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Morning Africa |
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0930-1500 KENYA TIME
Normal Board - The Whole shebang
Prompt Board Next day settlement
Expert Board All you need re an Individual stock.
The Latest Daily PodCast can be found here on the Front Page of the site
http://www.rich.co.ke |
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With Thanks to @bmarshallcctv @cctvnewsafrica for the Interview about @Johnkerry and the Chinese Premier #Africa Africa |
Macro Thoughts
Home Thoughts
I am headed to Poland this week and then to Milan early next week so
please make allowances this week.
My Favourite Polish Author is of course the irrepressible Ryszard Kapuściński
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/6255.Ryszard_Kapu_ci_ski
“A journey, after all, neither begins in the instant we set out, nor
ends when we have reached our door step once again. It starts much
earlier and is really never over, because the film of memory continues
running on inside of us long after we have come to a physical
standstill. Indeed, there exists something like a contagion of travel,
and the disease is essentially incurable.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Travels with Herodotus
“If the crowd disperses, goes home, does not reassemble, we say the
revolution is over.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński
“The true life is not reducible to words spoken or written, not by
anyone, ever. The true life takes place when we're alone, thinking
feeling, lost in memory, dreamingly self-aware, the submicroscopic
moments.”
― Don DeLillo, Point Omega
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Currency Markets at a Glance WSJ World Currencies |
Euro 1.3875
Dollar Index 79.46
Japan Yen 101.92 The yen climbed 0.3 percent to 101.90 per dollar as
of 11:25 a.m. in Singapore after touching 101.87, the strongest since
April 17.
Swiss Franc 0.8774
Pound 1.6876 The pound rose 0.4 percent this week to $1.6865 at 5:07
p.m. London time yesterday after rising to $1.6920 on May 1, the
highest level since August 2009
Aussie 0.9262
India Rupee 60.06
South Korea Won 1029.74 In South Korea, the won rallied to 1029.96 on
April 30, the strongest level since August 2008, after the nation’s
current-account surplus reached $7.35 billion in March
Brazil Real 2.2195
Egypt Pound 7.0053
South Africa Rand 10.4657
Sterling has climbed 5.5 percent in the past six months, the best
performer among 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg
Correlation-Weighted Indexes, as the strengthening recovery fuels
speculation the Bank of England will raise borrowing costs sooner than
other central banks. The euro gained 2.1 percent and the dollar
weakened 1 percent.
Euro versus the Dollar 3 Month Chart 1.3875
http://quotes.ino.com/charting/index.html?s=FOREX_EURUSD&v=d3&t=c&a=50&w=1
Dollar Index 3 Month Chart INO 79.46
http://quotes.ino.com/charting/index.html?s=NYBOT_DX&v=d3&t=c&a=50&w=1
Data on Friday showed U.S. employers hired workers at the fastest clip
in more than two years in April, pointing to a rebound in economic
growth after a severe winter.
The dollar index .DXY initially rallied to a high of 79.852, only to
then slide to a session low of 79.469. It was last flat at 79.504.
Traders said a combination of factors took the wind out of the dollar,
including a worryingly-large increase in the number of people dropping
out of the labor force, weak wage growth and escalating violence in
Ukraine.
Sterling 3 month chart INO 1.6876 [The pound rose 0.4 percent this
week to $1.6865 at 5:07 p.m. London time yesterday after rising to
$1.6920 on May 1, the highest level since August 2009]
http://quotes.ino.com/charting/index.html?s=FOREX_GBPUSD&v=d3&t=c&a=50&w=1
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China premier says Sino-Africa disputes just 'growing pains' Africa |
Disputes arising over China's investment projects in Africa are just
"growing pains" in a burgeoning relationship that saw their trade top
$200 billion last year, Premier Li Keqiang said on Sunday ahead of a
tour of the continent.
Li, speaking before starting a May 4-11 trip to Ethiopia, Nigeria,
Angola and Kenya, said Chinese firms in Africa needed to abide by
local laws and regulations as well as also take responsibility to
protect the interests of local communities.
He said the Chinese government was willing to sit down with African
countries to resolve any issues that arose between the two sides, but
said theses were "isolated" cases in a relationship based on equality
and mutual benefit.
"I wish to assure our African friends in all seriousness that China
will never pursue a colonialist path like some countries did, or allow
colonialism, which belongs to the past, to reappear in Africa," the
official news agency Xinhua quoted Li as saying.
In 2009, China overtook the United States as Africa's biggest trading
partner, and Xinhua said more than 2,500 Chinese firms operate on the
continent.
Bilateral trade between China and African countries reached $210
billion in 2013, but Beijing has been accused of holding back the
continent's economic development by focusing on the pursuit of raw
materials rather than the creation of local jobs and markets.
