Market analysts forecast oil prices to end year 10 per cent lower as demand concerns snap winning streak

Market analysts forecast oil prices to end year 10 per cent lower as demand concerns snap winning streak

Prices had surged to this year-high in September after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies agreed to cut production, triggering fears that demand was potentially higher than supply.

Read more
Crude oil price drops almost two per cent as investors watch Red Sea developments

Crude oil price drops almost two per cent as investors watch Red Sea developments

Oil output in Russia, the third largest producer in the world after the United States and Saudi Arabia, is expected to be steady or even to increase next year as Moscow has largely overcome Western sanctions, analysts said.

Read more
Bond: Ethiopia becomes Africa’s latest sovereign default

Bond: Ethiopia becomes Africa’s latest sovereign default

According to two sources familiar with the situation, bondholders had not been paid the coupon as of the end of Friday December 22, the last international banking working day before the grace period expires.

Read more
Some respite for Man United as British billionaire Ratcliffe acquires 25 per cent stake in Red Devils

Some respite for Man United as British billionaire Ratcliffe acquires 25 per cent stake in Red Devils

The club said $200 million of Ratcliffe’s planned investment would be paid on closing of the deal, and a further $100 million by the end of 2024.

Read more
Shipping companies reroute to South African ports to avoid Houthi attacks in Red Sea

Shipping companies reroute to South African ports to avoid Houthi attacks in Red Sea

Other large African deep-water ports along the Cape route, such as Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania are too ill-equipped to handle the expected traffic over the next couple of weeks, Lencioni said.

Read more
Forex: Kenyan, Zambian currencies in-play against backdrop of subdued dollar supply

Forex: Kenyan, Zambian currencies in-play against backdrop of subdued dollar supply

Zambia’s kwacha could hold steady next week or fall slightly as hard-currency supply remains subdued. On Thursday the kwacha was trading at 25.20 per dollar from 24.55 a week ago.

Read more
With US dollar forecast to weaken in 2024, countries with hefty debts like Kenya, Tunisia expected to manage repayment

With US dollar forecast to weaken in 2024, countries with hefty debts like Kenya, Tunisia expected to manage repayment

Kenya, Tunisia and Egypt have significant maturities due in 2024. Kenya plans to buy back up to a quarter of its $2 billion bond, due in June, with the help of loans from the Trade & Development Bank and the African Export-Import Bank.

Read more
Paramount in talks to sell Black Entertainment Television Network to management-led group

Paramount in talks to sell Black Entertainment Television Network to management-led group

Paramount is controlled by the Shari Redstone-led media company that owns 77 per cent of Paramount’s Class A voting shares.

Read more
German Covid vaccine giant BioNTech unveils plans to set up factory in Rwanda in 2025

German Covid vaccine giant BioNTech unveils plans to set up factory in Rwanda in 2025

Rival Moderna in March this year unveiled plans to establish an mRNA manufacturing facility in Kenya, which would be its first such facility in Africa.

Read more
Portuguese ship that vanished in 16th century excavated in Namibian desert with gold, copper

Portuguese ship that vanished in 16th century excavated in Namibian desert with gold, copper

The condition that the ship was found in suggests that the storm that caused the shipwreck was especially violent, although an absence of human remains (besides a few scattered bone fragments) in the site suggests that most of the crew on board survived the wreck or died at sea.

Read more