The Editorial Team

IFC, FMO-Backed Fund Seeks $200 Million for East Africa Ventures

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zoscales Partners AG, a private equity fund that invests in small and medium enterprises in East Africa, has begun a $200 million fundraising round whose first close is scheduled in the second half of this year and final one in 2023. The International Finance Corp. and the Dutch development bank, FMO, invested in the first round that raised $75 million and may participate in the new one, whose proceeds will target…

Algeria One of Africa’s First to Pay Jobless as Oil Income Soars

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ALGIER (Capital Markets in Africa) – Algeria became one of the first countries in Africa to start a permanent unemployment-benefits program for its young population, as surging energy prices give the OPEC member more firepower to tackle social unrest. About 580,000 job-seekers between 19 and 40 years of age are eligible to collect monthly payments of 13,000 dinars ($91) from the state starting Monday, according to the National Employment Agency. While a tiny fraction of…

Ghana Eyes Economic Rebound as It Opens Land and Sea Borders

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana expects an economic rebound as it moves to open land and sea borders to mark the end of Covid-19 restrictions imposed at the beginning of the pandemic. “It has been a difficult two years for all of us, and we are seeing light at the end of a very long tunnel,” President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a televised broadcast Sunday. “I assure you that, sooner rather than later, our economy…

Bitcoin Stealth Rally Camouflaged by a Renewal of Risk Appetite

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – A stealth rally in cryptocurrencies is currently underway. Investors can’t be faulted for having missed an 8% breakout in Bitcoin over the past week — a string of listless daily moves by the digital coin camouflaged a big upward swing that’s happened just as U.S. stocks are also attempting to emerge from a recent downturn. “There is a positive correlation between stocks and Bitcoin since last year and that never…

Thailand Bars Use of Cryptocurrencies as a Method of Payment

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Thailand will bar the use of cryptocurrencies as a means of payments for goods and services, saying the wider use of digital assets threatens the nation’s financial system and economy. Business operators — including crypto exchanges — must not provide such payment services, and are barred from acting in a manner that promotes the use of digital assets to pay for goods or services, the Securities and Exchange Commission…

Global Bond Index Loses $2.6 Trillion in Record Slide From Peak

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Global bond markets have suffered unprecedented losses since peaking last year, as central banks including the Federal Reserve look to tighten policy to combat surging inflation. The Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index, a benchmark for government and corporate debt total returns, has fallen 11% from a high in January 2021. That’s the biggest decline from a peak in data stretching back to 1990, surpassing a 10.8% drawdown during the financial…

Hedge Funds Crank Up Bets on the Rand in Record Show of Support

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Currency speculators are placing their bets on the South African rand at a record pace, even as Russia’s assault on Ukraine sends investors fleeing from most riskier assets. Hedge funds turned net long on the rand to the tune of 13,402 contracts as of March 15, swinging from a net short position of 239 contracts the previous week. The change was the biggest since the Commodity Futures Trading Commission…

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