The Markets | - Part 161

Bets on Ramaphosa Sweeten South African Stocks Rally as Risk Wanes

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Buoyant commodities and a weaker currency have already made South African stocks a tasty treat for investors. Now, some are betting on politics to add to the flavour. Advancing raw-material prices and the rand’s plunge to the lowest level this year boosted exporters’ shares, sending the benchmark gauge in Johannesburg to a record. Yet, some money managers have remained doubtful on how far the rally could go given President…

Traders Aren’t Yet Calling an End to Nigeria’s Naira Problem

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian officials are increasingly confident the naira’s troubles are over for good. Some investors disagree. Portfolio inflows have risen in the past three months with crude prices increasing above $60 a barrel and money managers taking heart from a new foreign-exchange trading window, in which the naira has converged with the black-market rate. That prompted central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele and Patience Oniha, the head of the nation’s Debt Management Office, to tell…

Diamond Bank Sells West African Units for 61 Million Euros

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian lender Diamond Bank Plc sold the majority stake in its units in four West African countries as it seeks to shore up capital and focus on the home market. Manzi Finances SA, based in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, bought 97 percent of Diamond Bank’s ownership of units in that country as well as Benin, Togo, and Senegal for 61 million euros ($71 million), according to a filing on Friday to the…

CME’s Bitcoin Foray Has Three Plausible Outcomes: Aaron Brown

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cryptocurrencies are valued at $182 billion, but probably only a couple of billion dollars of that is actual investment. CME Group announced plans to offer a bitcoin futures contract this year. This brings it in line with Cboe Global Markets, which announced similar plans in August, and LedgerX, which began trading in bitcoin options and day-ahead swaps two weeks ago. These contracts are important steps toward integrating bitcoin with…

Ghana Bond: A Guide to the 19.5% Debt Ghana Can’t Get Yield Hunters to Buy

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana is having a hard time selling $820 million of local-currency debt. They aren’t sovereign notes, which is part of the problem. The second-biggest economy in West Africa attracted just a quarter of the 3.6 billion cedis of 10-year bonds up for sale last week at about 19.5 percent. Investors were willing to take on 2.4 billion cedis of seven-year notes paying just half a percentage point lower. The…

Argentina’s Biggest Futures Market Plans to Join Bitcoin Party

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Argentina, one of the fastest nations to adopt bitcoin, wants to stay at the forefront of the cryptocurrency market. The most important futures market in the country, the Mercado de Termino de Rosario, known as Rofex, is considering offering services for investors in digital currencies. Conversations, which started six months ago, and preliminary drafts include offering custody services for the digital asset and the possibility for clients to use bitcoin…

Bitcoin Is `Very Definition’ of a Bubble, Credit Suisse CEO Says

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The speculation around bitcoin is the “very definition of a bubble,” Credit Suisse Group AG Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam said as the currency exceeded $7,000 for the first time. Bankers are steering clear of bitcoin out of concern that criminals could use its anonymity to hide their activities, he said Thursday at a news conference in Zurich. “Most banks in the current state of regulation have little or no appetite to get…

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