Features

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…

HARARE(Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe’s president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is working with the military to ensure his own survival, an opposition official said, dismissing the leader’s criticism of the army’s heavy handed approach in quelling riots over fuel prices in January. The protests, the worst since 1995, ended after the military was deployed, firing on crowds and killing at least 17 people. Since then the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and human rights groups have said…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) Zimbabwe hired U.S. lobbyists linked to President Donald Trump’s 2016 election race in a bid to have sanctions it says are hindering its economy scrapped. The southern African nation, where the economy has all but collapsed after a series of disputed elections, took on Ballard Partners Inc. — run by Brian Ballard, a fundraiser for Trump’s campaign — according to Nick Mangwana, Zimbabwe’s secretary for information. Trump renewed sanctions against a number of Zimbabwean individuals and…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – A retired Swiss oil executive who previously said he had knowledge of illicit dealings over a Nigerian oil block involving Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA reversed his statements at a trial in Milan Wednesday. “I’ve never had contact with Shell,” ex-executive Richard Granier-Deferre said. “I’ve never had relations with people from Eni in my entire career.” The trial centers on Oil Prospecting License 245, offshore Nigeria, which has snowballed into one…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – It’s been a long 16 months for investors who were devastated when global retailer Steinhoff International Holdings NVshocked markets with its accounting scandal, but now South African police and regulators are finally saying their investigations have progressed. With four separate cases lodged, the police’s serious commercial crimes unit has taken 21 statements to probe potential fraud and theft involving Steinhoff directors. While the cops are closing in, South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct…