Finance

GABONE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Botswana’s state-owned diamond marketer has unveiled a gem that exceeds the clarity and purity of one of the world’s most famous, the Hope Diamond. At just over 20 carats, the oval-shaped blue diamond, known as Okavango Blue, is smaller than Hope Diamond, but graded above it in terms of purity by the Carlsbad, California-based Gemological Institute of America, Okavango Diamond Co. Managing Director Marcus ter Haar said in an interview…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tiffany & Co. has been expanding its workforce in sub-Saharan Africa — a region of almost one billion people where the jewelry giant doesn’t have a single store. More than a quarter of the New York-based company’s 1,500 global diamond cutters and polishers are now based in Africa, Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Bogliolo said in an interview in Cape Town. Tiffany has factories in Botswana and Mauritius with staff subject to “intensive…

KHARTOUM (Capital Markets in Africa)  – For autocratic leaders seeking lessons from the toppling of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, avoiding a currency crisis may be the key to survival. It’s the same problem that did for long-standing rulers from Angola to Zimbabwe and may yet claim Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro. Al-Bashir, who the military ousted on Thursday to end 30 years of rule, faced months of protests against the government’s economic mismanagement, repression and corruption. One of the…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Jumia Technologies AG raised $196 million in an initial public offering in New York, as the Africa-focused online retailer and market place looks to boost its profile and expand an ever-growing customer base. Jumia sold 13.5 million American Depositary Shares at $14.50 each, in the middle of a marketing range of $13 to $16, it said in a statement on Friday. The shares will trade on the New York…

GABONONE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Botswana President Mokgweetsi Masisi maintained his grip on the nation’s ruling party after former Local Government Minister Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi withdrew from an election for the top post, leaving him to stand unopposed. Masisi fired Venson-Moitoi in December after she announced plans to stand for the party presidency at a two-day conference in Kang, about 400 kilometers (249 miles) northwest of the capital, Gaborone, that began on Friday. Venson-Moitoi alleged that there was an…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s central bank was unable to support the weakening cedi because the country had to build reserves to meet the requirements of its bailout program with the International Monetary Fund, Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said. The currency of West Africa’s second-biggest economy collapsed as much as 16 percent against the dollar this year after offshore holders of domestic debt failed to roll back their maturing investments. The cedi pared its year-to-date losses…