The Markets

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in AfricaA)  – At their peak, Kenya’s Uchumi Supermarkets Plc, retailer Deacons East Africa Plc, Mumias Sugar Co. and Eveready East Africa Ltd. were market leaders in their industries and well-known brands in East Africa’s largest economy. Today, the companies are penny stocks. Uchumi has lost 97 percent of its value in the past five years and slumped to a fresh record low in Nairobi Wednesday. Deacons and Mumias shares trade at less…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The story of how two prospectors, down to their last nickels, discovered diamonds in Canada’s frozen north is the stuff of legend. Back in 1982, Chuck Fipke and Stewart Blusson laid low in a pup tent by day while their competitor De Beers hauled 45-gallon drums of rock samples to a nearby outpost for transport to South Africa. Using the long hours of summer sunlight north of the 65th parallel, the two searched…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Nigeria’s biggest grower of the sweetener, said illegal, low-quality imports are putting pressure on its selling price while a traffic gridlock around its production site in Lagos is hampering delivery of goods to customers. “Sales and production volumes were constrained’’ in 2018 because of “these challenges,’’ the company said in emailed presentation. It plans to “work with the regulatory agencies to compact smuggled sugar’’ this…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Oil in New York headed for the longest weekly winning streak since November 2017 as crises from Venezuela to Libya threatened supplies, while optimism over U.S.-China trade talks buoyed the outlook for demand. West Texas Intermediate futures were little changed, poised for a fifth weekly increase. OPEC cut production for a fourth month in March, while supply risks are mounting in member nations exempt from the strategy. Power failures that plagued Venezuela…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – IHS Holding Ltd. plans to enter new markets in the Middle East and Southeast Asia to bulk up ahead of a potential attempt to sell shares in either New York or London. Africa’s largest operator of the telecommunications towers is looking to build on two recent deals in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Chief Executive Officer Sam Darwish said by phone. “We are actively looking to add additional towers from the gulf area…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – However worried investors may be about IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde’s warning on the global economic outlook, there was little sign of it in today’s emerging markets, which were clearly taking their cue from a report that the U.S.-China trade dispute may be closer to ending and a stronger-than-forecast China services PMI. There were few losers in the currency markets, average dollar-bond spreads were a touch narrower and a firmly green…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The latest spike to $5,000 is just another blip as cryptocurrencies stumble toward maturity. Bitcoin spiked briefly above $5,000 on Tuesday, a level it hasn’t reached since it crashed spectacularly in November. The surge pulled up other cryptocurrencies, too. But have no fear of missing out: Whatever the explanation, there’s no good reason to turn bullish on crypto. If you go to crypto websites or follow the market’s opinion leaders on Twitter, it’s…