The Editorial Team |

WTO Cuts Outlook for Global Trade Growth to Lowest in a Decade

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Trade Organization cut its global trade growth forecast for this year to the weakest level in a decade, warning that further rounds of tariffs in an environment of heightened uncertainty could spark a “destructive cycle of recrimination.” The volume of merchandise trade will increase by 1.2% this year and 2.7% next year, after a 3% advance in 2018, the WTO said in a report published Tuesday. The outlook marks…

How the Hedge Funds Are Really Playing Brexit: Lionel Laurent

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – It’s hardly controversial to short the pound, but Crispin Odey and his ilk also have their eyes on a low-tax, low-regulation, no-deal Brexit paradise. Philip Hammond is officially “outside the tent,” to use Lyndon Johnson’s phrase. After losing his job as U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer and then his badge as a Conservative MP by rebelling against Boris Johnson’s hardball Brexit strategy, Hammond has kicked up an almighty stink by accusing Johnson…

Thomas Cook Collapse Risks Recovery of Africa Nation on the Mend

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BANJUL (Capital Markets in Africa) – The collapse of Thomas Cook Group Plc is jeopardizing the efforts by one of Africa’s smallest countries to revive its fortunes after the end of a dictator’s two-decade rule. The Gambia, a $1-billion West African economy surrounded by Senegal aside from its access to the Atlantic Ocean, depends on tourism for nearly a third of its gross domestic product. Thomas Cook typically flew in 45% of tourists that visited its white-sand…

What to Watch in Commodities: China, Crude, Saudi, Novak, USDA

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LAGOS(Capital Markets in Africa) – Commodity investors get to draw a line this week under what’s been an eventful quarter while assessing fresh signals about how energy, crop, and metals markets will fare into the year-end. In the U.S.-China standoff, traders will be on alert for a set-piece address from President Xi Jinping on Tuesday for hints on whether there’s much chance of a resolution. In energy, the fallout from the strikes against Saudi facilities is in…

Wells Fargo’s New York CEO Fuels Questions Over West Coast Base

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NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Wells Fargo & Co.’s interim chief Allen Parker tried to bring a New York urgency to the California bank. The new boss is bringing New York. Charlie Scharf, who three years ago left the top spot at San Francisco-based Visa Inc. to rejoin his family on the East Coast, made staying in New York a prerequisite to taking the Wells Fargo job. He’ll run the $2 trillion lenders about 3,000…

Trump Officials Play Down Reports of China Investment Limits

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NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Trump administration has issued a partial — and qualified — denial to the revelation that it is discussing imposing limits on U.S. investments in Chinese companies and financial markets as China vowed to continue opening its markets to foreign investment. Bloomberg News on Friday reported that Larry Kudlow, the head of President Donald Trump’s National Economic Council, was leading deliberations inside the White House over what some…

U.K.’s Javid Says He’ll Change Fiscal Rules to Boost Spending

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LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid says he plans to change the government’s fiscal rules to allow spending on an “infrastructure revolution” and that the time is right to take advantage of low-interest rates. Speaking on Sky News Monday, Javid indicated he’s ready to relax the existing framework, which limits structural borrowing to 2% of gross domestic product. The comments came before the chancellor’s speech at the Conservative…

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