Features

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa defended his track record on reform and said policy measures being implemented by the government will yield stronger economic growth in time. Ramaphosa, 67, is facing a growing chorus of criticism that he’s taking too long to reverse nine years of misrule by his predecessor Jacob Zuma that hobbled the economy. The state’s inability to undertake reforms has been constrained by infighting over policy direction within the ruling African…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – China said the U.S. “inappropriately overreacted” to the deadly virus that originated there and hasn’t provided much help to counter the outbreak, disputing the Trump administration’s claim that it offered assistance. “The U.S. government hasn’t provided any substantial assistance to us, but it was the first to evacuate personnel from its consulate in Wuhan, the first to suggest partial withdrawal of its embassy staff, and the first to impose…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – A momentous, if anticlimactic, few days lie ahead in Washington as the Senate hears closing arguments Monday in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, then holds two days of debate before voting for an all-but-guaranteed acquittal. In between, Democrats in Iowa’s caucuses will take the first step Monday night toward choosing the candidate who’ll run against Trump in November. And on Tuesday night, the president will deliver the annual State…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.S. has no plans to pull all troops out of Africa even as it looks at how to adjust forces for strategic priorities led by competition with China and Russia, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said. “We are not going to totally withdraw forces from Africa,” Esper said at a Pentagon news conference on Thursday, seeking to allay growing concerns on the continent that a review he’s ordered will result in…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Health Organization’s Emergency Committee has declared the outbreak of coronavirus in China a “public health emergency of international concern.” The declaration is often referred to by its initials — PHEIC, pronounced “fake” — but it gives the WHO real capabilities to affect the course of an epidemic. Governments and companies around the globe are already scrambling to contain the illness, which has shown up in a smattering of cases beyond China. But the…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – The most consequential day in Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins in the Senate on Friday, with Republican leaders likely to muster enough votes to block witnesses and rapidly move to acquit the president. The decision late Thursday by Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, a Republican who had been considered a potential supporter of testimony, to vote against new evidence largely dashed Democrats hopes of prevailing. His announcement is a victory…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Now, as some mourn and others celebrate, the U.K. must find itself again. At 10 a.m. inside Aux Merveilleux de Fred, a patisserie in the heart of London’s French quarter, the air is thick with the aroma of butter. Aicha Boubakri, 30, is arranging neat rows of pastel-colored cream pastries in front of the bakery’s only customer. “It’s a bit sad—the fact that the U.K. will no longer be…