Africa

COMPANY TO WATCH: TIGER BRANDS/SOUTH AFRICA     Tiger Brands, South Africa’s biggest food producer, is expanding internationally, particularly in Africa and primarily through acquisitions. The company recently completed the purchase of a controlling interest in HACO Industries, a Kenya-based ...

AFRICA Regional trading groups are struggling to boost intra-regional trade flows in sub-Saharan Africa.   Illicit trade continues to flourish in Southern Africa, with smuggled goods totaling an estimated $50 billion a year. Fears of a global recession and a ...

AFRICA       Kampala in Uganda, where African leaders discussed plans for growing investment.   East Africa may benefit from the recent turmoil on global financial markets, as investors seek less risky and higher yielding markets. Speakers at September’s ...

AFRICA       Unemployment and homelessness have risen sharply in Zimbabwe. Following the controversial reelection of president Robert Mugabe in June, Zimbabwe has fallen into even greater economic chaos. Officials said annual inflation leapt to 11.2 million percent in ...

AFRICAN INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic development is still constrained by a historic dearth of infrastructure investment. Private sector investors might be able to provide the hitherto missing link.       Controversial development: Dams such as the Kariba on ...

SOUTH AFRICA       Zuma: Election victory all but assured after charges are dropped. South Africa’s High Court last month dropped all corruption charges against Jacob Zuma, president of the African National Congress (ANC). Although the decision was based ...

AFRICA     All change: Zimbabwe's coins have value again. With hyperinflation eroding the nation’s economy, Zimbabwe’s government is taking desperate measures. It lopped off 10 zeros from the Zimbabwe dollar, as inflation is now running at 2.2 million percent ...

AFRICA           Kenya's mobile communications industry flourishes following IPO of Safaricom. A June IPO by Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom was oversubscribed by 532%, according to Kenya’s finance minister Amos Kimunya. The government exercised a provision allowing ...

AFRICA     Kaberuka: Cereal export limits imperil 150 million Africans' lives. Food shortages continue to cause severe disruption in many African countries, prompting the African Development Bank (AfDB) to pledge up to $1 billion in subsidies and grants to ...

COUNTRY REPORT / NIGERIA Despite vast hydrocarbon reserves and a government committed to economic diversification, Nigeria still faces tremendous problems. A resurgence in its banking sector may help accelerate future progress.   Oil is Nigeria’s lifeline, accounting for some 80% ...

AFRICA   Long ignored by mainstream investors and corporations, Africa has suddenly found itself in the spotlight. Its resilience in the recent credit crunch is just part of the reason.     An oil worker stands on the deck of ...

DR NEWS   Zhaikmunai, an independent oil and gas exploration business based in Kazakhstan, has concluded the first-ever listing of global depositary receipts on the London Stock Exchange by a limited partnership. Zhaikmunai raised $100 million in its offering last ...

AFRICA     Botswana's new president, Seretse Ian Khama. Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is set to continue strongly this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, which says the region is “better placed today to withstand a worsening of ...

NEWS   The Overseas Private Investment Corp. (OPIC), a US development finance organization, has committed up to $100 million in initial funding for a sub-Saharan debt fund to be managed by Standard Bank of South Africa. The Standard Africa Development ...

Dr News         African issuers of global depositary receipts could benefit from the fact that they are remote from the effects of the US-centric credit crunch, says Stuart Matty, partner at White & Case, the law firm ...

COUNTRY REPORT: SOUTH AFRICA   Flagging global growth, an ongoing energy shortage and increasing wage and inflation pressures are weighing heavily on South Africa’s economy.   In a hole: South Africa's mining industry has been badly affected by recent power ...

News         The Rwanda Stock Exchange opened for business in the capital city of Kigali at the end of January, but so far the exchange has not traded any stocks. It has listed two government bonds and ...