The Editorial Team |

Ghana Cedi Falls as Government Wage Bill Exceeds Projections

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s currency retreated on Monday after government data showed the West African nation is overshooting key budget targets as it approaches elections in December. The government spent 58 percent of its full-year budget for state-worker pay in the first six months of 2016, exceeding annual allocations for local government and rural development employees, according to budget documents, raising questions about the country’s commitment to rein in the fiscal deficit as…

MTN’s Purchase of Visafone Said to Be in Doubt Without Spectrum

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Limited is considering abandoning the acquisition of Nigerian internet provider Visafone Communications Limited after the country’s industry regulator ruled that broadband spectrum shouldn’t be included in the deal, according to two people familiar with the matter. Africa’s biggest wireless carrier by sales is deciding whether acquiring the closely held company is worth it without the spectrum, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as…

South African Union to Oppose DA Plan to Fire Workers in Capital

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s biggest union for municipal workers will oppose plans by the Democratic Alliance to fire 900 employees in Tshwane, the city council that includes the capital, Pretoria, and that the main opposition party won control of in August local elections. “As the largest trade union in local government we will oppose this move by the municipality,” Mpho Tladinyane, South African Municipal Workers Union regional secretary in Tshwane, said…

Kenya Avoids Brexit Moment as Markets Disregard Doomsayers

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – It was described as Kenya’s Brexit moment, a decision that had the potential to spur a withdrawal of foreign investors, sending the stock market and the shilling tumbling and damaging East Africa’s most-developed economy. Yet, almost six weeks after Kenya capped banks’ lending rates at four percentage points above the central bank benchmark, its currency is little changed against the dollar and the main stock index has gained on…

Glencore Reviewing Bribery Allegations Said to Involve Gertler

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Glencore Plc, the world’s biggest commodity trader, is reviewing allegations by U.S. authorities regarding the bribery of officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo said to implicate its partner, Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler. Some of Gertler’s projects in Congo were funded by Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC, which on Thursday agreed to pay more than $400 million to settle a U.S. investigation that it committed bribery violations in Africa. Och-Ziff’s partner in…

Och-Ziff Plea Halts Rise of Hedge-Fund Billionaire’s Protege

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – At the turn of the century, hedge-fund billionaire Daniel Ochsent protege Michael Cohen, still in his twenties, to spearhead Och-Ziff’s expansion into Europe. Cohen’s team bet so successfully on equities and corporate deals that less than a decade later he was able to buy a 900-acre estate in the English countryside. A relentless investor with little patience for small talk, he was always looking for his next score, say people who know him. That led…

Rand Trims World’s Biggest Currency Gain as Risk Aversion Grows

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rand fell as much as 1.2 percent to head for its biggest weekly retreat this month as increased risk aversion among global investors and a possible reweighting of South Africa in a JPMorgan bond index sparked concern foreigners may sell the country’s debt. At 10:21 a.m. in Johannesburg, the rand dropped 0.4 percent to 13.9520 per dollar, trimming its quarterly and monthly gain to 5.2 percent. The government’s 10-year rand-denominated bond weakened…

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