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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged to intensify efforts to rebuild an economy shattered by the onset of the coronavirus, with vaccine procurement and enhanced energy security among his top priorities. The government has secured 9 million single-shot vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, with 80,000 expected to arrive next week and 500,000 over the next four weeks, Ramaphosa said in a state-of-the-nation address on Thursday. Talks are ongoing to secure sufficient…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ken Griffin’s Citadel has once again found itself at the center of a WallStreetBets drama, this time over the firm’s holdings of silver. The precious metal has become a popular buying target for retail investors keen to inflict losses on hedge funds, after posts on WallStreetBets claimed the market was ripe for a short squeeze. Yet some members of the Reddit forum have responded with pleas to avoid the trade, saying Citadel stands…

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Zambia is sounding out new investors to buy a majority stake in Mopani Copper Mines Plc after last week agreeing to take over the operations from Glencore Plc. That deal will see the government control Mopani, an asset that has been unprofitable for years but still owe $1.5 billion of debt to Glencore. Selling a majority stake would help state-owned ZCCM Investments Holdings Plcraise about $300 million to further…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — The Trump administration has imposed sanctions at a record-shattering pace of about three times a day during the president’s time in office: a slew of measures targeting companies, individuals and even oil tankers tied to Iran, North Korea, China, Venezuela and Russia. President-elect Joe Biden’s team is promising a top-to-bottom review of sanctions operations, but don’t expect a significant slowdown on his watch. About seven weeks before the inauguration, Biden’s…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The U.K. plans sweeping powers to intervene in foreign takeovers of British assets deemed a threat to national security. A draft law to be published Wednesday would expand the range of transactions open to government intervention, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said. There will be scope for fines and retroactive interventions in deals that complete after the bill’s publication — a potentially controversial provision that critics…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria, under pressure from multilateral lenders, has vowed to untangle its Byzantine foreign-exchange regime that deters investment in Africa’s biggest economy. But the slow pace of change signals the path to a single rate that could be long and confusing for investors. The collapse of oil prices in March forced the central bank to take the first step, adjusting its official currency peg against the dollar to 360 naira…