The Editorial Team

Bitcoin Hovers Around $32,000 After Boost From Musk, Ark’s Wood

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin held around $32,000 in a consolidation of a rebound stoked by comments from Elon Musk, Jack Dorsey and Cathie Wood on the future of the largest cryptocurrency. The digital asset traded near $32,000 as of 10:35 a.m. in Singapore on Thursday after jumping 6.5% a day earlier. Other cryptos, including Ether and Dogecoin, held onto gains, as did the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index.Tesla Inc. already owns Bitcoin but Chief Executive…

U.K.’s Covid Travel Tests Spawn a $520 Million Free-for-All

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Early in the pandemic last year, London property developer Arnaud Touret bought a batch of 5,000 rapid Covid tests from South Korea. He set up a laboratory to analyze the results, hired a chief medical officer and applied for U.K. accreditation for his new venture. His company, Covid Home Test U.K. Ltd., is now among more than 400 businesses listed on the government’s website offering PCR tests for travelers on their…

Stocks Climb, Futures Steady on Earnings Optimism: Markets Wrap

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Asian stocks climbed Thursday after solid company earnings boosted Wall Street, easing concerns about peak economic growth and coronavirus flareups. The dollar held a decline. An MSCI Inc. gauge of Asia-Pacific shares rose for a second day, led by cyclical sectors like materials and energy, though technology also pushed higher. Hong Kong and Australia outperformed, while Japan is shut for a holiday. European contracts advanced and U.S. futures edged up…

Biden Dismisses Inflation Worries, Warns on Hiring Difficulties

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NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – President Joe Biden dismissed concerns that the U.S. would experience persistent inflation as the economy emerges from the pandemic while cautioning that restaurants and others in the hospitality sector might take longer to recover. “There will be near-term inflation” because the economy is picking back up, Biden said Wednesday night at a CNN town hall in Cincinnati. But most economists believe that “it’s highly unlikely that it’s going…

Ramaphosa’s On Trial as Much as Zuma: Bobby Ghosh

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – After South Africa’s week from hell, the trial of Jacob Zuma has been postponed until August 10, and it will be months, perhaps even years, before a judicial panel decides whether or not the former president is guilty of corruption. His successor faces far swifter judgment in the court of public opinion. President Cyril Ramaphosa is scrambling to undo the damage, physical and political, wrought by the widespread rioting in…

South African Key Rate Seen Steady, GDP Forecast Cut on Riots

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s central bank will probably keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged and lower its economic-growth forecasts on Thursday as the country reels from a third wave of Covid-19 restrictions and after deadly riots. While output rose more than expected in the three months through March and data, including the composite leading business-cycle indicator, suggest an acceleration in gross domestic product in the second quarter, the unrest that erupted in…

Tycoon Dangote Can’t Get Enough Tomatoes to Run Plant Profitably

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote is barely managing to operate Africa’s biggest tomato processing plant, six years after the factory began production, as he can’t get adequate berries to crush. Dangote’s 1,200-ton a day plant is producing at 20% of capacity because farmers don’t have enough resources to boost acreage. The factory was meant to reverse Nigeria’s dependence on imports of tomato paste from China and increase local production. But…

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