Features

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – A senior ex-Barclays Plc executive said he was worried that a secret payment the lender made to Qatar to secure a bank-saving investment during the 2008 financial crisis would be seen as a bribe. Richard Boath, who was then head of Barclays’ European financial institutions group, told in-house lawyer Judith Shepherd in July 2008 about his concerns that a journalist would come across a planned payment to Qatari companies, prosecutor Ed Brown…

SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – A Sudanese opposition group vowed to keep up its demonstrations against President Omar al-Bashir’s government, describing the release of some detained protesters as an attempt to buy time. About 162 people who’d been arrested during six weeks of protests have been released by the orders of the National Intelligence and Security Services, state-run Sudan TV reported early Wednesday. The Sudanese Professionals Association, an outlawed umbrella group of unions, said authorities…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Eurotunnel, the operator of the tunnel under the Channel that links the U.K. to Europe, says it stands ready for a hard Brexit. With the vote Tuesday in the U.K. parliament raising the possibility of Britain crashing out of the European Union on March 29, companies like Getlink, Eurotunnel’s parent, are beginning to pull out their plans for the most extreme outcome. “Eurotunnel has been actively preparing for all…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Britain’s vote to leave the European Union has already come at a cost regardless of where Brexit goes from here. Some of the damage is tangible, such as jobs, investment and capital; some of it less so, like international clout and talent.   Prime Minister Theresa May is aiming to renegotiate the most contentious part of her separation deal with the European Union after it was rejected by Parliament. Officials in Brussels have already warned they won’t even consider her demands….

DAR ES SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tanzanian legislators adopted controversial amendments to a new law that rights groups and the opposition warn will criminalize dissent and give the registrar of political parties unmerited powers to supervise the activities of political parties. “Parliament has passed the amendments to the Political Parties Act that will bring more openness to political parties and strengthen the country’s democracy,” the government’s spokesman, Hassan Abbasi, said on Twitter. The…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Just when South Africa’s ruling party thought it was on the way to rebuilding its image before this year’s election, along came Angelo Agrizzi. A former executive at services company Bosasa, Agrizzi has captivated the nation with televised testimony at a judicial panel probing graft during Jacob Zuma’s presidency about how the firm won state contracts worth billions of rand by bribing top African National Congress officials. He also said the…