Features

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Emerging-market stocks and currencies are within touching distance of erasing their pandemic-fueled losses of 2020. Too bad the virus is still running riot, economies are shrinking and central banks are getting low on firepower. In fact, the backdrop is so grim that investors may soon start to take the view that prices are starting to defy gravity. After falling more than 30% by March, developing-nation stocks as measured by…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa lost more in tax revenue in the first three-and-half months of its fiscal year than it borrowed from the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank combined. A lockdown that initially shuttered almost all economic activity led to an under-recovery of 82 billion rand ($4.8 billion) for the fiscal year through July 15, South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said Friday in an interview. Lockdown rules and allowances to…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — An index measuring South African manufacturing sentiment pulled back in July as activity levels in the sector stabilize. Absa Group Ltd.’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research, fell to 51.2 from 53.9 in June, the Johannesburg-based lender said Monday in an emailed statement. The median estimate of six economists in a Bloomberg survey was 52.8. The July reading is the first time since the start…

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Days of protests and violence in Ethiopia following the assassination of a prominent musician in June likely caused a spike in coronavirus cases, prompting the government to start a month-long testing campaign. The government plans to carry out 400,000 tests in the next month. Ethiopia has done close to 430,000 tests since the first case was reported in the country in mid-March. “Following the conflicts and protests of…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Recovering from Covid-19 may not offer much lasting protection from future infections for those with only mild cases, according to a report that suggests caution regarding so-called herd immunity as well as the durability of vaccines. The correspondence in the New England Journal of Medicine outlined research on antibodies taken from the blood of 34 patients who had recovered after suffering mainly mild symptoms that didn’t require intensive care. Just two…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — In early February, just after leaving the European Union and before Britain was engulfed by the coronavirus, Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared his country ready to make its mark on the world again. The U.K. was embarking on a “great voyage” to champion free trade, he said in a speech in London. While not wishing to exaggerate British influence, he warned against downplaying “the eagerness of our friends around the world…

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Elon Musk may help sanctioned Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler get a little richer. Tesla Inc., the company Musk runs, struck a deal last month with Glencore Plc to buy as much as 6,000 tons of cobalt annually for use in the rechargeable batteries that power its electric vehicles. Glencore, in turn, is obligated to pay Gertler about 2.5% of sales from its mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo – royalty rights he…