Economic | - Part 4

In Tunisia, Second Deadly Attack on Tourists in Four Months Is Credit Negative

Tunis, Tunisia (Capital Markets in Africa) — Last Friday, a Tunisian student attacked foreign tourists at a beach resort in Sousse, Tunisia, killing at least 38. It was the second large-scale attack on foreign tourists in the country in just four months, following two Tunisian gunmen killing 22 people at a museum in Tunis in March. Although Tunisia’s (Ba3 stable) successful democratic transition between 2011 and 2014 and our outlook for its economic recovery prompted…

Egypt’s Draft Budget Hints at Slower Fiscal Consolidation, a Credit Negative

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Cairo, Egypt (Capital Markets in Africa) — Last Thursday, Egypt’s (B3 stable) Ministry of Finance announced the draft budget for the 2016 fiscal year that starts 1 July. The draft budget, which the cabinet approved and awaits sign-off from President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, projects a fiscal deficit of 9.9% of GDP, down from the revised budget deficit of 10.8% during the current fiscal year. However, the budget hints at a slower fiscal consolidation pace than…

Zambia’s Midyear Budget Deficit Is Double Original Projection, a Credit Negative

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Lusaka, Zambia (Capital Markets in Africa) — On 16 June, Zambia (B1 negative) Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda released the midyear budget update, which revealed a deficit of ZMW20 billion (roughly $2.7 billion, or around 10% of GDP) for the first six months of this year, more than double the original projection. He also sought parliamentary approval to nearly double the external borrowing limit to access international capital markets to plug the deficit. The credit-negative larger-than-expected…

Democratic Republic of Congo: Economic outlook favorable over the medium term says IMF

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Kinshasa, DR Congo (Capital Markets in Africa) — The International Monetary Fund projected the Democratic Republic of Congo’s real GDP growth rate at 9.2% in 2015, unchanged from 2014, constituting one of the highest growth rates in the world. It anticipated economic activity to be supported by mining production, especially copper and gold. It indicated that the country’s medium-term outlook continues to be promising with low inflation and high economic growth, to be supported by…

Côte d’Ivoire: Economic growth at 7.7% in 2015 and 7.8% in 2016, net FDI at 2.9% of GDP

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Capital Markets in Africa) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected Côte d’Ivoire’s real GDP to grow at 7.7% in 2015 and at 7.8% in 2016 compared to a growth rate of 7.5% in 2014. In parallel, it forecast growth at 4.5% in 2015 and 5.1% in 2016 for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and at 6% in 2015 and 6.2% in 2016 for the West African Economic and Monetary Union, to which Côte…

Nigeria’s new President Muhammadu Buhari promises to supercharge the African economic giant

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Criticism of Nigeria as a place to do business is widespread but misplaced. The scaremongers say that the country is unstable, with a crumbling economy and threats from terrorist groups. They point to oil shortages, collapsing crude prices, the ferocity of the Boko Haram terrorist group, and rampant corruption. But these snapshots do not paint a fair portrait of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy, and overlook what the regional powerhouse offers foreign corporations and investors. President-elect…

African economies grew by 3.9% GDP in 2014 amid global and regional shocks

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Abidjan Cote D’Ivoire (Capital Markets in Africa) — African economies registered 3.9% average GDP growth in 2014 compared to the 3.7% in 2013. This reflects resilience to global and regional shocks which affected the continent last year, according to the African Development Bank Group’s Annual Report, which was released Wednesday, May 27 in Abidjan. According to the report, despite the negative impacts of low commodity prices, the Ebola epidemic in West Africa as well as…

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