The Editorial Team |

Mobius Sees Way to Dodge Zuma Risks in South African Stock Picks

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African companies that have diversified beyond the country’s borders are the best bet for investors, because their fortunes are less tightly entangled with the political risks posed by the presidency of Jacob Zuma, said Mark Mobius, the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Market Group. Decisions taken by Zuma have moved markets, most recently in March, when he fired Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan. The rand weakened and S&P Global Ratings and…

Kenya central bank keeps benchmark rate at 10 percent

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s central bank kept its benchmark lending rate at 10.0 percent on Monday, the bank’s monetary policy committee said, a bid to reduce the threat of demand-driven inflation. Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted rates wouldn’t change. The government, which faces parliamentary, presidential and local elections in August, is struggling to contain high inflation, caused mostly by higher food prices. Kenya’s inflation rose to an annual 11.48 percent in…

Bharti Airtel Bets on Nigeria Broadband to Chase Down MTN

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bharti Airtel Limited Nigeria unit said a partnership with China’s ZTE Corp. to provide 4G high-speed broadband will see it add subscribers and narrow the gap with market leader MTN Group Ltd. in Africa’s most populous country. The Indian company is seeking “to lead the industry in terms of new customer acquisition,” Chief Executive Officer Segun Ogunsanya said in an interview in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub. Airtel will start to move subscribers to…

Mozambique Misses Latest Loan Payment as Restructuring Stalls

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – A state-run company in Mozambique skipped $134 million in payments on a government-guaranteed loan, the third time this year the southern African nation failed to meet its obligations as a standoff with creditors blocks debt restructuring talks. Mozambique Asset Management, one of three state-owned companies that took out undisclosed loans worth about $2 billion, failed to make the payment due May 23, Rogerio Nkomo, a spokesman for the Finance Ministry,…

South Africa Rate on Hold as Central Bank Warns of Rand Risk

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The South African Reserve Bank left its key rate unchanged for a seventh straight meeting as policy makers warned politics and ratings downgrades could still knock the rand and scupper an improving inflation outlook. The Monetary Policy Committee maintained the benchmark repurchase rate at 7 percent, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters Thursday in the capital, Pretoria. The decision was in line with the estimates of all 21 economists in a Bloomberg…

African Reinsurance Sector: Weathering the Storm

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EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW with Mr. Corneille Karekezi, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive of African Reinsurance Corporation. He talks to Capital Markets in Africa about challenges and opportunities in African Insurance and Reinsurance markets. How is the reinsurance sector coping with the current macroeconomic uncertainty, where currency volatility and the commodity slump coupled with terrorism and political instability have put pressure on economies in Africa? CORNEILLE KAREKEZI: The recent slump in commodity prices coupled with the attending depreciation of most currencies…

The Promise of Blockchain in Insurance

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Blockchain has huge potential to enhance insurers’ business model and to improve cooperation between insurance companies but is also being used by digital start-ups to attack it. Hence, the imperative for Incumbents to start exploring this nascent technology.Many have likened the revolutionary possibilities of blockchain technology to those of the internet, such is its perceived capacity to transform the ways in which people and businesses cooperate. Sensing this, investors…

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