The Editorial Team |

Oil Majors, Traders and Banks Team Up on Blockchain Platform

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…

Mugabe Fires Deputy After Wife Says She Can Lead Zimbabwe

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe dismissed Emmerson Mnangagwa as his deputy, a day after first lady Grace Mugabe accused him of planning a coup and said she’s prepared to succeed her husband as leader of the southern African nation. Mngangagwa, 75, was fired for “among other things, disloyalty,” Information Minister Simon Khaya Moyo told reporters Monday at Mugabe’s office in the capital, Harare. The announcement followed the president’s comments at a rally on Saturday in the southern African…

South Africa’s Main Stock Index Hits 60,000 for First Time

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s benchmark stock index reached the 60,000 points level for the first time as investors responded positively to news that Cyril Ramaphosa has the lead in the African National Congress leadership race and a weakening rand gave support to exporters. The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index climbed as much as 0.8 percent to 60,140.33 in Johannesburg, before settling at a record close of 59,975.67, a gain of 0.6 percent. Signs that…

Standard Bank Denied Access to Rand-Rigging Investigation Record

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Competition Tribunal declined Standard Bank Group Ltd.’s request for the early release of the investigators’ report into the lender’s alleged part in currency manipulation. The tribunal, which rules on antitrust matters like a court, won’t “order the immediate production of the record, as Standard Bank was not yet entitled to it,” the Pretoria-based antitrust body said in an emailed statement on Monday. While the earlier production of the investigation…

Congo Plans to Hold Presidential Elections in December 2018

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KINSHSA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo will hold delayed presidential elections on December 23, 2018, the electoral commission said, a year later than opponents of President Joseph Kabila have demanded. National and provincial parliamentary polls will take place on the same date, Independent Electoral Commission Rapporteur Jean-Pierre Kalamba told reporters Sunday in the capital, Kinshasa. A series of other votes including senatorial, gubernatorial and mayoral ballots will be held from March 2019 to…

Bets on Ramaphosa Sweeten South African Stocks Rally as Risk Wanes

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Buoyant commodities and a weaker currency have already made South African stocks a tasty treat for investors. Now, some are betting on politics to add to the flavour. Advancing raw-material prices and the rand’s plunge to the lowest level this year boosted exporters’ shares, sending the benchmark gauge in Johannesburg to a record. Yet, some money managers have remained doubtful on how far the rally could go given President…

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