George Weah Takes Early Lead in Liberia Presidential Election Count

George Weah Takes Early Lead in Liberia Presidential Election Count

MONROVIA (Capital Markets in Africa) Former A.C. Milan soccer star George Weah and Vice President Joseph Boakai lead in Liberia’s presidential election as the electoral commission released provisional results of the October 10 vote. Weah won 39 percent of the vote, while Boakai got 31 percent, with about 548,000 ballots counted, Jerome Korkoya, chairman of the National Elections Commission, told reporters on Friday. The commission didn’t say how many of the 2.2 million registered voters took part in…

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Stock Traders Scarce in Kenya as Poll Crisis Clouds Outlook

Stock Traders Scarce in Kenya as Poll Crisis Clouds Outlook

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Traders are deserting Kenya’s stock market, a star performer earlier this year, as the unresolved crisis around the country’s presidential election discourages foreign investors. Volumes traded on the Nairobi stock exchange have slumped to the lowest this year, dropping to less than 46 million shares in the week ended Oct. 6 from as high as 285 million in June. Values have also dropped, with $870,000 of shares traded Thursday,…

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South African Yield Closing in on Turkey Shows Downgrade Fears

South African Yield Closing in on Turkey Shows Downgrade Fears

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The shrinking yield discount on South African dollar bonds relative to Turkish debt is a sign investors are pricing in another credit downgrade for Africa’s biggest economy, according to Standard Bank Group Ltd. The 10-year spread has narrowed to 19 basis points, from 120 basis points in January. While Turkey’s yield has dropped amid demand for emerging-market assets, South Africa’s tracked sideways as political and fiscal challenges mount.  “The…

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Kenyan Vote to Proceed as Opposition Withdrawal Is Disputed

Kenyan Vote to Proceed as Opposition Withdrawal Is Disputed

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s electoral commission said a rerun of the country’s annulled presidential election will go ahead on Oct. 26, as the main opposition disputed the authority’s assertion that its candidate has yet to withdraw from the race. National Super Alliance leader Raila Odinga, who announced on Tuesday that he’s pulling out, must fill in a so-called Form 24A to formalize his exit from the poll, the Independent Electoral & Boundaries Commission…

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Hive Switches From Mining Gold to Bitcoin — Surges Six-Fold

Hive Switches From Mining Gold to Bitcoin — Surges Six-Fold

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Frank Giustra, the Canadian mining maverick who amassed a fortune building what would become one of the world’s largest gold companies, is digging for another kind of gold: cryptocurrencies. The company he’s backed, Vancouver-based Hive Blockchain Technologies Inc., is among the first publicly traded stocks to provide exposure to crypto mining — the vast data crunching needed to verify the blockchain and the volatile currencies they produce like bitcoin and…

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Bank of Baroda Is Said to Be Probed in S. Africa Over Guptas

Bank of Baroda Is Said to Be Probed in S. Africa Over Guptas

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – India’s Bank of Baroda is being investigated by South Africa’s central bank over money held for companies controlled by the politically connected Gupta family, according to a person familiar with the matter. The South African Reserve Bank’s probe, which comes after it fined the bank in June for not doing enough to combat financial crime, was sparked after the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse alleged in court papers that mine-rehabilitation funds held for two of…

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Alexander Forbes Weighs Deals Involving 22 African Targets

Alexander Forbes Weighs Deals Involving 22 African Targets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Limited, a South African provider of retirement, investment and insurance services, said it is sifting through 22 potential targets for deals on the continent as part of an expansion drive to accelerate profit growth. The deals range from small acquisitions and partnerships to “meaningful game changers,” mainly in South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Morocco, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Darfoor said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg offices…

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