Features

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) — Zimbabwe’s central bank plans to sell a majority stake in the southern African nation’s sole gold-buying firm in a bid to boost compliance with the trading of the precious metal. Fidelity Printers and Refiners will be split in two, with 60% of its gold-refining business sold to private investors, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said in an emailed statement. The central bank would retain a 40% stake, plus full ownership of…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s last-ditch plea for European Union leaders to step in and salvage the bloc’s faltering trade negotiations with the U.K. was frustrated when summit talks overran on Thursday night, pushing Brexit to the fringes. The meeting of the EU’s 27 government chiefs in Brussels went through the night as they tussled over tough new climate targets. Leaders, including those crucial to the U.K. talks, like German…

CASABLANCA (Capital Markets in Africa)  — President Donald Trump said Morocco and Israel agreed to establish full diplomatic relations and that he was recognizing Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed region of Western Sahara. The Western Sahara issue was long seen as a sticking point in getting Morocco to join with countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan in recognizing Israel. Taken with the earlier agreements, Thursday’s announcement helps bolster Trump’s efforts to reshape…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria expects to license by April one of the vaccines under development globally for Covid-19, the West African nation’s drugs regulator said. “We are looking at the end of the first quarter of next year or the beginning of the second quarter” to approve a shot for use in Nigeria, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control Director-General Mojisola Adeyeye said in an interview on Wednesday. Africa’s…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Terror groups are expanding operations and scaling up attacks in Africa, straining governments ill-prepared to battle extremism as the coronavirus pandemic drains much-needed resources, Verisk Maplecroft said. Rising violence has made sub-Saharan Africa home to seven of the 10 riskiest countries in the world, according to the risk consultancy’s quarterly Terrorism Intensity Index published Friday. Nations including Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Mozambique saw the biggest decline in the index,…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — A one-off 5% tax on wealth in the U.K. could rise more than 260 billion pounds ($348 billion) to help fix the coronavirus-hit public finances, according to a panel of experts. In a report published Wednesday, the independent Wealth Tax Commission called for a charge of 1% a year for five years on individual assets above 500,000 pounds. About 8 million residents would be affected. The debate over wealth…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in  Africa) — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin made a surprise re-entry into talks on a 2020 pandemic-relief package with a $916 billion proposal that opened a potential new path to a year-end deal despite objections from Democrats over elements of the plan. After largely leaving the task to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell since Election Day, Mnuchin pitched a $916 billion stimulus plan to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a Tuesday afternoon telephone call, more…