Top-Performing Arab Economy Balks at Currency Float on Egypt

Top-Performing Arab Economy Balks at Currency Float on Egypt

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – In five decades of importing steel wires, Zahar Benmoussa’s company never worried about currency risks — until Morocco announced plans to float the dirham. “For the first time in our history, we started to hedge” in the currency market, said Benmoussa, managing director at Casablanca-based Grillages Marocains. Across Morocco, fears of a weaker dirham triggered a rush for dollars and euros, causing a $3 billion drop in its reserves in…

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Egypt’s EFG HERMES to invest $21.5 mln in asset manager FIM

Egypt’s EFG HERMES to invest $21.5 mln in asset manager FIM

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – EFG Hermes UAE Limited, owned by Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes, is to invest $21.5 million in Frontier Investment Management Partners LTD (FIM) as part of plans to expand its asset management business, the bank said on Tuesday. FIM is one of the region’s leading asset managers with $1.6 billion of assets under management. Once the deal is completed EFG Hermes will have $4.5 billion of assets under management,…

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Global Food Markets Face Supply-Shock Risk on Imbalances

Global Food Markets Face Supply-Shock Risk on Imbalances

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Most food commodities are dominated by a handful of exporting countries, exposing global markets to significant supply shocks when crops disappoint or policies change, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the United Nations. For products ranging from wheat to cheese and pork to poultry, the top five supplying countries will account for more than 70 percent of global exports in 2026, the OECD and the…

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Egypt Raises Fuel Prices as Government Pushes Painful Overhaul

Egypt Raises Fuel Prices as Government Pushes Painful Overhaul

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt raised fuel prices by as much as 55 percent, as the government pushes ahead with reforms to cut the budget deficit and revive the economy that are also putting pressure on households. The price for a liter of 80 octane gasoline or diesel rose to 3.65 pounds (20 cents) from 2.35 pounds, the cabinet said in a statement on Thursday, while 92 octane fuel increased to 5 pounds…

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`Battle-Hardened’ Investors May Need to Go Easy on African Bonds

`Battle-Hardened’ Investors May Need to Go Easy on African Bonds

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Such is the demand for African Eurobonds these days that not even army mutinies are scaring investors. That may not be the case for much longer. Investors have become “battle-hardened” in their quest for yield, according to Union Bancaire Privee Ubp SA, with issuance from the continent reaching $12.7 billion in 2017, already a full-year record. Less than a month after soldiers rebelled in Ivory Coast, the West African nation attracted $10…

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Egypt Annual Inflation Eases for First Time Since Pound Float

Egypt Annual Inflation Eases for First Time Since Pound Float

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s monthly inflation rate held steady in May, offering new indications that the price surges triggered by last year’s decision to lift foreign exchange restrictions were plateauing as the government pushes ahead with economic reform efforts. The month-on-month urban inflation rate rose 1.7 percent , unchanged from April. The annual rate eased to 29.7 percent from 31.5 percent in April, its first reversal since October, the month before the…

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Foreign Holdings of Egypt Debt Reach $7.5 Billion, Official Says

Foreign Holdings of Egypt Debt Reach $7.5 Billion, Official Says

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Foreign investors are lapping up Egypt’s local-currency debt. Overseas holdings of Treasury bills rose by more than 10 percent in a week to 136 billion pounds ($7.5 billion) as of May 30, Samy Khallaf, head of the Finance Ministry’s public debt division, said on Wednesday. That compares with about 10.1 billion pounds at the end of December, central bank data show. Investors have been pouring money into Egyptian debt and…

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