Features

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Could Boris Johnson break the Brexit impasse by binding Northern Ireland — rather than all of the U.K. as pushed by his predecessor — closely to the European Union until another arrangement was reached? On one hand, Johnson has ruled it out. On the other hand, he’s floated the idea of an all-Irish food zone as a way of avoiding checks along the frontier between Ireland, which is part of the…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The agonizing effort to leave the European Union is taking up every breath of U.K. politics, so most people haven’t taken note of the 10th anniversary of one of the root causes of the country’s discontent. In September 2009 a group of researchers, academics, and management consultants hired by a think tank led by a Conservative Party grandee published its recommendations for simplifying Britain’s complex social security system. It…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s biggest tomato plant is counting on the government’s restriction of food imports to sustain operations after going idle again six months after it resumed operations from an almost three-year shutdown. When Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man, decided to set up the plant, it was with the clear goal of supplanting imports of tomato paste mostly from China but that has suffered setbacks. Currently, the 1,200-ton-a-day tomato-processing factory near the…

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…