Finance

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Unemployment in Africa’s largest economy surged to the second-highest on a global list of countries monitored by Bloomberg. The jobless rate in Nigeria rose to 33.3% in the three months through December, according to a report published by the National Bureau of Statistics on its website Monday. That’s up from 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020, the last period for which the agency released labor-force statistics. A third…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Shoprite Holdings Ltd. switched its focus firmly toward taking market share in its home market of South Africa, after opting to withdraw from Nigeria and Kenya and move more cautiously in Angola. The more guarded approach comes after the continent’s biggest supermarket chain struggled with supply disruptions and getting money out of some countries. The company is seeking to take advantage of its increased dominance of the South African…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Flutterwave Inc. said its valuation passed $1 billion after raising funds from investors including billionaire Chase Coleman’s Tiger Global Management LLC, making the payments firm the third in a spate of Africa-focused tech firms to become so-called unicorns. U.S. hedge fund Tiger was joined by New York private equity firm Avenir Growth Capital in leading the $170 million round, according to a statement on Wednesday. That took total investment…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria isn’t making it easier for foreign investors to buy into its high-yielding assets. A series of policy missteps in recent weeks highlighted some of the uncertainties investors face and raised concerns that Africa’s biggest economy is missing an opportunity created by rising oil prices to attract much-needed foreign currency. First, the country allowed fuel subsidies that have been a drain on state coffers in the past to creep back by…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — President Joe Biden is voicing support for organizing efforts at an Amazon.com Inc. warehouse in Alabama, saying workers should be able to make their own choice about whether to join a union, free from pressure and threats from the company. “Let me be really clear: It’s not up to me to decide whether anyone should join a union. But let me be even more clear: It’s not up to an employer to…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Weeks before the White House said it would keep tariffs in place on more than $350 billion in Chinese goods, Katherine Tai previewed the bad news to a group of U.S. business leaders. Tai, who is President Joe Biden’s pick for U.S. Trade Representative, told executives at a private meeting hosted by the Business Roundtable last month that lobbying for the duties to be removed wouldn’t work, according to people familiar with…

GABON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Gabon is finalizing a plan to reorganize its debt as the effects of the coronavirus and last year’s crude-price slump weigh on the oil-reliant economy. The central African government “has been working for some time with advisers handling its operations on financial markets,” Economy Minister Nicole Roboty Mbou said in an emailed response to questions. Until then, it will “continue to honor its commitments in spite of the impact…