The Editorial Team |

Trump Says ‘We Have Prevailed’ in Testing as Deaths Top 80,000

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) — President Donald Trump declared Monday at a White House news conference on the coronavirus outbreak that “we have prevailed,” as U.S. deaths from the disease exceeded 80,000 — a remark he later said pertained only to testing for the infection. “Thanks to the courage of our citizens and our aggressive strategy, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved,” Trump said. “In every generation, through every challenge and…

Risks Abound in Emerging Markets as Traders Grapple With Shocks

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — If the first week of the month is anything to go by, the sell-in-May mantra looks set to continue in emerging markets. Despite optimism that the U.S.-China trade-war truce will broadly hold, last week was a losing one for both stocks and currencies, while local bonds were little changed. And the list of uncertainties in the week ahead is likely to ensure caution remains in the driving seat. China’s central bank said on the…

IMF Approves $2.8 Billion Emergency Financing to Back Egypt

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — The International Monetary Fund approved $2.77 billion in emergency funding for Egypt as the Arab world’s most populous nation grapples with the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The borrowing under the lender’s Rapid Financing Instrument comes after Egypt last month requested it and a stand-by agreement to help cover any current-account gaps. “Egypt achieved a remarkable turnaround prior to the COVID-19 shock, carrying out a successful economic reform program supported…

AB InBev Agrees Deal With South Africa to Transport Excess Beer

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Anheuser-Busch InBev NV received the go-ahead from the South African government to transport drinks from manufacturing plants to depots, avoiding the need to dump millions of liters of beer and saving the government 500 million rand ($27 million) in lost taxes. South Africa has banned the sale and movement of alcoholic drinks as part of measures to contain the coronavirus, and the restriction was kept in place even after…

Debt Relief Stigma Risks Hurting, Not Aiding Neediest Nations

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — When African ministers held a video conference call to discuss debt relief last week, the same concern kept cropping up: how to cut the payments without jeopardizing future access to markets. One African Finance Minister, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of negotiations, said creditors may victimize his country if he is too vocal about a waiver in public. Benin’s Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni has argued the…

Executives Warn Lockdown May Damage South Africa More Than Virus

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — Business leaders are ratcheting up pressure on South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to reopen the economy more swiftly, warning that the devastation wreaked by a lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus could exceed the damage caused by the pandemic itself. Africa’s most industrialized economy was brought to a near halt on March 27 as the government sought to prevent a surge of infections swamping an already…

Virus Could Scupper Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda for Kenya

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) — Halfway through Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s second term his pledge of transforming the economy through manufacturing, farming, health care, and low-cost housing has been slow to show results, and the coronavirus pandemic could now reduce that too little more than an election promise. The virus is hitting revenue collection as key drivers such as agriculture, tourism, and diaspora remittances decline, and debt costs rise for East Africa’s biggest economy….

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