Finance

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South African Airways has been denied any further funding by its government owner as the national carrier looks for ways to recover from the coronavirus crisis and a local form of bankruptcy protection. The airline’s administrators, who were put in charge in December, were told by the state to instead source cash from available resources, according to a letter they sent to affected parties and to Bloomberg News dated April 14….

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) — A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker was sued by U.S. regulators for allegedly orchestrating a bribery scheme that helped a client win a government contract to build a power plant in the Republic of Ghana. Asante Berko, 46, arranged for a Turkish energy company to funnel at least $2.5 million through a Ghana-based intermediary to government officials, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a Monday statement. Berko hid his misconduct from Goldman…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — A U.K. gourmet popcorn manufacturer can attest to why few small businesses are getting the financial aid the government is advertising. Adam Sopher, the co-founder of Joe & Seph’s, said one of the banks he’s applied to for a loan is asking him to provide a personal guarantee. That’s even after the U.K. Treasury loosened the terms of its headline aid package so that such a step wouldn’t be necessary….

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — As many as 45pc of Britons continued to visit their “workplaces” in the last few days compared to the same time a month ago, according to a vast new data set made public by Google that tracks movement on billions of people around the world. The internet search giant published data showing how people around the world are moving amid the coronavirus crisis. The Google COVID-19 Mobility Report, launched…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ryanair Holdings Plc predicted a 300 million-euro ($325 million) hit for the fiscal year that just ended because of costs arising from fuel hedges. Before the extra costs, profit for the year ended March 31 will come in as low as 950 million euros, the bottom end of its previous estimate, the Irish low-cost carrier said Friday. With its planes mostly grounded for April and May, Ryanair said it’s impossible to…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — As countries around the globe try to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, nowhere is the task more challenging and the risk greater than in the developing world. From Southeast Asia to South America, governments are struggling to enforce severe China-style lockdowns. They lack the resources to deploy the testing-heavy, tech-driven measures used by wealthier countries like Singapore and South Korea, which have had more success in keeping…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — Negative yields in the $17 trillion Treasury market is a step closer to reality after the Federal Reserve eased banking capital requirements. The move by the Fed allows banks to take on more leverage so they can absorb a lack of liquidity for Treasuries, following a turbulent few weeks. Two-year yields touched the lowest level since 2013 after the announcement, and are hovering just over 20 basis points…