The Markets

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe has been asked to settle a $70 million debt after it lost an international arbitration case over canceled nickel and platinum ventures between a private company and the state miner more than a decade ago.  Companies linked to Amaplat Mauritius Ltd. made the proposal in a Sept. 15 letter to Zimbabwe’s Secretary for Finance and Economic Development, George Guvamatanga, seen by Bloomberg.  The alternative is having the assets of…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – China banned all crypto transactions and vowed to stop illegal crypto mining, delivering the toughest blow yet to the trillion-dollar industry.  Crypto-related transactions will be considered illicit financial activity, including services provided by off-shore exchanges, the People’s Bank of China said on its website. It added that cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Tether, are not fiat currency and cannot be circulated.   It’s the harshest step yet that China’s taken against…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin, Ether and other digital tokens tumbled as China intensified its push to rein in crypto speculation and mining.  Bitcoin fell 7.8% to $41,220 as of 7:41 a.m. in New York. The losses were more severe in other coins, with Ether, EOS, Litecoin and Dash all falling more than 7%. Crypto-related stocks also came under pressure, with Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. tumbling 6% in U.S. pre-market trading.  China’s central bank…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.S. stocks had their worst weekly outflow in more than three years as investors turned to more defensive assets amid mounting risks from tapering and China Evergrande Group’s debt crisis. Traders pulled $28.6 billion from U.S. equity funds in the week through Sept. 22, the largest redemption since February 2018, according to a Bank of America Corp. note, which cited EPFR Global data. Instead, they piled about $40…

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa grower, says a premium put in place to boost the livelihoods of their farmers will not change from its current form. “We now consider the LID to be part of the commercial life of cocoa,” Yves Kone, the managing director of regulator Le Conseil du Cafe Cacao, said during an interview in the commercial capital, Abidjan, late Wednesday. The so-called Living Income Differential, an…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya increased the cost of gasoline to the highest in a decade after authorities decided not to tap a fund meant to keep prices stable and as the local currency weakened. The price of gasoline jumped 6% to 134.72 shillings ($1.23) per liter in the nation’s capital, Nairobi, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority announced in a statement on Tuesday. The new rates will be effective for a month…