The Editorial Team |

Record-High Nigeria Rate Seen Held on Inflation, Naira Woes

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Now that Nigeria’s economy is recovering from its worst slump in 25 years, the central bank can turn its focus to fighting inflation again — and shoring up its currency. The Monetary Policy Committee has kept its interest rate at a record-high 14 percent since July 2016, trying to support the economy, and will probably hold it there at its decision this week to contain above-target consumer-price growth. Officials can take heart…

Congo President Says Progress Being Made in Setting Vote Date

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KINSHASA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo has made “irreversible” progress in preparing credible and peaceful elections, President Joseph Kabila told the United Nations, without giving a date for the vote whose delay has spurred violent protests. Speaking before the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23, Kabila said that 42 million of an estimated 45 million eligible voters have been registered. An ongoing “series of evaluations of the electoral process” should permit the “forthcoming publication” of…

Biggest Cocoa Growers Seek Larger Slice of Chocolate Profits

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The world’s biggest cocoa-growing nations in West Africa are targeting a larger slice of chocolate-making profits as most of the benefits of producing beans accrue outside their economies, Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo said. Farmers in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two countries which account for more than 60 percent of global cocoa output, earned the equivalent of 5.5 percent of a value chain that was worth more than $100 billion in 2015,…

Nigeria States Seen Issuing Sukuk Bonds Next Year

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Some Nigerian states are working toward issuing sukuk bonds within a year as more investors are attracted to Islamic finance in Africa’s biggest oil-producing country, transaction advisers say. Nigeria’s federal government has put 100 billion naira ($282 million) in sukuk bonds on sale at 16.47 percent from Sept. 14 to Sept. 20 in its first ever such offering. The proceeds of the sale would be used for road construction…

Regional Power Split Threatens Vote on Zuma’s Succession

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The top leadership of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress starts meeting on Friday in a bid to heal a bitter split in the key region of KwaZulu-Natal that could derail its plans to elect a successor to President Jacob Zuma as party leader in December. The meeting comes after the High Court annulled the election of Zuma allies as the province’s party leadership because the conference that chose them wasn’t lawfully…

Uganda Fires Teargas as Protests Build Against `Life Presidency’

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KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ugandan police fired teargas and arrested students protesting at the capital’s main university, local media reported, as the ruling party prepares to propose a constitutional amendment that would allow President Yoweri Museveni to seek to extend his three-decade rule. The police and army fought running battles with students at Kampala’s Makerere University on Thursday, the Observer newspaper said on its website. It also reported that police arrested the capital’s lord…

Visa-Free Access to Cape Verde for EU May Boost Growth to 7%

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cape Verde will exempt European Union citizens from needing visas to visit the West African archipelago as it strives to boost tourism, which is vital to its economy, according to the prime minister. Visa-free access for EU passport holders should begin in 2018, Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva said by phone from Praia, the capital. The exemption is part of a raft of proposals that includes privatizing the ailing…

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