The Editorial Team |

Selling Dollars Instead of Lanterns Highlights Egypt Crunch

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Above the counter at Manal’s electrical store in Cairo are the lanterns and string lights that will illuminate homes during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan that began this week. Below it are dollar bills destined for the black market. The businesswoman is the kind of opportunist currency dealer authorities targeted in March when they devalued the pound and raised interest rates to draw dollars into a formal economy starved…

World’s Top Energy Exporter Isn’t Counting on Oil Rally to Hold

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Russia isn’t buying into the optimism that a rally in oil has legs. Supply disruptions including Canadian wildfires and militant attacks in OPEC member Nigeria have driven prices higher, with the improving outlook for crude not grounded in fundamentals, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a government meeting in Moscow on Thursday. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at the same event that the situation was reminiscent of a rebound in the second quarter of last…

World Bank Slashes Nigeria and South Africa 2016 Growth Forecast

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The World Bank cut Nigeria’s economic growth forecast for this year, citing weakness from oil-output disruptions and low prices. The lender, in its semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report, said Africa’s biggest economy is expected to grow 0.8 percent, down from an estimate of 4.6 percent in January. Growth is projected to pick up to 3.5 percent in 2017, it said. Furthermore, forecast South Africa’s economy to expand 1.1% in 2017,…

South Africa’s Credit-Rating Outlook Kept at Stable by Fitch

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Fitch Ratings Ltd. has maintained its outlook on South Africa’s credit rating at stable, giving the country more time to avoid having its debt assessment cut to junk, even as the economy contracted in the first quarter. South Africa’s foreign-currency rating was kept at BBB-, the lowest investment-grade level, Fitch said in a statement Wednesday. The assessment is better than that of S&P Global Ratings, which affirmed its BBB- level with a negative outlook on…

Mozambique Commits to Repay Debt Used in Public Interest

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MAPUTO, Mozambique, Capital Markets in Africa: Mozambique vowed to honour what it said were illegal debt contracts to state-owned companies even as it aims to only repay loans that have benefited the public interest. Yields on the nation’s Eurobonds fell for the first time in four days. Prime Minister Carlos do Rosario, acknowledging that it seemed “attractive” to default on some payments, told lawmakers on Wednesday that the “good image of the country among international creditors”…

Nigeria Officials Pledge Naira Announcement Within Weeks

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigerian officials said they are still working out the details of a new currency policy and may make an announcement within the next month, according to bond investors who met with a delegation led by Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun in London on Tuesday. When asked how long before a more flexible foreign-exchange regime was unveiled, investors were told it would probably be “days or weeks,” said Kevin Daly, a money manager…

Zimbabwe’s Black Market, Where the Dollar Trades Against Itself

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HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: In Zimbabwe — the country that once suffered 500 billion percent inflation — one dollar may now cost you as much as $1.07. A shortage of banknotes is resulting in a new black market more than seven years after Zimbabwe abolished its own money, the Zimbabwean dollar, and adopted the greenback and other foreign currencies to avoid exactly that sort of unofficial trading. The cash crunch has intensified in…

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