Category: INTERNATIONAL
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Algeria:GE Power’s $3 bln deal creates hundreds of jobs
GE Power, a division of General Electric Co, has signed a services deal with Algerian utility Sonelgaz SPE valued at more than $3 billion, the largest services agreement ever for GE Power and one that creates hundreds of jobs in Algeria, GE said on Monday. Under the 20-year contract with the subsidiary of Sonelgaz, GE…
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South Africa’s ANC to introduce amended land claims bill in May
South Africa’s ruling party will introduce an amended land rights bill in parliament in May after the top court declared invalid a law that re-opened a process for blacks to make claims on land taken from them during white-minority rule. The Restitution of Land Rights Bill, allowing state expropriations of land to redress racial disparities,…
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Kenya:New border posts triple KRA custom revenue
The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) says it has tripled custom revenue collections in its seven border points after it began operating one-stop border posts in June 2016. The move, which put together bureaucrats involved in cross-border clearance processes under one roof, has also cut cargo clearance time from the previous three days to just under…
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Kenya:Private, public infrastructure spend lifts construction 9.2pc
Heavy private investments in real estate and continued public spending on infrastructure saw the construction industry grow 9.2 per cent last year, providing employment to 163,000 Kenyans. The Economic Survey 2017 said new road projects will see Sh156.5 billion spent on the ongoing 10,000-kilometre annuity programme, a 38.3 per cent increase from last year’s Sh113.2…
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S.Africa could suffer further downgrades if political uncertainty stalls growth: S&P
South Africa’s credit rating could get downgraded deeper into junk status if political uncertainty triggered by the recent firing of the finance minister stalls reforms needed to grow the economy, an executive from S&P Global Ratings said on Wednesday. “There are risks that potential growth outcomes could be weakened, especially with uncertainty that’s been brought…
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Kenya hit by jobs slowdown for the first time in 4 years
The Kenyan economy lost its job creation momentum for the first time in four years, even as large numbers of previously employed individuals joined the labour market in wake of staff retrenchments that dominated Corporate Kenya in 2016. Official data released yesterday shows that the economy created 832,900 new formal and informal sector jobs in…
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East Africa:Equity Group now raises stake in its Congo unit to 86pc
Equity Group has acquired an extra seven per cent stake in its Democratic Republic of Congo subsidiary for Sh2.2 billion in cash, underlining its confidence about the unit’s future prospects. The Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed company first acquired a 79 per cent interest in Pro Credit Bank in September 2015 for Sh4.5 billion in a share…
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Nigeria needs reforms to hedge against future FX crisis – World Bank Africa economist
Nigeria needs to reform its finance to ensure it can hedge against any future currency crisis, the World Bank chief economist for Africa said on Wednesday. Albert Zeufack said currency adjustments could lead to higher inflation but continued monetary policy tightening would price pressures, adding that making fiscal adjustments in the West African country now…
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East Africa:IMF paints bleak picture for struggling Burundi
The International Monetary Fund has slashed its projection for Burundi’s economic growth this year to nil and projected just 0.1 percent in 2018. It gave no specific reason for the 2017 revision from 2 percent, but Burundi has been suffering from a severe drought like much of the wider region. The poor, central African nation’s…
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Nigeria: Local Content – Nigeria Retains $5bn of Yearly Spend in Oil and Gas Sector
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote has disclosed that about $5 billion out of the $20 billion spent annually in Nigeria’s oil and gas is retained in-country as a result of seven years of implementation of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act…