The Editorial Team |

South African Construction Sentiment Crumbles Under Soft Economy

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Confidence in South Africa’s civil construction sector is at the lowest in at least 22 years and could stay there for some time. A gauge tracking sentiment in the sector dropped in the first quarter to the lowest since its inception in 1997, according to a statement Tuesday by FirstRand Group Ltd.’s First National Bank and the Stellenbosch-based Bureau for Economic Research. That means 90 percent of participants in the…

Ghana President Pledges Financial Prudence After IMF Deal Ends

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo pledged that the government will maintain fiscal discipline following the completion of a four-year bailout program with the International Monetary Fund. West Africa’s second-biggest economy last week passed the final review of an almost $1 billion extended credit-facility program that it entered into in April 2015 when a currency crisis caused inflation to soar and debt to become unaffordable. During the course of the program, the fiscal deficit has…

Nigeria Unexpectedly Cuts Key Rate for First Time in Three Years

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank unexpectedly reduced its key interest rate for the first time in more than three years to help boost the economy. The Monetary Policy Committee voted to cut the rate to 13.5 percent from 14 percent, Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters Tuesday in the capital, Abuja. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey was for the key rate to be held at 14 percent. Departing from his usual hard…

Equity Is Bullish on Congo as CEO Sees Economic Growth Surging

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Equity Group Holdings Ltd., Kenya’s biggest lender by market value, expects the balance sheet of its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo to almost double this year as economic growth accelerates. Since acquiring ProCredit Bank Congo SA in 2015, Equity has grown the unit’s value to 60 billion shillings ($594 million) from 15 billion shillings, Chief Executive Officer James Mwangi told reporters Tuesday in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. That figure is expected…

Frequent-Flying President Preaching Thrift Draws Ire in Zimbabwe

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – As Zimbabwe reels from surging inflation and the effects of a devastating cyclone, President Emmerson Mnangagwa is drawing the wrath of the nation’s long-suffering residents with frequent trips abroad. Mnangagwa was in South Africa on Tuesday for a conference discussing regional support for the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a region of Morocco that wants independence. It’s the third time in the past week he’s traveled outside Zimbabwe, where flooding caused by…

Argentina Mining Gets Macri Boost as Tough Election Looms

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Argentina is eyeing its first major new mining project in two decades, nudged forward by President Mauricio Macri’s market-oriented policies. But there’s no guarantee he’ll be around to take credit. Argentina’s economy is tanking with the central bank hiking interest rates to ease inflation and save the peso, the worst-performing currency in emerging markets. That could put Macri on shaky ground as he heads toward a presidential election in October where he could…

Economists Split on S. Africa Avoiding Moody’s Negative Cut

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa may just be able to cling onto the stable outlook of its sole investment-grade rating this week, helping it stay clear of a forced selloff of billions of rand of its debt. Economists are divided on what Moody’s Investors Service will do when it potentially makes an announcement on South Africa’s credit assessment Friday. Half the participants in a Bloomberg survey expect it to maintain a stable…

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