The Editorial Team

Greensill Lobbied BOE for $28 Billion Support as Covid Hit

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Former Prime Minister David Cameron helped Lex Greensill lobby the Bank of England to make as much as 20 billion pounds ($28 billion) of funding available to companies as part of the financier’s campaign to get access to the government’s coronavirus assistance programs. As Cameron made “persistent” calls to Treasury officials as the firm sought to get access to financing from the Bank of England, he also contacted officials…

U.K.’s $904 Billion Climate Push to Bring Bigger Economic Boost

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.K. estimated that delivering on its ambitious targets to slash greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century will cost 651 billion pounds ($904 billion), but the benefits of protecting the environment will be far greater. The government’s official impact assessment of a target to cut emissions by 78% by 2035 indicates that action will generate a boost to the economy of about 918 billion pounds. That’s…

Biden Aims at Top 0.3% With Bid to Tax Capital Like Wages

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NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — President Joe Biden wants to end the preferential U.S. tax treatment of investment income that has benefited the nation’s wealthy as he seeks to fund a sweeping new social-spending program. But he will need to overcome a major political hurdle in Congress to do so. The White House plans to propose almost doubling the capital gains tax rate for those earning $1 million or more, to 39.6%, according…

Bitcoin Tests $50,000 Threshold With Market Technicals in Focus

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Bitcoin headed for its worst week in almost two months as a proposed capital-gains tax increase for wealthy Americans intensified the volatility whiplashing the world’s largest cryptocurrency. A fresh bout of selling on Friday drove Bitcoin down as much as 7.9% to $47,525 — below its 100-day moving average — as it continued to take out key technical levels. Wall Street analysts warn of further losses for the notoriously…

What’s Next for Chad After Long-Serving President Deby’s Death

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Chad has only had one ruler since Idriss Deby came to power in an uprising 30 years ago. His death at the age of 68 from injuries the army says were sustained in a rebel attack has cast the West Africa nation into political limbo, with a military junta planning to hold power until well into next year. These are the key issues at play: 1. How will the…

Zero Fossil-Fuel Lending Ahead in Nedbank’s $3.5 Billion Plan

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nedbank Group Ltd. has committed 50 billion rand ($3.5 billion) to renewable energy projects as the South African lender forges ahead with plans to retreat from fossil-fuel financing. The nation’s fifth-largest lender by value has already approved over 37 billion rand for clean-energy developments. It also secured deals in South Africa’s latest bidding round for participation in renewable projects to extend a further 12 billion rand, Nedbank Chief Financial…

Nigerians Shun Naira for Foreign Currencies to Store Wealth

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigerians have been accumulating foreign currencies to protect their wealth from naira volatility and surging inflation, according to a research paper in a journal published by the Central Bank of Nigeria. “Higher real-exchange rate volatility is associated with an increased level of currency substitution,” central bank economists including Isaiah Ajibola, Sylvanus Udoette, Rabia Muhammad and John Anigwe said in the paper available on the central bank’s website. There is…

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