Features

ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) — Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara’s decision to run for a third term as the leader of the world’s top cocoa producer is galvanizing a divided opposition, marring his re-election odds. Ouattara rescinded his decision not to seek a third term on Thursday, saying he accepted the nomination of the ruling Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace to run as its candidate in an Oct. 31 vote. Ouattara said…

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Less than two months ago, French President Emmanuel Macron’s prescription for what ailed Mali was “the return of the state.” Taking the narrowest possible view of the West African nation’s problems, the French president suggested that the best inoculation against a resurgence of jihadist terrorism in the Sahel region was more government. This view required a willful disregard of the political crisis unfolding in Bamako, where the government of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The most successful way to be a gold producer may be to not operate any mines. At least, that’s the business model of DRDGold Ltd., the best-performing stock on the MSCI ACWI Select Gold Miners Investable Market Index this year. The company, which specializes in recovering gold from mine dumps in and around Johannesburg, has surged 277% in 2020, also making it the biggest gainer on South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) — Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa accused his deputy of plotting against him in a heated exchange, highlighting a rift between the nation’s two most powerful men as the economy implodes. At a meeting of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front’s politburo last week, Mnangagwa shouted at Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, according to two people familiar with the situation. They asked not to be identified because the quarrel hasn’t been publicly…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Emerging-market stocks and currencies are within touching distance of erasing their pandemic-fueled losses of 2020. Too bad the virus is still running riot, economies are shrinking and central banks are getting low on firepower. In fact, the backdrop is so grim that investors may soon start to take the view that prices are starting to defy gravity. After falling more than 30% by March, developing-nation stocks as measured by…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa lost more in tax revenue in the first three-and-half months of its fiscal year than it borrowed from the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank combined. A lockdown that initially shuttered almost all economic activity led to an under-recovery of 82 billion rand ($4.8 billion) for the fiscal year through July 15, South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said Friday in an interview. Lockdown rules and allowances to…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — An index measuring South African manufacturing sentiment pulled back in July as activity levels in the sector stabilize. Absa Group Ltd.’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, compiled by the Bureau for Economic Research, fell to 51.2 from 53.9 in June, the Johannesburg-based lender said Monday in an emailed statement. The median estimate of six economists in a Bloomberg survey was 52.8. The July reading is the first time since the start…