Southern Africa |

Zimbabwe says to slash budget deficit despite looming elections

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe plans to cut its budget deficit by half next year to 4 percent of GDP, the national Treasury said, an ambitious goal at a time when the country is expected to hold a presidential vote that veteran President Robert Mugabe is set to contest. The southern African country has over the last four years failed to cut its deficit despite promises to do so, mainly due to high…

Exxon stumps up $2.8 bln for Mozambique gas gateway to Asia

Posted on by The Editorial Team

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s biggest publicly traded oil producer, has agreed to pay Italy’s Eni $2.8 billion for a 25 percent stake in a giant Mozambique gas field to strengthen its position supplying rich Asian markets. Eni is currently the operator of Mozambique’s Area 4 licence which, with 85 trillion cubic feet of gas in place, is one of the world’s largest gas discoveries in recent years. The…

Botswana keeps lending rate unchanged at 5.5%, sees low and stable inflation

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GABORONE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Botswana’s central bank maintained its benchmark Bank Rate at 5.50 percent and forecast low and stable inflation in the medium term, consistent with the 3-6 percent target range, that augurs well for accommodative monetary policy that can support lending to businesses and households. Bank Botswana (BB), which cut its rate by 50 basis points in August 2016, also said it aimed for a 0.26 percent upward rate of crawl…

South Africa’s Nedbank slashes value of Ecobank stake

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Nedbank booked a $293 million write-down on the value of its stake in sub-Saharan lender Ecobank on Tuesday and reported its slowest growth in annual profit since 2009. Ecobank Transnational Inc’s operations in central and west Africa are exposed to some economies that have been pressured by the commodity price slide and unfavourable currency swings since Nedbank bought a 20 percent stake for $500 million in 2014….

South Africa’s 2017 Budget Analysis: A tough and taxing year ahead – STANLIB

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Johannesburg (Capital Markets in Africa) – The South African Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, delivered a tough budget for 2017/2018, highlighting the need for significant tax increases, especially on wealthier individuals, while at the same time endeavouring to contain government expenditure. Although the government’s fiscal parameters are expected to remain largely under-control over the coming year, there is a lack of new initiatives to meaningfully stimulate the economic growth of the country. Under these circumstances,…

South Africa’s Imperial buys stake in Kenyan pharmaceutical distributor

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African logistics group Imperial Holdings will buy a 70 percent stake in Kenyan pharmaceutical distributor Surgipharm for $35 million in line with its African growth strategy, the company said on Wednesday. Surgipharm, which is headquartered in Nairobi, is a leading distributor of pharmaceutical, medical, surgical and allied supplies in Kenya, with an annual turnover of about $70 million, the company said in a statement. It gave no further…

South Africa’s trade balance recorded a further surplus of R12.04 billion

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – In December 2016, South Africa’s trade balance recorded a further surplus of R12.04 billion. This compares with a trade deficit of –R1.7 billion in November 2016. The market was expecting a trade surplus of around R6.3 billion for the month, although the trade data is extremely difficult to forecast accurately on a month-by-month basis, especially since the data is not seasonally adjusted and prone to revisions. South Africa has…

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