The Markets

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte was among investors that helped U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Inc. raise $300 million last year, according to people familiar with the matter. While Coinbase said it garnered investment in its October funding round from firms including Tiger Global Management, Wellington Management and Andreessen Horowitz, GIC’s participation hasn’t previously been disclosed. GIC declined to comment, while an official for Coinbase also declined to comment. With the foray into digital assets, possibly…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Blue Label Telecoms Ltd. is considering offers for potential new investment in Cell C Pty Ltd. after posting a first-half loss partly caused by its interest in South Africa’s third-largest mobile-phone company. Blue Label led a rescue of Cell C two years ago, but the move is yet to pay off as the unit struggles with debt and the dominance of larger rivals, Vodacom Group Ltd. and MTN Group Ltd….

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV said it’s on track to publish audited financial results and is entering the final stages of a debt restructuring as first-quarter sales rose 3 percent. The South African retailer, which almost collapsed amid an accounting scandal in late 2017, has sold assets and held extensive talks with lenders as it battles to stay afloat. The owner of Conforama in France and Mattress Firm in the U.S….

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean banks traded $7.7 million since the central bank effectively created a new currency that’s its allowing to be bought and sold on an interbank market, a person familiar with the matter said. The amount is part of an initial allocation of $25 million that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is providing to commercial banks to trade, the person said, declining to be identified because the information isn’t public….

CAIRO (Capital Markets in AfricaA) – Egyptian bonds have plenty of appeal as economic reforms, support from the International Monetary Fund, and a surprise interest-rate cut offer something for investors at home and abroad. Local-currency notes have returned 5 percent in February, the best gain in emerging markets, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They’ve also posted the best year-to-date and one-year performance, while the currency has recovered to its strongest level against the dollar in…

LONDON (Capital Markets in AfricaA) – Brexit continues to take a toll on the U.K., with new figures Thursday showing a fall in business confidence and continued weakness in the property market. House price-growth remained tepid in February, with values rising just 0.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Nationwide Building Society. A separate report from Lloyds showed optimism among firms at a seven-year low, while GfK said consumer confidence is still close to the weakest…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The world’s two biggest cocoa producers are considering setting a minimum price for their beans in a bid to derive more value from growing the chocolate ingredient, according to two people familiar with the matter. The industry regulators of Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana are in talks to study a price that will fall in a range of 1,700 pounds ($2,255) to 2,000 pounds per metric ton on a free-on-board basis,…