Proparco invests in Sub-Saharan African insurance company

Proparco invests in Sub-Saharan African insurance company

Yaounde, Capital Markets in Africa: The insurance sector is an engine for the economic and social development of Africa. It is for this reason that Proparco is supporting the expansion of Activa Group via an equity investment. Proparco has committed a EUR10mn equity investment in Activa Group to support its development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Activa Group was set up in Cameroon in 1998 and is a major insurance player (life and non-life) in Sub-Saharan Africa….

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Market Watch | Emerging-Market Currency Price Swings Widen as Lira Bounces Back

Market Watch | Emerging-Market Currency Price Swings Widen as Lira Bounces Back

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: A rebound in the Turkish lira after a failed coup attempt helped boost some developing-nation exchange rates that were hurt by the turmoil as a gauge of emerging-market currency volatility rose from an 11-month low. The lira gained 1.7 percent, following a 4.6 percent plunge on Friday, helping to lift currencies such as South Africa’s rand. The JPMorgan Emerging Market Volatility Index, a gauge of price swings, jumped 1.3 percent from the lowest…

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Big Oil’s $45 Billion of New Projects Signal Spending Revival

Big Oil’s $45 Billion of New Projects Signal Spending Revival

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Two projects worth $45 billion announced this month show the world’s largest oil companies are regaining the confidence to make big investments, emboldened by rising crude prices and low costs that promise to trigger more expansion ahead. Chevron Corp. gave the go-ahead to a $37 billion expansion in Kazakhstan, the industry’s biggest undertaking since crude started tumbling two years ago. BP Plc signed off on the $8 billion expansion of…

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Selling Dollars Instead of Lanterns Highlights Egypt Crunch

Selling Dollars Instead of Lanterns Highlights Egypt Crunch

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: Above the counter at Manal’s electrical store in Cairo are the lanterns and string lights that will illuminate homes during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan that began this week. Below it are dollar bills destined for the black market. The businesswoman is the kind of opportunist currency dealer authorities targeted in March when they devalued the pound and raised interest rates to draw dollars into a formal economy starved…

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World’s Top Energy Exporter Isn’t Counting on Oil Rally to Hold

World’s Top Energy Exporter Isn’t Counting on Oil Rally to Hold

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Russia isn’t buying into the optimism that a rally in oil has legs. Supply disruptions including Canadian wildfires and militant attacks in OPEC member Nigeria have driven prices higher, with the improving outlook for crude not grounded in fundamentals, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a government meeting in Moscow on Thursday. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at the same event that the situation was reminiscent of a rebound in the second quarter of last…

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Rwanda | Exploding Lake, Blood-Laden Drones Spur Rwanda Tech Boom

Rwanda | Exploding Lake, Blood-Laden Drones Spur Rwanda Tech Boom

KIGALI, Rwanda, Capital Markets in Africa: The tiny nation of Rwanda is pursuing a local technological revolution in a bid to transform its largely agrarian society into the equivalent of an African Singapore. Since President Paul Kagame led his Rwandan Patriotic Front to power in 1994 after a genocide that claimed as many as 800,000 lives and cut economic output in half, the East African nation has pursued policies aimed at encouraging investment in and developing its ICT industry. The…

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Ethiopia | Government-led growth model is maintained — BAoML

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Capital Markets in Africa — Ethiopia’s government-led growth model shows no signs of significant change, with many meetings focused on investment in new industrial parks across the country as part of the second Growth and Transformation plan (GTP2) that runs from 2015 to 2020. The major investment areas are infrastructure, energy, and education/healthcare. GDP growth (which the IMF expects at c.8% in the medium term) continues to be driven by the government….

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