The Editorial Team |

Strikes Spread in Restive Ethiopia Region Before Tillerson Visit

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Strikes protesting Ethiopia’s state of emergency spread across the restive Oromia region ahead of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’sarrival for talks with the Horn of Africa nation’s embattled government. The closing of shops and roads by members of Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group is the latest sign of discontent in Oromia state, where unrest has prompted the country’s second state of emergency in two years. Tillerson is due in…

Nigeria’s Sticky Inflation Threatens to Curb Rate-Cut Hopes

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s long-awaited interest rate-cutting cycle risks being short-lived, if it starts at all. Governor Godwin Emefiele said last month the Central Bank of Nigeria may reduce its benchmark from a record-high 14 percent before July if inflation drops closer to single digits. But with fuel costs surging and government spending swelling before next year’s election, he may struggle to reach that threshold at a time when the pace of price growth is still…

Why South Africa Is Ripping Up Its Mining Rules Again

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s mining industry is a prime example of the nation’s stark imbalances. Its highly paid, mainly white male executives oversee hundreds of thousands of mostly black workers labouring in deep and dangerous operations. To spread the nation’s wealth more equally, in 2017 the government revised its mining charter to require that companies give more ownership to black shareholders. The industry lobby group sued to stop this, saying that…

Zuma’s Exit Sparks Shifting Political Alliances in South Africa

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Jacob Zuma’s forced resignation as South Africa’s president did more than revive confidence in the ruling African National Congress. It’s deepened divisions between the two main opposition parties, threatening their control of the nation’s key cities. Together with the ANC’s shift to support expropriation of land without compensation, Zuma’s replacement by Cyril Ramaphosa has thawed its relations with the Economic Freedom Fighters. The party hounded Zuma over allegations of graft and…

Tiger Falls as Factory Blamed for Outbreak That Killed 180

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tiger Brands Ltd. tumbled after the South African company’s processed meat was identified as a source of the listeriosis outbreak that’s killed 180 people and infected about 1,000. Africa’s largest packaged food maker has been ordered to recall certain Enterprise brand ready-to-eat items and has suspended operations at two plants, while South Africans are being advised to avoid all similar processed meat products. The listeriosis outbreak in South Africa was…

Moody’s affirms ratings of Tanzanian banks; changes outlook to negative

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DAR ES SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service has today affirmed the B1/ Not Prime long and short-term local-currency deposit ratings and the B2/ Not Prime long and short-term foreign-currency deposit ratings of NMB Bank PLC and CRDB Bank Plc. The outlook on the banks’ long-term deposit ratings was changed to negative, from stable. At the same time, Moody’s has affirmed NMB Bank PLC’s b1 baseline credit assessment (BCA), b1 adjusted BCA,…

Egypt Bourse Expects Up to Seven IPOs This Year, Most Since 2011

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Egyptian stock exchange is expecting as many as seven initial public offerings this year, starting as soon as this month, which would be the highest number of share sales since the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak. An IPO this month is likely to be followed by another in April, and a further four or five share sales before year-end, Egyptian Exchange Chairman Mohamed Farid said in an…

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