The Editorial Team |

IMF Urges Nigeria to Keep Tight Monetary Policy, Curb Inflation

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Central Bank of Nigeria should maintain its tight monetary-policy stance and consider raising interest rates to help anchor price expectations, the International Monetary Fund said. Increasing the monetary policy rate from 14 percent to exceed price growth, which stood at 15.1 percent in January, “would more transparently reflect CBN intentions, help anchor inflation expectations, and signal forward-looking policy,” the Washington-based lender said in a report release Wednesday after an Article IV consultation. Governor Godwin…

Takeover Bid by Ghana’s UniBank in Doubt as Regulator Balks

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – UniBank Ghana Ltd. agreed to buy a controlling stake in Agricultural Development Bank Ltd. from a group of exiting investors in a deal that still needs to win support from the country’s central bank. The planned takeover comes as lenders in Ghana scurry to meet an end-of-the-year deadline to bolster their capital buffers. The new rules are part of a government effort to create stronger banks better able to…

Equatorial Guinea Energy Outlook Suffers Double Whammy This Week

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GUINEA (Capital Markets in Africa) – OPEC member Equatorial Guinea suffered a double blow this week to its ambition of revitalizing its energy industry. The International Energy Agency said on Monday the West African nation’s crude production is on a “downward slope,” with capacity expected to drop 15 percent over the next six years to 110,000 barrels a day. That’s little more than a third of its peak output of 300,000 barrels a day in…

Africa’s Eurobond Love Fest Set to Continue as Issuers Line Up

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s strong start to the year in the Eurobond market shows little sign of abating. On Tuesday, Senegal became the continent’s fourth sovereign in succession to attract $10 billion or more of orders when it sold $2.2 billion of euro- and dollar-denominated securities. The West African nation followed Egypt, Nigeria and Kenya, each of which saw investors clamouring to participate in their deals. African sovereigns have now sold $10.7 billion of…

Ghana President Seeks to Barter Bauxite for Roads, Bridges

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana will finalize details of an infrastructure program before the end of the year and will pay for it with refined bauxite, said President Nana Akufo-Addo. The West African nation is seeking to derive more value from its bauxite resources by expanding the country’s processing capacity. Last year, Ghana said it signed an agreement with China that may culminate in the development of a $10 billion bauxite venture that will include the…

Some of South Africa’s Economic Rebound Started Under Zuma

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, is credited with boosting confidence in the economy, but some of that rebound started under his predecessor, Jacob Zuma. The economy expanded 1.3 percent last year, exceeding the National Treasury’s forecast. The annualized growth in the three months through December was the most since the second quarter of 2016 and fixed capital formation expanded after three quarters of contraction. This “suggests that confidence was returning…

Tillerson Heads to Africa With Security, Not Aid, as Focus

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson begins his first official trip to sub-Saharan Africa with a pledge to help shore up trade, civic freedom and good governance in countries that President Donald Trump has harshly criticized. Tillerson arrived on the continent Wednesday with the Trump administration advocating cuts of more than a third in aid to African countries and programs, along with deep reductions to global health initiatives. With several U.S. allies struggling to…

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