Features

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ghana’s pharmaceutical industry has approached AstraZeneca Plc about acquiring the rights to manufacture the U.K. company’s vaccine locally, a move that could boost supplies and speed up the inoculation program in the country. The West African nation has to date received 966,850 doses of the inoculations from sources including the Covax initiative, which aims to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 shots, and has been allocated about 1.4 million more….

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, warned the gap in access to Covid-19 vaccines threatens the global recovery from the pandemic as India and Brazil face a virus resurgence. The Swiss firm pledged more than 6 million francs ($6.6 million) to accelerate the delivery of shots to under-served communities around the world and partnered with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The World Health…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) — Former Prime Minister David Cameron helped Lex Greensill lobby the Bank of England to make as much as 20 billion pounds ($28 billion) of funding available to companies as part of the financier’s campaign to get access to the government’s coronavirus assistance programs. As Cameron made “persistent” calls to Treasury officials as the firm sought to get access to financing from the Bank of England, he also contacted officials…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Chad has only had one ruler since Idriss Deby came to power in an uprising 30 years ago. His death at the age of 68 from injuries the army says were sustained in a rebel attack has cast the West Africa nation into political limbo, with a military junta planning to hold power until well into next year. These are the key issues at play: 1. How will the…

LONDON(Capital Markets in Africa) — European soccer is embroiled in an escalating multi-billion-euro battle for control of the continent’s most prestigious club competition after a dozen teams declared themselves founding members of a breakaway league. The announcement of the 4 billion-euro ($4.8 billion) defection financed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. prompted an outcry from fans, governments and UEFA, European soccer’s governing body. In response, UEFA is now exploring a 6 billion-euro financing proposal from U.K.-based asset manager Centricus to fund a revamped Champions League,…

LONDON(Capital Markets in Africa) — U.K. consumers aren’t the only ones who have seen a sharp rise in excess savings during the pandemic. Corporates have had a similar experience and are sitting on a cash pot of 130 billion pounds. The big difference for companies is that debt has risen sharply, too. As a result, we expect capital spending to recover more slowly as the economy reopens. Reduced uncertainty, higher confidence and, most importantly, the…