Dakar / AFP When farmer Isaac Tondo fell on lean times in Liberia’s long rainy season, his brother in the capital sent 8,000 Liberian dollars (US$87) to his Lonestar mobile money account, ensuring his children’s school fees would still be paid. Across Africa more and more people — from urban start-ups to hard-up villagers — are now spending, saving …

  Rennes / AFP The ad on the French finance ministry website is deadpan and succinct: “For sale: late 19th century prison in the centre of Grasse, 1,277.42 square metres (13,750 square feet). No garage or parking space. Needs renovating.” Prospective buyers of the site in southeast France are required to lodge a deposit of 50,000 euros ($56,000). There are …

  Bloomberg Oil advanced, adding to the biggest monthly gain in five months, after OPEC agreed to its first output cut in eight years on Wednesday. Futures climbed 0.9 percent in New York as equities rose and the dollar retreated against its peers, bolstering the appeal of commodities. Crude surged 7.9 percent this month, providing the first September increase since …