The Editorial Team |

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

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…

Cameroon Seeks to Improve Cocoa Bean Quality After Declines

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YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cameroon is taking steps to encourage farmers to grow better quality cocoa after a deterioration in last year’s crop resulted in lower prices for the country’s beans. About 90 percent of Cameroon’s cocoa exports in the season through July were classed as Grade 2, the second of three quality ratings for beans, according to Trade Minister Luc Magloire Atangana Mbarga. That compared with 97 percent previously and meant that Cameroonian…

Old Mutual Wealth to Absorb Some MiFID-Related Costs

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Old Mutual Wealth, a unit of Old Mutual Plc, said it will absorb some additional expenses when Europe’s MiFID II takes effect next year, though it hasn’t yet announced whether it will pass onto its clients the cost of external research for funds. “Absorbing costs is something we have to do and we already are,” Paul Feeney, chief executive officer of Old Mutual Wealth, said in an interview in Johannesburg on…

Mauritius Attorney General Quits Over Money-Laundering

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PORT LOUIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mauritian Attorney General Ravi Yerrigadoo stepped down to allow an investigation into allegations of money laundering, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said. Yerrigadoo quit at Jugnauth’s request to “ensure the investigation is conducted in a transparent manner,” the premier told reporters Wednesday in the capital, Port Louis. Le Defi, a Port Louis-based newspaper, reported that an affidavit was submitted to Mauritius’s Supreme Court on Tuesday alleging that Yerrigadoo helped set…

North Korea Hackers Step Up Bitcoin Attacks Amid Sanctions

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – North Korea appears to be stepping up efforts to secure bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which could be used to avoid trade restrictions including new sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council. Hackers from Kim Jong Un’s regime are increasing their attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea and related sites, according to anew report from security researcher FireEye Inc. They also breached an English-language bitcoin news website and collected bitcoin ransom payments from…

Kuwait Says OPEC May Decide on Extending Cuts in March 2018

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – OPEC and allied oil producers will keep reviewing options for their agreement to cut output, and a final decision on extending the deal beyond March could be postponed until the first quarter of 2018, Kuwait’s oil minister said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will consider all its alternatives if the market doesn’t re-balance by the end of March when the cuts expire, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq said Wednesday at a…

Campaign for More Diamond Ads Wins Support From India’s Gem Hub

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The push for bigger diamond advertising campaigns and marketing to wealthy millennials has won support from a key part of the industry: India’s manufacturers and retailers. India’s Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council, which represents almost 6,000 diamond companies, has agreed to contribute $2 million to the Diamond Producers Association, a group designed to promote gems and backed by miners, according to executives from both organizations. India is the…

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