Finance

 NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — President Joe Biden laid out what he called a “bold” plan to rebuild U.S. infrastructure, but now needs an equally ambitious effort to wrangle it through Congress in the face of Republican opposition and criticism from within his Democratic Party. Biden, in a speech Wednesday in Pittsburgh, invoked the great public investments of the past — the transcontinental railroad, the interstate highway system and the space program —…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — Egypt said it may seek around $1 billion in compensation after a giant container vessel blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week and roiled shipping markets. The figure is a rough estimate of losses linked to transit fees, damage to the waterway during the dredging and salvage efforts, and the cost of equipment and labor, the Suez Canal Authority’s chief executive officer, Osama Rabie, said late Wednesday to…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The historic union election at an Amazon.com Inc. fulfillment center in Alabama concludes on Monday, setting in motion a vote count that organizers expect will be contentious and take a few days. As many as 5,800 workers at the facility in Bessemer were eligible to vote to join the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union. The hard-fought mail-in election that began seven weeks ago attracted national attention — President Joe…

NEW YORK(Bloomberg) — President Joe Biden this week will reveal the scope and ambition of his plans to expand and reorient the U.S. government, setting the stage for a bitter fight on Capitol Hill that could define his presidency. Biden will unveil the framework for a major infrastructure-and-jobs program on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, and later in the week offer the first glimpse of his 2022 budget — which promises to redirect federal funds to areas…

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) — An insurgent attack on a Mozambican town near a $20 billion liquefied natural gas project that Total SE is building left dozens of people dead and state infrastructure destroyed, the government said. The attackers, who Defense Ministry spokesman Omar Saranga called terrorists, aimed to threaten the development of the energy projects, he told reporters Sunday in Maputo, the capital. Insurgents on March 24 attacked the coastal town of Palma,…

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) saw foreign direct investment (FDI) activity reach a decade-high in 2020, countering a crunch seen across emerging markets caused by the pandemic. The country attracted 12 greenfield foreign investment projects last year, up from five in 2019, matching its decade-high seen in 2011, according to data from investment tracker fDi Markets. This increase in activity is counter to the 45% decline in greenfield FDI projects…