Economy |

Desperation Erodes Fear: Protesters Brave Zimbabwe Crackdown

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – In four decades of independence, Zimbabwe’s rulers have been able to deploy the security forces to crush protests even as the southern African nation sank deeper into economic crisis. Judging from the latest bout of unrest, that may no longer be true. Crowds showed little fear as they poured onto the streets of the capital, Harare, and other major cities when the main labor federation called a three-day stay-away…

South Africa Business Confidence Drops to Lowest This Year

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African business confidence declined to the lowest level this year as industries raised concern about policy uncertainty, including the ruling party’s plan to change the constitution to make it easier to expropriate land without paying for it. The gauge dropped to 38 in the third quarter, FirstRand Ltd.’s Rand Merchant Bank unit and the University of Stellenbosch’s Bureau for Economic Research said in an emailed statement Tuesday. All sectors…

IMF Says Ghana Needs More Revenue, Fewer Spend Cuts for Goal

Posted on by The Editorial Team

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa ) – Ghana needs to improve revenue collection and can’t keep reducing spending on capital items to achieve its fiscal targets, the International Monetary Fund said. That’s one of the recommendations made by the Washington-based lender during a review of the nation’s $1 billion extended credit-facility program, country representative Natalia Koliadina said. Under the plan that started in April 2015 and is due to end in December, Ghana committed to implementing reforms…

Nigeria May Cut Interest Rates Before July, Emefiele Says

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s central bank could start cutting interest rates in the first half of the year as inflation eases, Governor Godwin Emefiele said. Once inflation gets to low double digits “and high single digit happens, then it should be easy for MPC to begin to look at easing,” Emefiele said Wednesday in an interview at his office in Abuja, the capital. “I want to think that between the end of the first…

Why Africa’s Top Oil Producer Is Low on Gasoline: QuickTake Q&A

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa)- Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer and a member of OPEC, has suffered fuel shortages over the past few weeks. They complicated transport and hurt economic activity and, in the words of PresidentMuhammadu Buhari, ensured that for many Nigerians the Christmas holidays were “anything but merry and happy.” His administration says it’s working overtime to end the queues that have formed at gasoline stations throughout much of the country. Nigeria is about the…

Angola New President Fires Dos Santos Daughter as Sonangol Boss

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angolan President Joao Lourenco dismissed Isabel dos Santos, the daughter of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, as chair of state-owned oil company Sonangol. Dos Santos, Africa’s richest woman, was relieved of her post along with the entire board of Sonangol, according to a presidential statement. She will be replaced by Carlos Saturnino, who was fired from Sonangol by Dos Santos last year. Saturnino was recently appointed the secretary of…

South Africa Budget Head Resigns Amid Education-Funding Spat

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The head of South Africa’s budget office, Michael Sachs, resigned amid speculation President Jacob Zuma is bypassing the National Treasury to implement plans for free university education. Sachs, who headed the office since November 2013, is the third senior Treasury official to leave since Zuma appointed Malusi Gigaba to replace Pravin Gordhanas finance minister in March. Sachs won’t be leaving immediately, “to ensure a proper handover to another senior official and to allow for…

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