The Editorial Team |

Benin Seeks to Spend $15 Billion Next 5 Years to Boost Economy

PORT-NOVO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Benin plans to spend as much as $15 billion over the next five years on agriculture, tourism and infrastructure projects, an amount that the government seeks to raise by boosting tax revenue and borrowing on local and regional markets, according to the finance minister. The government of the West African nation will finance about 40 percent of its development program, while the private sector will be tapped to fund…

Flour Mills, Nigeria benefits from Dollar Scarcity

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc, the country’s biggest miller by market value, said a shortage of dollars in Africa’s most populous nation is boosting sales as buyers starved of the U.S. currency buy more food products locally. “Everyone is trying to see how to source locally and that is good’’ for Nigerian farmers and processors, Managing Director Paul Gbededo said in a Dec. 16 interview at the company’s corporate headquarters in Lagos,…

President Buhari Faces Spreading Opposition as Nigerian Economy Slumps

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Yusuf Rabiu went door-to-door urging people in the northern Nigerian city of Kano to vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in last year’s elections. Now he’s regretting his decision. “We expected him to solve our economic problems,” Rabiu, a 36-year-old hat seller, said at the city’s Kurmi market as a group of friends nodded in agreement. “I didn’t know voting for him would mean more hunger, more suffering.” After ending the 16-year reign…

South African Bank Stocks Beating Rivals May Find 2017 Tougher

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa was a bright spot for banks on the continent in 2016, with stocks shrugging off the nation’s economic woes to head for the third-best performance in the past decade. Next year the picture may not be as rosy. The nation’s banks index rose 25 percent this year as rate increases boosted lending income, commodities rose and the rand rebounded. In Nigeria, 15 banks fell 33 percent on average and 11…

Gambia’s Jammeh Rebukes Regional Leaders for Opposition Support

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BANJUL (Capital Markets in Africa) – Gambian President Yahya Jammeh said he will refuse a request from regional leaders to step down after losing this month’s election to opposition leader Adama Barrow, describing the intervention from neighboring heads of states as unacceptable interference. Leaders of the Economic Community of West African States pledged last weekend to take all the necessary measures to ensure that Barrow’s victory will stand and undertook to attend his inauguration in January when the incumbent’s term…

Ouattara Alliance Wins Ivory Coast Vote as Independents Gain

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ABIDJAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara’s ruling coalition won an almost two-thirds majority in parliament, while the victory of a record 75 independent candidates showed growing discontent with the government and the opposition. Ouattara’s Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace won 167 of the 255 seats contested in Sunday’s election, Youssouf Bakayoko, head of the electoral commission, told reporters in the commercial capital, Abidjan. It was the second parliamentary vote…

World’s Biggest Stock Surge After Fed Hike Isn’t Done Yet

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egyptian stocks are shrugging off emerging-market losses to post the world’s biggest gains since the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. The rally may extend into 2017, according to EFG-Hermes Holding. The nation’s Nov. 3 decision to float its currency, effectively cutting its value by half, has unleashed the biggest inflows of foreign investment into the stock market since the 2011 Arab Spring. The pound’s weakness has kept the benchmark EGX 30 Index trading at a discount…

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