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Zimbabwe’s bond notes, lending in Kenya, SA’s credit rating and more

Business, economy and investing in Africa on November 28, 2016

Zimbabwe launched a “bond notes” currency which held its value against the U.S. dollar on Monday, despite warnings that it could cause hyperinflation

Kenya’s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 10.0 percent on Monday, as expected. The central bank expects inflation to remain 5 percent in the short term. The country’s official foreign reserves currently stand at $7.305 billion (Sh745.1 billion), or 4.8 months’ import cover, compared to $7.683 billion (Sh783.7 billion) at the end of October.

South Africa’s rand hit near three-week highs after Fitch and Moody’s affirmed the country’s investment-grade credit ratings late on Friday. Fitch rates South Africa one notch above ‘junk’, while Moody’s has the sovereign two levels above sub-investment grade.

Ghana: The Swiss African Oil Company has been awarded a contract for seismic exploration in the Volta Basin.

Zambia plans to put in place a 7.5% duty on copper concentrates imports.

Egypt is planning to offer US dollar treasury bonds worth $2.5–3bn in mid-January.

Tanzania’s largest mobile operator, Vodacom, part of South Africa’s Vodacom Group, has filed a prospectus with Tanzania’s capital markets regulators for an initial public offering (IPO).

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