The Markets

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – For investors who doubted Zimbabwe would let market forces determine the price of its new currency, there’s some evidence it’s doing just that. The southern African nation’s central bank has allowed the currency, known as RTGS, to slide to 2.6481 per dollar this week, taking its depreciation since trading started on Feb. 22 to 5.6 percent. That marks a change from the previous fortnight, when it was stuck at almost exactly…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.K. will avoid imposing tariffs on most imported goods in the event of a no-deal Brexit, though officials said prices of key European Union products including beef, cheese and cars will rise. The government said Wednesday its “balanced approach” aims to offset a spike in prices that consumers would experience in a no-deal departure as a result of the falling pound and higher costs of imports. But a…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – We may have to add Algeria to the growing list of OPEC countries whose oil production is suffering involuntary declines, expanding the so-called “Fragile Five” to a “Shaky Six” if protests in the North African country start to disrupt the flow of oil. Five OPEC countries — Angola, Iran, Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela — are already experiencing unplanned production declines as a result of under-investment to offset natural declines,…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. plans to push ahead with an initial public offering of its Nigerian unit once Africa’s biggest wireless carrier resolves a $2 billion tax dispute in the country. When the tax matter has been settled, “the board can assign a value to the company and we do an IPO,” spokesman Tobechukwu Okigbo told reporters in Lagos on Wednesday. “It is difficult to put a value on it when…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The dollar-bond market remains unruffled by what could become a torrent of new-bond sales from African governments: the yields are far too attractive to worry about excess supply for now. A measure of African sovereign dollar-bond yields headed for the biggest two-day drop in a month even as governments from South Africa to Ghana were testing the water for potential bond sales. Still, the gauge hovered above its 10-year average, acting as a…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghanaian officials are preparing to meet fixed-income investors in the U.S. and London this week as they look to issue a $3 billion Eurobond. It could be a tough sales pitch. An offering from the West African nation’s government may well be imminent, but only if officials are satisfied with the price that traders demand. That’s a big if, given Ghana’s battle with the world’s weakest currency this year, and concerns…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pound slid in a swift turn of fortunes on speculation that a revised Brexit deal negotiated overnight won’t pass Parliament. Sterling fell more than 1 percent after U.K. Attorney General Geoffrey Cox said that legal risks remained over the Irish backstop, damping the prospect of Prime Minister Theresa May garnering enough support from lawmakers in a vote Tuesday. U.K. government bonds erased an earlier decline. “Sterling has been knocked back on the news that…