The Editorial Team |

No Rest for Emerging Markets as Trade Jolts Herald a Wild Week

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Emerging markets got little relief as the escalating trade war between the U.S. and China hurt most major currencies and sent stocks to their lowest level since December. With OPEC clashing over output, looming Turkish elections and the potential for further fallout from Argentina’s foreign-exchange crisis, there was no respite in sight. Developing-nation currencies have retreated for three consecutive weeks and are now on pace for their biggest quarterly decline since…

How to Spend a $210 Billion Oil Price Windfall: Jihad Azour

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – The significant rise in oil prices over the past year has big implications for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where hydrocarbons still play a pivotal role in the economy. Despite this change, it’s imperative that countries in the region stay resolved to cut their dependence on oil and make their economies more diverse and resilient. Just a year ago, crude was trading below $50 a barrel, amid stories…

Kenyan Treasury Bats for Banks as Rate-Cap Battle Looms

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan lenders have strong allies in a bid to overturn interest-rate caps that have eaten into earnings. But support from the central bank and Treasury might not be enough to restore the stellar profits they once enjoyed. Treasury Secretary Henry Rotich surprised lawmakers last week by saying he plans to repeal legislation limiting borrowing costs, backing calls by central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge who has complained the rule complicates monetary policy by making credit demand hard…

Ivory Coast Coalition Partner Rejects Merger Before Elections

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – The main partner in President Alassane Ouattara’s ruling coalition won’t go ahead with a proposal to unify their parties before presidential elections in two years and plans to field its own candidate. The announcement is a setback for Ouattara and plans to merge the six parties that make up the ruling coalition, which would have consolidated its grip on power in the world’s biggest cocoa producer and forced the two…

Iran Says Three OPEC Members to Veto Saudi-Proposed Supply Boost

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Iran says Venezuela and Iraq will join it in blocking a proposal to increase oil production that’s backed by Saudi Arabia and Russia when OPEC and its allies meet in Vienna this week. “Three OPEC founders are going to stop it,” Iran’s representative to the bloc Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said in comments to Bloomberg on Sunday. “If the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Russia want to increase production, this requires unanimity….

Nigeria and Angola’s dependence on oil and gas creates challenges

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Although Nigeria (B2 stable) and Angola’s (B3 stable) economies, external positions and public finances are expected to stabilise, their continued dependence on oil and gas means they will both face a range of challenges in the coming years, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report today. For Angola, the key issue will be managing its liquidity pressures and higher debt burden alongside further currency devaluation. For Nigeria, it will…

Sub-Saharan Africa growth outlook subject to external and domestic risks

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Bank projected economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to accelerate from 2.6% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018, relative to a previous forecast of 3.2% for 2018, supported by higher oil and metals production and prices, improved agricultural activity, increasing domestic demand, supportive external financial market conditions, as well as a pick-up in investment. It expected growth in the SSA region to average 3.6% annually during the 2019-20 period on the…

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