African Development Bank Won’t Give Budget Support to Congo

African Development Bank Won’t Give Budget Support to Congo

CONGO, Capital Markets in Africa: The African Development Bank said it will keep working with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s government but won’t be able to give the country budget support until its political and structural conditions are met. Congo’s government in May said it would seek $100 million from the AfDB and as much as $500 million from the World Bank after the collapse in prices for copper and oil cut government revenue for the first four months of 2016….

Read More

Zimbabwe Starts $500 Million Program to Boost Corn Output

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe has started rolling out a $500 million program to boost corn production to meet domestic food demand. The three-year plan is aimed at raising plantings and expanding irrigation to increase production of the dietary staple to 2 million metric tons a year, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told reporters on Monday. The country harvested 742,000 tons of corn in the 2014-15 season, less than the 1.8 million tons needed by the Zimbabwean…

Read More

Nigeria Pushes Traders to Book All Naira Deals as Currency Falls

Nigeria Pushes Traders to Book All Naira Deals as Currency Falls

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign-exchange trading platform has called on banks to disclose all their naira transactions, including those done with customers that weren’t previously booked, as the regulator eases its grip on the currency and tries to attract inflows. Banks should “update all trades irrespective of the exchange rate,” the chief executive officer of Lagos-based FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, Bola Onadele, said in an e-mail sent to dealers…

Read More

Kenyan Expresses Interest in Buying Troubled Congo Lender

Kenyan Expresses Interest in Buying Troubled Congo Lender

NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: Commercial Bank of Africa Limited, Kenya’s largest closely held lender, expressed an interest in buying struggling Democratic Republic Congo lender Banque Internationale Pour l’Afrique au Congo. Commercial Bank of Africa sent a letter that was signed by the Nairobi-based company’s Group Managing Director Isaac Awuondo and dated June 30 to Congo’s central bank saying it was interested in expanding its footprint into the country by investing in the recapitalization of BIAC, according to a…

Read More

Emerging-Market Stocks Become a Smart Bet in a Post-Brexit World

Emerging-Market Stocks Become a Smart Bet in a Post-Brexit World

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Emerging-market stocks are looking like a smart buy as investors begin to view the developed world, from frequent terror attacks to a troubled European Union, as the sometimes riskier proposition. This year, emerging-nation equities have outperformed their developed peers as concern over a hard landing in China subsided and a rebound in commodity prices propped up export-dependent economies. The U.K. vote to quit the world’s biggest trading bloc against a backdrop of…

Read More

Kenya Pauses Monetary Easing, Sees Moderate Inflation Pressure

Kenya Pauses Monetary Easing, Sees Moderate Inflation Pressure

NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: The Central Bank of Kenya maintained its benchmark interest rate at 10.5 percent with an eye on accelerating inflation and concerns that Britain’s exit from the European Union may trigger capital flight. The decision by the monetary policy committee led by Governor Patrick Njoroge was anticipated by seven of eight analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. One economist predicted a 50 basis point reduction at Monday’s meeting, following one percentage point cut at the previous gathering in…

Read More

Egypt to Receive First Tranche of $1.5 Billion Saudi Loan ‘Soon’

Egypt to Receive First Tranche of $1.5 Billion Saudi Loan ‘Soon’

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Egypt will “soon” receive the first tranche of a $1.5 billion loan from Saudi Arabia, an Egyptian minister said, a cash injection that could help to ease a dollar shortage that has weighed on economic growth. The first payment will be about $500 million, Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation Sahar Nasr said. The loan is one of a package of agreements worth $25 billion signed during Saudi King Salman’s visit to Cairo in April, which…

Read More
1 860 861 862 863 864 1,073