The Markets

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — Egypt has approached investment banks to advise on a plan to raise as much as $7 billion from international debt markets in the first half of next year, according to people familiar with the matter. The so-called request for proposal is being sent to banks, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is confidential. The offering could include the dollar and euro-denominated bonds. Officials…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria’s telecommunications regulator ordered mobile-phone users to link their devices to their national identity numbers, raising the prospect of millions of lines being blocked. Subscribers have until Dec. 31 to comply with the requirement, the Nigerian Communications Commission said in a statement Tuesday on its website. Failure to do so will result in their phone lines being cut off in January, it said. Africa’s largest economy had about 196…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria needs to compile a solid economic-recovery plan with the right foreign-exchange policies to convince the World Bank to approve a $1.5 billion loan to support the West African nation’s budget. The government has to assure the lender’s shareholders it is doing all it can to prop up Africa’s largest economy amid the devastation brought by the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Bank country director in Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri….

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Equity strategists are making a growing case for 2021 to be a good year for South African stocks as global investors respond to the anticipated widespread availability of a coronavirus vaccine with an increased appetite for riskier assets. Local money manager Momentum Investments was the latest to add its voice on Tuesday, suggesting that “the stars are finally aligning” for the South African equity market. According to the Pretoria-based…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — For all the risks of a year-end cooling-off period, emerging-market backers can’t complain about the lie of the land right now. From the rollout of vaccination programs in some countries to rising commodity prices and the prospect of a breakthrough in U.S. stimulus talks, there are plenty of tailwinds to justify the buying spree that has sent gauges of developing-nation stocks, currencies and bonds to five straight weeks of…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s economy may only get back to pre-Covid 19 levels by 2025 and remains vulnerable to a local resurgence of the pandemic, even after exiting its longest recession in 28 years. Gross domestic product expanded an annualized 66.1% in the three months through September from the previous quarter following a 51.7% decline in the second quarter, Statistics South Africa said Tuesday in the capital, Pretoria. That was more…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — With the biggest event risk in recent memory over, Wall Street is quietly confident that systematic funds that take their cues from market swings are set to spend billions of dollars, fueling this stock rally. For this $1 trillion cohort, it all hinges on stable prices, a relative rarity during this rocky year. But lately, equities are sending the right signals. Realized volatility is starting to come down in…