Economy

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – The U.S. economy’s growth rate is losing speed, prompting questions over how slow it can go and still avoid crashing into a recession. Whereas expansion below 2% used to almost guarantee the economy would subsequently contract, some economists now reckon the U.S. can wobble around 1%-1.5% without falling over. The decline in the economy’s so-called stall speed is a relief after data released Tuesday signaled the weakest manufacturing…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s capital city Nairobi is being outperformed by semi-urban areas and smaller cities, such as Kiambu and Nakuru, according to data on regional economic activity. There’s some evidence to suggest this may become an emerging trend across Africa with a different pattern of urbanization providing the engine of growth. Nairobi had the weakest GDP per capita growth of all Kenya’s 47 counties. This chimes with World Bank research showing…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egyptian stocks extended losses and dollar bonds fell after small but rare anti-government protests over the weekend. The EGX 30 dropped 1.5% on Monday, extending losses to 6.7% since rallies in several cities over the weekend evoked memories of the instability that followed the 2011 uprising and ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. The country’s $1.75 billion of bonds due 2029 headed for the biggest decline in over a month as of 9:03…

JOHANNESBRUG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s longer-maturity debt and the low level of foreign-currency bonds is “more of a strength than a weakness” for the country’s credit rating, according to Moody’s Investors Service. While 37.9% of the government’s rand-denominated debt is held offshore, it poses less risk to the sovereign because investors bear the brunt of foreign-exchange shocks, Lucie Villa, Moody’s vice president and lead sovereign analyst for South Africa, said Tuesday. That, and…

CARIO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Positive inflation reading in August, below expectations, despite seasonality Annual headline inflation saw a deceleration to 7.5% in August, well below both our estimate of 8.4% and July’s reading of 8.7%, on the back of a monthly rise of 0.7% vs our estimates of a rise of 1.5% and July’s monthly rise of 1.8%. August’s reading marks the lowest inflation reading in six years, which was aided by the…