The Editorial Team |

Kenyan Opposition Says Rerun Delay May Resolve Vote Concerns

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s opposition presidential candidate said the electoral authority should consider delaying the rerun of last month’s annulled presidential vote until the end of October to ensure it’s organized in a credible manner. The date for the election could be adjusted within the 60-day period stipulated by the law to give the electoral body enough time to prepare a fair vote, Raila Odinga, leader of the opposition National Super Alliance, said in…

Matt Levine’s Money Stuff: Bitcoin Doubts and Buffett Criticisms

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon doesn’t like bitcoin, which he says is “a fraud” and a bubble that “won’t end well”: Do we have traders who trade it? If we had a trader who traded Bitcoin I’d fire them in a second. For two reasons: It’s against our rules, and they’re stupid. And both are dangerous. I’m going to be really clear in this one. Forget the blockchain,…

As Petrodollars Dry Up, Weary Angolans Ship BMWs to Portugal

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Desperate for hard currency, Angolans are coming up with new ways to convert their kwanzas into dollars and euros. Filipe Afonso got tired of waiting in line at a bank to exchange his kwanzas for greenbacks. So he bought two second-hand BMW motorcycles, shipped them to Portugal and sold them for euros to pay for his family’s expenses back home. “You do what you need to do to get…

Ethiopia Mulls Potash Partner as Failed Deal Is Arbitrated

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ADDIS ABABA ( Capital Markets in Africa) – Ethiopia is considering finding a new partner to develop a potash mine abandoned last year by Israel Chemicals Ltd., which has sought compensation at an arbitration court after accusing the government of failing to support the project. Several companies are interested in developing potash deposits in the country’s north-eastern Afar region, Mines Minister Motuma Mekassa said in an interview Wednesday in the capital, Addis Ababa. The government is eager…

South Africa Current-Account Gap Widens as Customs Payouts Rise

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JOHANNNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s current-account deficit widened in the second quarter as the amount paid to the nation’s customs union partners increased. The shortfall on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, increased to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product in the three months through June from a revised 2 percent in the previous quarter, the Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin released on Thursday in the…

Interswitch Nigeria Sees Delayed IPO Concluded by End-2019

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Interswitch Ltd., a Nigeria-based payments-processing company, expects to complete its delayed dual listing in London and Lagos before the end of 2019. The initial public offering to raise as much as $1 billion had been scheduled for 2016 and was delayed because equity markets were not as “favorable as we would have liked,” Interswitch’s divisional chief executive officer for switching and processing, Akeem Lawal, said in an interview. “We will…

Bitcoin’s Power Needs Are Unbelievable and Uneconomic: Macro Man

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Are you a cranky skeptic of crypto-currencies and tired of adherents promising that Bitcoin can do everything from protecting your privacy to curing the common cold? Are you dubious that it’s as scalable as its prophets claim? Perhaps in this case, the Luddites are correct. A look at the resources required to power the blockchain suggests that crypto-currencies — at least in the guise of Bitcoin — can only…

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