Marie WOLFROM In Africa, military coups and election violence are becoming rarer but poll rigging and manipulation remain rife, hobbling the continent’s democratic progress, experts say. “We have this paradox where the number of elections is increasing but their quality is decreasing,” said Nic Cheeseman, an associate professor of African studies at Oxford University. “Leaders are becoming more and …

  Bloomberg Emerging-market stocks and currencies headed for the highest close in more than a year as prospects for central bank stimulus and a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report fueled demand for higher-yielding assets. Turkish assets gained after Moody’s Investor Service delayed a potential sovereign downgrade. South Korean stocks rallied after S&P Global Ratings raised the country’ credit ranking. Russia’s ruble …

  DUBAI / Reuters The Nasdaq Dubai exchange will open an equity futures market next month to trade single-stock futures on the shares of some of the United Arab Emirates’ biggest companies, the bourse’s chief executive said on Monday. The introduction of stock futures could be a major development for equity markets in the UAE, where short-selling is restricted and …