Markets

Kenya slipped into an economic recession for the first time since the third quarter of 2020 as the restrictions introduced by the government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on key sectors of the economy. The East African country’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 1.1% compared with a year earlier, after…

Zambia’s Ministry of Finance has confirmed it will hold discussions with the International Monetary Fund from February 11 to March 3, to negotiate an extended credit facility. “The programme discussions will centre of the government’s objectives to attain fiscal and debt sustainability,” the ministry said in a statement signed by Secretary to the Treasury Fredson…

South Africa’s Mr. Price posted a 5.8% rise in third-quarter retail sales, supported by COVID-19 relief packages and demand for household items as people worked from home during the health crisis. The clothing and homeware firm said in its results release that total retail sales jumped to $500.5 million for the three months ended December…

Namibia’s government has thrown its weight behind growing calls to boycott Shoprite Holdings so that the company resolves a four-week strike over pay. The Namibian Food and Allied Workers Union (NAFU) has been pleading with consumers not to buy from Shoprite and its subsidiaries until the labor dispute is resolved. More than 2,000 Shoprite workers…

Heineken’s South African subsidiary will cut 70 jobs and put new investments on hold due to the country’s third ban on alcohol sales and COVID-19 trading restrictions, the firm announced on Wednesday. Africa’s most developed nation imposed a third ban on alcohol sales in early January, a move the government said was necessary to free…

Zambia’s state mining agency has agreed to purchase Glencore’s majority stake in Mopani Copper Mines for $1.5 billion, belying the government’s perilous financial situation that has seen the Southern African nation become the first pandemic-era sovereign debt default in the continent last year. In announcing the deal, the government said the move was a result…

Angola has become the latest African country to receive funds from the International Monetary Fund, after the Washington-based lender approved disbursement of $488 million to the southern African country. In allocating the funds, IMF reiterated confidence that Africa’s second-biggest oil producer will rein in public debt to sustainable levels. The disbursement approved by the executive…

South African Breweries (SAB) has cancelled $165 million of investment earmarked for 2021 after the government imposed a third local ban on alcohol sales in the country. SAB’s cancelled investments in South Africa now total $330 million as the firm in August cancelled $165 million of planned expenditure following a second alcohol van. South Africa’s…

Tanzanian President John Pombe Magufuli has requested China to forgive some of his country’s debts, including one incurred 50 years ago for the construction of the railway that runs from the commercial capital Dar es Salaam to neighboring Zambia. The Head of State has made similar requests to other creditors in the past. In April…

The World Bank has announced that it will invest over $5 billion in 11 African countries over the next five years in a variety of climate change, environmental protection, agricultural sustainability, and human development programs. The Washington-based lender targets that these initiatives will improve livelihoods and provide a crucial lifeline at a time these nations…

Ivory Coast has issued $221 million in bonds to finance its infrastructure development as President Alassane Outtara eases into his third term in power. The auction includes $148.2 million in seven-year bonds at a 5.80% rate and a $74.1 million 10-year bond at 5.9%, said the lead manager from Sogebourse. The bonds which will be…

Mozambique will receive a $100 million grant from the World Bank to upgrade its urban infrastructure, the Washington based lender announced. The grant is the latest investment to flow to the Southern African nation that has been struggling on two fronts. First an insurgency by Islamist groups in the northern Cabo Delgado province is soaring,…

Namibia’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 2.4% to $3.017 billion in the third quarter of 2020 from $3.15 billion in a similar period last year, according to data released by the statistics agency. Namibia Statistics Agency Statistician-General Alex Shimuafeni said the largest negative contributors to GDP growth in the July – September period were…

Zimbabwe’s central bank will sell its majority shares in the country’s sole gold buyer, the Fidelity Printers and Refiners (FPR), as part of the partial privatization of the company. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor John Mangudya said in a statement that FPR will be unbundled into two business entities, “gold refining” and “printing…

Ghana’s economy shrank for a second time in the third quarter, even as the government eased restrictions imposed to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. Government statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters in the capital Accra that gross domestic product (GDP) decreased 1.1% in the third quarter compared to a similar period last year….

The African Continental Free-Trade Area could help to realize more than $84 billion in untapped intra-African exports, a new report by the African Export-Import Bank reveals. Trade under the pact is due to begin from January 1, and if the export potential is tapped under the deal, intra-continental trade could rise to more than $231…