The Markets

KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. is facing pressure to list its unit in Uganda as Africa’s largest mobile-phone company seeks to renew a license in the country. While selling shares on the local bourse isn’t a pre-condition for the granting of a new 10-year contract, the East African nation wants “Ugandans to be part of the company,” according to Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director of the country’s telecommunications regulator. MTN’s current license expires…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A sell-off in emerging-market assets sparked by Turkey’s currency woes have pushed yields on South African rand bonds to levels where some investors see value. The yield on benchmark government rand bonds due December 2026 has snaked above 9 percent twice since Monday as markets also digested downbeat assessments of South Africa’s economy from Moody’s Investors Service and the South African Reserve Bank. By Friday they were higher than before Tuesday’s government bond…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Expanding utility of Bitcoin as an emerging-markets currency diversifier and store-of-value is playing out with the Turkish lira’s August swoon. Despite weakness in cryptocurrencies and gold, Bitcoin is showing resilience. It may be another failed bounce but still indicates greater integration of Bitcoin into global markets.  Bitcoin, New Currency Diversifier vs. Gold Declining gold in U.S. dollar terms vs. rallying Bitcoin, coincident with the weekend plunge in the Turkish…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – If you want to buy Bitcoin without actually buying Bitcoin, you now have another way to own the controversial digital currency. No, it’s not the U.S. exchange-traded fund investors have been touting as a catalyst for demand for the embattled virtual money. It’s an exchange-traded note, and starting Wednesday, investors can buy it more easily even though it’s technically listed and regulated in Sweden. The product, called Bitcoin Tracker One, is now…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s rand was battered by headwinds including a downbeat assessment of the economy by Moody’s Investors Service and a plunge in the biggest company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The currency sank as much as 3.4 percent against the dollar after Moody’s said the pace of South Africa’s fiscal consolidation will be slower than government forecasts due to weaker-than-expected economic growth and a rising public sector wage bill. The statement…