The Editorial Team |

Togo Agrees to Talks With Opposition After Two-Month Protest

LOME (Capital Markets in Africa) – Togo is preparing to hold talks with opposition parties in the West African nation after two months of protests that left several people dead, government spokesman Ihou Yao Atigbe said in a statement he read on state-owned Television TVT. The government also announced the release of 42 opposition supporters arrested during the protests in September and October. “The government therefore hopes that all this will lead the political parties…

Bitcoin Rally Is Eroding Gold’s Appeal, Top Online Vaulter Says

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bullion’s rally faltered in the past two months as the dollar strengthened and global equities set new records, while concerns over Brexit and Catalonia’s push for independence failed to drum up notable haven demand. Now, bitcoin’s surge is attracting investor interest toward the cryptocurrency and away from the metal, the biggest online vaulting service said. According to Google Trends, global searches for “buy bitcoin” have overtaken “buy gold” after previously exceeding searches…

Credit Suisse Among Banks Probed on Mozambique, WSJ Reports

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.S. authorities are investigating Credit Suisse Group AG, BNP Paribas SA and VTB Group for their roles in selling about $2 billion of bonds for Mozambique, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining whether the banks facilitated corruption by enabling officials from the African nation to take money raised in the debt sales, the newspaper reported. The Justice Department…

Praet’s Cautious Approach to ECB Bond Buying Attracts Doubts

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The European Central Bank’s ultra-cautious approach to removing stimulus triggered varying reactions, including a defense by chief economist Peter Praet and criticism from one of his former colleagues. Addressing a workshop in Frankfurt on Monday, Praet argued that the Governing Council’s decision to keep quantitative easing open-ended was appropriate as inflation in the 19-nation euro region remains subdued. For Francesco Papadia, a former director general for market operations at the ECB, officials had…

Corbyn Says Queen’s Offshore Investments Should Be Probed

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.K. opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said an inquiry into offshore investments and tax evasion that he’s calling for should also cover Queen Elizabeth II’s holdings. The monarch found her financial arrangements splashed over British newspaper front pages Monday after leaked information, known as the Paradise Papers, from Bermuda law firm Appleby Group Services Ltd. showed she had made a series of investments in a Cayman Islands fund through the British Royal Family’s private…

Oil Majors, Traders and Banks Team Up on Blockchain Platform

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LAGOS (CAPITAL Markets in Africa) – A group headed by some of the world’s biggest oil producers, trading houses and trade finance banks will develop a blockchain-based digital platform to manage physical commodity transactions. The group’s members, including producers BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc andStatoil ASA; trading houses Gunvor Group Ltd., Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. and Koch Supply & Trading; and banks ABN Amro Group NV, Societe Generale SA andING Groep NV, will form an independent venture to develop and operate the platform,…

FirstRand, South Africa Challenges U.K. Lenders With Aldermore Buy

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s largest lender by market value plans to take on Britain’s biggest banks with the takeover of Aldermore Group Plc as growth in its home market stutters. FirstRand Ltd. said on Monday it agreed to buy all of Aldermore after winning the backing of the U.K. lender’s board and its largest shareholder. The offer, which values Aldermore at about 1.1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion), will help the Johannesburg-based company diversify away from…

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