The Editorial Team |

Nigeria’s Base Rate Loses Bite as Stealth Tightening Takes Hold

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s base interest rate is becoming more and more irrelevant. That’s the view of some analysts after the Monetary Policy Committee in Africa’s biggest oil producer held its key rate for the 14th straight meeting on Thursday, despite inflation being above its target range of 6 percent to 9 percent for more than three years. Central bank Governor Godwin Emefiele is instead using money-market instruments to rein in liquidity and protect the naira,…

Kenya to Allow Commercial Farmers to Lease Idle Government Land

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya, where agriculture contributes a third of gross domestic product, will allow commercial farmers to lease idle government land as the state tries to improve food security. The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation will publish the terms that will allow farmers to plant on idle government as it seeks to maximize use in a country where only 20 percent to the land mass is arable, Deputy President William Ruto said Friday…

Zimbabwe Plans $1 Billion Infrastructure Bond in 2019 for Roads

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe plans to sell $1 billion of bonds next year to fund projects that include expanding the main road between the capital and the border with South Africa, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said. The southern African nation wants to improve the highway linking Harare with the border town of Beit Bridge, he told business leaders in the capital Friday. Yesterday, Ncube unveiled his 2019 budget in which he cut…

Key Congo Opposition Leaders Join Forces for Presidency Bid

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Two of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s most popular opposition politicians joined forces to compete in next month’s presidential election. The joint ticket splits the opposition vote and raises the likelihood that President Joseph Kabila’s chosen successor, Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, will win the Dec. 23 vote to lead the world’s largest cobalt producer. Felix Tshisekedi, the head of Congo’s biggest opposition party, will run for president backed by Vital Kamerhe, who came…

State Funds Seen at Risk in Congo Presidential Vote Campaign

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Democratic Republic of Congo presidential-hopeful Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary’s appointments to his campaign-finance team raises the risk state funds will be used to finance his election bid, two anti-graft groups said. Shadary, the ruling-coalition candidate chosen by President Joseph Kabila to succeed him, is seeking to become the leader of the world’s biggest cobalt producer in a vote scheduled for Dec. 23. The 57-year-old former interior minister has been sanctioned by the European…

South Africa Report Urges Eskom, Transnet Criminal Probes

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A forensic report into South Africa’s state-owned electricity utility and ports and rail operator found some executives and board members failed to act in the companies’ best interests and recommended criminal investigations against them. The findings are contained in a report by Fundudzi Forensic Services, which the National Treasury contracted to investigate the following: The acquisition of locomotives at Transnet SOC Ltd. The appointment of U.S. consultancy McKinsey &…

Google Plans High-Flying Balloons to Provide Internet in Africa

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – The tech giant says a network of high-flying blimps can connect millions. Bringing fast, widespread internet to rural Africa has proven vexing for companies that have tried—and largely failed—with strategies ranging from drones to satellites. Now, a sister company of Google says it has the answer: balloons. Loon, spun out of the search giant’s X innovation lab in July, is teaming up with Telkom Kenya Ltd. to build a…

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