Author: The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Citigroup Inc. is stepping up its role as a mediator between borrowers in sub-Saharan Africa and institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund to provide access to cheaper financing in markets hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The importance of multilateral lenders, including others like the African Development Bank and Overseas Private Investment Corp., is growing as lockdowns to contain the spread of Covid-19 slow economic growth,…

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Zambia’s request for emergency coronavirus funding from the International Monetary Fund may be scuppered because of the southern African nation’s growing debt burden. The Washington-based lender last year cautioned that the nation’s borrowing was on an unsustainable path. And now, even as the fund makes as much as $100 billion available to member countries, the IMF warned it won’t lend money to governments if it’s not sure it will…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — Egypt’s funding needs will probably prove decisive for the central bank, ensuring a longer pause in interest rates after a record cut in March. The focus at the moment is on bridging a financing gap that’s estimated at about $10 billion in 2020 by EFG Hermes and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Elevated rates are an advantage at a time many emerging nations are looking to stave off outflows amid…