Markets
Ethiopia’s $1B Eurobond trades near 92c, but Ghana’s yields once hit 30%+ and Zambia bonds linger at 50–60c. With $33B debt unsustainable, Addis now stands as a bellwether for Africa’s sovereign risk and frontier market contagion.
Policy & Economy
Zindi’s new report on 8,000 Kenyan users shows 1 in 5 secured career shifts, 80% progressed with full profiles, and 4+ challenges made youth 4× likelier to find jobs. For markets, this signals a scalable AI labor pool reshaping outsourcing and credit risk.
Policy & Economy
South Africa’s CPI slowed to 3.3% y/y vs 3.6% forecast, core near 3.1% and headline −0.1% m/m. USDZAR firmed to 17.6, R2035 yields dipped to 9.1%, banks rallied—yet SARB faces a Thursday dilemma: hold credibility at 7.00% or cut 25bp to aid growth.
Policy & Economy
Sahel’s ICC exit deepens investor fears: rising spreads, fragile bonds, and opaque resource-backed deals push Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso further from global capital markets’ confidence.
Markets
Kuwait’s KD250m five-year floater at base+62.5 bps signals a rebuilt domestic curve and clean carry for banks (KFH.KW, NBK.KW, BOUBYAN.KW, GBK.KW, ABK.KW). With debt ultra-low and policy easing, steady issuance should compress term premia ahead of likely external prints into 2026.
Markets
Platinum’s 2025 surge is a repricing of scarcity: three straight deficits, cautious South African supply, and palladium-to-platinum substitution. The setup favors disciplined miners and metal ETFs as platinum narrows its historic discount to gold while early hydrogen demand gathers pace.
Markets
MNT-Halan’s GCC push shifts fintech from payments sizzle to asset-backed credit. With ~1.5m UAE payments users, 220k borrowers, open-finance via Lean, and KSA’s 79% e-payments penetration, the thesis is simple: data-rich payroll and dealer rails can price thin-file risk at scale.
Policy & Economy
Kenya unlocked KSh2.65bn for 600k–680k tea farmers by activating KDIC pass-through protection on trust accounts. The cash jolt lifts rural wallets and trims “resolution friction” in agri-finance—mildly bullish for payments and deposits while tightening risk pricing.
Markets
Plasma’s Sept 25 mainnet beta pairs zero-fee USDT transfers with XPL, aiming to divert flow from Tron, Ethereum, and Solana. The thesis needs proof: durable sub-cent costs, issuer-level rails, and sticky usage. Treat it as a verification event—watch costs, latency, retention, and unlock pressure.
Policy & Economy
Kenya is reviving the Sh337–340bn High Grand Falls dam (500–700 MW) after July’s PPP collapse. If bankable, it could cut system costs and lift KEGN/KPLC, cement names and banks—once procurement, hydrology and financing clear. Until then, it’s an option, not FID.
Markets
Treat Morocco’s new EV headline as an ecosystem signal, not a backlog. Only 500 EUVs are firm; the 20,000-unit plan needs buyer, site and timeline. Near-term winners are scale and battery names—STLA and 002074—while rules-of-origin and IRA limits temper any quick EU export or U.S. subsidy upside now
Markets
Ghana’s GoldBod isn’t changing who buys ASM gold; it’s changing the verification layer that sets pricing, counterparties, and FX. If traceability—tags, custody, enforcement—scales, expect narrower discounts, cleaner dollar inflows, and tighter Ghana risk spreads.