The Editorial Team |

Egypt Qalaa’s $3.7 Billion Oil Refinery to Start Up in September

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egyptian Refining Co.’s new $3.7 billion processing plant will begin operations in September and save the government some $300 million a year by reducing the country’s reliance on imported fuel, its chairman said. Ahmed Heikal, who is also chairman of investment company Qalaa Holding, a 19 percent shareholder in the project, said construction of the refinery will be completed in June, with operations to begin in September. The Cairo…

Bitcoin’s Exorbitant Energy Costs May Prove to Be Biggest Risk

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – It may not matter whether bitcoin’s a bubble. The staggering energy costs associated with “mining” the digital currency could prove to be its downfall. Even as bitcoin flirts with $8,000, the price required for mining to be marginally profitable stands at a jaw-dropping $300,000 to $1.5 million by 2022 based on current growth trends and energy use, according to Christopher Chapman, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., with implied consumption matching…

The Internet of Tomatoes Is Coming, Starting With Boston Salads

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Intrigued by how blockchain was changing finance, an ex-banker at Wells Fargo & Co. and a former executive at Nasdaq Inc. began looking for other opportunities. They looked at applying the technology to insurance, law, even music. Then they hit on farming. Raja Ramachandran and Phil Harris met when they were both working on Wall Street, in 2005 after Citigroup Inc. acquired electronic trading company Lava Trading. The pair remained friends for more than a…

India Exim Bank’s $100 Million Funds Nigeria Power Projects

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – India’s Export-Import Bank will provide Nigeria with $100 million in concessionary loans to fund power projects. They include a solar-power plant to supply the northern city of Kaduna and two gas-fired facilities to be built in the south-eastern states of Enugu and Cross River, Indian High Commissioner to Nigeria B.N. Reddy said in a Nov. 7 interview in the commercial capital, Lagos. “The power sector has been identified as…

Bitcoin’s Spike Toward $8,000 Fades as Free-Money Trades Unwind

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Turns out not everyone is happy with the detente in bitcoin’s civil war. While the cryptocurrency soared to a record $7,882 within minutes of news that it would avoid another split on Wednesday, the gains quickly evaporated. Bitcoin is now trading about 3 percent below where it was before a faction of the community scrapped plans for a so-called hard fork. Some speculators are disappointed they won’t get the additional coins that…

City of Lights Takes Up Green-Bond Mantle as Acceptance Widens

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Paris, where 195 countries reached an international climate accord, is lending its name to a bond market that touts sustainable development, cleaner air and even affordable housing. The City of Lights is the latest entrant to a market HSBC Bank Plc forecasts will expand by $180 billion in 2018, representing a 44 percent increase over this year’s sales and bringing the amount outstanding to $463 billion. France’s capital wants to use…

Zimbabwe’s Ousted Vice President Flees After Death Threats

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Former Zimbabwean Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa fled the southern African nation because of “incessant threats” against him and his family two days after he was fired by President Robert Mugabe. Mnangagwa, 75, said Wednesday in a statement that he never planned to harm Mugabe, who he’s been supporting for more than four decades, and pledged to work to establish a “new and progressive leadership” in the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front….

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