The Markets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa marked his first 100 days in office this month, and it seems the honeymoon period is over for the country’s currency too. Bolstered by renewed investor confidence in Africa’s most-industrialized economy, the rand surged to a three-year high against the dollar in February, and held most of those gains for the rest of the quarter. Since then, it’s been downhill as emerging-market assets faced headwinds including rising U.S….

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Crude pared losses as cracks in a key pipeline threatened Nigerian oil exports and a schism deepened within OPEC over whether to allow more crude to flow onto global markets. Futures erased a 1.4 percent loss in New York on Monday. New leaks have been discovered in a Nigerian pipeline that’s been shut since late last week and the operator provided no estimate for when deliveries will resume. Meanwhile, Iraqjoined Iran and…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has pledged to spend money his government doesn’t have on increasing its 350,000 workers’ salaries as the country gears up for next month’s elections. Civil servants, who account for most formal jobs in the southern African country, will get 15 percent raises, while veterans of Zimbabwe’s war against white-minority rule will be awarded improved benefits, Mnangagwa said. His willingness to spend taxpayer money to bolster his support…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A unit of the South African Police Service said it’s started an investigation into an alleged cryptocurrency investment fraud that has affected more than 28,000 people and led to losses of more than 1 billion rand ($80.4 million). The allegations involve “BitCaw Trading Company, commonly known as BTC Global,” the police unit said in an emailed statement on Friday. “Members of the public are believed to have been targeted as part…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – For every rout, there’s a buyer — or a least that’s what it looks like now for some emerging-market money managers after a selloff erased most of this year’s gains. BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Asset Management International and Payden & Rygel Investment Counsel say they’re betting on a rebound now that valuations have left some assets a lot cheaper than January. The price-to-earnings ratio of the MSCI Emerging Markets…