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African Markets - Factors to watch on May 24 (BN)
The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday. - - - - - 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. For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on
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