The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market
moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday.
- - - - -
EVENTS:
*U.N. Human Rights Council due to review Burundi record
*Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo addresses reporters to mark
first year in office
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian stocks struck record highs on Thursday, with a rally
by Wall Street supporting bullish investor sentiment, while
the dollar pulled back from three-year lows as comments by
European Central Bank officials tempered the euro's recent
rally.
WORLD OIL PRICES
Oil prices inched up on Thursday on a reported decline in
U.S. crude inventories, but prices stayed below recent
three-year highs as fuel supplies remain ample and as
refineries scale back operations.
EMERGING MARKETS
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AFRICA STOCKS
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SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
South Africa's rand weakened on Wednesday, giving back gains
that lifted it to its firmest level in 2-1/2 years as
caution crept back into the market and some investors held
off extending long positions.
NIGERIA KIDNAPPING
Kidnappers have abducted two Americans and two Canadians in
the northern Nigerian state of Kaduna, killing two police
officers, a police spokesman said on Wednesday.
NIGERIA OIL
Nigerian militants threatened on Wednesday to attack
off-shore oil facilities within days, raising fears of a
repeat of a 2016 wave of violence that helped push Africa's
biggest economy into recession.
NIGERIA SECURITY
Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers killed 12 people and
injured 48 others in an attack on Wednesday on the
northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, officials from the
State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) for Borno
said.
NIGERIA STOCKS
Nigerian stocks hit a nine-year high on Wednesday, extending
gains for a third straight session.
NIGERIA BONDS
Nigeria plans to raise 110 billion naira by selling
sovereign bonds with maturities of five and 10 years on Jan.
24, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said on
Wednesday.
KENYA MARKETS
The Kenyan shilling rose to its highest level in just
over five weeks on Wednesday, benefiting from a globally
weak dollar, traders said.
KENYA EU
The European Union has shelved a 3.6 billion shilling ($35
million) water conservation assistance scheme to Kenya after
forest guards killed a member of a community indigenous to
one of the forests involved in the project.
UGANDA MARKETS
The Ugandan shilling inched up on Wednesday, helped
by inflows from some commodity exporters and
non-governmental organisations.
UGANDA SECURITY
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni accused the United Nations
on Wednesday of "preserving terrorism" in neighbouring
Democratic Republic of Congo where U.N. peacekeepers have
been unable to curb deadly attacks by Islamist
rebels.
CONGO UN
Militias in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are uniting
in opposition to President Joseph Kabila, a senior U.N.
official there told a news conference in Geneva on
Wednesday.
CONGO REPUBLIC OPEC
Congo Republic plans to join the OPEC oil cartel, the
government said, as the former French colony presses ahead
with projects that could help it become the third-largest
oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa.
ETHIOPIA POLITICS
Ethiopia freed a senior opposition leader on Wednesday,
advancing efforts to calm political turmoil following
violence and mass protests that shook the country in 2015
and 2016.
ZIMBABWE CURRENCY
Zimbabwe will not stop using "bond notes", a domestic
quasi-currency, until the economy fully recovers, Finance
Minister Patrick Chinamasa said on Wednesday.
GHANA POLITICS
Ghana's economy is rebounding and the major commodity
exporter is poised to wean itself off bailouts through
sustained fiscal discipline and a battle against corruption,
President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Wednesday.
IVORY COAST OIL
Ivory Coast awarded Tullow Oil two new oil and gas
blocks on Wednesday, including one along the maritime
boundary with Ghana, government spokesman Bruno Kone
said.
IVORY COAST STOCKS
West Africa's BRVM Bourse plans to list Mali's leading
telecoms operator Sotelma and a regional banking group this
year, its Chief Executive told Reuters on
Wednesday.
AFRICA GLAXOSMITHKLINE/DRUGS
GlaxoSmithKline is cutting back operations in Africa
as its new Chief Executive Emma Walmsley seeks to make the
British drugmaker more competitive in emerging markets by
ditching her predecessor's expansion plans for the
continent.
MALI GOLD
industrial gold production in Mali rose to 49.6 tonnes in
2017, up 5 percent from the previous year, a senior Mines
Ministry official said on Wednesday.
MAURITIUS STORM
Mauritius closed its port and airport on Wednesday as it
raised its alert level for a tropical cyclone that is
bearing down on the island.
ITALY NIGER-LIBYA
Italy's parliament approved on Wednesday an increased
military presence in Libya and the deployment of up to 470
troops in Niger to combat migration and the trafficking of
people towards Europe, many of whom wash up on Italian
shores.
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