Features

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s state-owned power utility will implement controlled blackouts for a sixth straight day to prevent a total collapse of the electricity grid amid a shortage of capacity. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. is racing to bring generating units back online after suffering outages last week that were compounded by a loss of power imports from neighboring Mozambique as a result of a cyclone. The staggered power cuts, aimed at reducing…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – In the past 24 hours, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosahad to apologize for the poor state of the country’s infrastructure before having first-hand experience of just how bad it is. On Sunday, he spoke to the national broadcaster on the sidelines of an election campaign appearance in the northern town of Mahikeng to say sorry for some of the most severe power cuts South Africans have yet experienced. The next…

Over 300 BFSI industry gurus were a part of the Africa BFSI Innovation Summit 2019 that took place on the 19 – 20 February 2019 at the Mövenpick Hotel & Residences Nairobi, Kenya. The event started off with the Director – Partnerships, Innovation and Capacity Development of Kenya ICT Authority, Eunice Kariuki, inaugurating the event and delivering the keynote speech. Day 1 saw a number of presentations and panel discussions by industry experts like Sriram…

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Lawmakers are offering their votes to prospective senators in the Democratic Republic of Congo for as much as $50,000 apiece, according to candidates who’ve quit before the election is held on Friday. The allegations raise the prospect of further discord in the world’s biggest cobalt producer two months after a disputed vote installed former opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi as president. Runner-up Martin Fayulu said the Dec. 30 presidential and parliamentary polls…

ALGEIRS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Algerians thronged streets nationwide in some of the biggest anti-government protests since they began three weeks ago, signaling their rejection of regime attempts to appease the anger and piling pressure on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to immediately end his two-decade rule. The largely peaceful demonstrations in the OPEC member that began Feb. 22 were initially called to force the ailing 82-year-old leader not to seek a fifth term in office in an…

BENIN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Benin’s main opposition said it wants the electoral body as well as the justice minister to resign over its exclusion from legislative elections due next month as the West African nation faces its worst political crisis since 1990. The electoral commission has “lost all credibility” since it decided earlier this month to only allow two parties loyal to President Patrice Talon to participate in the vote, opposition spokesman Guy Mitokpe told…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Power and carbon prices across Europe may rally if U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May succeeds in getting Parliament to approve a deal for leaving the European Union this month, according to Alfa Energy Ltd. Britain is a key member of the EU’s emissions trading system, and the risk of Brexit without agreement has weighed on carbon prices in recent weeks. Relieving that risk may push the cost of those allowances higher…