The Editorial Team |

Zimbabwe’s Black-Market Rate Jumps as Dollar Squeeze Worsens

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe’s attempt to ease a dollar shortage and stop its currency from plunging in the black market is showing little sign of working. The southern African nation’s currency, known as the RTGS$, fell to 4.2 per U.S. dollar Wednesday, its weakest level in more than five months, according to marketwatch.co.zw, a website run by analysts in Harare. That took its decline in March to 18 percent. The losses came even as…

Congo Grants Private Insurers Licenses to End State Monopoly

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo granted licenses to six insurance companies to begin operating, ending more than four decades of state monopoly of the industry. Permits are being granted to firms including units of Rawbank Sarl, the nation’s biggest lender, and France’s Gras Savoye & Cie, Alain Kaninda, director-general of the Insurance Regulatory Authority, told reporters Thursday in the capital, Kinshasa. Four insurance providers and two brokerages were authorized to…

Nigeria Wants $20 Billion Infrastructure Spend Over 10 Years

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria plans to spend $20 billion on infrastructure over the next 10 years and will introduce an infrastructure bond in 2019 as Africa’s biggest oil producer seeks to address challenges in revenue generation. “Our target is that we’d like to see infrastructure spending increase to the $10- to $20-billion range over the next 5 to 10 years because we think that’s the level of our need,” Okechukwu Enelamah, the minister…

Nigeria’s Naira More Likely to Follow Egypt Playbook Than Ghana

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – For investors considering the fate of Nigeria’s naira after the central bank’s unexpected rate cut on Tuesday, Egypt may be a better guide than Ghana. Both Egypt’s and Ghana’s central banks cut their main interest rates earlier this year, surprising most analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. But their currencies reacted differently. The Egyptian pound has since strengthened against the dollar and is one of the world’s best-performing units this year….

World’s Deepest Rate Cuts Beckon in Egypt After Fed’s Pivot

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Federal Reserve has handed Egypt another reason to proceed with what could be the world’s deepest series of interest-rate cuts. The U.S. central bank’s surprise forecast for no rate increases in 2019, combined with a rally in Egypt’s currency, means policy makers may deliver a reduction in borrowing costs for the second straight month on Thursday. Renaissance Capital’s global chief economist Charles Robertson expects another cut of 100 basis points “due to…

South African Construction Sentiment Crumbles Under Soft Economy

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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…

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