The Markets

JOHANNESBURG(Capital Markers in Africa) – Old Mutual Ltd. is in the spotlight again for all the wrong reasons. The 174-year-old insurer was forced to apologize after a grieving family brought a corpse to one of its branches so the company would process a claim for funeral payments. The episode comes as a public spat with the company’s fired chief executive officer drags on. “We are deeply sorry for the delay,” Old Mutual said in a statement…

NEW WORK(Capital Markers in Africa) – Pricing a bond that never matures is one of the more straightforward tasks in all of finance. Divide the annual interest rate by its prevailing yield and — voilà — price. But if negative interest rates are really here to stay, well then, things could get crazy real quick. That, at least, is the conclusion of former Long-Term Capital Management co-founder Victor Haghani. In a report published by his current firm, ElmPartners, Haghani and his…

LAGOS (Capital Markers in Africa) – Commodities trader Trafigura Group Ltd. had contacts with an ex-Israeli Defence Forces officer who was later sanctioned by the U.S. over alleged arms sales in South Sudan, according to a report by a Swiss NGO. Trafigura’s head of oil trading, Jose Larocca, were sent an invitation letter in 2017, from the office of the President of the Republic of South Sudan, which referenced discussions between the trading house and the…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – London’s office landlords keep being surprised that things aren’t a lot worse. Demand for office space in the U.K. capital is holding up even as political uncertainty persists in a nation gripped by its decision to leave the European Union. Businesses have continued to lease space despite the prospect of a general election that’s pitted the Brexit-backing Conservative party against a Labour opposition that’s committed to a radical policy program that…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana will ramp up spending by a fifth next year as it prepares for an election in 13 months. Total expenditure, including the clearance of arrears, is projected at 85.9 billion cedis ($15.5 billion), 21% more than the projected outcome for 2019, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta told lawmakers in his budget presentation on Wednesday. Wages and salaries will make up 27% of that. Capital spending is projected at 9.3 billion cedis,…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Pound traders are holding on to Brexit optimism as talks toward a Brexit deal remain stuck over the contentious Irish border. Sterling touched a five-month high Wednesday after surging the most since 2008 in the past four days as an end to the Brexit saga appeared to be in sight. The currency swung between losses and gains as the Democratic Unionist Party denied reports it may support some of…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Foreigners have deserted the Lagos stock market and “hostile” domestic policies combined with a gloomy outlook for the Nigerian economy suggest there is little chance they will return soon. The country’s benchmark stock index has slumped 16% this year in local-currency terms, the third-worst performance worldwide among 94 markets tracked by Bloomberg as of Friday. That follows an 18% retreat in 2018. Investors have been frustrated at the slow pace of…