The Editorial Team |

Kenyan shilling steady, seen supported by bond sale

NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s shilling was little changed on Wednesday, with dollar demand in the interbank market offset by central bank liquidity mop ups and hard currency inflows from investors preparing to buy a bond. By 0920 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 92.35/55 to the dollar, barely changed from Monday’s close of 92.35/45. Sheikh Mehran, head of trading at I&M Bank, said there was early dollar demand by banks in the interbank market…

Namibia economy to grow 5.7 pct in 2015, driven by exports

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WINDHOEK (Reuters) – Namibia’s economy is expected to grow by 5.7 percent in 2015, driven by exports in the continent and abroad as well as a jump in domestic economic activity, Finance Minister Calle Schlettwein said in a budget speech on Tuesday. Schlettwein said government revenues increased by 28.6 percent to Namibian $53.91 billion ($4 billion) in 2014/2015, compared with the previous year, and projected the budget deficit would be 5.3 percent of gross domestic…

Tourism overtakes gold in foreign exchange earnings in Tanzania

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According to the East African News, tourism has now overtaken gold to become the chief foreign exchange earner for Tanzania. USD 2.05bn in earnings was generated in tourism in the 12 months to January 2015. This was an increase of 8.47% from the US$1.89bn earned in the 12 months ending January 2014, overtaking gold as Tanzania’s leading foreign exchange earner. The Bank of Tanzania’s February Monthly Economic Review indicates that gold exports plunged from USD…

Cote d’Ivoire forecasts double-digit growth for 2015

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Cote d’Ivoire, the world’s top cocoa producer whose economy was battered by a civil war and ensuing political unrest, should see double-digit growth this year according to Prime Minister Daniel Kablan. The West African country has seen its economy expand on average by 9.0% since 2012, and this year “we want to reach double-digit growth,” the Prime Minister added. “We are ambitious in Cote d’Ivoire,” he went on, adding that he expected the country to…

South Africa’s retail development market seen as crowded

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South Africa’s retail development market seems to have become crowded, forcing developers to look west of the continent for lucrative opportunities. Industry players note that South Africa’s retail landscape, in particular Johannesburg, has become mature making the search for unique developments more difficult in the country. Investors in the retail development environment are taking stock of the supply and demand mismatch of markets outside South Africa. One such an investor is the founder and managing…

Rwanda holds rates at 6.5 pct, inflation seen in check

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KIGALI (Reuters) – Rwanda’s central bank held its key repo rate at 6.5 percent on Thursday, Governor John Rwangombwa said, adding inflation had been low in the past two months and was not expected to exceed 3.5 percent by the end of 2015. Rwanda’s urban year-on-year inflation rate fell to 0.7 percent in February from 1.4 percent the previous month, which the statistics bureau had said was due to a drop in transport costs. “Despite…

Kenya shilling 5-10 pct overvalued, no policy shift needed: IMF

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NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s shilling is overvalued by about 5 to 10 percent to the dollar but demand for imports and other market pressures are likely to weaken it gradually so no policy change is required, the IMF said. The shilling has lost 1.7 percent since the start of 2015 against the dollar, after a 4.5 percent fall in 2014 that was largely blamed on a downturn in the vital tourism industry after a number…

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