Kganyago Says S. Africa Central Bank Ownership a `Zombie Debate’

Kganyago Says S. Africa Central Bank Ownership a `Zombie Debate’

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A decision by the country’s ruling party to nationalize the central bank is based on ideology and a misunderstanding of what it does, according to the institution’s governor Lesetja Kganyago. The African National Congress decided at a conference in late 2017 to nationalize the South African Reserve Bank, which is one of a handful globally owned by private investors. The shareholders have no say over monetary policy decisions and the central…

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Togo President Starts Solar Micro-Grid Built by BBOX and EDF

Togo President Starts Solar Micro-Grid Built by BBOX and EDF

LOME (Capital Markets in Africa) – Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe switched on a solar-powered micro-grid that will reach a village of 300 households, the latest phase of a project which aims to supply 60,000 people in the West African nation with electricity. A venture including London-based BBOX Ltd. and Electricite de France SA built the network. It will feed enough power for the rural community of Sikpe Afidegnon in the south to run streetlights, households,…

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Kenya’s Economy Grows at Fastest Pace in Eight Years in 2018

Kenya’s Economy Grows at Fastest Pace in Eight Years in 2018

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s economy expanded at the fastest pace in eight years in 2018 and may grow at a similar rate this year, Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich said. Gross domestic product climbed 6.3 percent from a year earlier, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Director-General Zachary Mwangi told reporters Thursday in the capital, Nairobi. That’s the biggest annual increase since 2010, when East Africa’s largest economy grew by 8.4 percent. “Our estimate was 6…

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Cyclone Kenneth Strengthens as It Bears Down on Mozambique

Cyclone Kenneth Strengthens as It Bears Down on Mozambique

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tropical Cyclone Kenneth continued to grow stronger as it swirled toward the coast of Mozambique, where Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has halted all flights to and from its liquefied natural gas site. Mozambican authorities declared a “red alert” in Cabo Delgado province as they prepared to evacuate people from the northern region. Relief agencies in the country are already stretched as they deal with the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, which struck…

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Mozambique Keeps Interest Rate at Record Low on Stable Inflation

Mozambique Keeps Interest Rate at Record Low on Stable Inflation

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique’s central bank kept its key rate at a record low, saying that while it estimates inflation will accelerate slightly, it won’t compromise the regulator’s objective of maintaining macroeconomic stability. The Monetary Policy Committee held the benchmark interbank rate, known by its Portuguese acronym MIMO and introduced in April 2017, at 14.25 percent, Banco de Mocambique said Thursday in an emailed statement. It retained the policy rate at 17.25…

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Union That Disrupted South African Mining Faces Deregistration

Union That Disrupted South African Mining Faces Deregistration

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Labor Department said it intends to deregister one of the country’s biggest and most aggressive mining unions, just weeks before crucial platinum-industry wage talks are expected to begin. A relative upstart compared with the more-established National Union of Mineworkers, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union has shaken up the country’s mining industry over the past decade. It gained prominence in a dispute at Lonmin Plc that…

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