Features

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Boris Johnson is poised to issue an ultimatum to the European Union on Wednesday: negotiate Brexit on his terms within the next nine days, or face a no-deal divorce. A key EU player has already rejected the prime minister’s plan. On Wednesday, Johnson will address his Conservative Party’s annual conference in Manchester, England, and his office said he would present a “fair and reasonable compromise” offer to the EU. He…

YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cameroon convened about 1,500 delegates to a week of talks about the crisis in its two English-speaking regions as part of the government’s first serious effort to negotiate an end to a three-year secessionist revolt. The talks in the capital, Yaounde, billed as “national dialogue,” are being presided over by Prime Minister Joseph Ngute and will include opposition supporters, church leaders, civil-society groups, members of the security forces and…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Hedge fund manager Crispin Odey is a Brexit supporter and he’s shorting the pound. But he dismisses allegations that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s links with investors like him amount to a conflict of interest. “What they’re thinking is: can we show that the people who back Boris are unpatriotic, have no interest in the U.K. and basically are only there to try and make money out of the suffering of others,” Odey…

BANJUL (Capital Markets in Africa) – The collapse of Thomas Cook Group Plc is jeopardizing the efforts by one of Africa’s smallest countries to revive its fortunes after the end of a dictator’s two-decade rule. The Gambia, a $1-billion West African economy surrounded by Senegal aside from its access to the Atlantic Ocean, depends on tourism for nearly a third of its gross domestic product. Thomas Cook typically flew in 45% of tourists that visited its white-sand…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Trump administration has issued a partial — and qualified — denial to the revelation that it is discussing imposing limits on U.S. investments in Chinese companies and financial markets as China vowed to continue opening its markets to foreign investment. Bloomberg News on Friday reported that Larry Kudlow, the head of President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council, was leading deliberations inside the White House over what some…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A new advisory panel created by President Muhammadu Buhari could usher the reforms needed to breathe life into Nigeria’s economy during his second term. That’s if the 76-year-old former military ruler listens to them. Buhari named an eight-member Economic Advisory Council last week to replace a broader team of bureaucrats led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who under the constitution is the government’s economic policy coordinator. Business leaders, including Africa’s…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) British Airways owner IAG SA warned that challenges facing the European airline industry are set to continue into 2020 after cutting profit guidance for this year. IAG lowered capacity growth in the final quarter and will provide details in November of a decrease next year, Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh said on a call with analysts on Thursday. Earnings for this year will be about 6% lower than forecast in the wake of strikes…