The Markets

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — As if the struggle to secure its meager supplies of Covid-19 vaccines wasn’t bad enough, Africa is now having a hard time getting people to take them. Only 5.22 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa have been vaccinated, a region with a population of about a billion. From suspicions about Chinese-made vaccines in Zimbabwe and conspiracy theories in Ivory Coast about Covid-19 being “a planned event by foreign actors” to Somalia, where the Islamist…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Wall Street bears battered by the Reddit crowd earlier this year have yet to regain their gumption, even with stocks at records and valuations near two-decade highs. The median short interest in members of the S&P 500 sits at just 1.6% of market value, near a 17-year low, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. In Europe, a short-covering frenzy has sent bearish bets collapsing like never before in Morgan…

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — A drop in cryptocurrency-linked stocks in the wake of Bitcoin’s slide and Coinbase Global Inc.’s choppy debut is stirring a rallying cry from optimists who reject fears that the sector has peaked. A global, Bloomberg-curated basket of equities linked to crypto trading or Bitcoin mining fell some 9% over the past week, paring 2021’s climb to about 130%. A weekend Bitcoin plunge rattled crypto mania, but the token has since…

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — The Bitcoin rollercoaster is back. The cryptocurrency fell by as much as 15% Sunday with rival coins like Ether and XRP also plunging. The retreat came after Bitcoin hit a record high of more than $64,000 Wednesday as the stock-market debut of the U.S.’s largest exchange for the tokens, Coinbase Global Inc., stoked enthusiasm for all things crypto. While prices steadied on Monday with Bitcoin holding just below $57,000, that’s…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigerian companies are paying more to borrow in capital markets, signaling an end to the era of low rates which many issuers took advantage of to refinance higher-cost debt. Firms including MTN Nigeria and Nigerian Breweries have been forced to raise the rates offered on new debt issues due to “aggressive bids” by investors seeking higher yields, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, said in a note to clients on Tuesday….

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.K. economy rebounded in February as a mass vaccination program and the prospect of a loosening of coronavirus restrictions lifted consumer confidence. Gross domestic product rose 0.4% following a revised 2.2% decline in January, the Office for National Statistics said Tuesday. All the main sectors of the economy saw output rise. The economy remains 7.8% smaller than it was before the pandemic hit Britain in February 2020. Britain is…