Finance

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. plans to reduce its foreign-exchange spending in Nigeria, its biggest market, and pay more of its costs in the local currency to reduce its exposure to exchange-rate volatility. A recent decision by the Central Bank of Nigeria to devalue the naira by 7.6% against the dollar to 410.7 has had a major impact on the business, Africa’s biggest wireless carrier said in a statement on Friday,…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – President Joe Biden dismissed concerns that the U.S. would experience persistent inflation as the economy emerges from the pandemic while cautioning that restaurants and others in the hospitality sector might take longer to recover. “There will be near-term inflation” because the economy is picking back up, Biden said Wednesday night at a CNN town hall in Cincinnati. But most economists believe that “it’s highly unlikely that it’s going…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — An Egyptian court upheld a ruling preventing the giant container ship that blocked the Suez Canal from leaving the country, after authorities sought more than $900 million in compensation from the owners. The decision was announced Tuesday by a court in the canal-side city of Ismailia, following a legal appeal. The 400-meter-long Ever Given is owned by Japan’s Shoei Kisen Kaisha Ltd. and was being chartered by Taiwan’s Evergreen Line when…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Biden administration’s plan to pursue a 50% reduction in U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 is hugely encouraging. It’s already spurred other nations, including Canada and Japan, to adopt more aggressive plans of their own. But global progress in the coming decades will hinge on what happens in developing nations, especially India and China, now the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. There’s another looming problem, too. In a…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.K. tax office will begin demanding information on cryptocurrency holdings from individuals suspected of tax avoidance or evasion. Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs is set to update its “Statement of Assets” form, which all individuals being investigated must fill out, a spokeswoman for HMRC said Wednesday. “We take robust action to make sure that everyone pays the tax due—from individuals operating in the hidden economy through to action…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — Joe Biden took the riskiest step of his presidency with a call for higher taxes on the wealthy to fund a massive investment in the nation’s social safety net, betting he could sell the American public on sweeping change following a pandemic that exacerbated economic and social divides. Biden devoted his first address to a joint session of Congress to a call for “a once-in-a-generation investment in our…