The Editorial Team |

South Africa to Stick to Low Inflation Plan, Central Bank Says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African inflation is under control and the central bank will maintain a policy to keep it low to protect the poor and ease inequality, Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said. Pursuing other priorities, such as reducing unemployment, has been shown in other countries to cause “widespread economic damage,” Kganyago said in a speech at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the coastal city of Durban on Tuesday. The central bank expects price…

South Africa to Study Annual Wealth Tax as It Targets Rich

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s finance ministry has asked for a study into the introduction of an annual wealth tax as the government seeks to boost the standard of living of the black majority. The Davis Tax Committee, which makes recommendations to the National Treasury, also requested submissions from the public on the feasibility of a land tax and a national tax on the value of property in addition to existing charges, it…

Egypt Seeks Advisers for IPO Program Aimed at Boosting Revenue

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egyptian authorities are in talks with local and international investment banks to advise the government on selling stakes in state-run companies on the stock exchange, a senior official said. The plan focuses on initial public offerings that would “broaden the ownership” of the companies among Egyptians, bolster local capital markets and help the government raise revenue, Investment and International Cooperation Minister Sahar Nasr said. Egypt has already hired HSBC and EFG-Hermes…

Nigeria Said to Let Market Set Naira Rate on Exchange Window

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank will let the market determine the naira’s rate in a new foreign-exchange window for portfolio investors as the nation struggles to revive its economy amid a dollar shortage. Naira forward contracts and banking stocks rose. Governor Godwin Emefiele told senior bankers that he would tolerate the naira weakening in the window, which started today, according to a person who attended meetings with the policy maker over the past two…

Nigerian Banks Seen Benefiting as Dollars Start to Flow

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – An increase in dollar sales by Nigeria’s central bank is giving the country’s lenders reason to cheer. “We see an improvement in the number of letters of credit, bills being settled and remittances being allowed,’’ Segun Ajibola, president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said in an interview in Lagos, the nation’s commercial hub, on April 21. “Ordinarily, a margin will always be left behind for banks,…

Congo Nears Eskom Power-Supply Deal to Boost Copper Output

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Democratic Republic of Congo signed a provisional agreement to import power from South Africa that could boost copper production this year by as much as 20 percent, according to the country’s chamber of mines. Congolese state-owned power company SNEL proposed importing 200 megawatts from South African utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. at meetings in Johannesburg on April 20 and April 21, said Ben Munanga, chairman of the energy commission at…

South Sudan Seeks New Oil Investors After Total Talks Collapse

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Sudan’s government opened negotiations on two of its biggest oil blocks to new investors after discussions with Total SA collapsed. Discussions about blocks B1 and B2 with the French oil company over the past two weeks reached an impasse over the proposed exploration period and “cost-recovery limit,” Petroleum Minister Ezekiel Lol Gakuoth said in a statement he forwarded by email on Monday. Total didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for…

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