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Stock Market / Finance in Africa

  • Zimbabwe: Govt Drafts Law to Legalise Use of Bond Notes

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/11/19 President Robert Mugabe's government has, through the finance ministry, drafted a Bill to amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act to pave way for the imminent introduction of bond notes. The government made its intention known through an Extraordinary Government Gazette issued 16 November this year. Last month, Mugabe invoked the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act to designate bond notes as legal tender but lawyers have said the use of presidential powers was unconstitutional.
  • IMF Staff Completes Mission to Niger

    NIGER, 2016/11/08 An International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission led by Cheikh Anta Gueye visited Niamey from October 24 to November 7, 2016 to conduct the 2017 Article IV consultation and discuss a successor Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement that could support Niger’s medium-term economic and financial program. At the end of the mission, Mr. Gueye issued the following statement: “The Nigerien authorities and the IMF team reached a staff-level agreement on a medium-term program (2017-2020) that could be supported by a successor ECF. The new program builds on lessons of the current ECF arrangement. While the 2012-2016 ECF-supported program helped maintain macroeconomic stability despite a series of substantial adverse exogenous shocks and implementation slippages, allocations for health and education were crowded out by priority security expenses, which constrained the achievement of broader development objectives.
  • South Africa may be over the worst of its economic downturn

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/10/04 South Africa may be over the worst of its economic downturn with potential increase of over one % next year, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Monday, noting President Jacob Zuma had expressed confidence in him. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the FT Africa Summit, Gordhan as well said the country, which is teetering on the lowest investment grade ratings rung, hoped to avoid a downgrade to junk. "We predict over one % next year," Gordhan said.
  • Introduction of VAT hurts business

    TANZANIA, 2016/09/06 The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) said on Saturday the recent introduction of the Price Added Tax (VAT) on transit goods and the single customs territory have decreased business at the Dar es Salaam port by 42 % since July. Deusdedit Kakoko, TPA Director General, said the port was presently trying to lure back traders, particularly from the Democratic Republic of Congo who shunned the port following the introduction of the two services.
  • Kenya endorses World Bank chief

    KENYA, 2016/09/05 Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday nominated and endorsed Jim Yong Kim to serve a second term as president of the World Bank Group. In a statement, President Kenyatta said his action was in response to an announcement from the World Bank Group in Washington DC that the bank was inviting member nations to nominate a candidate for the position of the World Bank Group President. “In a short period of time, Kim has made a huge contribution to reduce poverty and has given hope to millions of people around the globe living below the poverty line,” Kenyatta said in the statement.
  • Egypt's central bank devalued the Egyptian pound by nearly 15 percent in March

    EGYPT, 2016/09/01 Egypt has asked the International Monetary Fund for financial support as it struggles to strengthen its economy, the IMF said Tuesday. The Fund plans to send a staff team to the country at the end of this month to review the situation in the country and begin consultations, it said. According to some media reports, Egypt is seeking a loan program of $7 billion.
  • Panama Papers reveal Italian bribes' paid to Algerian officials

    ITALY, 2016/08/31 Shell companies created by the law firm behind the "Panama Papers" played a central role in alleged Italian bribes paid to Algerian officials for energy contracts, an investigative journalism group said Monday. In new revelations from the leak of millions of internal records on offshore shell companies, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported that the law firm Mossack Fonseca had created 12 of 17 companies through which the Milan oil services company Saipem SpA allegedly paid $275 million to win $10 billion in oil and gas deals.
  • Nigeria suspends foreign exchange trading of nine banks

    NIGERIA, 2016/08/27 As Nigeria continues to transaction with its economic crisis brought on by the falling price of oil on the world market, nine of its banks have been barred from the foreign exchange market. This is according to local media who say the banks failed to return over $2 billion deposits belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the federal government’s Treasury Single Account. The suspension will remain in force until they remit the funds.
  • Kenya's president signs bill capping interest rates

    KENYA, 2016/08/27 A bill capping bank interest rates in Kenya was recently signed into law to regulate applicable rates to bank loans and deposits. President Uhuru Kenyatta signed into law the bill capping bank interest rates at 4 % above the Central Bank Benchmark Rate, currently at 10.5 %. We as the banking industry remain committed to addressing the fundamental issues that drive up the cost of credit The new law presently paves way for Kenyans who had been kept away from borrowing due to high lending rates.
  • IMF loan best solution for Egypt at the moment

    EGYPT, 2016/08/25 Senior bankers said that Egypt resorting to borrowing from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is the best alternative compared to borrowing from other sources. The government announced last Wednesday its intention to borrow $12bn from the IMF within a loan package to finance its economic programme. The IMF mission started a two-week visit to Egypt on Saturday to discuss the economic programme with the government. Elsayed Elkosayer, chairperson of the Principal Bank for Development and Agricultural Credit (PBDAC), said that the government “did well” by resorting to the IMF loan, adding that Egypt is in dire need of the loan, considering the suffering economy.