Emerging Markets

Prosecutors Want Marçal Off the Ballot, and His Own Wealth Filing Changed by Billions

Electoral prosecutors asked the TSE to reject Pablo Marcal's candidacy and bar him from debates, days after he cut his declared we…

Argentina’s Security Minister Says Suicides in the Forces Rose 30%, and Points to Debt

Alejandra Monteoliva said suicides in Argentina's federal security forces rose 30% in 2025, naming mental health as the main probl…

Brazil Will Not Hit Back at US Tariffs This Year, Its Trade Minister Says

Brazil's trade minister says the reciprocity process against US tariffs cannot conclude before December, pushing any retaliation p…

Coca-Cola Is Spending US$2 Billion on Mexico’s Corner Shops

Coca-Cola's Mexican system says it will spend more than US$2 billion modernising over a million corner shops, from a US$6 billion …

Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Seeks US$1.5 Billion From Panama Over Canal Ports

Hong Kong's CK Hutchison is seeking more than US$1.5 billion from Panama after courts voided its Balboa and Cristobal port concess…

Argentina Opens 50-Year Tender for Belgrano Cargas Freight Railway

Argentina has called a 50-year tender for three freight rail lines, with bids due in November and a clause barring companies contr…

Bolivia Fuel Debt Hits US$800 Million as IMF Money Waits

YPFB owes international fuel suppliers around US$800 million and needs US$90 million a week to keep pumps supplied, while Bolivia'…

Iron Ore Rises: Vale, China Steel Demand Drive Session

Iron ore proxies climbed on Wednesday as China's import resilience offset weaker steel output. Vale, CSN Mineração and Rio Tinto a…

Gold Jumps 4% to $4,512 as US Yields Tumble

Gold and silver surged on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, as a weaker dollar and falling real yields sparked safe-haven buying, with a…

Latin American Pulse for Thursday, August 20, 2026

Latin America Pulse: Brazil frets over high rates, Mexico fights over a revoked US visa, and Colombia declares an economic emergen…

Gerdau Drops 4.5% as Steel Tariffs Fail to Lift Brazil

Gerdau's ADR slid 4.50% and CSN fell 2.22% on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, even as Ternium rose 0.58%. Cheap Chinese imports still …

Bitcoin Surges 7%: Trump, Stablecoins and LatAm

Bitcoin jumped 7.09% to US$69,266 and Ethereum soared 17.48% as Trump urged Senate passage of the CLARITY Act. A short squeeze and…

Oil Wrap: USO Rises as WTI Grinds Higher

A sobering U.S. inventory build failed to dent Brent-era tightness on Wednesday as refineries stay strained. Brazil's Petrobras ou…

Lithium Wrap: SQM, Albemarle Rise 1% on Soft China

Lithium miners climbed Wednesday though Chinese spot carbonate fell 1.21%, showing equities pricing a bottom. SQM, Albemarle gain;…

Zinc Gains as Smelter Tightness Meets Firm Demand

Zinc edged higher on Wednesday, with Nexa Resources jumping over 5% as investors bet that constrained smelting and construction de…

Copper Rebounds as Tight Supply Offsets China Worries

Copper futures steadied on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, as falling inventories and energy-transition demand cushioned the China-dri…

Colombia Economic Emergency Declared After Deadly Earthquake

President Abelardo De la Espriella signed Decree 1261 of 2026, declaring a 30-day state of economic, social and ecological emergen…

Kenya’s KCB Opens a Five-Year Green Bond Programme in October

This is a programme ceiling, not a single bond. The first slice is a third of it, and that is the part coming to market. The post …

Nigeria Shuts an Insurer That Could Not Raise Enough Capital

Nigeria set a new capital floor for insurers and a deadline of 31 July. The first licence has now gone. The post Nigeria Shuts an …

Ecobank Shrinks Its Board and Drops the Term Limit for Directors

A pan-African bank has made it easier for its directors to stay on. Whether that is stability or entrenchment depends on who you a…

Payment Failures at Ghana’s Ports Are Driving Up Import Costs

When the payment rail fails, the container does not move. In Ghana that is now a fuel-supply question as well as a paperwork one. …

Museveni Says Uganda Is Middle-Income, the World Bank Says Not Yet

The gap between the government's claim and the World Bank's list is about fifty-six dollars of income per person per year. The pos…

A Nigerian Startup Lets You Cash Out Crypto Inside WhatsApp

No app to download and no exchange account. Nigeria's crypto users already live in WhatsApp, so that is where the cash-out went. T…

Africa’s Nuclear Plans Lack the People to Run Them, Ghana Warns

A dozen African countries want nuclear power. The buildings are the easy part. The post Africa’s Nuclear Plans Lack the Peop…