Congo May More Than Double Tax on Critical Cobalt Supply

Congo May More Than Double Tax on Critical Cobalt Supply

KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo is preparing to more than double a tax on two-thirds of global cobalt supply, potentially increasing the cost of the critical battery metal just as the world begins to embrace electric vehicles. Congo, the world’s biggest cobalt producer, will increase the royalty miners pay on exports of the metal to 5 percent from 2 percent if it opts to categorize cobalt as a “strategic substance,” Mines Minister Martin…

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Dogs of High-Yield Sovereign Debt Keep Winning Streak Alive

Dogs of High-Yield Sovereign Debt Keep Winning Streak Alive

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investing in the world’s highest-yielding debt has proven a winning strategy over the past decade. Last year was no exception. An equally weighted portfolio of bonds from the six highest-yielding emerging markets would have returned 19 percent in 2017 versus a 9.3 percent return for JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s benchmark index, according to Seaport Global Holdings LLC. It marked the eighth time in nine years the “mutts,” as fixed-income…

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Tullow Sees 2017 Cash Flow Beating Forecast After Oil Rally

Tullow Sees 2017 Cash Flow Beating Forecast After Oil Rally

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tullow Oil Plc raised its expectation for free cash flow in 2017 as the crude-price rally offered a helping hand. The oil and gas producer expects to report $500 million of cash in its full-year results on Feb. 7, up from a previous forecast of $400 million, it said Wednesday. The company cited “rigorous cost discipline and a rising oil price” and said its West African output also beat forecasts….

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Buffett Says Stock Ownership Became More Attractive With Tax Cut

Buffett Says Stock Ownership Became More Attractive With Tax Cut

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Warren Buffett said the U.S. tax cut will make companies more valuable by giving owners a bigger share of profits. “People who own the businesses, they now own 20 percent more of the domestic earnings,” Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in an interview on CNBC Wednesday. Describing the change as a “big deal,” he gave as an example Berkshire Hathaway’s BNSF Railway. “The government doesn’t own the assets of…

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OPEC’s Angola Ditches Dollar Peg as Kwanza Falls at Auction

OPEC’s Angola Ditches Dollar Peg as Kwanza Falls at Auction

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola devalued its currency as the OPEC member sought to revive an economy still reeling from the oil-price crash four years ago. The kwanza fell 11 percent to 187.95 per dollar by 3:35 p.m. in Luanda and depreciated 10 percent to 221.75 against the euro. The move came a day after the central bank allowed the currency to weaken in its first auction of foreign exchange since announcing it would end a dollar…

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Tunisians Clash With Police as Protests Over Economy Build

Tunisians Clash With Police as Protests Over Economy Build

TUNIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tunisian police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators in the capital, Tunis, as increasingly violent protests test a government struggling to put its finances in order and attract investors. Late Tuesday, a branch of the French superstore Carrefour was looted and attempts made to set the building on fire. Demonstrations began last week over the government’s budget, which includes higher taxes and spending cuts. One protester has…

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Rand Falls as Cheer Gives Way to Hard Reality of Ramaphosa’s Job

Rand Falls as Cheer Gives Way to Hard Reality of Ramaphosa’s Job

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rand fell, after clocking up its longest weekly winning run since 2010, as analysts at Rabobank and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said the currency has rallied too far. The rand weakened as much as 1.3 percent against the dollar, set for the biggest loss since Dec. 7. The selloff on Monday sent the 14-day relative strength index of dollar-rand pairing, which lingered in oversold territory for most of the past three weeks,…

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