China Seen Gaining Even More in Zimbabwe If Mugabe Leaves Office

China Seen Gaining Even More in Zimbabwe If Mugabe Leaves Office

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – China has seen its influence rise in Zimbabwe during Robert Mugabe’s nearly four decades in power, becoming the African nation’s third-largest trading partner and biggest foreign investor. Beijing might gain even more if he goes. Former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose removal sparked last week’s military intervention, is seen as more open to investment from China and other nations than Mugabe, according to researchers who advise President Xi Jinping’s government on Africa…

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Half of Emerging-Market Bond Index Faces Election Risk in 2018

Half of Emerging-Market Bond Index Faces Election Risk in 2018

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Investors set to bag the best returns in five years from emerging-market bonds this year should brace themselves for 2018. Political risk looms large. Countries that make up more than 50 percent of a Bloomberg Barclays developing-nation local bond index are gearing up for elections in the next 12 months. While the outcomes of votes in countries like Russia are predictable, tight contests in heavyweights like Brazil and Mexico have potential to…

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Mugabe’s Woes Wipe Out $6 Billion From Zimbabwe’s Skewed Stocks

Mugabe’s Woes Wipe Out $6 Billion From Zimbabwe’s Skewed Stocks

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors dumped Zimbabwean stocks every day since the military seized power on optimism that 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe will be forced to step down. The stocks, which are denominated in U.S. dollars and were used to hedge against rising inflation, fell another 10 percent on Tuesday, bringing the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange Industrial Index’s retreat since the army’s takeover on the morning of Nov. 15 to 35 percent. The bourse’s market capitalization has…

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Nigeria Sells $3 Billion of Eurobonds in Its Biggest Offer Yet

Nigeria Sells $3 Billion of Eurobonds in Its Biggest Offer Yet

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria raised $3 billion in a two-part international bond sale as it seeks to fund a fiscal deficit and reduce its local-currency debt burden. The West African nation split the offering equally between 10- and 30-year tranches. The yield was 6.5 percent for the shorter notes and 7.625 percent for the 30-year portion, down 25 basis points on each tranche from the initial guidance. The offering, its biggest Eurobond…

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Mugabe Era Draws to a Close in Zimbabwe as Impeachment Looms

Mugabe Era Draws to a Close in Zimbabwe as Impeachment Looms

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is facing the last days of his 37 years in power as lawmakers prepare started proceedings to impeach him. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front says it will work with the opposition to ensure it has the votes in parliament to oust Mugabe, 93, after he missed Monday’s ruling-party deadline to resign. Lawmakers are expected to approve an impeachment motion on Tuesday and then appoint a…

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Kenya’s Biggest Bank Sees Rate Caps Staying Until at Least 2019

Kenya’s Biggest Bank Sees Rate Caps Staying Until at Least 2019

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s biggest bank reckons limits on interest-rate charges that have weighed on profit will be around for at least another year. “There are a lot of conversations happening and I have not seen anything today that says that we are ready to move,” KCB Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Joshua Oigara said in an interview in the capital, Nairobi, last week. Even the bank’s best-case scenario is that a review process of the…

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Net1 Understated South Africa Profit to Court, Group Says

Net1 Understated South Africa Profit to Court, Group Says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)- Net1 UEPS Technologies Inc., a unit of which distributes welfare payments in South Africa, understated its profit from the government contract in a submission to the country’s Constitutional Court that was audited by KPMG LLP, a report released by a development-economics research agency said. The company rejected the allegation and demanded the report be retracted. The court demanded the submission from Net1’s Cash Paymaster Services this year because the company continued to distribute more…

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