputed $7.9 billion tax bill the copper producer received this week, his spokesman said. Shares in the Vancouver-based company gained. “It’s a policy of government not to interfere with independent assessments made by the tax authority,” Amos Chanda said by phone Wednesday from the capital, Lusaka. “All we do is to encourage quick negotiation of the…

Smugglers Cheer as Nigeria Tries to Keep Foreign Rice Away

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – At Nigeria’s normally manic border post of Seme, Lasisi Fanu says business has all but ground to a halt. He and other customs agents who help clear goods coming into Africa’s biggest economy from its smaller neighbour Benin say the long lines of trucks loaded with rice that used to jam the crossing have dwindled. The slowdown is a result of import restrictions and tighter border policing as President Muhammadu Buhari seeks to…

Mozambique’s Bondholders See `Gaps’ in Restructuring Plans

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – A group of key Mozambique bondholders questioned the government’s proposals on restructuring about $2 billion of its foreign debt, saying they lacked “important” information. The so-called Global Group of Mozambique’s Bondholders, which says it has the backing of investors owning more than 80 percent of the nation’s $727 million of Eurobonds, had earlier dismissed the government’s initial restructuring plan announced March 20 as a “total non-starter.” The notes, which…

Nigeria Approves MPC Members to Break Hiatus on Policy Rate

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s monetary-policy authorities can finally get back to the business of setting the country’s interest rates following a four-month hiatus. The Nigerian Senate on Thursday approved the appointment of two new central bank deputy governors and three other Monetary Policy Committee members, paving the way for a meeting to review interest rates for the first time this year. The lawmakers confirmed President Muhammadu Buhari’s nomination of Aishah Ahmad and Edward Adamu as…

Bitcoin Slumps After Binance Is Said to Face Warning in Japan

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin fell after one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges was said to face a government rebuke for operating without a license in Japan, heightening concern that increased regulatory scrutiny will curb demand for digital assets. Japan’s Financial Services Agency is planning to tell Binance, the trading venue founded by Zhao Changpeng, to stop operating in the country without official approval, a person familiar with the matter said. Binance has…

Rising Political Violence Stalks African `Island of Peace’

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DAR ES SALAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – An opposition politician and a campaigner were hacked to death with machetes. A lawmaker’s car was riddled with bullets and he was left fighting for his life. These shadowy attacks weren’t in one of East Africa’s war zones, but in Tanzania — a country that hasn’t seen serious upheaval in decades and whose populist president, John Magufuli, is on a mission to revitalize the region’s second-biggest economy. With the unidentified perpetrators still at…

South Africa Inflation Dips Deeper Below Midpoint of Target Band

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s inflation rate fell further below the midpoint of the target range in February, giving the central bank another reason to consider easing monetary policy next week. Inflation slowed to 4 percent, the lowest level in almost three years, from 4.4 percent in January, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in a report on its website. The median estimate of 21 economists in a Bloomberg survey was 4.1 percent. Prices rose…

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