East Africa | - Part 19

Tanzania gets $2.4 bln infrastructure projects loan from World Bank

DAR AS SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Bank will lend Tanzania $2.4 billion over the next three years to finance infrastructure projects, the bank’s president Jim Yong Kim said on Monday. Tanzania is seeking to finance for infrastructure projects as part of its plans to transforming the country into a regional transport and trade hub. “Tanzania will be able to access an estimated $2.4 billion in concessional financing, an increase of half a…

Kenya says has drawn down $800 mln syndicated loan

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya has signed an $800 million syndicated loan with four international lenders and the government has already drawn down the sum, a senior Treasury official said on Monday President Uhuru Kenyatta, who faces re-election in August, has raised borrowing since taking power in April 2013. Last week, he dismissed criticism of the higher borrowing, saying it was funding development in the East African nation. In January, the Nairobi government…

Uganda Current-Account Gap to Widen on Projects, World Bank Says

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KAMPALA (Capital Markets in Africa)- Uganda’s current-account gap could widen to between 8 percent and 10 percent of national output annually over the next two years as imports for infrastructure and oil-related projects grow, the World Bank said. The shortfall on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, in the East African nation on the cusp of becoming an oil producer came in at 5.9 percent of gross domestic product…

Google to Ramp Up Africa Investment With Fiber, Cheaper Phones

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Google Inc. is scaling up investment in Africa by laying fiber optic cable, easing access to cheaper Android phones and training a workforce in digital skills as the U.S. technology giant seeks to expand on the continent. “We laid about 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) of fiber in Uganda and we are busy doing about 1,000 kilometers in Ghana,’’ Google’s South Africa head Luke McKend said in a phone interview. “We…

Kenya GDP Growth May Plummet to 1 Percent by 2019, Investec Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s economic growth could slow to as little as 1 percent over the next two years as credit extension in East Africa’s biggest economy weakens, Investec Prime Services estimates. Banks reporting higher levels of souring debt and decelerating money-supply growth suggest gross domestic product expansion will plummet, according toChris Becker, frontier strategist at the Johannesburg-based brokerage. Growth was an estimated 6 percent in 2016. Investec sees growth of between…

Lending cap, drought hurting Kenya’s banks: Equity Group CEO

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan lenders are facing severe turbulence, grappling with a government cap on commercial lending rates, and the impact of a drought, Equity Group Chief Executive James Mwangi said on Wednesday. Equity, one of the country’s biggest by customers, saw its pretax profit edge up 3.75 percent last year to 24.9 billion shillings ($242.22 million), as it boosted provisions for bad debts. Mwangi said the cap on rates, at 4…

CDC and IFC Invest up to US$35m in Africa Logistics Properties

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution, and IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, will invest up to US$35 million in Africa Logistics Properties Holding (ALP), a developer and manager of modern grade-A warehousing, filling an important gap in logistics infrastructure in the region. The investment – US$25m from CDC and US$10m from IFC – will be used for ALP’s developments in Nairobi, Kenya, the trading hub…

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