China has one of the largest and most advanced fintech ecosystems with leadership in key growth areas like blockchain. — The suspension of the Ant Group IPO has put the global spotlight on Chinese fintech. But aside from Ant there are hundreds of other fintech firms making up what is one of the world’s most advanced fintech ecosystems. In this report, the latest in our series on the risks and…

The identity of the next president may not be that important for global markets — We have discussed in detail the possibility of a contested result but, that short-term risk aside, markets can be fairly relaxed about the US election — the low global interest rates, which we expect to continue whatever the result, are likely to be a much more powerful driver of financial…

The acquisition could set precedent for more Big Tech looking for Africa exposure, disrupting banks’ fintech operations — In what could easily be called Nigeria’s “fintech deal of the decade”, Paystack — a homegrown payments solution provider — is in the process of being acquired by US fintech giant Stripe. This follows Stripe leading Paystack’s Series A US$8mn financing round in 2018, with Visa and Tencent. …

Regulatory pressures, declining yields and new opportunities push GTB, Access and Sterling to pursue holdco structures — Shortly after the 2008/09 Global Financial Crisis, the ‘universal banking’ model was halted in Nigeria, with banks given two major options: spin off non-banking subsidiaries or adopt a holding company (holdco) structure. …

Covid has not softened the IMF’s stance on reform before funding for countries that have not shown good faith effort — Covid-19 has been an unprecedented external shock for advanced and developing countries around the world, with no one escaping its impact. And in the words of IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva: “A global crisis like no other needs a global response like no other.” As we have previously written (see…

Mozambique becomes the 32nd country to be accepted by the Paris Club for bilateral debt service relief under DSSI — Mozambique became the 32nd country to be accepted by the Paris Club for bilateral debt service relief under the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) yesterday. …

The files are the latest illicit flows exposé following Luanda Leaks, Paradise Papers, Panama Papers, Swiss Leaks and Lux Leaks. Cache leaked from US Treasury in mid-19 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are sent, confidentially, by banks globally to the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN, which is part of the US Treasury). They are sent when banks…

Anyone who claims to know what Tech companies are worth in absolute terms (a ‘target price’) is an absolute charlatan. Always “I told you so” in Tech The NYSE FANG+ index is down 10% in September to date. This is the first monthly decline in FANG+ since February 2020 (when there was also a 10% drop but…

Investors should position themselves to opportunities at TikTok’s competitors — President Trump announced on Saturday that he has approved Oracle’s bid for TikTok’s US operation. The approval is “in concept” according to the President. Oracle will own 12.5% of the entity, which will be named TikTok Global. Walmart will hold 7.5%. …