Features

YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – While President Paul Biya appears to be a shoo-in to extend his 36-year rule in elections next month, he’s had no success in stifling a rebellion in Anglophone regions that’s threatening to split the mainly French-speaking central African nation. Africa’s second-longest serving head of state, Biya, 85, is facing eight candidates in an Oct. 7 vote that will be overshadowed by insurgent attacks, a violent clampdown by the security forces and…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The number of people suffering from hunger climbed to an eight-year high in 2017 as extreme and erratic weather, conflicts and economic slowdowns limited food availability. Those categorized as hungry increased by 16.6 million to 821 million, the highest since 2009, according to the United Nations. It warned of the alarming signs of rising food insecurity and high levels of malnutrition as more people go undernourished in Africa and Latin America. “Climate…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The South African ruling party’s labour partner sees no need to amend the country’s constitution to make it easier to expropriate land without compensation. The Congress of South African Trade Unions, which is the country’s biggest labor federation and is part of the African National Congress-led ruling alliance, said the constitution already enables the state to tackle land reform, restitution and redistribution, and changes were unnecessary. The clause that…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Members of the Gupta family, who’ve been implicated in looting billions of rand from state companies in South Africa, are willing to give testimony before a judicial panel investigating the alleged graft but only from outside the country, one of their lawyers said. The three Gupta brothers have a “reasonable apprehension” that they could be arrested and prosecuted by authorities that are reckless, incompetent and wield unbridled power, Mike…