The Markets | - Part 173

Bitcoin’s Biggest Challenge? Too Many Americans Think It’s Illegal to Own

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – About 11% of respondents in a recent survey said owning bitcoin was breaking the law and close to half weren’t sure if it’s legal or not. Although 78.6% of Americans have heard of bitcoin, close to 11% think the cryptocurrency is illegal and 48% aren’t sure of its legality, according to new data from a LendEDU survey of 1,000 people. Bitcoin is, in fact, completely legal to own. But…

Dangote Cement Approaches South Africa’s PPC About Takeover

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dangote Cement Plc has approached PPC Ltd. about a takeover deal, signalling the start of a possible bidding war for South Africa’s biggest cement maker after an earlier offer led by Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Dangote has told PPC’s board that it’s interested in buying “the entire share capital,” the Lagos-based company said late Wednesday in a statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange. “This communication is still at the preliminary…

Aspen Buys Remaining Rights to AstraZeneca’s Anesthetics

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. is resuming deal making, agreeing to buy more rights to AstraZeneca Plc’s anesthetic medicines for $555 million while reporting full-year profit that beat analysts’ estimates. Earnings per share at Africa’s largest generic-drugs maker climbed 16 percent to 14.63 rand in the year through June, the Durban, South Africa-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Analysts expected 14.61 rand. Sales also increased 16 percent to 41.2 billion rand ($3.1…

As Petrodollars Dry Up, Weary Angolans Ship BMWs to Portugal

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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

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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

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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

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