Foreign Investors Shun South African Gold Stocks on Virus Fears

Foreign Investors Shun South African Gold Stocks on Virus Fears

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Not even a record rally can entice foreign investors to South African gold stocks. With gold prices soaring on the heels of monetary stimulus, shares in producers of the metal are back in favor around the world. But investors are fretting about supply disruptions at South Africa’s mines as a result of soaring Covid-19 infections, according to Benguela Global Fund Managers Ltd. Non-residents sold a net 2.1 billion rand ($128 million) of…

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Ghana to Re-Issue Bonds to Bail Out Cash-Strapped Money Managers

Ghana to Re-Issue Bonds to Bail Out Cash-Strapped Money Managers

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ghana’s fund managers, unable to access deposits tied-up in failed banks, will receive bonds directly from the government to boost liquidity, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. Money managers have been struggling to meet withdrawal requests from customers, cover their costs, or make fresh investments. Their funds are locked up in second-tier lenders that lost their licenses after regulators last year clamped down on smaller…

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Commonwealth Seeks Urgent Freeze on All Developing Nations’ Debt

Commonwealth Seeks Urgent Freeze on All Developing Nations’ Debt

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Many small, vulnerable states are missing out on debt relief and financial support to help weather damage from the coronavirus pandemic because of outdated eligibility criteria, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said, calling for an “urgent” moratorium on external debt repayments for all developing countries. The rules to qualify for support from bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and for the Group of 20’s debt suspension initiative are based…

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Tesla Congo Cobalt Deal Means Millions for Sanctioned Gertler

Tesla Congo Cobalt Deal Means Millions for Sanctioned Gertler

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Elon Musk may help sanctioned Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler get a little richer. Tesla Inc., the company Musk runs, struck a deal last month with Glencore Plc to buy as much as 6,000 tons of cobalt annually for use in the rechargeable batteries that power its electric vehicles. Glencore, in turn, is obligated to pay Gertler about 2.5% of sales from its mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo – royalty rights he…

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Kenya’s Shilling Drops to Record After Virus Restrictions Ease

Kenya’s Shilling Drops to Record After Virus Restrictions Ease

NAIROBI(Capital Markets in Africa) — The Kenyan shilling slipped to a record low amid increased corporate demand for dollars following the lifting of some government restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus. The currency of East Africa’s largest economy weakened 0.1% to 107.98 per dollar by 10:15 a.m. in the capital, Nairobi, after earlier breaching 108 for the first time. Should it end the day at that level, it would be its lowest…

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Africa Starts to Have Second Thoughts About That Chinese Money

Africa Starts to Have Second Thoughts About That Chinese Money

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Dipak Patel can still recall the dizzying grandeur of his 2003 visit to Beijing’s cavernous Great Hall of the People: the rows of stern guards all the same height, the state dinner that included stewed shark fin and bird’s nest soup, and the People’s Liberation Army band playing songs from Patel’s native Zambia—even singing in one of the African country’s scores of dialects. As Zambia’s minister of commerce at…

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Trump’s Portland Surge Stokes Tensions and Opens New Legal Clash

Trump’s Portland Surge Stokes Tensions and Opens New Legal Clash

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — President Donald Trump is escalating tensions with state and local authorities by seeking to deploy more federal agents into cities gripped by protests and spikes in crime, a policy that appeals to his base ahead of the election but faces legal challenges. Twice in recent days, Trump has said he wants more federal law enforcement officers sent to cities such as Chicago and New York following the dispatch…

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