The Editorial Team |

Did Bitcoin Just Burst? How It Compares to History’s Big Bubbles

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin’s recent wobbles have given fresh urgency to a question that’s gripped market observers for much of the past year: Will the cryptocurrency go down as one of history’s most infamous bubbles, alongside tulipmania and the dot-com craze? The magnitude of Bitcoin’s boom (before it lost as much as 50 percent from its Dec. 18 high) suggests investors have reason to be worried. As the chart shows, the cryptocurrency’s nearly 60-fold…

Cameroon, Chad Seek Company to Study $9 Billion Railway Plan

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YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Transport authorities in Cameroon and Chad are looking for a company to carry out feasibility studies for the construction of a rail link between the neighbouring Central African countries. “Apart from designating the firm to conduct the studies, we’re also looking for a contractor for the project,” Cameroon’s Transport Minister Edgar Alain Mebe Ngo’o said in an interview in the capital, Yaounde. The railway is estimated to cost 5 trillion…

Farmer-Herder Violence in Central Nigeria Challenges Buhari

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LAGOS (capital Markets in Africa) Already grappling with Islamist militants in the northeast, secessionists in the east and unrest in the oil-rich Niger River delta, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is facing an upsurge in violence between crop farmers and herders that may threaten his party’s election chances next year. Images of bodies hacked with machetes and perforated by bullets shared on social media are galvanizing voices against Buhari. More than 120 people were killed in Benue and…

South Africa Moves to Freeze McKinsey, Gupta-Linked Assets

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JOHANNESBUG (capital Markets in Africa) – South African prosecutors moved to freeze 1.6 billion rand ($130 million) of assets held by McKinsey & Co. and a company linked to the Guptas, the first significant response to corruption allegations against the politically connected family. McKinsey earned about 1 billion rand in consultancy fees from Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. in 2016, but has since pledged to pay it back after being drawn into allegations the Guptas used their friendship with…

South African Reserve Bank Names First Woman to MPC Since 2014

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Reserve Bank named the first woman to the Monetary Policy Committee in more than three years, bringing the rates-setting panel to seven members. Fundi Tshazibana will become an adviser to Governor Lesetja Kganyago and his three deputies from Feb. 19, the central bank said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. She’s the first woman to join the MPC since former Governor Gill Marcus stepped down in November 2014. While the MPC…

OPEC’s Angola Drops Its Currency Further a Week After Ending Peg

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola weakened its currency by 10 percent against the dollar, letting it drop for a second time this month after scrapping a peg in a bid to boost its battered economy. The central bank sold euros on Tuesday at a rate of 248.77 kwanzas per euro, it said in a statement on its website. That was 11 percent weaker than the rate of 221.26 used at the last auction a…

Bitcoin Tumbles 20% as Fears of Cryptocurrency Crackdown Linger

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – January’s cryptocurrency selloff got fresh impetus on Tuesday when Bitcoin slumped as much as 20 percent, as the prospect of regulatory crackdowns appeared to spread. While the largest digital coin trimmed its loss and was down 13 percent at $12,146 as of 8:28 a.m. in New York, it was still at the lowest level since late December, according to composite pricing on Bloomberg. As Bitcoin halted its two-day rally, rival cryptocurrencies…

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