Economy

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigerian inflation decelerated for an 18th straight month as food prices climbed at the slowest rate since March 2016. The annual inflation rate dropped to 11.1 percent in July from 11.2 percent in June, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said on Twitter Wednesday, matching the median of estimates in a Bloomberg survey. The slowdown in inflation could reverse in the second half of the year as the government releases funding for…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – China has lent and will lend huge sums to African countries, creating concerns they are becoming too indebted. But rather than Chinese activity, which is increasingly a good thing for Africa, the bigger debt risk comes from Eurobonds issuance. Lending from China has risen, partly due to the Belt and Road Initiative. A narrower focus of this lending to support infrastructure projects will lift the continent’s debt-servicing capacity in…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – An index tracking South African manufacturing activity rose for the first month in three in July, but this was tempered by a lowering of expectations for future business conditions. The purchasing managers’ index compiled by the Stellenbosch-based Bureau for Economic Research and Absa Bank Ltd. climbed to 51.5 in July from 47.9 in June. A reading above 50 indicates growth in the factory sector. This is the highest reading since May…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Economic and political problems are piling up for Cyril Ramaphosa, dampening the euphoria that accompanied his ascension to the South African presidency. A labor union boss turned business tycoon, Ramaphosa took office in February after the ruling African National Congress forced Jacob Zuma to resign following a scandal-tainted tenure that lasted almost nine years. While Ramaphosa initially won plaudits from investors and the public for instigating a crackdown on graft, sentiment has…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s Big Four agenda, a set of development goals geared at fuelling output, will not necessarily drive economic growth to the targeted 7 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to BMI Research. A key hurdle is the government’s weak fiscal position, with debt projected to cross the 60 percent to gross domestic product threshold in 2018, the Fitch Group unit said in a note. East Africa’s biggest economy’s chief development…