Economy

TUNIS (Capital Markets in AfricaA) – Tunisia may have to wait a little longer for a much-anticipated IMF loan installment, as the Washington-based lender said the North African nation needs more time “to fully flesh out” its economic policy. The statement, released by the International Monetary Fund at the end of a staff visit to Tunisia, underscores how the nation’s ongoing political bickering is taking its toll on the implementation of broader economic measures, such as curbing…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The tension created by high levels of inequality in South Africa increases political risk and hampers the progress of economic reforms, Moody’s Investors Service said. Joblessness among young people in Africa’s most-industrialized economy that’s at more than 50 percent and slow economic growth “are key credit challenges,” the ratings company said in an emailed statement on Tuesday. While President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged reforms to boost the economy and lure investors,…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Growth in Africa’s two largest economies may be sputtering along but that won’t stop the continent’s gross domestic product from expanding at the fastest pace since at least 2012. GDP growth for the continent is forecast to accelerate to 4 percent this year, up from an estimated 3.5 percent in 2018, making it the fastest-growing region in the world after Asia, according to the African Development Bank. And that’s…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Monetary Fund said Nigeria’s economy was growing too slowly to reduce poverty or joblessness and urged the government to boost revenue and scrap its system of multiple exchange rates. “Growth is not enough,” Amine Mati, the IMF’s mission chief for Nigeria, said in an interview in Lagos on Wednesday as the Washington-based lender released its latest Article IV report for Africa’s biggest oil producer. “Our number-one recommendation…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Moody’s Investors Service’s brief comment on South Africa’s credit ratingsparked the rand’s strongest rally in five months on Monday and drove government bond yields to the lowest since May. More importantly, it bought President Cyril Ramaphosa more time to convince investors he has the ability to introduce reforms that would stimulate the economy, consolidate government spending and reduce corruption in Africa’s most industrialized economy. The rating company on Friday deferred a scheduled…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa)  – For the 16th time since the 1960s, Ghana is wrapping up a financial bailout from the International Monetary Fund and stepping away from the lender’s oversight. Now, it’s up to one of Africa’s perennial overspenders to show that it can stick to a budget. The previous time Ghana was in this position was in July 2012, five months before general elections, the country recorded the first of three consecutive…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa may just be able to cling onto the stable outlook of its sole investment-grade rating this week, helping it stay clear of a forced selloff of billions of rand of its debt. Economists are divided on what Moody’s Investors Service will do when it potentially makes an announcement on South Africa’s credit assessment Friday. Half the participants in a Bloomberg survey expect it to maintain a stable…