The Editorial Team |

Chinese Furniture Fashion Ravages West Africa’s Savannas

LAGOS, Capital Markets in Africa: No one paid much attention to the gnarled, yellow-blossomed rosewood trees dotted around farmsteads in northern Ivory Coast until Chinese-backed buyers started offering money for the timber. Fast forward five years and Ivory Coast is looking back at a tumultuous time in the logging industry, with confusion over permits, illegal harvesting of trees, seizures of trucks, and finally, a blanket ban on rosewood exports in 2014. “We simply had no idea; for…

Despite headwinds, Africa’s economy is still strong

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The African Development Bank, in its latest African economic outlook, forecasts economic growth in Africa to be 3.7% for 2016, almost eight-tenths of a percent lower than its forecast for 2015 (4.5%). This lower forecast is as a result of a mixture of factors: the dip in the price of commodities, the economic slowdown in China, droughts in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa, rising levels of insecurity in…

South Africa’s Sins Forgotten as Rand Leads Post-Brexit Rally

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South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: The currency that was forecast to perform the worst in emerging markets this year is also the one benefiting most from the clamor to boost returns in the wake of the U.K.’s Brexit vote. South Africa’s rand has strengthened 4.9 percent against the dollar since the day before the U.K. voted to leave the European Union on June 23, the most among 31 major and developing-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg and…

Nigeria’s AMCON to Lease Seized Property to Plug Funding Gap

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The Nigerian state-owned agency set up six years ago to take on bad debts and rescue the nation’s banking industry from collapse may lease out properties seized from companies that are failing to repay loans as it grapples with its own cash crunch. The Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, or AMCON, may introduce the “real-estate investment scheme” by the end of the year to raise money to meet its bond repayments, Chief…

Looking Beyond a Bear Market, Analysts See $57 Crude Next Year

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Oil closed in a bear market Monday, but don’t abandon hope. Analysts are looking beyond the current slide to next year for a rebound. Crude has plunged by more than a fifth in less than two months as refineries created a glut of gasoline while failing to eliminate excess supply of crude. That wrecked refining margins and hurt the earnings of Exxon Mobil Corp., BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Yet, global…

Local Vote May Spur ANC Policy Turn on South African Economy

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Johannesburg, Capital Markets in Africa: South Africa’s most competitive elections since the end of white minority rule in 1994 may force the ruling African National Congress to alter its economic course to address criticism that it’s not doing enough to tackle poverty or reduce a 27 percent unemployment rate. Investors will probably welcome any slippage in the ANC’s dominance in Wednesday’s municipal elections because it could push the party to do more to attract investment…

Australia Rejoins Global Disinflation Fight With Record Low Rate

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Australia’s record low interest-rate following Tuesday’s cut underscores the demise of its economic exceptionalism: swept up in a wave of global disinflation, policy makers had little choice but to step in line with international peers as a strengthening currency threatens to push prices lower still. It’s a far cry from five years ago when the benchmark rate was a developed-world high 4.75 percent and the local dollar was worth more than…

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