Features

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…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)- It doesn’t look like the hub of an online bank. But that’s what the yellow and blue metal kiosk becomes when Albert Agane locks himself behind the metal bars every day at 6 a.m. From his perch along a dusty suburban thoroughfare in Accra, the 28-year-old helps fellow Ghanaians withdraw or deposit cash for accounts they operate from their mobile phones. All they need do is text. Mobile money is…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – When Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded Jacob Zuma as South Africa’s president, he promised a “new dawn” after nine years of misrule that hobbled the economy. Eighteen months later, hopes have dissipated that the former labor union leader can orchestrate a turnaround. The economy shrank the most in a decade in the first quarter of this year; 38% of the workforce can’t find jobs or have given up looking; and massive bailouts for the debt-stricken…

L;ONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.K. government doesn’t expect the European Union to shift its position on Brexit for at least a month, a person familiar with the matter said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is insisting the EU must reopen the Withdrawal Agreement it negotiated with his predecessor, Theresa May, and drop the so-called Irish backstop, a fall-back position designed to keep the border with Ireland open. That’s something EU leaders have said they won’t countenance. Johnson has…