East Africa | - Part 4

Ethiopia’s credit profile balances high growth and low debt costs against range of challenges

ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ethiopia’s B1 rating and stable outlook reflects its strengths, including high growth levels and low debt-servicing costs, set against challenges such as high inflation, low per capita income, low foreign exchange reserves and a weak institutional framework, Moody’s Investors Service says in an annual report today. The report, “Government of Ethiopia – B1 Stable, Annual Credit Analysis”, is now available on www.moodys.com. Moody’s subscribers can access this report…

Hennessy Sees Kenya as Growth Frontier as Cognac Sales Start

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) Hennessy, the world’s largest maker of cognac, has started distributing its products in Kenya to tap Africa’s second-largest luxury-goods market. The company, a unit of Paris-based LVMH, began distributing its products in the Kenyan capital in May and plans to use the city as a hub for regional distribution, Chief Executive Officer Bernard Peillon said in an interview in Nairobi. A bottle of Hennessy cognac retails for as much as 117,000…

Ethiopia plans to offer firms shares in road projects

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ADDIS ABABA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ethiopia plans to offer shares in its road-building and maintenance projects to private investors, its finance minister said on Tuesday, the latest step to open up and modernize the state-led economy. The Horn of Africa country has over 113,000 kilometres (68,0000 miles) of paved roads and plans to increase that to 220,000 kilometres by 2019/20, official data showed. “We do not have private-run roads. Through public-private partnerships, the…

Kenya Says Election Jitters Pose Risks to Growth Prospects

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Political uncertainty surrounding Kenyan elections next month and a dry-up in banks’ lending to businesses and individuals could hurt the short-term growth prospects of East Africa’s biggest economy, according to the Treasury. The Aug. 8 elections may create uncertainty that could weaken foreign and local investor confidence, Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge said in a statement on the ministry’s website on Thursday. “The economy remains vulnerable to the shocks emanating from the…

Kenya Reviews Mining Laws as Industry Struggles to Grow

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya is reviewing its mining code, a year after enacting new legislation, as it seeks to attract investment into an industry that’s barely grown over the past five years. The government is working with the U.K. Department for International Development-funded Extractives Hub to come up with a revised law that balances investor returns with government-revenue needs and international best practice, Mines Secretary Dan Kazungu said. The review is expected to be…

Tanzania Passes Laws Enabling Renegotiation of Mining Deals

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DAR ES SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tanzania approved two laws that enable the government to renegotiate contracts with mining and energy companies as the state seeks a greater share of revenue from natural resources. The bills, which deal with state sovereignty over mineral wealth and contracts containing “unconscionable terms,” were approved by parliament on Monday 3rd July 2017. The Tanzania Chamber of Minerals and Energy (TCME), the main industry lobby group that has…

Hunger Used as a Weapon of War in South Sudan, Amnesty Says

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JUBA (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Sudanese government forces and rebels have used hunger as a weapon of war in a region once seen as the country’s breadbasket that’s been ravaged by killings, gang-rapes and looting over the past year, Amnesty International said. Civilians’ access to food in the southern region of Equatorial, where conflict spread last July, is “severely limited” after combatants cut supplies, looted from markets and homes and targeted civilians, the…

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