‘Rate Cut on the Horizon’ Sparks Investor Rush for Egypt’s Pound

‘Rate Cut on the Horizon’ Sparks Investor Rush for Egypt’s Pound

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) = Investors are bidding up Egypt’s currency even with the wait for the central bank to resume interest-rate cuts unlikely to end for months. Plans to lift fuel subsidies this year are certain to push up inflation, which already gained in January after ending last year within the central bank’s target range. Bloomberg Economics estimates that the complete removal of fuel subsidies would increase inflation by as much as 2 percentage points, depending on…

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Moody’s changes outlook on Mozambique’s rating to stable, affirms the Caa3 ratings

Moody’s changes outlook on Mozambique’s rating to stable, affirms the Caa3 ratings

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service (“Moody’s”) has changed the outlook on the Government of Mozambique’s long-term issuer ratings to stable from negative and has affirmed the Caa3 issuer and senior unsecured debt ratings. Today’s decision primarily reflects Moody’s expectation that in the restructuring of Mozambique’s sole outstanding international bond currently under negotiation, bondholders will likely incur losses as defined by the agency consistent with a Caa3 rating. Taking into account the…

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Tempers Flare Over Zimbabwean Monetary Policy, Independent Says

Tempers Flare Over Zimbabwean Monetary Policy, Independent Says

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwean central bank Governor John Mangudya threw paper files at Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube in an argument over how to handle the nation’s monetary policy, the Zimbabwe Independent reported, citing people it didn’t identify. The altercation took place at a meeting at the Treasury’s offices last week, the Harare-based newspaper said. After tossing the files at Ncube, Mangudya stormed out of the meeting and slammed the door behind him, leaving top government officials…

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U.K. Spy Warns Against Triumphalism Over Islamic State Collapse

U.K. Spy Warns Against Triumphalism Over Islamic State Collapse

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)  – As U.S. forces prepare to oust Islamic State militants from their last foothold in Syria, the head of the U.K.’s foreign intelligence agency warned of the lasting threat from the group’s ideology. “We are not triumphant because I think from triumphant you get to hubris,” MI6 Chief Alex Younger told reporters in Munich on Friday. “This is a societal, generational problem that we face in the West and it can only…

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Kenya Sees Agreement on IMF Standby Loan Facility After Meeting

Kenya Sees Agreement on IMF Standby Loan Facility After Meeting

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya said it’s almost reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund on a new standby loan facility after a meeting this week in the East Africa nation’s capital, Nairobi. A similar facility, where the IMF availed $1.5 billion for Kenya to draw from in the event of balance of payment shocks, but didn’t, lapsed in September. The insurance-type facility will serve to reassure buyers of Kenyan debt such as…

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Here’s Who Analysts See Winning Nigeria’s Election Saturday

Here’s Who Analysts See Winning Nigeria’s Election Saturday

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Whether President Muhammadu Buhari or his main opponent, Atiku Abubakar, will win Nigeria’s election on Saturday has split analysts down the middle. Polls in Nigeria tend to be unreliable, given the difficulty of sampling a nation of 200 million people and factoring in rigging, which has marred almost every vote since Africa’s biggest oil producer got independence from the U.K. in 1960. Here are the forecasts of eight analysts, with four expecting that Buhari, a…

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A Bellwether for African Democracy – Nigeria Poised to Vote

A Bellwether for African Democracy – Nigeria Poised to Vote

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – When Nigerians go to the polls on Saturday, there’ll be much more at stake than the presidency and seats in the parliament of Africa’s most populous nation. Democracy is on the back foot in Africa, and a credible and widely accepted outcome will go some way toward offsetting negative perceptions of the world’s poorest continent. While most Nigerian elections since military rule ended in 1999 concluded acrimoniously, the last…

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