The Editorial Team |

Nigerian Central Bank `in the Mood for Tightening,’ Nnanna Says

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Nigerian central bank is “in the mood” for tightening and will increase its main interest rate if inflation doesn’t slow, Deputy GovernorJoseph Nnanna said. “Every member of the Monetary Policy Committee is certain that the monetary policy rate should increase if inflationary pressures build up,” Nnanna said Monday, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in the resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. “Our intention is to ensure that the…

Bullet-Train Pledge, Splits Cost Zimbabwe Opposition in Vote

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – As Zimbabwean opposition leader Nelson Chamisa considers mounting a legal challenge to last week’s election results, he’s also counting the cost of fissures within his alliance and campaign pledges that made him appear out of touch with voters. Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory in the parliamentary and presidential ballots has left Chamisa’s Movement for Democratic Change without enough seats to prevent the ruling Zimbabwe African National Front-Patriotic Front from changing the constitution. It’s…

Shell Sees Gas as Answer in Nigeria After Decades of Oil Strife

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – After decades of difficulties in Nigeria over crude theft, pollution and oil-related corruption, Royal Dutch Shell Plc still feels optimistic a fossil fuel can improve life in the country. The Anglo-Dutch oil major is seeking to develop Nigeria’s domestic energy market around natural gas. It’s plentiful, harder to steal, better for the environment and can underpin a robust industrial sector that could potentially employ thousands, according to Ed Ubong, the managing director of Shell…

Kenyan Central Bank Says Credit Market Failure Persists

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan credit costs that prompted the introduction of interest-rate caps last year have remained high despite the government’s efforts, according to the central bank. Authorities in East Africa’s biggest economy instituted a 400 basis-point rate cap above the prevailing benchmark measure for commercial loans last year with the view to making credit more affordable. Instead, banks now lend only to the least risky clients and the government. “Some of the structural…

China Offers Infrastructure to Cement New Ties With Burkina Faso

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BURKINA FASO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Months after severing ties with Taiwan, Burkina Faso says it’s counting on Chinese money to get large infrastructure projects off the ground, including a key highway linking the West African nation’s two main cities. Burkina Faso broke off diplomatic relations with Taipei in May in favor of China, leaving only the tiny kingdom of Swaziland as the island’s last African ally and cutting the number of countries that…

Iron Ore Breaks Above $70 as China’s Pivot Helps to Stoke Demand

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Iron ore has finally broken above $70 a metric ton. After a crawl higher in recent weeks, bulls drove the price back over that threshold, encouraged by surging steel prices in China, where there’s growing demand for high-quality material aided by state-driven investment and pollution curbs. SGX AsiaClear futures rallied as much as 1.5 percent to $70.60 a ton, the highest since March, and were last at $70.49. On the spot…

Goldman Sachs says Bitcoin will continue to decline

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Despite headline-making plans to open a bitcoin trading desk earlier this year, Goldman Sachs still isn’t sold on the virtual currency. In a midyear economic-outlook report, the bank’s investment strategy group says the price of bitcoin is likely to decline even further than the 45% it has in the first seven months of 2018. “Our view that cryptocurrencies would not retain value in their current incarnation remains intact and, in fact, has been…

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