Category: INTERNATIONAL
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Kenya:Foreign dollar investors pump Sh1bn into NSE
Foreign investors have scaled up their buying activity at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) over the past four weeks, pumping in a net of Sh1 billion as return for dollar investors goes up. The hard currency return on the constituent stocks of the NSE FTSE 15 index over the past month stand at 1.44 per…
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Nigeria to abandon naira peg in favour of open market trading
Nigeria’s central bank said on Wednesday it would begin “purely” market-driven foreign currency trading next week, abandoning its 16-month peg and setting the stage for the naira to fall sharply. Nigeria’s central bank previously pegged the naira at 197 to the U.S. dollar but the currency trades at about half that on the black market…
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Kenya:Taxpayers question Sh1bn per kilometre Western bypass cost
The cost of building Nairobi Western bypass has sparked uproar with revelations that it will on average cost Sh1 billion to construct a kilometre, nearly twice the fee of comparable roads. The cost of the 17.3-kilometre bypass has raised concern on whether taxpayers are getting value for money given that roads of similar complexity such…
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Algeria: Benefits Planned By Investment Bill Will Not Affect Public Treasury, Assures Bouchouareb
The incentives and tax exemptions granted to investors in the bill on investment promotion, debated in the Lower House, seek wealth generation and job creation, Minister of Industry and Mines Abdessalam Bouchouareb said Tuesday. The minister was answering MPs questions, following the discussions of the investment bill, in a Lower House session chaired by Speaker…
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Mozambique currency plunges amid scepticism about IMF mission
An International Monetary Fund team arrived in Mozambique on Wednesday to try to find a way out of a sovereign debt crisis that is crippling the economy of one of the world’s poorest countries and could trigger social and political unrest. Diplomats were not optimistic about the success of the June 16-24 IMF mission, given…
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Nigeria’s currency dealers to meet, trading expected to start between 197 and 370 – sources
Nigeria’s currency dealers will meet on Thursday to discuss new forex guidelines issued by the central bank designed to relaunch the interbank market, two senior bank treasurers said. The meeting, hosted by the association of currency dealers, the Financial Market Dealers Association (FMDA), will seek to determine trading spreads for the currency and circuit breaker,…
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South Africa’s current account deficit widens, fuels likelihood of rate hikes
South Africa’s current account deficit widened in the first quarter of 2016 as exports of platinum and coal slumped as miners cut production after global commodities prices tumbled, the central bank said on Tuesday. The wider deficit, a sharp contraction in growth and the weakness of the currency led analysts to predict the bank would…
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Nigeria:U.S. fund aims to raise $2 billion for infrastructure
U.S. fund manager Pecora Capital said on Tuesday it will raise $2 billion over the next 18 months for Nigerian infrastructure projects, a rare show of investor confidence during a period of deep crisis in Africa’s largest economy. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is trying to attract foreign direct investment to help support an economy that…
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Kenya:Telcos warn new CA rules may lead to loan defaults
Safaricom and Airtel have warned that proposed guidelines that allow subscribers to switch telecommunication providers irrespective of whether they have outstanding mobile money debts will lead to high risks of default. The two leading mobile operators now want the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to review the proposal, arguing that mobile cash borrowers may abuse…
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Nigeria’s economic crisis worsens
Nigeria is experiencing its worst economic downturn in over a decade, with the country’s inflation at an alarming 15.6 per cent. Government revenues are battered by a crash in oil prices and renewed militancy in the Niger Delta, and many states are now cash-strapped and unable to pay workers’ salaries. The Nigerian crisis has even…