Ghana Risks the Anger of 800,000 Cocoa Farmers
The government of President Nana Akufo-Addo in Ghana will struggle to sidestep one of its most difficult decisions since coming to power a year ago: telling a crucial constituency to accept a pay cut. The New Patriotic Party-led government has little choice but to end subsidies for its 800,000 farmers that will likely cost almost […]
EU Is Refusing to Budge on Post-Brexit Financial Services
U.K. banks will have limited access to the European Union’s single market after Brexit if the government refuses to weaken its red lines, the European Commission told diplomats, according to two people familiar with private discussions in Brussels. While the British government is aiming for a wide-ranging agreement to give financial institutions full EU access, […]
Nigeria to Start Building $5.8 Billion Power Plant in 2018
Nigeria plans to start building a $5.8 billion hydro-power plant in the eastern Mambila region this year, after it agrees on loan terms with China’s Export-Import Bank. “We hope to break ground this year if we can conclude the financing,” Power, Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola said in a Jan. 23 interview in the […]
Bitcoin Starts New Year by Declining, First Time Since 2015
Bitcoin is already having a bad year. For the first time since 2015, the cryptocurrency began a new year by declining, extending its slide from a record $19,511 reached on Dec. 18. The virtual coin fell to $13,624.56 as of 5 p.m. in New York on Monday, down 4.8 percent from Friday, according to data […]
MTN Takes on Vodacom as Africa’s Biggest Digital Bank
MTN Group Ltd. is seeking to challenge rival Vodacom Group Ltd. as Africa’s biggest digital bank by tripling its customer numbers within three years. Already the continent’s biggest mobile-phone company by subscribers, Johannesburg-based MTN is adding about 500,000 active banking customers a month, Chief Executive Officer Rob Shuter, 50, said on Wednesday. About 20 million people use […]
Rest Of Africa Weighs On South Africa’s Shoprite Q1 Sales
Shoprite increased turnover 6.4 percent in the three months to end-September, buoyed by South African sales, but with weaker commodity prices weighing on in its business in the rest of Africa. Africa’s largest grocer grew South African sales 8.1 percent in the three months to end-September as it kept price increases low amid weak economic […]
South Africa’s Rand, Bond Add To Losses On Budget Shock
South Africa’s rand extended losses in early deals on Thursday, a day after Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba flagged weaker growth expectations and rising government debt in his budget speech. At 0624 GMT, the rand traded at 14.1600 versus the dollar, 0.73 percent weaker from its New York close on overnight. Gigaba said in his […]
Barrick Gold To Give Tanzania Mines Stake And $300 Mln To End Dispute
Barrick Gold will give Tanzania a 16 percent stake in three gold mines, a 50 percent share of revenues from those mines and a one-off payment of $300 million to resolve a dispute that has hit its operations in the country, the two sides said. The Canadian miner and the Tanzanian government have been in […]
Saudis to Make Deepest Cut to Crude Supply Despite Demand
Saudi Aramco plans to make “the deepest customer allocation cuts in its history” in oil supplies in November to help reduce global inventories and balance the market. State-run Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, will make an “unprecedented” cut of 560,000 barrels a day in its allocations to customers next month, the Saudi energy […]
Dangote Cement Approaches South Africa’s PPC About Takeover
Dangote Cement Plc has approached PPC Ltd. about a takeover deal, signaling the start of a possible bidding war for South Africa’s biggest cement maker after an earlier offer led by Canada’s Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Dangote has told PPC’s board that it’s interested in buying “the entire share capital,” the Lagos-based company said late […]
Ibukunoluwa: 
Iyanuoluwa Isinkaye: 
Rachael: 