African markets – Factors to watch on May 24

The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market
moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.
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 GLOBAL MARKETS
 China's main stock index fell one percent and the Australian
 dollar slipped on Wednesday after Moody's cut its sovereign
 credit rating on China.            
            
 
 WORLD OIL PRICES
 Oil prices rose on Wednesday, supported by increasing
 confidence that an OPEC-led production cut aimed at
 tightening the market would be extended through the rest of
 2017 and the first quarter of next year.                 
 
 EMERGING MARKETS
 For the top emerging markets news, double click on
            
 
 AFRICA STOCKS
 For the latest news on African stocks, click on     
 
 
 SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
 South Africa's rand raced to a four-week high against the
 U.S. dollar on Tuesday on a media report that the ruling
 African National Congress (ANC) will discuss the removal of
 President Jacob Zuma at a major party meeting this
 weekend.            
 
 
 NIGERIA MARKETS
 Nigeria's central bank plans to sell an undisclosed amount
 of dollars on Tuesday to settle a backlog of foreign
 exchange demand for airlines, fuel and raw material imports,
 traders said.            
 
 
 NIGERIA ECONOMY
 Nigeria's economy contracted again in the first quarter,
 data showed on Tuesday, but the central bank expects
 Africa's biggest economy to return to growth by the end of
 the third quarter thanks to higher foreign exchange
 inflows.             
 
 
 NIGERIA OIL
 Nigeria's state-run oil company will keep buying cheaper,
 lower-quality gasoline for now because the government has
 yet to circulate new rules forcing a switch by July to
 cleaner fuels with less sulphur content, trading sources
 said on Tuesday.                
 
 
 KENYA MARKETS
 The Kenyan shilling        was unchanged against the dollar
 on Tuesday with hard currency inflows from exporters of
 horticulture products helping provide support.            
 
 
 KENYA HEALTH
 President Donald Trump's dramatic expansion of a policy
 blocking U.S. aid to organisations offering abortion
 services will have one sure result, say medical workers in
 this city: more abortions.             
 
 
 KENYA CURRENT ACCOUNT
 Kenya's current account deficit widened to 7.7 percent of
 GDP in February from 5.9 percent the same time a year
 earlier, the finance ministry said on Tuesday.            
 
 
 UGANDA MARKETS
 The Ugandan shilling        was expected to remain stable on
 Tuesday helped by healthy dollar inflows from exporters of
 fish, maize and other agricultural products.            
 
 
 GHANA INVESTMENTS
 Danone           and its Dubai-based private equity partner
 Abraj will together invest $25 million to expand production
 capacity at the Fan Milk dairy business in Ghana, the French
 food group said on Tuesday.                
 
 
 SOMALIA BLAST
 A suicide bomber killed five people, including a policeman,
 and injured 12 others on Tuesday at a police checkpoint in
 Somalia's northern Puntland region, a local governor said,
 the first such attack in three years.
 
 
 SOMALIA HIJACK
 Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian fishing vessel on Tuesday
 to use as a base to attack bigger, more valuable ships, the
 mayor of a Somali town said, part of an upsurge in attacks
 following years of relative calm.             
 
 
 TANZANIA GOLD
 Tanzania's full-year gold output rose 4.4 percent to 1.42
 million ounces in 2016, government data showed on Tuesday,
 as the government moved to claim to a bigger share of
 revenue from mineral exports.             
 
 
 ETHIOPIA WHO
 Ethiopia's Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus won the race to be the
 next head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday,
 becoming the first African to lead the Geneva-based United
 Nations agency.            
 
 
 CAMEROON ACCIDENT
 Cameroon's Camrail was "mainly to blame" for a train crash
 that killed some 79 people last October, largely because the
 train was going at more than twice the speed limit, was
 overloaded and its brakes were defective, a government
 report said on Tuesday.             
 
 
 CONGO VIOLENCE
 Congo's attorney general said on Tuesday he had opened an
 investigation into a former minister over allegations he
 played a role in militia violence in central Congo that a
 U.N. sanctions monitor was investigating when she was
 killed.            
 
 
 CONGO REPUBLIC OIL
 Congo Republic will start producing 50,000 barrels of oil
 per day (bpd) from its Banga Kayo field from the end of this
 year or early next year, the government's adviser on
 upstream oil said on Tuesday.