The Markets

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe’s central bank will provide 15 percent of the foreign exchange it has available to investors seeking to repatriate proceeds from share sales and dividends. The allocation is the latest step by the authorities to overhaul its monetary system after a lack of foreign currency caused shortages of basic commodities and spawned the highest inflation rate in a decade. The government last month scrapped a quasi-currency known as bond…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)  – Commodity investors will navigate a powerful array of events this week that’ll shed light on the most pressing topics of the moment: will there be a trade deal between the U.S. and China; what’s next in energy, including priorities for behemoths Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.; and how is the outlook shaping up in global agricultural markets this year? In China, leaders gather in Beijing to detail priorities for the year as…

ABDJIAN (Capital Markets in Africa) –  Cheap valuations on West Africa’s regional stock exchange are tipped to improve its attractiveness as strength in two of the continent’s fastest-growing economies helps spur a rebound from a record slump last year. Stocks traded on the Bourse Regionale des Valeurs Mobilieres — an exchange covering seven Francophone countries and Guinea-Bissau — could be among Africa’s best performers in 2019, said Aly-Khan Satchu, chief executive officer of Nairobi-based Rich Management…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A growing divergence in Nigeria’s bond and equity markets may continue, as a president who’s wary of free markets extends his term for another for years. After Muhammadu Buhari won a resounding victory in his bid for re-election as Nigeria’s president, stocks slumped among the most in the world last week. Meanwhile, local bonds gave the biggest returns within EM, according to Bloomberg indexes. What gives? For equity investors,…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pound is outperforming peers this year and as fears of a no-deal Brexit recede, strategists see all signs pointing to more strength. There is now just a 9 percent chance that the U.K. will leave the European Union at the end of March without an agreement, according to a Bloomberg survey of banks. Much more likely is that Britain’s exit will be delayed or even that Prime Minister Theresa…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Debenhams Plc fell as the U.K. department-store chain scrapped its profit guidance after saying talks with creditors will be more disruptive than expected. It was the fourth profit warning since early 2018 for Debenhams, which stuck to plans to shut about 50 stores as it seeks a more comprehensive restructuring after securing a temporary lifeline. Options could include issuing new shares, a debt-for-equity swap or insolvency procedures. Though sales stabilized…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) –  South Africa’s rand, Turkey’s lira and Brazil’s real may be among the worst-performing emerging-market currencies in the past month, but Morgan Stanley isn’t giving up hope. The lender’s VIRP model, which produces buy and sell signals based on volatility and idiosyncratic risk premia, remains long on those units, as well as Russia’s ruble, even as a rally in developing-nation assets loses steam amid rising geopolitical risks and lingering concerns over a…