Features

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – China needs to give U.S. or European-style market access to Africa as the next step in fostering a strong economic relationship, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said. As African nations push for the extension beyond 2025 of the African Growth and Opportunity Act that allows duty-free access to the U.S. market, Museveni wants China to offer something similar. That or a deal mirroring Europe’s Everything But Arms arrangement for least…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria joined fellow OPEC+ member Saudi Arabia in saying the group must resist pressure to raise oil production faster until the coronavirus pandemic abates. The 23-nation cartel shouldn’t yet change its strategy of increasing daily crude output by 400,000 barrels a month, according to Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia next meet on Nov. 4. With oil soaring…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt said it’s on target to produce enough fuel to cover its own needs by 2023. The country will reach its goal thanks to upgrades of existing refineries and the construction of seven new ones as part of a project costing around $7 billion, according to Energy Minister Tarek El Molla. The new facilities will be able to make 6.2 million tons a year of products such as gasoline and…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Peter Thiel, the technology billionaire and conservative political donor, praised cryptocurrencies and slammed central banks during an appearance on Wednesday.  “You’re supposed to just buy Bitcoin,” he joked to an assembled crowd in Miami. “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it.”  Thiel said his only hesitation about investing was that he thought “the secret was already known by everybody.” He concluded that “I think the answers are…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Never in human history has a ton of coal cost more. Governments and utilities across the globe are willing to pay record sums to literally keep the lights on. That’s the bruising reality that global leaders must face at the high-stakes climate talks in Glasgow this month as hopes fade for a deal to end the world’s reliance on the dirtiest fuel. The burning of coal represents the biggest…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The family office for Nicky Oppenheimer and his son Jonathan has set up an outpost in Singapore to boost its Asia exposure and partner with the region’s wealthy. Edoardo Collevecchio, the former chief of staff for Oppenheimer Generations, is moving from London to build and lead its team in Singapore, while Yi Ling Ong joins from Temasek Holdings Pte as head of investment for the Asia unit, the company…

LOBAMBA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute monarchy, shut schools indefinitely as pro-democracy protests intensified.  Lessons are suspended with immediate effect, Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini said in a statement. The unrest comes less than four months after police and the army acted to crush similar widespread demonstrations in the kingdom. The pro-democracy protests have escalated in recent weeks with pupils and public-transport workers joining the calls for change. King Mswati, 53, who’s ruled…