Good day! 

The 2024 Olympics is now behind us with 12 African nations winning 39 medals and several standout performances from the continent’s athletes.

From Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet striking gold in 5,000m and 10,000m runs to Letsile Tebogo winning Botswana’s first top medal, they once again dominated in athletics, especially long-distance races.

But why are Africans so good at running? Check out this piece for answers.

Also in today’s newsletter:

• Broad-based market rebound

• BRVM crosses $15bn cap mark

• Ghana opens first gold refinery

• Unlocking Africa’s cloud potential

• African athletes shine in Paris

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Markets Wrap

African equity markets show positive weekly performance. South Africa's FTSE/JSEASI gained 1.73%, while WAEMU indices BRVM-CI and BRVM 30 led with 3.62% and 3.99% increases respectively. Nigeria and Kenya saw modest gains. Cryptocurrencies rebounded strongly, with Bitcoin up 8.20% and Ethereum surging 10.00%, demonstrating the sector's volatility. Commodities also performed well. Gold rose 3.17%, while oil saw a significant 5.50% increase, reflecting improved sentiment in commodity markets for the week.

Markets

• Vivo Energy stock rallies after 118% jump in half-year profit

• Telecom stocks top as BRVM gains for 5th consecutive week

Earnings

• Kenyan lender Equity Group half-year profit up 12.5% to $229m

• Guinea-based Bange Bank sees profit drop 19% to 4.2bn FCFA in 2023

• Volume Increases Drive Revenue Growth at Vivo Energy

Dividends

• SAPH to distribute over $3m to shareholders despite profit dip

• Botswana's Sefalana declares record dividend after 10% profit jump

A Message From Daba

Opportunity to Maximize Your Savings with Ivorian Treasury Bonds on Daba!

Opportunity to invest in Ivorian sovereign debt backed by the Ministry of Finance and Budget. These bonds offer attractive, stable, and government-guaranteed returns.

Key Details:

• Type: Treasury Bonds

• Issuer: Ivory Coast Government

• Tenure: 5 (2024-2029) and 7 years (2024-2031)

• Interest Rates: 5.90% and 6.00%

• Offer Price: 10,000 FCFA or US$17

• Offer Closing Date: August 22, 2024

Why Invest?

• Government Backing: Bonds issued by the Ivorian government, providing a level of security.

• Attractive Returns: Up to 29.21% over 5 years or 41.58% over 7 years (total investment returns).

• Economic Growth: Invest in one of West Africa's fastest-growing economies.

• Portfolio Diversification: Add international exposure to your investment portfolio.

This exclusive opportunity ends in just SIX days! So act now.

Head to the Daba app now to learn more.

Disclaimer: Informational purposes only.  Not the offer or sale of a security. Investing is risky. Do your own research.

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The Week’s Top Stories

New highs

BRVM stocks hit fresh levels as overall market cap crosses 9trn FCFA

WAEMU regional stock exchange BRVM made history on Thursday, August 8, by surpassing the 9 trillion CFA franc (around $15 billion) mark in market capitalization for the first time.

The benchmark composite index rose to 242.77 points, its highest level since April 2018, mainly supported by rallies in the most valuable listed companies Sonatel and Orange CI.

In less than eight months of 2024, the BRVM has added around 1.5 trillion CFA francs in capitalization, underscoring increasing investor confidence in the market.

Value add

Ghana opens first gold refinery to boost earnings from precious metal

The West African nation has opened its first commercial gold refinery, a significant step in its efforts to add value to its gold production and increase earnings from the precious metal.

The Royal Ghana Gold Refinery, which can process 400 kilograms of gold per day, will initially source gold dore from small-scale and artisanal miners.

Ghana's licensed gold producers currently export raw gold while a substantial portion of the output from unregulated artisanal miners is smuggled out of the country.

Cloud potential

Widespread adoption could generate $797bn in Africa, Europe by 2030

Cloud computing could unlock $797 billion in value for businesses in Africa and Europe by 2030, a new report from McKinsey & Company finds. 

That explains the recent wave of foreign investments pouring into African data centers, the physical infrastructure required to power cloud operations. Read more on that here.

McKinsey’s survey of over 50 major African companies found they already have an average of 45% of their workloads in the public cloud – on par or ahead of adoption rates in North America and China. Read our summary of the report here.

Headline Roundup

A summary of the major business, tech, and finance headlines of the past week.

Economy & Macro

• Interest rate cut likely as Ghana's inflation slows to 28-month low

• Cameroon cocoa earnings rise 84% to $815m on higher prices

• Zambia blocks key copper trade route in DRC border closure

M&A and Corporate Deals

• Vivendi’s Canal+ increases stake in Mauritian pay-TV company

• South Africa's MTN completes sale of Guinea-Bissau unit to Telecel

• Uganda to sell 60% of Utel to Rowad Capital for $225m

Startups and VC

• Conduit expands payment service to Africa with $6m round

• South Africa's Open Access Energy gets $750k for clean energy drive

• LatAm's dLocal, iTransfer partner on cross-border payments in Nigeria

Fundraising and Accelerators

• South Africa's HAVAÍC hits first close of $50m VC fund

• Egypt’s T-Vencubator launches new initiative to fund startups

Must-Reads on Daba

Boost your investing IQ with educational blogs and thematic articles on Africa.

Daba Learn

• Defensive Stocks: What to Buy During Market Downturn

• How to Build a Diversified Portfolio Using Alternative Investments

Insights

• Looking to Frontier Equity Markets Can Cushion Turmoil

• Where to Invest in Africa: Exploring the Top Investment Destinations

• Which African Countries Hold The Most Powerful Passports?

Perspectives

• Where the Senegalese Startup Ecosystem Is and Should Be Going

Opportunities Corner

Discover funding, awards, and accelerator opportunities to boost your startup's growth. Deadline in brackets.

• Open Startup Grow Program (Aug 31)

• Tholoana Enterprise Program (Sep 9)

• Future of Capitalism (Sep 30)

• Mastercard Agribusiness Challenge (Nov 22)

Chart of the week

Get more context into themes shaping Africa’s investing landscape.

Africa’s record runners: The just concluded summer Olympic Games in France saw African nations further cement their reputation as powerhouses in long-distance running. Over the years, the Eastern region has seen sustained success in this sports category on the global stage. The reasons for this dominance are multifaceted: from the high-altitude environment to diet and physical features. We explore some of the most popular arguments on why Africans excel in long-distance running. Click here or tap the button below to read the article.

That’s it for this week. Next Frontier is sent once weekly. Think your friend or colleague should know about us? Forward this newsletter to them. They can also sign up here.

If you haven’t, you can also download the Daba app to get daily bite-sized insights into African economies, industry and country reports, and access investment opportunities.

Catch you next week!