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
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AFRICA STOCKS
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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.
