Nigeria imports $125m fishery products from Norway annually – Ambassador
Businessam Staff
October 30, 2017
Kjemprud Jens-Petter, Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, said Monday that the African country imports fishery products worth 125 million dollars (N45 billion) from Norway annually. The Ambassador told NAN in Lagos that the fishery imports from Norway included stockfish, mackerel, and salmon, saying, “annually, Norwegian fish exports to Nigeria stand at 125 million dollars and these include […]
Zimbabwean minister calls for diversification of exports, improve infrastructure in Africa
Businessam StaffOctober 26, 2017
Ignatius Chomb, Zimbabwean Finance Minister said Thursday that Africa needs to diversify its exports through value addition to reduce vulnerability to commodity price shocks. Chombo made the call while declaring open the 23rd Session of the Inter-Governmental Committee of Experts of Southern Africa in Bulawayo, themed “Trade Facilitation in Southern Africa: Bridging the Infrastructure Gap”. He […]
South Africa signals rising debt as ratings downgrades loom
Businessam StaffOctober 25, 2017
South Africa forecast higher debt and wider fiscal deficits over the next three years, heightening the risk of further credit ratings downgrades as a fight for control of the ruling party limits policy choices. The nation’s currency and bonds weakened. Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba painted a bleak picture of the state of the country’s finances […]
South Africa’s retail sales rise 5.5% year-on-year in August
Businessam StaffOctober 18, 2017
South African retail sales rose by 5.5 percent year-on-year in August, beating market expectations, after increasing by a revised 1.6 percent in July, data from the statistics office showed on Wednesday. Reuters analysts had forecasted a 2.3 percent year-on-year increase in retail sales in August. On a month-on-month basis, sales were up 2.4 percent and […]
ITFC signs $45m deal with The Gambia to finance energy sector
Businessam StaffOctober 18, 2017
The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, has signed a US$ 45 million Murabaha Financing Agreement with the government of The Gambia. Amadou Sanneh, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs of The Gambia (Governor of the Islamic Development Bank), and Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, Chief Executive […]
Zimbabwe to cut budget deficit by half in 2018 as economy slows down 3%
Businessam StaffOctober 18, 2017
Zimbabwe expects to cut its budget deficit by half next year to 4 percent of the gross domestic product, while economic growth will slow down to 3 percent, according to a Treasury document seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The southern African nation has struggled to control runaway expenditure, especially on salaries, which accounted for more […]
Mugabe bans importation of fruit, vegetable into Zimbabwe as forex crunch deepens
Businessam StaffOctober 17, 2017
Joseph Made, Zimbabwe agriculture minister said Tuesday that the country has banned the importation of fruit and vegetables with immediate effect to preserve scarce foreign exchange. The country which dumped its currency for the U.S. dollar in 2009 because it was wrecked by hyperinflation is now running short of dollars as well as quasi-currency “bond note” […]
Bank of Ghana holds key rate at 2015 low as inflation rose in August from lowest in 4 years
Businessam StaffSeptember 26, 2017
Ghana’s central bank kept its key lending rate at the lowest since 2015 after inflation accelerated for the first time in four months. The Bank of Ghana left the rate at 21 percent, Governor Ernest Addison told reporters Monday in the capital, Accra. Two of seven economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted the hold, while […]
Fears grow as Zimbabwe returns to excessive currency printing
Businessam StaffSeptember 26, 2017
Robert Mugabe’s latest economic experiment is making Zimbabwe’s stocks the world’s best performers for all the wrong reasons. And there are little foreign investors like Franklin Templeton, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Allan Gray can do to escape: it’s practically impossible for them to pull out their money. Economic chaos has been a regular feature of […]
Zimbabwe signs up for $600mn credit line from Afreximbank
Businessam StaffSeptember 25, 2017
Zimbabwe will access a $600 million credit line from African Export-Import Bank in an effort to stave off a foreign-currency shortage that’s afflicted importers of everything from food to fuel. The southern African nation needs the assistance “especially during the foreign-exchange drought, which runs from October to February next year,” Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa said […]