Features

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — For Bethany and Derick Hingle, every dollar counts now. In just a matter of weeks, the New Orleans couple — he’s a self-employed photographer, she works at a jewelry store — watched most of their income evaporate as the coronavirus pandemic shuttered businesses. They began calling their banks, securing extensions for credit-card bills from Capital One Financial Corp. and a local credit union. They couldn’t catch a break on a…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa): The Trump administration is revisiting the idea of issuing ultra-long bonds as it grapples with how to finance a $1.3 trillion fiscal stimulus plan, according to people familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump’s advisers are considering, among other options, issuing both 50-year and 25-year bonds as they seek financing for additional federal debt with the lowest cost to taxpayers, the people said on the condition of anonymity to discuss…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) –  The spread of the coronavirus threatens to slow efforts by Ghana to overhaul its insurance industry as companies race to boost their capital levels. “It will certainly have an impact,” Seth Eshun, head of supervision at the West African nation’s National Insurance Commission, said. “Because of Covid-19 there’s a slowdown in general economic activity, which implies that companies’ ability to generate revenue and make savings will be affected.” Insurers…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.K. government is battling criticism of a coronavirus plan that blends blunt talk of the pandemic’s toll with modest steps that fall far short of measures taken in other countries. Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, said in broadcast interviews Friday that the infection rate could hit 60% of the British population, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that “many more” families will lose loved ones. The approach is aimed…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.K. authorities have abandoned efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus and will focus on delaying the worst of the outbreak, as officials said as many as 10,000 Britons may be infected. Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned “many more” families will lose loved ones and advised everyone with any symptoms of the virus, including a cough or a fever, to stay at home for seven days. Schools will not…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Nigerian central bank will be unable to maintain the naira’s value for much longer as a slump in oil prices drains foreign reserves, according to a Bloomberg survey of investors and analysts. Seven of 16 respondents expect the currency to be devalued in the third quarter, while four forecast a downward adjustment as early as the second quarter. Another three foresee a devaluation in the fourth quarter and…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s Treasury opposed a plan by lawmakers in East Africa’s biggest economy to securitize the country’s stock of pending bills for supplies and services rendered, saying it will only inflate debt costs. Treasury Secretary Ukur Yatani said the proposal to convert all pending bills of more than 500 million shillings ($4.88 million) into long-term instruments was “a weird idea.” In the fiscal year through June 2019 the state owed suppliers 190…