Features

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – As hundreds of pensioners line up outside a bank in central Harare in the hope of collecting their pensions, military veteran Elias Nyabunzi has a sense that he has seen this all before. If there is cash available, he will collect the equivalent of just $26, down from the $400 he was getting a few months back. A decade ago when he went to collect the lump sum he…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Community groups are working to convince Latinos that answering the decennial survey isn’t just important, it’s essential. Lizette Escobedo, director of the census program for the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (Naleo) Educational Fund, oversees staff in six states. She runs a bilingual hotline. She produces brochures upon brochure. But overshadowing all her efforts is the reality that thousands of people are frightened just to answer…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The financial industry is prepared for Brexit, regardless of the state of political talks, with hundreds of banks and money managers primed to move thousands of employees to their European Union bases to weather the fallout, according to a new study. New Financial, a London group that analyzes the sector, said in a report on Wednesday that it has identified 332 firms that have relocated part of their business,…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria and Benin are embroiled in a trade dispute two months after signing an agreement to free up the movement of goods and services in Africa. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari ordered the partial closing of its boundary with Benin last month to curb the smuggling of rice and other commodities. The blockade has had a ripple effect across West Africa, with factories and traders struggling to import key raw materials…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged that those responsible for plundering taxpayer funds during his predecessor Jacob Zuma’s rule will face prosecution. Investors and the public at large will still need convincing. More than 500 billion rand ($34 billion) may have been stolen during Zuma’s nine-year tenure, and “some people” say the figure could exceed 1 trillion rand, Ramaphosa told a conference hosted by the Financial Times in London on Monday….

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The storied names of British industry and commerce haven’t had it easy in the past few years, and they aren’t going to be helped by the divorce from the EU. Once upon a time, Brand Britannia was the poshest of soft powers. Many of the names in its pantheon continue to glow with prestige if not profit, including Rolls-Royce, British Airways, and Burberry. But others have faltered or fallen. Thomas Cook…