The Editorial Team |

Namibia Cuts Rate for First Time in 5 Years as Inflation Slows

WINDHOEK (Capital Markets in Africa) – Namibia’s central bank reduced its key rate for the first time since 2012 as consumer prices rose at the slowest pace in almost two years last month and the economy contracts. The Monetary Policy Committee reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent, Bank of Namibia Deputy Governor Ebson Uanguta told reportersWednesday in capital, Windhoek. Inflation in the southwest African nation, the world’s biggest producer of marine diamonds, was 5.4…

Nigeria Seeks to Diversify From Oil With $41 Billion of Rail

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria has started a $41 billion railway expansion to reduce dependence on oil and diversify its struggling economy by improving transport links to allow the movement of goods around the country and to ports. “The plan we have now will go to every nook and corner,” Transport MinisterRotimi Amaechi, 52, said in an interview in the capital, Abuja. Africa’s biggest oil producer is going through its worst economic slump in…

Standard Bank Seeks to Raise $3 Billion for Ugandan Oil Pipeline

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KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Standard Bank Group Ltd.’s Ugandan unit plans to raise $3 billion for a crude pipeline by the second half of next year as the East African country prepares to start oil production by 2020. Stanbic Bank Uganda was appointed alongside Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. as joint financial adviser for the 1,445-kilometer (898-mile) pipeline, Patrick Mweheire, the chief executive officer of the Kampala, Uganda-based business, said in an interview on…

South Africa Court Scraps Bid to Alter Central Bank Role

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s High Court scrapped a bid by the nation’s anti-graft ombudsman to change the central bank’s inflation-targeting mandate. The Public Protector’s instruction that lawmakers should start a process to change the constitution and amend the Reserve Bank’s mandate is set aside, Judge Cynthia Pretorius said in a ruling. The judgment removes the risk of politicians interfering in the functioning of the central bank and may ease concerns about…

Africa’s Biggest Copper Mine Hit by Zambian Power Restrictions

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LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia is cutting power to mines including Africa’s biggest copper site, the Kansanshi pit owned by First Quantum Minerals Ltd., escalating a fight over tariffs. “They have still got some significant amount of power for them to operate, but obviously their operations will not be at 100 percent because of the power restrictions,” Energy Minister David Mabumba told reporters Tuesday in Lusaka, the capital. Glencore Plc has said it halted production…

Egypt’s Quarterly Tourism Revenue Triples as FX Crisis Eases

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s tourism receipts almost tripled and worker remittances rose in the last three months of its fiscal year, marking another step in the country’s economic recovery from a crippling dollar shortage. Tourism revenue rose to $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter that ended June 30, from $510 million in the same period a year ago, according to initial central bank data that it shared with Bloomberg. Full-year receipts rose 16…

Bitcoin Surges Past $4,000 as Speed Breakthrough to Fuel Spread

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Bitcoin soared past $4,000 for the first time on growing optimism faster transaction times will hasten the spread of the cryptocurrency. The largest digital tender jumped to a peak of $4,298 Monday, a gain of nearly 20 percent since Friday, after a plan to quicken trade execution by moving some data off the main network was activated last week. The solution — termed SegWit2x — had been so contentious that…

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