Features

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The finance industry’s attitude to automation and technical innovation resembles the old song lyric: “Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.” Bank executives love to warn of robots replacing humans across the industry, but basic IT management often seems beyond them. The blockchain and digital currencies are the future, they tell us, but no-one seems quite sure what to do with them or whether they really want them….

MORONVIA (Capital Markets in Africa ) – Liberian President George Weah ordered a probe into Exxon Mobil Corp.’s 2013 deal for drilling rights off the West African nation’s coast, his office said. The investigation follows last month’s report by campaign group Global Witness that Exxon purchased the rights despite knowing that the block was suspected of being partially owned by Liberian individuals who may have illegally granted it to themselves while holding public office. Exxon voiced concerns over the…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Google is releasing an app in Africa that will help internet users overcome obstacles such as the lack of high-speed connectivity and the cost of data on the continent. The release of Google Go is the U.S. technology giant’s latest attempt to extend its reach into emerging markets such as sub-Saharan Africa, where Facebook Inc. is also making inroads. The Alphabet Inc. unit has laid fiber-optic cable on the continent, eased…

WINDHOEK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Namibian President Hage Geingob rejected claims linking him to a French corruption probe related to the purchase by Orano SA of Canadian mining company UraMin Inc.’s Trekkopje uranium mine in the southern African country. Geingob didn’t participated in the transaction and is demanding a retraction from Radio France Internationale, which reported the allegations last week, spokesman Alfredo Hengari said in a statement. He was paid as a consultant before he joined…

SOUTH SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Sudan’s former army chief Paul Malong formed a rebel group aimed at toppling President Salva Kiir’s administration, which it holds responsible for the nation’s economic and political crisis. Malong was appointed by Kiir in 2014 to lead a military campaign against rebels of former vice president Riek Machar, only to be fired last year and exiled to neighbouring Kenya. His army was accused of atrocities against civilians including…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV said two 2017 payments to former chairman and biggest shareholder Christo Wiese didn’t follow proper governance and disclosure processes, dragging the South African billionaire deeper into an accounting crisis. The deals were agreed to with entities related to Wiese in the weeks leading up to the emergence of financial irregularities that have wiped more than 90 percent off the value of the global retailer. Steinhoff has investigated the…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe said he’s open to discussions with mining companies about a crucial black-ownership principle, but they might not be pleased with what he has to say. The Chamber of Mines lobby group, which represents most producers, last week won court backing for its argument that companies could count previous sales to black investors to reach the black-ownership requirements, even if those investors later sold their…