Features

MADAGASCAR (Capital Markets in Africa) – Madagascar may not have enough candidates to compete in legislative elections scheduled for May 27. A day before registration closes, only 88 candidates have registered to take part in the vote for the Indian Ocean island nation’s 151-seat parliament. The previous ballot in 2013 attracted 2,069 candidates. The low turnout comes two months after the government increased the registration deposit that candidates must pay the electoral authority to 5…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Factions in South Africa’s ruling African National Congress are seizing the policy initiative and undermining President Cyril Ramaphosa’s efforts to revive the nation’s flagging economy, according to Robert Schrire, a political science professor at the University of Cape Town. Since Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma as president a year ago, after winning the party leadership vote by the narrowest of margins, his opponents have retained some top ANC and state posts and advocated policies…

ADISS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Boeing Co. Chief Executive Officer Dennis Muilenburg faces his biggest crisis yet following the second deadly crash of a 737 Max jetliner, as some airlines grounded the best-selling plane and the shares logged their biggest loss since the 9/11 attacks. China ordered its carriers to ground all 96 of Boeing’s newest 737 model, while Indonesia said it would also halt flights after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 went down in a field shortly after…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Public Investment Corp. breached the money manager’s own memorandum of incorporation when the positions of chief investment and executive officers were combined under Dan Matjila, a former employee said. “What could have been the function of the CIO are now sitting with the CEO, and what could have been the functions of the COO are now sitting with the CFO,” Paul Magula, the former executive head of risk…

ALGIERS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s health has reportedly deteriorated, deepening the uncertainty over his push for a fifth term in office that’s triggered unprecedented mass protests in the OPEC member state. The 82-year-old Bouteflika’s neurological reflexes have worsened and he requires constant care at the Geneva university hospital, Swiss daily Tribune de Geneve reported Wednesday. The development adds a new twist to the standoff between the regime and the predominantly young protesters who…

ALGIERS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Opposition to Algeria’s ruling regime swelled as lawmakers from the OPEC member’s oldest party resigned from parliament and a powerful group of veterans joined demonstrations against ailing President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s bid for a fifth term. The escalating opposition against the 82-year-old president has posed the biggest challenge yet to a ruling elite, known as “le pouvoir,” that managed to avoid the turmoil that gripped neighbors during the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. The…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – European and U.K. officials are pessimistic about the chances of a breakthrough in Brexit talks, with Britain accusing the bloc of intransigence and European negotiators worried that whatever they offer won’t be enough to get Parliament behind Theresa May’s deal. According to three people familiar with the European side, there’s increasing concern that any concessions the bloc would be prepared to give wouldn’t be sufficient to win a majority in…