The Editorial Team

China Suspicion, ‘Foreign Plot’ Fears Hamper Africa Vaccine Plan

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — As if the struggle to secure its meager supplies of Covid-19 vaccines wasn’t bad enough, Africa is now having a hard time getting people to take them. Only 5.22 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have been vaccinated, a region with a population of about a billion. From suspicions about Chinese-made vaccines in Zimbabwe and conspiracy theories in Ivory Coast about Covid-19 being “a planned event by foreign actors” to Somalia, where the Islamist…

African Bank’s New CEO Looks to Expansion After Hiatus

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — African Bank Holdings Ltd.’s new chief executive officer is looking at ways to accelerate a planned expansion from its roots in micro-lending to become a broader financial platform. Kennedy Bungane was hired to head the Johannesburg-based lender this week after Basani Maluleke resigned in January. The CEO’s appointment marks a return to the industry for the 46-year-old, who has spent the last seven years in roles such as running industrial-holding company Phembani Group….

U.K. Draws Up Plans to Stop Breakaway European Soccer League

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LONDON(Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.K. government is drawing up plans to prevent the creation of a European breakaway soccer league comprising the world’s richest clubs, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the idea. “We will put everything on the table to prevent this from happening,” Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said in the House of Commons on Monday, adding that the government is not ruling out legislative measures. “We will do whatever it takes to protect…

U.K. INSIGHT: The 130 Billion Pound Cash Pile That’s Staying Put

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LONDON(Capital Markets in Africa) — U.K. consumers aren’t the only ones who have seen a sharp rise in excess savings during the pandemic. Corporates have had a similar experience and are sitting on a cash pot of 130 billion pounds. The big difference for companies is that debt has risen sharply, too. As a result, we expect capital spending to recover more slowly as the economy reopens. Reduced uncertainty, higher confidence and, most importantly, the…

Stock Shorts Collapse as No Hedge Fund Wants ‘Head Ripped Off’

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Wall Street bears battered by the Reddit crowd earlier this year have yet to regain their gumption, even with stocks at records and valuations near two-decade highs. The median short interest in members of the S&P 500 sits at just 1.6% of market value, near a 17-year low, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. In Europe, a short-covering frenzy has sent bearish bets collapsing like never before in Morgan…

Fed Rate-Hike Wagers Put on Back Burner as Blackout Begins

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NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa — Federal Reserve rate-hike expectations have been aggressively reduced over the past two weeks in the eurodollar futures market, just as policy makers enter their usual silent period before their April 28 decision. The rapid repricing has removed around 15 basis points of rate increases from the December 2022 eurodollar futures contract. This shift away from fully pricing in a 25-basis-point rise has prompted Citigroup Inc.’s Jason Williams to fade the…

JPMorgan Backs Super Soccer League With $4.8 Billion

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LONDON(Capital Markets in Africa) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. is bankrolling the biggest upheaval of European soccer since the 1950s in a 4 billion-euro ($4.8 billion) bet that has already drawn heavy criticism from fans, domestic leagues and politicians. The U.S. investment bank agreed to underwrite an initial 3.5-billion-euro investment to help a group of the world’s richest soccer clubs set up a top-tier Super League, a figure that will total 4 billion euros after…

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