The Editorial Team |

South Africa Is Said to Assess Free-Education Cost at $970 Million

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba told the ruling party’s top leadership the government will need 12 billion rand ($970 million) to fund President Jacob Zuma’s plan to scrap tuition fees for students from poor homes, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Gigaba told the ANC’s National Executive Committee this week that the Treasury will cut from existing spending programs and won’t announce a special tax or an increase…

South African Steinhoff Unit Mulls Early Redemption of Bonds

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV said one of its South African units is considering an early redemption of all notes in issue as the global retailer struggles to stay afloat amid an accounting scandal. Steinhoff Services Ltd.’s redemption of securities issued under a 15 billion-rand ($1.2 billion) bond program will require pricing supplements to be amended and restated, the Frankfurt- and Johannesburg-listed company said in a statement after the market closed on Thursday….

Angola Sets Up Body to Oversee $5 Billion Fund After Probe

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola’s Finance Ministry will set up a supervisory committee for the nation’s $5 billion sovereign wealth fund after an investigation found that its processes are inconsistent and opaque. The southern African nation will also increase oversight of Fundo Soberano de Angola by the ministry, the presidency and the central bank, the Luanda-based Finance Ministry said in a statement on its website Friday. This week, President Joao Lourenco dismissed the son of…

Faceless Men Upend South African Stocks on Steinhoff 2.0 Fears

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The name is enough to spread mayhem among South African traders. And all Viceroy Research is willing to disclose is that they’re three people working out of New York to protect investors. Stocks including Africa’s largest generics drug maker and biggest real estate investment trusts were sent reeling this week on speculation that they were in Viceroy’s sights. More than $3 billion was wiped off the value of property stocks alone in just four…

Goldman Says Cryptocurrencies May Succeed as Form of Real Money

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin may seem like a solution in search of a problem in the U.S., where transaction costs are already low and the dollar stable. But in developing countries, digital currencies could succeed as a real form of money, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says. Many currencies in sub-Saharan Africa have lost value due to high inflation and supply mismanagement. As a result, foreign money makes up more than 90 percent…

Congo May More Than Double Tax on Critical Cobalt Supply

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo is preparing to more than double a tax on two-thirds of global cobalt supply, potentially increasing the cost of the critical battery metal just as the world begins to embrace electric vehicles. Congo, the world’s biggest cobalt producer, will increase the royalty miners pay on exports of the metal to 5 percent from 2 percent if it opts to categorize cobalt as a “strategic substance,” Mines Minister Martin…

Dogs of High-Yield Sovereign Debt Keep Winning Streak Alive

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investing in the world’s highest-yielding debt has proven a winning strategy over the past decade. Last year was no exception. An equally weighted portfolio of bonds from the six highest-yielding emerging markets would have returned 19 percent in 2017 versus a 9.3 percent return for JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s benchmark index, according to Seaport Global Holdings LLC. It marked the eighth time in nine years the “mutts,” as fixed-income…

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