Economy | - Part 56

AFRICA: TOP FIVE PREDICTIONS FOR 2017

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – At the start of 2017, the year ahead looks uncertain. This paper constitutes a brief look at NKC African Economics’ top five predictions for Africa for 2017. 1. President Trump will have a negligible impact The word that appears, to sum up Donald Trump’s effect on the international economy, and other areas like security, is ‘uncertainty’. However, there has been some consistency in his views expressed during the campaign…

Somalia’s GDP growth seen slowing to 2.5 pct in 2017 – IMF

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KHARTOUM (Capital Markets in Africa) – Somalia’s economy is expected to slow sharply this year as a drought knocks production in farming, although the impact will be partially offset by a boost from construction and telecommunications, the International Monetary Fund said. In a statement late on Wednesday, the IMF projected the Horn of Africa nation’s gross domestic product would expand 2.5 percent this year down from estimated 3.4 percent in 2016. “The Somali economy is…

Kenya Election May Pose Risk to Economy, Raise Tension, IMF Says

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan elections may hamper the government’s plans to reduce spending in line with requirements under an International Monetary Fund program, the Washington-based lender said. The vote in East Africa’s biggest economy that’s slated for Aug. 8 could “erode program ownership, delay fiscal consolidation plans, and potentially lead to heightened political instability,” the Washington-based lender said in a statement in its first review of the economy under a $1.5 billion precautionary loan arrangement….

Ghana Budget Gap May Double Forecast as $1.6 Billion Hole Found

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s fiscal shortfall could be close to double the forecast for last year, Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said a day after the government said it discovered a 7 billion-cedi ($1.6 billion) hole in the budget. The budget deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product could be close to “double digits” for 2016, he said Wednesday in an interview in Accra, the capital. “We’re still in the process of gathering information,”…

South Africa Posts Its Biggest Trade Surplus in Seven Months

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa recorded its biggest trade surplus in seven months in December, narrowing the shortfall for the year and supporting the rand. The 12 billion-rand ($890 million) surplus compares with a revised 1.7 billion-rand shortfall in November, after imports of chemicals and base metals dropped, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said in an e-mailed statement on Tuesday. The cumulative deficit for last year was 2.9 billion rand compared with 52.2 billion…

Zambia IMF Talks Seen Shielding Country Amid Trump Risks

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LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia is asking the International Monetary Fund for March talks over a program that could help buffer it from uncertainties relating to U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies and rising rates in that country that will lift borrowing costs for frontier markets, NKC African Economics said. Formal agreement to a technical and financial support package would also help Zambia rein in a ballooning budget deficit that’s pushed up debt, said Irmgard…

Economic Recovery in Nigeria Hobbled by Oil, Currency Policy

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) Nigeria’s economy may struggle to rebound from its worst slump in 25 years unless President Muhammadu Buhari can end an armed conflict in the nation’s oil-producing region and fix a currency policy that’s blocked investment. Pipeline attacks in the Niger River delta cut oil production by a third last year, slashing government revenue, while central bank intervention and trading restrictions that prop up the value of the naira have stymied trade and…

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