Features

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The European Union poured cold water on Boris Johnson’s attempt to renegotiate the Brexit deal, saying the so-called backstop to prevent a hard Irish border — which the British prime minister wants scrapped — was a vital part of the divorce agreement. It means that with just over two months to go until Johnson has said the U.K. will leave the bloc “do or die,” the two sides are completely deadlocked — with Britain…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dominic Cummings is hell-bent on pushing through a no-deal Brexit and ignoring parliament. His plan for what comes after is even more radical.  In the highly entertaining Channel 4 drama about the 2016 referendum campaign “Brexit: The Uncivil War,” Benedict Cumberbatch, playing the mastermind of the Vote Leave campaign, is sometimes found crouched in the narrow pantry where he retreats to think. It’s not hard to picture the real…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia, in the grips of the worst drought since 1981, isn’t facing a food shortage and won’t declare the situation a national emergency, a government official said. “That is begging,” Chanda Kasolo, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services, said in comments broadcast on privately owned Hot FM radio. “We are a proud nation,” he added, referring to calls to declare a food emergency and allow donors…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – President Donald Trump reportedly wants to buy Greenland, the world’s biggest island. Denmark, unsure whether the former real estate developer is joking, isn’t selling. A Wall Street Journal report outlining the U.S. president’s apparent interest in a deal left Danes bewildered, with a former prime minister asking if it was a joke. A member of the ruling political bloc in Denmark, which helps run Greenland as an autonomous territory, called it a “terrible idea.”…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The growing odds of a recession before the 2020 election threaten to crush President Donald Trump’s hopes of a second term. Though still uncertain, such a scenario would be a political gift to Democrats, who have avoided talking about the nearly full employment, record stocks and low inflation so far in the Trump presidency. Instead, the candidates have highlighted rising income inequality and untenable costs of health care and college…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators are visiting workplaces to check employers’ compliance with a government program that allows foreign students to work in the U.S. after graduation. Some attorneys are concerned the move could further limit legal immigration for skilled workers, especially the tech-savvy students who are eligible to work an extra year under the program, known as Optional Practical Training, or OPT. The compliance checks are “within their…