Economy

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s inflation rate rose the first time in 19 months as food-price growth picked up. The annual rate rose to 11.2 percent in August from 11.1 percent in July, Statistician-General Yemi Kale said in a report on Twitter Friday. Prices increased 1.1 percent in the month. The pick-up in price growth may bring interest-rate increases by the central bank closer. It’s scheduled to announce its next policy decision on Sept. 25….

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s unexpected slump into a second recession in almost a decade has boosted fears of another round of credit-rating downgrades that could see a sell-off in local-currency bonds. The cost of insuring the country’s debt against default for five years using credit-default swaps spiked to the highest since November 2016 while yields on the government’s benchmark local-currency bonds due in December 2026 rose to a nine-month high. The rand weakened the most against the…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa unexpectedly fell into its first recession for almost a decade, exacerbating the rand’s decline amid the recent emerging-market rout and heaping pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa. Africa’s most-industrialized economy shrank an annualized 0.7 percent in the second quarter, an outcome that was far worse than any forecaster had anticipated. The outcome casts a pall over the country’s new leadership, providing an uncomfortable parallel with the initial phase nine…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Egypt’s credit outlook was raised from stable to positive by Moody’s Investors Service, which cited progress in implementing a program backed by the International Monetary Fund to bolster economic growth and repair public finances. The country’s long-term rating was kept at B3, six levels below investment grade. The positive outlook signals that a downgrade is currently very “unlikely,’’ Moody’s said in a statement late on Tuesday.  “The substantial progress…