Economic Outlook
- The financial services sector continued to dominate the East African deals till October 2019, helping drive the number of disclosed deals higher by 46 % to 91 compared to 62 in the same period last year, valued at 162.6 BN KES (1.6 BN USD).
- Zambia real GDP decreased in Q2-2019 reaching 2.3% compared to 3.9% in Q2-2018. Moreover, it is projected to significantly decline to about 2.0% from 4.0% in 2018 premised on projected contraction in agriculture, constrained electricity generation, and lower than anticipated mining output.
- The Bank of Zambia (BOZ) has announced an increase in the monetary policy rate from 10.25% to 11.5%. The adjustment comes after the central bank increase the commercial banks overnight lending rate and to reduce the occurred inflation.
- The Kenyan Treasury missed the 50 BN KES (489.7 MM USD) target for the 10-year bond issue whose sale closed at the end of last week, reflecting tightening liquidity conditions and the market adopting a wait-and-see attitude on the direction of interest rates.
- The number of Kenyans earning below 30,000 KES (293 USD) per month has increased by 14% which nearly half of the total employed workers captured in government records reaching 1,279,982 from 154,945, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
- The Kenya Tea Development Agency firm stated that despite Kenyan tea being in high demand, its competitiveness in the international market has been eroding due to costs and poor marketing of the commodity.
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) stated that South Africa is facing a prolonged period of weak economic growth marked by rising unemployment, inequality and greater credit-rating risk if the government does not act fast to implement reforms.
Political Events
- Zimbabwe Environment and Tourism patron, First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa, is concerned about the exclusion of women in tourism despite forming a huge base of the workforce in the sector. Noting that the percentage of women who work in the industry was high, but they occupy unskilled and lowly-paying jobs.
- Khalid Belhoul, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC) of UAE, met Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, Executive Director in the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia in order to enhance cooperation between the two friendly countries and discussed a number of issues of common concern.
Stock Market
- The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) delisted Dangote Flour Mills (DFM) Plc from its official list, ending the 11 years history of the company as a quoted public limited liability company. The delisting marked the formal conclusion of the acquisition of DFM by Crown Flour Mills, a subsidiary of Olam International Limited.
- Nigeria's benchmark index has decreased by 17% this year and the trading volumes in 2019 are lower than those of 2017 and 2018. Accordingly, the Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria are planning to create Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange later this November due to the decline in the stock market.
Companies Transactions
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