The Editorial Team |

South Africa’s Shoprite looks beyond Africa to Eastern Europe

CAPE TOWN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s biggest grocery retailer Shoprite is considering a push into Eastern Europe, where it hopes to use knowledge gleaned from former suitor Steinhoff International, its new CEO told Reuters. The move signals a change in strategy for Shoprite under Chief Executive Pieter Engelbrecht, 47, as sovereign rating downgrades and a weak economy cloud prospects at home. It also leads it down a competitive path crowded with established retail giants…

South Africa’s credit downgrades rule out repo rate cuts

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s debt downgrade to junk status and the finance minister’s recent dismissal mean interest rates will be on hold until 2020 at least, a Reuters poll found on Wednesday. Economists in the poll, taken just a week after Fitch Ratings Agency and Standard & Poor’s downgraded South Africa to “junk”, pushed out rate cuts, ruled them out altogether or considered the possibility of hikes. But the medians from the…

World Bank cuts Kenya’s 2017 growth forecast to 5.5 percent

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Bank cut Kenya’s economic growth forecast for this year by half a percentage point on Wednesday to 5.5 percent, citing drought, sluggish private sector credit growth and rising prices of oil. The country is estimated to have expanded by 5.9 percent last year, the highest annual expansion in half a decade. But the outlook has been hit by months of dry weather, that left 2.7 million people in…

The Fintech Revolution: Driving Innovation in Payment Services

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – In the current tech-savvy age, it’s refreshing to find that a new revolution is taking place within banking which will mean consumers no longer have to rely on the “old” ways of paying for services. The underlying driver for consumers today is having quick access to their funds, being able to make payments between accounts or simply trying to ensure security and continuity of payment services when paying for…

Central Banks in Africa Keep Rates Amidst Fed Rate Hike in March

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tanzania’s central bank cut its discount rate to 12percent from 16 percent on Monday 6th March 2017, to help spur lending and boost economic growth, the first time it has lowered borrowing costs since 2013. The cut, which the central bank said in a circular to commercial banks becomes effective on Monday, follows a steep drop in private sector credit growth last year. “The discount rate which is applicable…

February’s Inflation Trends Across the African Continent

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola’s consumer inflation edged down to 39.45% year-on-year in February from 40.39% in January, data from the statistics office showed. On a monthly basis, consumer prices increased 2.59% compared to 2.25% in January. Botswana’s consumer inflation quickened to 3.4% year-on-year in February from 3.1% in January. Prices rose 0.2% month-on-month compared to 0.4% previously, Statistics Botswana stated. Burundi’s year-on-year inflation rate climbed to 20.7% year-on-year in February from 12.9% in…

Nigerian Equities Open Bearish as Investors Book Profit … NSE ASI down 47bps

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The benchmark index closed negative today as investors booked profit on stocks which had gained last week. As a result, the All Share Index (ASI) lost 45bps to close at 25,626.39 points, pushing YTD loss to 4.6% while market capitalization settled at N8.9tn. Today’s performance was dragged by losses in NIGERIAN BREWERIES (-2.0%), GUARANTY (-0.8%) and ETI (-2.8%). However, activity level was mixed as volume traded rose 77.7% to 191.8m units while value traded…

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