The Markets | - Part 171

As Petrodollars Dry Up, Weary Angolans Ship BMWs to Portugal

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Desperate for hard currency, Angolans are coming up with new ways to convert their kwanzas into dollars and euros. Filipe Afonso got tired of waiting in line at a bank to exchange his kwanzas for greenbacks. So he bought two second-hand BMW motorcycles, shipped them to Portugal and sold them for euros to pay for his family’s expenses back home. “You do what you need to do to get…

Interswitch Nigeria Sees Delayed IPO Concluded by End-2019

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Interswitch Ltd., a Nigeria-based payments-processing company, expects to complete its delayed dual listing in London and Lagos before the end of 2019. The initial public offering to raise as much as $1 billion had been scheduled for 2016 and was delayed because equity markets were not as “favorable as we would have liked,” Interswitch’s divisional chief executive officer for switching and processing, Akeem Lawal, said in an interview. “We will…

Bitcoin’s Power Needs Are Unbelievable and Uneconomic: Macro Man

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Are you a cranky skeptic of crypto-currencies and tired of adherents promising that Bitcoin can do everything from protecting your privacy to curing the common cold? Are you dubious that it’s as scalable as its prophets claim? Perhaps in this case, the Luddites are correct. A look at the resources required to power the blockchain suggests that crypto-currencies — at least in the guise of Bitcoin — can only…

Bitcoin’s Power Needs Are Unbelievable and Uneconomic: Macro Man

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Cameroon Seeks to Improve Cocoa Bean Quality After Declines

Posted on by The Editorial Team

YAOUNDE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cameroon is taking steps to encourage farmers to grow better quality cocoa after a deterioration in last year’s crop resulted in lower prices for the country’s beans. About 90 percent of Cameroon’s cocoa exports in the season through July were classed as Grade 2, the second of three quality ratings for beans, according to Trade Minister Luc Magloire Atangana Mbarga. That compared with 97 percent previously and meant that Cameroonian…

North Korea Hackers Step Up Bitcoin Attacks Amid Sanctions

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – North Korea appears to be stepping up efforts to secure bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which could be used to avoid trade restrictions including new sanctions approved by the United Nations Security Council. Hackers from Kim Jong Un’s regime are increasing their attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea and related sites, according to anew report from security researcher FireEye Inc. They also breached an English-language bitcoin news website and collected bitcoin ransom payments from…

Kuwait Says OPEC May Decide on Extending Cuts in March 2018

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – OPEC and allied oil producers will keep reviewing options for their agreement to cut output, and a final decision on extending the deal beyond March could be postponed until the first quarter of 2018, Kuwait’s oil minister said. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will consider all its alternatives if the market doesn’t re-balance by the end of March when the cuts expire, Kuwait’s Oil Minister Issam Almarzooq said Wednesday at a…

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