The Editorial Team |

Egypt | Inflation at 20-Month High in Egypt Adds Pressure to Raise Rates

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Market in Africa: The rate increase that followed the biggest one-time devaluation of the Egyptian pound in March may represent the start of a tightening cycle, as prices rose at the fastest pace in 20 months. Annual core inflation, a gauge of price increases of non-volatile consumer goods, reached 9.51 percent last month, the highest level since August 2014, the official statistics agency said on its website. Headline inflation in urban areas rose to 10.3 percent,…

Investors Targeting African Banks Despite High Risks, Fitch Says

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Fitch Ratings-London-10 May 2016: With the exception of South Africa, sub-Saharan African banks tend to have highly speculative fundamental credit quality, but strategic investors are still looking to expand in the region, says Fitch Ratings. Barclays is progressing with the sale of its African banking franchise, Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa is diversifying into new countries and Morocco’s BMCE Bank is increasing its stake in a Sub-Saharan subsidiary. The…

Zambia Increases Local Debt Auctions to Fund Bulging Deficit

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Lusaka, Zambia, Capital Markets in Africa — Zambia will boost the value of Treasury bills and bonds it offers to investors taking advantage of increased demand for the securities as it seeks to fund a fiscal deficit that’s set to grow to more than double what Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda budgeted for. Local-currency debt sales will increase to 700 million kwacha ($71 million) per auction from 450 million kwacha for Treasury bills, and to 800 million kwacha from…

Tunisia | Moody’s recalibrates Tunisia’s national rating scale

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Tunis, Tunisia, Capital Markets in Africa: Moody’s Investors Service has repositioned the national scale ratings (NSRs) of four tranches in two Tunisian structured finance transactions in conjunction with the recalibration of the Tunisian national rating scale. NSRs, which provide a measure of relative creditworthiness within a single country, are derived from global scale ratings (GSRs) using country-specific maps. The adoption of a revised correspondence between Moody’s GSRs and the Tunisian national scale follows the publication…

Ghana | More Delays in Store for Ghana’s Biggest IPO as Fund Seeks Stake

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ACCRA, Ghana, Capital Markets in Africa: Ghana’s state pension fund said it may seek a stake in Agricultural Development Bank of Ghana Ltd. more than a month after the nation’s biggest-ever initial public offering closed, a move that may further delay completion of the deal. Social Security and National Insurance Trust, the nation’s biggest investor, which oversees about $1.7 billion, is reviewing the IPO prospectus and will decide in about two weeks whether to apply for…

Infrastructure | IMF’s Lipton Warns Africa Against Infrastructure Debt Traps

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: African nations need to find the right balance when pursuing infrastructure projects to avoid falling into deeper debt traps, according to David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. “Infrastructure projects can be very successful in supporting growth if countries pick the right projects and carry them out in an efficient fashion,” Lipton said in a interview in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi on Tuesday. “Mistakes or inefficiencies…

Zimbabwe Scraps Plan to Swap Dollar Earnings to Rand, Euros

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HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe’s central bank abandoned a plan to convert half of its export earnings into South African rand and euros as it explores ways to ease a shortage of dollars. In a statement on Tuesday, the institution said it will now require 50 percent of export earnings to be transferred to a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe account. The central bank will then immediately credit the same amount, plus a 5 percent “export…

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