Economy

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – China has lent and will lend huge sums to African countries, creating concerns they are becoming too indebted. But rather than Chinese activity, which is increasingly a good thing for Africa, the bigger debt risk comes from Eurobonds issuance. Lending from China has risen, partly due to the Belt and Road Initiative. A narrower focus of this lending to support infrastructure projects will lift the continent’s debt-servicing capacity in…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – An index tracking South African manufacturing activity rose for the first month in three in July, but this was tempered by a lowering of expectations for future business conditions. The purchasing managers’ index compiled by the Stellenbosch-based Bureau for Economic Research and Absa Bank Ltd. climbed to 51.5 in July from 47.9 in June. A reading above 50 indicates growth in the factory sector. This is the highest reading since May…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Economic and political problems are piling up for Cyril Ramaphosa, dampening the euphoria that accompanied his ascension to the South African presidency. A labor union boss turned business tycoon, Ramaphosa took office in February after the ruling African National Congress forced Jacob Zuma to resign following a scandal-tainted tenure that lasted almost nine years. While Ramaphosa initially won plaudits from investors and the public for instigating a crackdown on graft, sentiment has…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s Big Four agenda, a set of development goals geared at fuelling output, will not necessarily drive economic growth to the targeted 7 percent from 2020 to 2022, according to BMI Research. A key hurdle is the government’s weak fiscal position, with debt projected to cross the 60 percent to gross domestic product threshold in 2018, the Fitch Group unit said in a note. East Africa’s biggest economy’s chief development…