The Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Nigerian Stock Exchange will start clearing and settlement of exchange-traded derivative products in the second quarter of next year as it seeks to deepen the financial market of Africa’s biggest crude producer. The Lagos-based bourse has obtained approval in principle from the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate NG Clearing Ltd., a central counterparty clearing house, it said in an emailed response to questions on Tuesday. The company…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) — Kenya Airways Plc needs at least $500 million to ride out the coronavirus crisis after first-half revenue plunged almost 50%, Chief Executive Officer Allan Kilavuka said in an interview. The carrier, which is 49% state owned, must also be fully nationalized alongside Kenya Airports Authority, which runs the Nairobi hub, under a holding structure similar to that of regional leader Ethiopian Airlines Group, he said. “If we don’t restructure the airline,…

LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) — Chinese and Spanish developers that want to build Africa’s biggest hydropower plant in the Democratic Republic of Congo agreed to form a single consortium in an accord the country says is a key step to realizing the plan. The $14 billion dams is part of a long-delayed project known as Grand Inga that’s eventually intended to harness as much as 40,000 megawatts of power from the Congo River. Inga III…

HARARE(Capital Markets in Africa) — Zimbabwe shut down its stock market and then ejected the continent’s oldest insurer from the bourse. Now it’s hoping to entice investors to a new exchange with a plan to package equity purchases with political-risk cover. Justin Bgoni, who is setting up the foreign-currency-only market at the iconic Victoria Falls near the Zambian border, knows it’s a tough sell. As chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, he had to…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Federal Reserve and other central banks are heading for a collision with shadow lenders — the firms with a sinister nickname that are increasingly dominating global finance. Even as policymakers struggle to reopen their economies in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, they’ve launched a review of what went wrong with markets in March, when a worldwide dash for cash by investors nearly crashed the financial system and…

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Angola’s Eurobonds fell the most in three weeks as a postponed International Monetary Fund meeting raised concern that the southern African nation may face obstacles to obtaining a bigger loan from the institution. The IMF executive board meeting, which had been scheduled for Thursday, was delayed to give the fund more time to work with Angolan authorities, a spokesperson for the Washington-based organization said, without providing more details. The…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — With the dollar heading into what is traditionally its best month of the year, the outlook for South Africa’s rand has taken a turn for the worse. The world’s second-most volatile currency has weakened during August in four of the past five years, for an average decline of 5.3%, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The dollar, by contrast, has gained on average 0.4% in August against a basket…