Features

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) — The African Development Bank’s board agreed to an independent probe of its president, Akinwumi Adesina after the U.S. rejected an internal investigation that cleared him of allegations of favoritism, according to two people familiar with deliberations on the matter. Africa’s largest multilateral lender decided on the inquiry after several governments backed U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s criticism of a bank-led examination into the allegations, the people said, asking not to…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Fatou Fofana used to be able to support herself, her baby daughter and two other children by selling spices and stock cubes on the outskirts of Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s biggest city. But measures to contain the coronavirus have reduced her earnings to about $2 a day, leaving her reliant on local food aid to survive. The 39-year-old’s market stall was closed by authorities enforcing the country’s lockdown in late…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The longest U.K. bond rally in a decade has seen yields close in on German equivalents, fueled by the prospect that the Bank of England could cut interest rates below zero next year. Yield premiums on 10-year gilts over bunds have hit lows unseen since 2016, as bets increase that the BOE will add monetary stimulus to support an economy struggling with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. U.K….

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Pressure continues to mount on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to fire his chief aide, Dominic Cummings, with polls showing voters think he broke lockdown rules and members of Parliament calling for him to go. Johnson will face an hour and a half of sustained questioning from the senior members of Parliament who make up the so-called Liaison Committee on Wednesday from 4 p.m. London time. The subject is his handling of…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — England’s house-hunters have raced back after the property industry was released from lockdown. But few of them want to live in London. In what’s likely to be a short-lived rebound, interest in buying homes over the past two weeks has surged 20% compared with the start of March, according to a report from property portal Zoopla Ltd. released Wednesday. For homes in the capital, however, demand was still 14% below the…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.S. is considering a range of sanctions to punish China for its crackdown on Hong Kong, people familiar with the matter said, as the Trump administration weighs whether to declare the former colony has lost its autonomy from Beijing. The Treasury Department could impose controls on transactions and freeze assets of Chinese officials and businesses for implementing a new national security law that would curtail the rights…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — According to the Minister of Finance, Nigeria will experience a further economic recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It goes without saying that the economy has been adversely affected by the collapse of oil prices and demand coupled with the partial lockdown implemented to curb coronavirus spread. The economic impact of the virus worldwide is expected to far outweigh the medical impact. For example, in the US, the virus…