Features

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)- BP Plc fired an ex-oil trader because he voiced concerns about bribes being paid in Nigeria to secure local contracts, according to a sprawling London employment suit that sheds light on the energy giant’s lucrative trading floor.  Jonathan Zarembok, who traded on BP’s West Africa desk, said that the company paid an “abnormally large” fee to a local agent to participate in a state oil tender. He alleged that BP’s…

ADDIS ABABA  (Capital Martkets in Africa) – U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against those prolonging conflict in northern Ethiopia, adding pressure on parties to end the civil war. The Department of Treasury can now go after several targets, including those in the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments as well as in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, who continue to fuel the conflict instead of negotiating a cease-fire, according to a statement…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Global food prices were up 33% in August from a year earlier with vegetable oil, grains and meat on the rise, data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization show. And it’s not likely to get better as extreme weather, soaring freight and fertilizer costs, shipping bottlenecks and labor shortages compound the problem. Dwindling foreign currency reserves are also hampering the ability of some nations to import food….

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A U.S. court dismissed an appeal by a former unit of Enron Corp. that tried to stake a claim to the proceeds from the sale of a luxury yacht to settle a debt it’s owed by Nigeria’s government. Federal judges upheld a decision made last year that allowed the American government to assume ownership of $37 million generated from the auction of the Galactica Star, according to a ruling…

LAGOS (Capital Martkets in Africa) – When Apple Inc. introduced its App Store in 2008, the company’s founder and chief executive Steve Jobshad a message for iPhone app developers. “We are not trying to be business partners,” he told the New York Times. Jobs meant that developers didn’t have to feel threatened because Apple’s main business was selling phones, not taking 30% commissions on app sales. But the comment could be interpreted very differently today,…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A week after Colonel Mamady Doumbouya seized power in Guinea, France is still unsure how to respond to the crisis unfolding in its former West African colony. For now, it seems content to let multilateral bodies such as the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States try and find a resolution.  They are unlikely to get very far. The AU has suspended Guinea’s membership, and Ecowas…