The Markets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Naspers Ltd., Africa’s biggest company by market value and soon to be one of Europe’s largest listed technology companies, is investing more of its $10-billion cash-pile in educational platforms. The Cape Town-based company has led the latest $30 million investment round in Brainly, a U.S. startup that allows learners to help each other with homework problems in different parts of the world. The students earn points for the quality…

LONDON (Capiatla Markets in Africa) – Vodafone Group Plc shares gained the most in more than a decade on the phone carrier’s plan to carve out its towers business and consider an initial public offering or minority stake sale of the new unit. The stock rose as much as 10.4%, the biggest intraday jump since November 2008, after the carrier announced plans to separate Europe’s largest towers portfolio alongside financial results that beat expectations. The business,…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian stocks have next to no chance of success when they’re competing for capital against one of the emerging world’s highest bond yields. Weighed down by concern over Nigeria’s economic growth, the prospect of rising bad loans at banks and thinning profit margins, stock inflows have slowed, despite valuations near the cheapest since 2011. That contrasts with the billions pouring into government bonds, which yield 14% on average. Even though Nigerian stocks…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Facebook Inc. agreed to pay a record $5 billion to resolve a U.S. investigation into years of privacy violations, a settlement that increases the board of directors’ responsibility for protecting users’ data while changing little about the company’s lucrative advertising business. The agreement, announced Wednesday by the Federal Trade Commission, will for the first time end Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg’s final authority over privacy decisions, creating an independent privacy committee…

LOME (Capital Markets in Africa) – Togo is preparing to raise 500 million euros ($564 million) in its first sale of international bonds as demand for emerging-market securities issued in the currency soars, according to people familiar with the matter. The government has been weighing options to refinance more expensive debt, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. While authorities previously thought syndicated loans would be the cheapest…

TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tunisia is tapping the euro-debt market for the second time in nine months, tempting investors with 2019’s highest yield for a sovereign bond in the single currency. The north African nation is offering a benchmark-sized seven-year note at about 6.875% following investor meetings in Europe and the U.S., according to a person familiar with the matter, who isn’t authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be identified. It raised 500…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pound slumped to a two-year low as signs of economic downturn mounted in a market increasingly betting that policy makers will have to cut borrowing costs. The currency reached its weakest level since April 2017 as disappointing retail sales and suggestions that the U.K. economy could be set for its worst quarter since 2012 sapped sentiment. The bleak economic outlook is adding to risk factors for sterling, with money markets pricing in…