The Editorial Team |

Mauritius to Sign Free-Trade Accord With China, Premier Says

PORT LOUIS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mauritius will become the first African nation to sign a free-trade agreement with China, Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth said. The two nations are discussing the establishment of a renminbi clearing house in Mauritius, while China has agreed to purchase 50,000 metric tons of specialty sugar from the Indian Ocean island nation, Jugnauth said in remarks broadcast Wednesday by Radio Plus in the capital, Port Louis. “A memorandum of understanding has…

Kenya Central Bank Fines Lenders $3.9 Million for Youth Fund

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s central bank fined five of the country’s biggest lenders a total 392.5 million shillings ($3.9 million) after a probe showed they handled money acquired illegally from the National Youth Service. Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd., Equity Bank Kenya Ltd., KCB Bank Kenya Ltd., Co-operative Bank of Kenya Ltd. and Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Ltd. handled 3.58 billion shillings, the regulator said in an emailed statement. Violations include failure…

Hurricane Florence, Trade Storm, EM Squall: Economics Week Ahead

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Hurricane Florence is poised to batter the Carolina coast, potentially dampening September hiring and third-quarter gross domestic product. The prospect of fresh talks between the U.S. and China raises hopes the trade storm will blow less fiercely. We think those hopes will be frustrated. Turkey’s larger-than-expected rate hike neutralized one of the policy missteps that drove the emerging market sell off. That’s good news, but structural weakness persist, and are set to increase into 2019….

Comoros Asks Tanzania to Extradite Ex-Vice President Over Plot

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COMOROS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Comoros asked Tanzania to extradite a former vice president wanted for questioning over an alleged coup plot, the Indian Ocean archipelago’s state prosecutor said. Djaffar Ahmed Said Hassani fled to Tanzania earlier this month fearing arrest over the conspiracy, Mohamed Abdou told reporters Wednesday in the capital, Moroni. Immigration officers who helped Hassani leave the country have been questioned by the authorities, he said. “By fleeing earlier this month,…

Legal Battle Looms Over South Africa’s Land-Seizure Plans

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A legal battle may be looming over plans by South Africa’s ruling party to change the constitution to make it easier to expropriate land without paying for it, with widely divergent views over the process that needs to be followed. Land seizures could violate the founding provision in section 1 of the constitution, which guarantees human dignity, rights and freedoms, outlaws racism and ensures the supremacy of the rule…

Ghana Hires McKinsey to Boost Tax Take After $367 Million Gap

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ACCRA(Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s tax agency has hired McKinsey & Co. to help boost collections after missing the revenue target for the year trough August by 1.8 billion cedis ($367 million). The move to increase income comes after the government of President Nana Akufo-Addo announced tax increases for top earners in July as part of measures to yield 1.3 billion cedis by the end of the year and enable the government to meet its budget-shortfall target. The…

Kenyan Treasury Wants 16% VAT on Petroleum Products Scrapped

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan legislators should repeal a law that introduced a 16 percent levy on fuel and seek other means of raising revenue, a top Treasury official said. While the value-added tax that came into effect on Sept. 1 will add 35 billion shillings ($347.2 million) to the government’s coffers, the levy will drive inflation up by as much as 2 percentage points, Chief Administrative Secretary Nelson Gaichuhie told lawmakers in…

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