The Editorial Team |

Morocco: Growth projected at 4.5% over the medium term

RABAT (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund projected Morocco’s real GDP growth to decelerate from 4.4% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018, as agricultural production returns to its normal level following high output last year. But it expected growth to accelerate gradually to about 4.5% in the medium term and to remain favourable in case of improved external conditions and sustained reform implementation. Further, it forecast the inflation rate to average 1.3%…

Angola: Increase in capital levels insufficient to address banks’ weaknesses

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Fitch Ratings expected Angola’s banking sector to remain weak and fragmented in coming years, despite the Banco Nacional de Angola’s (BNA) recent efforts to increase the banks’ capital requirements. It said that eight out of the 29 banks operating in Angola will have to increase their paid-in capital this year in order to comply with the BNA’s latest capital requirements. It noted that Angolan banks will be required to…

Take a Wild-Ass Guess’: Crypto Confusion as Tax Deadline Nears

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – If you thought trading Bitcoin was wild, try figuring out how to pay taxes on it. Cryptocurrency investors are wrestling with spotty records, tangled blockchain addresses and rudimentary guidelines issued back in the ancient days of 2014. After last year’s boom in values, many people are likely disclosing transactions for the first time, adding to confusion. Digital-coin enthusiasts and tax professionals are “freaking out” before next week’s filing deadline,…

Mozambique Cuts Interest Rate as Inflation Slows to 2015 Low

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MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique’s central bank reduced its benchmark lending rate for the fifth consecutive time as inflation slowed, allowing the regulator to try to spur an economy that’s forecast to expand at the slowest pace in 18 years. The Monetary Policy Committee cut the benchmark interbank rate, known by its Portuguese acronym MIMO and introduced in April, by 150 basis points to 16.5 percent, Banco de Mocambique Governor Rogerio Zandamela told reporters Wednesday…

Google Releases New Africa App to Beat Slow Internet Speeds

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Google is releasing an app in Africa that will help internet users overcome obstacles such as the lack of high-speed connectivity and the cost of data on the continent. The release of Google Go is the U.S. technology giant’s latest attempt to extend its reach into emerging markets such as sub-Saharan Africa, where Facebook Inc. is also making inroads. The Alphabet Inc. unit has laid fiber-optic cable on the continent, eased…

Nigeria Rate-Cut Hope Lives as Inflation Slows to Two-Year Low

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian inflation slowed for a 14th straight month in March, taking consumer-price growth below the benchmark interest rate for the first time in two years and opening the door for a rate cut. Consumer inflation in Africa’s most-populous nation decelerated to 13.3 percent from a year earlier, the lowest rate in two years and below the benchmark rate of 14 percent. Nigeria’s central bank left its main lending rate…

Wiese Rebuts Wrongdoing Allegation Over Steinhoff Payments

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JOHANNESBRUG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African billionaire Christo Wiese denied he did anything wrong when receiving payments from Steinhoff International Holdings NV while he was chairman. The 325 million euros ($402 million) he received related to a planned merger between Steinhoff’s African operations and South African supermarket chain Shoprite Holdings Ltd., in which Wiese is the biggest shareholder, he said by phone. They were cleared by the central bank, and he started returning the cash when the deal…

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