The Markets

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., said on Twitter that he’ll pay more than $11 billion in taxes this year, an amount that could constitute a record payment to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. For those wondering, I will pay over $11 billion in taxes this year The billionaire may face a tax bill of more than $10 billion for 2021 if he…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – The big week for monetary policy is underway and market color points to nothing more than position fine-tuning until the first Federal Reserve headlines hit the wire. Or maybe, until early Wednesday morning for those intraday punters looking to make a quick run on the market. It could all prove anti-climactic in the end, especially if the Bank of England and the European Central Bank ask for more…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin is staging a comeback along with other riskier assets on Monday, bouncing back from its Black-Friday lows.  The largest digital asset rose as much as 3.4% during the session to trade around $58,266. Other coins also posted snap-backs, with the Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index adding 5.5% at one point. So-called alternative coins like Polkadot and Dogecoin gained too.  A brutal selloff Friday saw investors fleeing a number of…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s securities exchange has moved a step closer to requiring companies to start Environmental, Social and Governance, or ESG, disclosure and introducing an index for the category. The Nairobi Securities Exchange published its ESG guidance manual on Monday, with a view of aligning information reported by companies listed in Kenya with international standards. The NSE and the East African nation’s Capital Markets Authority are in discussions to introduce an ESG index…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Emerging-market currency traders will have to pick their fights carefully for the coming year after a surprisingly strong dollar and rising U.S. Treasury yields steamrolled almost everything in the developing world in 2021. With investors ramping up expectations for the Federal Reserve and other developed-market central banks to tighten policy, the likes of the Brazilian real and Hungarian forint have been weighed down by inflation and political concerns even as local…