Angola, on Li's itinerary this week, has become one of China's biggest
oil suppliers, with crude deliveries rising 9.9 percent to 10.66
million tons in the first quarter of 2014, second only to Saudi
Arabia.
Kerry Calls for U.S. Investment in Africa, Warns on Corruption
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-03/kerry-calls-for-u-s-investment-in-africa-warns-on-corruption.html
Secretary of State John Kerry today urged greater U.S. investment in
Africa to help develop a U.S.- Africa relationship focused more on
shared opportunity and economic growth than on crisis management.
“For too long, ties between the United States and Africa were largely
rooted in meeting the challenges and crises of the moment,” Kerry told
an audience of diplomats and dignitaries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“We want more American companies to be here, to invest here -- both to
unleash the power of the private sector in Africa and to create jobs
in America,” Kerry said, even while warning of the damage that
conflict, corruption, and curbs on freedoms can do to Africa’s
potential.
The top U.S. diplomat is on a five-day visit to Africa, with stops in
Ethiopia, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Angola.
He noted that over the next three years, 37 of the 54 African nations
will hold national elections, including 15 presidential elections.
“These elections will be vitally important, but elections cannot be
the only opportunity for citizens to shape the future,” Kerry said.
“Nations in Africa, like nations all over the world, are strongest
when citizens have a say, when they have a stake in their nation’s
success.”
John Kerry’s hastily announced trip to Africa last week is something
of an occasion: It’s the first time he has set foot in sub-Saharan
Africa as secretary of state aside from a brief visit just to Addis
Ababa in May 2013.
Genocide risk in South Sudan amid personal power struggle: U.N.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/02/us-southsudan-unrest-un-genocide-idUSBREA410XW20140502
Adama Dieng, U.N. special adviser on prevention of genocide, and U.N.
Human Rights chief Navi Pillay briefed the 15-member council on
Friday. Dieng said the ethnic slaughter of hundreds of civilians in
Bentui and an attack on a U.N. peacekeeping base in Bor last month had
changed the course of the conflict.
"If such attacks are not immediately halted it could plunge the
country into serious violence that could spiral out of control," said
Dieng, who has visited South Sudan with Pillay. "In the current
situation, we see elements that we could categorize as risk factors of
genocide and other atrocity crimes."
Military Spending In some regions, like Africa, it really shot up. The
continent as a whole witnessed an 8.3% jump in 2013, totaling nearly
$45 billion.
http://www.allgov.com/news/us-and-the-world/military-spending-down-in-us-up-in-middle-east-asia-and-africa-140502?news=853051
Algeria led the way and became the first country in Africa to eclipse
the $10 billion mark in military spending. The government has devoted
a far larger share of its revenue to bolstering the army since 2004,
with military expenditures rising 176% since then.
Other big spenders in Africa included Angola (a 36% increase), which
now devotes more to the military than any other nation in sub-Saharan
Africa, including South Africa.
South Africa All Share Bloomberg +7.63% 2014 Record All Time Highs
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/JALSH:IND
South African political parties hold final campaign rallies this
weekend ahead of elections on Wednesday
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/south-africa-to-vote-next-week/2014/05/02/09fa9a44-d1f7-11e3-a714-be7e7f142085_story.html
The ruling party won two-thirds of the vote in 2009 elections.
Dollar versus Rand 3 Month Chart INO 10.4658 [10.00 before 11.00,
in my view]
http://quotes.ino.com/charting/index.html?s=FOREX_USDZAR&t=c&a=50&w=1&v=d3
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Jonathan Says Nigeria Facing Trying Times With Terrorism Africa |
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Africa’s biggest economy “is
going through trying times” amid terror attacks by Islamist militants,
who have bombed the capital twice in a month while holding more than
200 schoolgirls hostage.
“The Nigerian government is ready and willing to do anything that will
bring this terrorism to an end,” Jonathan said in an interview on
state television, NTA. “We’re talking to all countries that might
help.”
Ghana Stock Exchange Composite Index Bloomberg +5.45% 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/GGSECI:IND
Seven Killed in Ethiopia Amid Protests Over Capital’s Expansion
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-02/seven-killed-in-ethiopia-amid-protests-over-capital-s-expansion.html
Seven people were killed during protests in a western Ethiopian town
over the expansion of the capital, Addis Ababa, General-Secretary of
the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress Bekele Nega said.
The police opened fire on April 29 in Ambo as demonstrators invaded
the state-owned Construction and Business Bank after a security guard
shot dead a male protester, Nega said today by phone. Communications
Minister Redwan Hussein and State Minister of Communications Shimeles
Kemal didn’t answer their phones today when called for comment.
