The Editorial Team |

Vedanta Mulls $400 Million Zambia Plant to Power Copper Unit

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Vedanta Resources Plc is considering building a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant for as much as $400 million in Zambia, where it’s copper unit is the biggest consumer of electricity. The company decided last week to also study the construction of a hydroelectric plant because its Konkola Copper Mines unit pumps 350 million liters (94 million gallons) of water daily, Deshnee Naidoo, chief executive officer of the company’s Africa base-metals unit, said…

Retail Stocks’ Longest Drop Since 2014 Shows South Africa Gloom

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pressures on South African consumers are showing in the country’s retail stocks. An index of general retailers traded in Johannesburg has fallen for the past seven weeks, the longest losing streak since February 2014. A government report Wednesday showed that retail sales in Africa’s most-industrialized economy in April rose at the slowest pace since February last year. South African shoppers are contending with rising fuel prices, partly as weakness in the…

Higher Uganda Budget Gap to Dent 2018-19 Fiscal Plan, IMF Says

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KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Uganda’s policy of keeping debt at “safe levels” will be “challenging” in the coming fiscal year because of a higher-than-envisaged budget deficit, the International Monetary Fund said. East Africa’s third-biggest economy will need to “scrutinize very carefully new borrowing initiatives” in the 12 months through June next year in the wake of an expanded deficit, Clara Mira, the IMF resident representative in Uganda, said in a text message. Prudent borrowing will help…

Legae Buys Peregrine Securities to Add Prime Broking Edge

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Legae Securities Pty Ltd., South Africa’s first black-owned and managed securities firm, agreed to buy the stockbroking unit of Peregrine Holdings Ltd., giving it access to one of the country’s largest prime-broking businesses. A consortium of investors including Johannesburg-based Legae, some management from Peregrine Securities and a group of black investors, agreed to pay 760 million rand ($57 million) for Peregrine’s 65 percent stake in the brokerage, the companies…

Namibia Holds Key Rate at 2016 Low as Prices Stay in Check

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WINDHOEK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Namibia’s central bank left its benchmark rate unchanged for a fifth consecutive meeting as it seeks to safeguard the country’s reserves and maintain its currency’s peg with the South African rand. The southwest African nation’s Monetary Policy Committee maintained its key interest rate at 6.75 percent Wednesday, Governor Ipumbu Shiimi told reporters in the capital, Windhoek. That’s the lowest since February 2016. Last month, its counterpart in South Africa kept its key gauge…

Congo Premier Rules Out Kabila Candidacy in Vote for President

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila isn’t planning to seek another term in an election scheduled for December as his opponents have speculated, the country’s prime minister said. While the constitution bars Kabila from seeking a third term, he’s refused publicly to rule himself out as a candidate in a vote scheduled for Dec. 23. Attempting to extend his 17-year rule would outrage his opponents and risk destabilizing Africa’s biggest…

IMF Sees `Prominent’ Downside Risks to South Africa’s Outlook

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Downside risks to South Africa’s economic outlook are “prominent,” with spending pressures and a higher public-wage bill potentially raising financing costs and damping growth, the International Monetary Fund said. “Fiscal consolidation is needed to strengthen public finances,” the Washington-based lender said in an emailed statement Tuesday after concluding a visit to the nation with the continent’s most-industrialized economy. While steps announced in the February budget are a move in the right…

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