The Editorial Team |

Crypto-Mania Grips Hong Kong as City Looks Beyond Banking

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – In the mid-1990s, Johnson Leung embarked on a career in shipping. In the early 2000s, he moved to finance. And now, he runs a Hong Kong startup that aims to improve how container ships are booked using blockchain technology. Many in Hong Kong hope the city can make a similar leap. The shipping and banking hub, which has struggled for years to nurture a domestic technology industry, is embracing the blockchain…

Zimbabwe Cabinet Stalling $400 Million Rail Recap, Minister Says

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe’s cabinet hasn’t approved a $400 million deal with Transnet SOC Limited to recapitalize National Railways of Zimbabwe because it’s concerned about the government taking on more debt, Transport Minister Joram Gumbo said. Zimbabwe awarded the contract to the South African ports and rail operator in August in a joint venture with the Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group after issuing a tender to recapitalize state-owned NRZ. The Zimbabwean operator, which is plagued by…

Record-High Nigeria Rate Seen Held on Inflation, Naira Woes

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Now that Nigeria’s economy is recovering from its worst slump in 25 years, the central bank can turn its focus to fighting inflation again — and shoring up its currency. The Monetary Policy Committee has kept its interest rate at a record-high 14 percent since July 2016, trying to support the economy, and will probably hold it there at its decision this week to contain above-target consumer-price growth. Officials can take heart…

Congo President Says Progress Being Made in Setting Vote Date

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo has made “irreversible” progress in preparing credible and peaceful elections, President Joseph Kabila told the United Nations, without giving a date for the vote whose delay has spurred violent protests. Speaking before the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23, Kabila said that 42 million of an estimated 45 million eligible voters have been registered. An ongoing “series of evaluations of the electoral process” should permit the “forthcoming publication” of…

Biggest Cocoa Growers Seek Larger Slice of Chocolate Profits

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The world’s biggest cocoa-growing nations in West Africa are targeting a larger slice of chocolate-making profits as most of the benefits of producing beans accrue outside their economies, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said. Farmers in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two countries which account for more than 60 percent of global cocoa output, earned the equivalent of 5.5 percent of a value chain that was worth more than $100 billion in 2015,…

Nigeria States Seen Issuing Sukuk Bonds Next Year

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Some Nigerian states are working toward issuing sukuk bonds within a year as more investors are attracted to Islamic finance in Africa’s biggest oil-producing country, transaction advisers say. Nigeria’s federal government has put 100 billion naira ($282 million) in sukuk bonds on sale at 16.47 percent from Sept. 14 to Sept. 20 in its first ever such offering. The proceeds of the sale would be used for road construction…

Regional Power Split Threatens Vote on Zuma’s Succession

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The top leadership of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress starts meeting on Friday in a bid to heal a bitter split in the key region of KwaZulu-Natal that could derail its plans to elect a successor to President Jacob Zuma as party leader in December. The meeting comes after the High Court annulled the election of Zuma allies as the province’s party leadership because the conference that chose them wasn’t lawfully…

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