Economy

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Before we talk about what’s going on in the stock market—and why it’s whipsawed so many investors even though the S&P 500 index is near a record high—we have to talk about bonds. U.S. Treasuries are probably the world’s most important financial market, but it’s easy to forget about them when they’re well-behaved. When prices suddenly drop, which causes their yields to rise, for many professional investors it can…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — Egypt’s headline inflation accelerated at its fastest pace since December but remained below the target range, making rising global bond yields a more important factor in next week’s rate decision. The annual inflation rate climbed to 4.5% in February from 4.3% in January after two consecutive months of deceleration. On a monthly basis, consumer prices inched up 0.2%, the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS said Wednesday in a report. Egypt’s…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) — Business executives are sounding decidedly upbeat in Zimbabwe, a sea change from the pessimism they’ve expressed through two decades of economic mismanagement and institutional decay. The southern African nation is reaping the benefits of a commodities boom and good summer rains that are bolstering farm output. A series of reforms spearheaded by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube is also starting to bear fruit, with the economic-growth outlook improving markedly and…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Nigeria’s economy unexpectedly came out of a recession in the fourth quarter as restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus were eased. The Gross domestic product grew 0.11% in the three months through December from a year earlier, compared with a decline of 3.6% in the third quarter, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said on its website on Thursday. The median estimate of five economists in a…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — The economic damage wrought by the coronavirus will probably lead more African nations to seek debt restructuring, the head of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa said. Chad last month became the first state in Africa to request relief under a Group of 20 initiative to help countries cope with the economic fallout from the pandemic. Ethiopia applied two days later, followed by Zambia, which last year became…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) — Egyptian inflation slowed for a second month, giving the central bank more leeway to make its first interest-rate cut since November. Consumer prices in urban parts of Egypt grew an annual 4.3% in January, compared with 5.4% in December, the state-run statistics agency CAPMAS said Wednesday. The slowdown was driven by a decline in food and beverage prices, the single largest component of the inflation basket, which dropped 0.5%…