Features

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee split over the Trump administration’s plan for freeing Fannie Maeand Freddie Mac from federal control, a sign of the uphill battle Congress faces in overhauling the mortgage giants. Idaho Republican Senator Mike Crapo, the banking panel’s chairman, said his preference is for lawmakers to take the lead on freeing the companies from federal control, but added that the administration should…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – After Parliament blocked his Brexit strategy, and then refused to give him the election he wanted, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is promising to work for a deal with the European Union. Monday night saw the British premier suffer his sixth consecutive defeat in a vote in the House of Commons, after his attempt to get approval for a snap poll was rejected for a second time. “This government will press…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Boris Johnson is refusing to back down and pushing on with his hardline Brexit strategy despite the risk of being taken to court and the threat of more resignations from his Conservative Party. After a bruising week of defeats for his Brexit strategy culminating in the resignations of his own brother and cabinet minister Amber Rudd, Johnson faces further setbacks on Monday. The prime minister will probably lose another vote in…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – New York City’s move to tax far more of corporations’ offshore income than the state could cost companies such as Pfizer Inc.and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. millions of dollars a year, prompting consternation from business groups. The new treatments are tied to the 2017 federal tax overhaul that created a new levy on global intangible low-taxed income. GILTI was intended to stifle multinationals, like technology and pharmaceutical companies, from shifting profits…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – This essay is going to scare you. There is a better-than-average chance that, at some point in the last several years, your personal information was stolen. Not something small like a credit card account, but the good stuff, your Social Security number coupled with your birthdate. In fairness to thieves, we have all made this very easy for them to do. You and I hand over this information…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – With arable land declining and the population soaring, countries along the the Sahara’s southern border face humanitarian disaster. Strong and sustained global growth has enabled living standards throughout most of the world to converge on an upward course. Even throughout Africa, the world’s poorest continent, there have been drastic improvements in health, education and governance. Countries such as Ethiopia and Tanzania are seeing the start of industrialization. Yet a few parts of the world…