Features

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)~ Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the leader of the World Trade Organization, began the year with a plan to score quick negotiating victories that she said would help reboot the dysfunctional Geneva-based trade body. Now, seven months into her 4 1/2-year term, Okonjo-Iweala has fully grasped the frustrating reality of the WTO’s historical inertia, even privately floating the idea of resigning if no headway can be found on critical issues, according to five…

Jamie Dimon says ‘you’re a fool’ if you borrow to buy bitcoin, and that he wouldn’t care if its price increased 10 times “I think if you borrow money to buy bitcoin, you’re a fool,” Jamie Dimon told Times of India. Dimon said “people waste too much time and breath” on the digital asset, which has seen a 50% gain year to date. He also said crypto will be regulated because “governments regulate just about…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investments of about $280 billion will be needed to cope with the effects of climate change in 35 cities in South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia by 2050, new research shows.  Africa is the fastest urbanizing continent and also the hardest hit by global warming, the Coalition for Urban Transitions, which advises governments on economic development and climate change, said in a report released on Monday. “Africa’s urban development is…

TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africas) – There can be no more pretending that Tunisia is a democracy. Two months after sacking the prime minister and suspending the country’s elected parliament, President Kais Saied has torched its constitution and assumed the right to rule by decree. For those who profess to care about freedom and about democracy in the Arab world, it is time to get off the fence and act. I’m looking at you, Joe…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Amazon.com Inc. is developing a bevy of new devices and services as it delves into additional markets, including a larger Echo with a wall-mountable screen, a TV sound bar, more advanced car technology and wearable gear.  The tech giant is working on the initiatives at its Lab126 division, which created hit products like the original Echo and the Alexa voice assistant. The Seattle-based company is holding a launch event…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are running up against multiple critically important deadlines as they navigate a fraught political landscape where any misstep could have dire consequences for the national economy and President Joe Biden’s legacy. While some of the worst-case scenarios — a government shutdown, a federal default or the complete collapse of Biden’s economic plan — are unlikely, several obstacles stand in the way as leaders…

SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tensions between Sudan’s civilian politicians and army neared breaking point after an alleged coup bid, risking a democratic transition seen as a rare bright spot in a region marked by dictatorship and conflict. Two days after the military said it stamped out a mutiny and arrested more than 20 officers, top officials have been trading barbs, laying bare a clash in the power-sharing government between activists who pushed for…