Economy

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Economic growth accelerated in Ghana in the second quarter, helped by the reopening of the nation’s hotels and restaurants that boosted output in the services industry. Gross domestic product expanded 3.9% from a year earlier, compared with 3.1% in the three months through March, Government Statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters Wednesday in the capital, Accra. The economy grew 0.9% from the previous quarter. Growth was “driven mainly by…

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola’s bonds surged after Moody’s Investors Service raised the country’s credit rating for the first time, citing improved governance and debt metrics.  The company upgraded its assessment of Africa’s second-largest oil producer by one level to B3 from Caa1, it said in a statement on Monday. It was the first time since Moody’s initial evaluation in 2015 that the rating was increased, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. “If any country out there…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s government met Tuesday to discuss how to accelerate the country’s economic recovery and consider the most feasible way to provide further welfare grants. The ruling African National Congress has agreed in principle on the need for a basic income grant and the government is now considering the most sustainable way to implement it, Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubelesaid in remarks broadcast on television broadcaster Newzroom Afrika. Finance…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya has resumed servicing loans owed to China after Beijing’s six-month debt-repayment suspension expired in June, piling pressure on the exchequer. The government began 2021-22 remittances, with the first batch to the Export–Import Bank of China amounting to 82.7 billion shillings ($761 million), according to Kenya’s Controller of Budget Margaret Nyakang’o. Repayments are for debt taken for projects, including a railroad between Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, and the port city of Mombasa,…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria’s current trend of spending more money on running the government than on building new infrastructure is unsustainable, the country’s top budget oversight official said. Low revenue collection and high recurrent costs have resulted in actual capital expenditure below two trillion naira ($4.88 billion) a year for a decade, Ben Akabueze, director-general of the Budget Office, said Tuesday in a virtual presentation. “Hence, the investments required to bridge the infrastructure…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Stable Outlook but Risks to Public Finances Fitch Ratings expects that Ghana’s general government debt will continue to rise in 2021 and 2022 due to high pandemic-related spending and the realisation of energy sector liabilities. In our base case, we expect debt to plateau at about 75% of GDP from 2024. Fitch affirmed Ghana’s sovereign rating (B/Stable) in October 2020, on an expectation of a gradual recovery, both in…