The Editorial Team |

Nigeria Faces `Lost Decade’ as Economic Growth Stagnates

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Promises by Nigerian presidential candidates to fix an economy that vies with South Africa’s to be the continent’s largest could be unfulfilled unless the country is weaned off its oil dependence. President Muhammadu Buhari, 76, a former military ruler running for a second four-year term in this week’s vote, has struggled to jump-start the economy and far from lifting growth to the annual 10 percent he promised before the previous…

Nigeria Expects $3 Billion in Diaspora Investment Funding

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria expects $3 billion in investment funding from citizens living mainly in the U.S. to support the agriculture, power, mining and transportation sectors, a senior presidential adviser said. The government will support “a diaspora investment fund,” Abike Dabiri-Erewa, President Muhammadu Buhari’s adviser on diaspora affairs, said in an interview in Abuja, the capital. “They’re planning a $3 billion investment in Nigeria. The fund will be driven by Nigerians in America.”…

South Africa Joblessness Stays Near 15-Year High, Banks Add Jobs

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) South Africa’s unemployment rate remained near a 15-year high in the final quarter of 2018, even as the finance industry added more than 100,000 jobs. The unemployment rate fell to 27.1 percent from 27.5 percent in the three months through September, Statistics South Africa said in report released Tuesday in the capital Pretoria. The median estimate of six economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 27.5 percent. South African factory-output growth slowed…

Nigeria’s Tough Decision: Former Dictator or Alleged Kleptocrat

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Voters need to choose between a pair of uninspiring presidential candidates, neither offering a fix for its struggling economy. What’s a Nigerian citizen to do when there’s a presidential election coming up and the two leading candidates are a former dictator who’s presided over four years of lackluster growth and an alleged kleptocrat of international repute? This is the choice facing Africa’s largest oil producer, and by some measures…

Oil Fell, Unemployment Soared and Now Nigeria Votes: QuickTake

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Almost every Nigerian vote since independence in 1960 has been dogged by varying degrees of conflict and allegations of rigging. That’s one reason why the 2015 election that saw Muhammadu Buhari, now 76, become the first candidate in the nation’s history to topple a sitting president through the ballot box was such a watershed moment. But the former military ruler has fallen short on meeting pledges to rejuvenate and diversify the oil-dependent…

NIGERIA INSIGHT: Naira Faces Rocky Future If Abubakar Wins Vote

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa~) – Nigeria’s opposition presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, who is running against incumbent Muhammadu Buhari on Feb. 16, has pledged to float the currency. That’s prompted overstated warnings of a devaluation from the central bank governor. But exposing the economy to currency volatility might do more harm than good in the near term. Nigeria’s trade position has deteriorated. Also, the decline in oil savings and foreign reserves would make a free-floating…

Egypt Sees Weaker Pound This Fiscal Year, Is Bullish on Growth

Posted on by The Editorial Team

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt cut its forecast for the pound’s value against the dollar and projected higher interest costs on local government debt for fiscal 2018-19, even as its expectations for economic growth and debt reduction remained on target. In a mid-year report, the Finance Ministry forecast: The currency will weaken to 18 pounds to the U.S. dollar versus earlier projection of 17.25 pounds Yields on Treasury bills and bonds will rise to 18.6…

« 1 … 381 382 383 384 385 … 1,077 »