The Markets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Futuregrowth Asset Management, South Africa’s biggest specialist fixed-income money manager, said it didn’t tell Transnet SOC Ltd. to remove Chief Executive Officer Siyabonga Gama after the state-owned rail and ports operator said auditors couldn’t give its 2018 financial results a clean bill of health. “The Futuregrowth team has had continuing engagements as a lender to Transnet over many months,” Chief Investment Officer Andrew Canter said in an emailed statement late Monday. “Those discussions…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Sterling slumped more than 4 percent in the past three months, spurring a slew of forecast cuts by analysts amid rising risks that the U.K. will tumble out of the European Union without an economic deal. Still, pound bulls are keeping the faith, with Investec Bank Plc estimating that the two sides will reach an agreement by year-end, while ECU Group Plc sees long-term value in the currency. The pound is…

KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. is facing pressure to list its unit in Uganda as Africa’s largest mobile-phone company seeks to renew a license in the country. While selling shares on the local bourse isn’t a pre-condition for the granting of a new 10-year contract, the East African nation wants “Ugandans to be part of the company,” according to Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director of the country’s telecommunications regulator. MTN’s current license expires…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A sell-off in emerging-market assets sparked by Turkey’s currency woes have pushed yields on South African rand bonds to levels where some investors see value. The yield on benchmark government rand bonds due December 2026 has snaked above 9 percent twice since Monday as markets also digested downbeat assessments of South Africa’s economy from Moody’s Investors Service and the South African Reserve Bank. By Friday they were higher than before Tuesday’s government bond…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Expanding utility of Bitcoin as an emerging-markets currency diversifier and store-of-value is playing out with the Turkish lira’s August swoon. Despite weakness in cryptocurrencies and gold, Bitcoin is showing resilience. It may be another failed bounce but still indicates greater integration of Bitcoin into global markets.  Bitcoin, New Currency Diversifier vs. Gold Declining gold in U.S. dollar terms vs. rallying Bitcoin, coincident with the weekend plunge in the Turkish…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – If you want to buy Bitcoin without actually buying Bitcoin, you now have another way to own the controversial digital currency. No, it’s not the U.S. exchange-traded fund investors have been touting as a catalyst for demand for the embattled virtual money. It’s an exchange-traded note, and starting Wednesday, investors can buy it more easily even though it’s technically listed and regulated in Sweden. The product, called Bitcoin Tracker One, is now…