The Editorial Team |

IMF Sees No `Substantive’ Zambian Aid-Deal Talks This Month

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Zambian government and the International Monetary Fund won’t be holding meaningful discussions on a proposed $1.3-billion aid program at the Washington-based lender’s annual meetings this month after talks were put on hold in August. The nation’s Eurobond yields climbed. “IMF staff will be meeting the Zambian delegation at the IMF-World Bank annual meetings to discuss next steps,” Alfredo Baldini, the fund’s resident representative in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, said in reply…

Africa’s Economic Future Depends on Its Farmers

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – When the economies of Nigeria and South Africa recently rebounded, it wasn’t oil or minerals that did the trick. It was agriculture. Faster and more sustainable agricultural growth is crucial not only to the continent’s economy, but also to its ability to feed and employ its surging population. Agriculture still accounts for a quarter of gross domestic product and as much as two-thirds of employment in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, agricultural growth has the…

World Bank Says Africa GDP Rebound Inadequate to Tackle Poverty

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rebound in sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth is insufficient to meaningfully reduce poverty, the World Bank said. Gross domestic product in the region will probably expand by 2.4 percent in 2017, the Washington-based lender said in an emailed copy of its Africa Pulse report on Wednesday. While that’s down from the World Bank’s April forecast of 2.6 percent, it’s an improvement on the two-decade low growth rate of 1.3…

What to Watch for as Wall Street Reports Third-Quarter Results

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – What to make of the surge in cryptocurrencies? Will the Trump administration’s tax-overhaul proposals find traction anytime soon? The biggest U.S. banks are about to show how much those uncertainties, and the slide in market volatility, affected third-quarter results and the lenders’ outlooks. JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. come first, on Thursday. Here are some likely takeaways: Trading Revenue Trading probably dropped from the same period a…

Global Regulators Play Bitcoin Whack-a-Mole as Demand Explodes

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Regulators worldwide are finding that it’s incredibly hard to control the explosive growth of money tied to no nation. Russian President Vladimir Putin is the latest to call for regulation of cryptocurrencies, saying there are “serious risks” they can be used for money laundering or tax evasion. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has called for regulating digital money as securities, while central bank officials vowed to work with prosecutors to block websites…

JPMorgan Is No Match for Google in One Analyst’s Fintech Ranking

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – No banking titan is better prepared than JPMorgan Chase & Co. to roll out new financial technologies — but even its innovation pales alongside Silicon Valley’s, according to a report by Autonomous Research. Big financial firms including Bank of America Corp., Barclays Plc, Wells Fargo & Co. and UBS Group AG are “soberingly behind actual tech companies” in showing they’re embracing advances that power fintech, the study found. Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Facebook Inc. and…

Congo Elections Won’t Be Held Before April 2019, Commission Says

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo that were due last year won’t be held before April 2019, the electoral commission said, a delay that undermines a pact President Joseph Kabila’s supporters made with his political opponents for him to step down this year. The commission said in a statement that it will need 504 days to organize the polls once it completes the enrolment of voters. The body says it has finished…

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