Category: Africa
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Kenya: Electricity prices surge to 6-year high on forex levy
Electricity prices have hit a six-year high, piling pressure on households already grappling with rising food costs. Power bills for homes that consume 200-kilowatt hours (kWh), mostly middle class, rose from Sh3,642 in July to Sh3,944 last month – the highest cost since the government started making public the data in 2012. Users of 50…
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Kenya: Eyes on fresh poll as NSE plunges Sh92bn in a day
All eyes will be on the financial markets that opened today for the first full trading session after Friday’s Supreme Court ruling that annulled the August 8 presidential election. The Friday pronouncement by the highest court in the land immediately triggered a bloodbath at the stock market that saw Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) investors lose…
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Kenya presidential election cancelled by Supreme Court
Kenya’s Supreme Court has annulled the result of the country’s recent presidential election. Citing irregularities, the Supreme Court said a new poll should be held within 60 days. The election commission had declared incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta the winner of last month’s election. But opposition candidate Raila Odinga claimed that the commission’s IT system had…
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Nigerian Investor Sets Up $135 Million Commodities Exchange
A Nigerian startup is developing a new agricultural commodities exchange in Africa’s most populous country to take advantage of the government’s efforts to boost farming output to reduce reliance on oil. The exchange, Integrated Produce City Ltd., will be located near the southern city of Benin, about 300 kilometers (186 miles) east of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial…
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South Africa mulls merger of three state-owned airlines
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South Africa’s government is considering merging its three state-owned airlines into one entity, and offering a 25 percent stake of the holding company to a private equity partner, a cabinet minister said on Wednesday. The loss-making South African Airways, its low-cost arm Mango and SAA Express, which services smaller towns, are…
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Kenya: Imports split sugar farmers as gates open
Sugarcane farmers from western Kenya have opposed a plan to have local millers import and re-brand the sweetener for sale to customers, terming the move a death blow to the industry. They said once millers engage in retail business, they would forget their core role of crushing cane. Kenya National Federation of Sugarcane Farmers deputy…
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East Africa: Treasury bill uptake in sharp rise after falling for weeks
Treasury bill subscription picked up last week as markets normalised after the elections, also indicating liquidity in the money markets has loosened. Investors offered the government a total of Sh34.8bn in the three tenors of Treasury bill — against a target of Sh24bn — of which the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) accepted Sh33.8bn. During…
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South African: New BRICS bank plans $1.5BN lending for projects
A New Development Bank (NDB) set up by the “BRICS” group of emerging economies plans to lend $1.5 billion to South Africa for infrastructure projects over the next eighteen months. The BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – agreed to create the infrastructure-focused lender in July 2014 as an alternative to the…
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South Africa rate cut likely in November
South Africa’s Reserve Bank is expected to cut interest rates again in November and possibly even September given the relatively tame inflation outlook, a Reuters poll found on Friday. The central bank unexpectedly cut its repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent for the first time in five years in July, taking advantage…
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South Africa’s business confidence climbs to 5-month high in July
South Africa’s business confidence climbed to its highest level in five months in July helped by a firmer currency, falling inflation and an increase in vehicle sales, a survey showed on Tuesday. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (SACCI) monthly business confidence index (BCI) accelerated to 95.3 in July from 94.9 in June.…