Protests by Oromo people, Ethiopia’s most populous ethnic group, have
been taking place for the past week, mostly around universities in
several towns across the Oromia region, which surrounds Addis Ababa,
Nega said.
One person died and about 70 others were injured in a blast at
Haromaya University in the east, pro-government Fana Broadcasting
Corp. said on its website yesterday, citing a Communications Ministry
statement.
IN CHOOSING SECURITY OVER DEMOCRACY IN ETHIOPIA, U.S. WILL GET NEITHER
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/5/john-kerry-ethiopiaaddisababaoromostudentprotestspressfreedom.html
To his credit, Kerry raised concerns about the tightening of press
freedom in Ethiopia. “I made clear to Ethiopian officials that they
need to create greater opportunities for citizens to be able to engage
with their fellow citizens and with their government by opening up
more space for civil society,” Kerry told reporters in Addis Ababa.
However, his discussions with Ethiopia’s leaders were overshadowed by
South Sudan’s implosion — with continuing fragility in next-door
Somalia, and souring Egypt-Ethiopia relations stirred by Ethiopia’s
construction of the Great Renaissance Dam over the Nile, in the
background.
“To support economic growth for the long term, the free marketplace of
ideas matters just as much as free markets,” Kerry noted in his
remarks. But he failed to underscore how rising instability could
erode Ethiopia’s standing as a linchpin to the otherwise volatile Horn
of Africa region’s stability and damage its newly minted image as an
emerging economic powerhouse.
Reports of the number of dead vary, but in clashes with security
forces over the last few days, locals say at least 20 protesters have
been killed and many others wounded in Ambo and Robe towns. The
government acknowledged 11 deaths, adding at least 70 students were
wounded in a bomb blast at Haramaya University in Eastern Oromia.
Swedish and U.K. embassies in Addis Ababa updated travel warnings for
their nationals urging those in Ethiopia to avoid visiting the area.
US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Democratic Republic
of Congo President Joseph Kabila to respect a constitutional law which
forbids him from seeking a new term in 2016 elections.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/655212-kerry-urges-dr-congo-s-kabila-to-respect-constitution-in-2016-poll.html
"I believe that it is clear to him (Kabila) that the United States of
America feels very strongly, as do other people, that the
constitutional process need to respected," Kerry said on a visit to
the country.
He announced that the United States would provide funding of $30
million (almost 22 million euros) "to support transparent and credible
elections as well as recovery... programmes in eastern Congo".
Secretary Kerry Meets With DRC President Kabila
https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5508/9925962945_b3fb6886e5_z.jpg
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“We have engaged McKinsey to help us with the route-to-market project in order to implement the best model for the Kenyan market,” said Charles Ireland, the EABL managing director. @BD_Africa Kenyan Economy |
EABL has rallied 12.5% over the last 4 weeks and this is a 2014
closing High share price data here
http://www.rich.co.ke/rcdata/company.php?i=MzQ%3D
Kenya Airways faces Sh14bn tax bill for eight new aircraft @BD_Africa
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Kenya-Airways-faces-Sh14bn-tax-bill-for-eight-new-aircraft/-/539546/2303722/-/14xlm83/-/index.html
Parliament’s recent decision to impose value added tax (VAT) on large
aircraft has left national carrier Kenya Airways (KQ) with one of the
largest tax bills ever for its planned purchase of Dreamliner jets.
Tax experts say the airline could pay up to Sh14 billion in VAT for
the six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and a Boeing 777-300 ER expected to
arrive before the end of the year besides the one Dreamliner that was
delivered last month.
Each Dreamliner is priced at about Sh11 billion and paying 16 per cent
VAT on the eight aircraft poses a new challenge to the airline’s
operations at a time it is struggling with high fuel costs, a dip in
passenger numbers on some routes due to Kenya’s security concerns and
stiff competition in the market.
The new law particularly hurts Kenya Airways’ ability to effectively
compete with key rivals such as Ethiopian Airlines and Middle East
carriers, who are not carrying the extra cost that is likely to be
passed on to passengers in the form of pricier airline tickets.
“There will be a huge negative impact since all KQ aircraft if
purchased are now taxable. Spares and engines are also taxable under
this new legal regime,” KQ said a statement, adding that the amendment
“isn’t good news for the business”.
The first tweet in Kenya was probably the one sent by the co-founder
of Twitter, Evan Williams, from the lounge of the Mount Kenya Safari
Club on August 11, 2007
http://whiteafrican.com/2014/05/01/what-twitter-can-tell-us-about-african-cities/
There are now 250,000+ active Twitter accounts in Nairobi – 6 Twitter
accounts per 100 Nairobians, against estimated mobile phone density of
80 mobiles per 100 Nairobians.
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