African Briefs

US grants Malawi power supply upgrade
LILONGWE – The US government Millennium Challenge Corporation has given Malawi a US$350 million grant to overhaul its energy sector, whose dire condition is a major brake on the African state’s economic growth.

A statement said the five-year grant should help improve Malawi’s erratic power supply, which economists say costs the country about US$215 million a year and deters new investment. According to its energy ministry, Malawi had 63 days of power outages in 2009, one of the worst performances in the sub-Saharan region. Its current installed electricity capacity is 282,5 MW compared to estimated demand of 344 MW, and only seven per cent of the 13 million population have access to electricity, with the rest relying on firewood and charcoal for energy.Nigeria sees Eurobond, wealthLAGOS – Nigeria plans to go ahead with its delayed US$500 million debut Eurobond in two to three weeks and expects a bill to create a sovereign wealth fund to pass under the current administration, the finance minister said on Friday. Africa’s top crude oil exporter first announced plans to borrow in the international bond market in September 2008 but has put the issue on hold several times, most recently in December, citing adverse market conditions. The aim of the 10-year bond is to set a benchmark in the global market for Nigeria rather than to raise funds, meaning the pricing is considered more important than the timing.Analysts say the relatively small size of the bond issue, combined with appetite for high-yielding assets and a paucity of West African debt issues, means investors would be ready to shrug off those short-term risks.Mauritius shares at highMauritius benchmark SEMDEX Index gained 0,18 per cent to close at 2002,85 points on Friday, its highest level since March 6 2008 driven by overseas investors, traders said. Last year the Mauritius bourse registered a net inflow of 1,5 billion rupees of foreign capital. ‘Foreign investors continue to invest in local equities as they rebalanced their portfolios. African equities have become very attractive especially in good performing countries like Mauritius,’ said Raj Tapesar, managing director of MCB Stockbrokers.Kenya Air’s figures take flightNAIROBI – Passengers carried by Kenya Airways on its domestic routes rose 35 per cent during the past holiday season on the back of increased flights and a new route, the airline said on Friday. The carrier, which is 26 per cent owned by Air France-KLM , in October estimated it would carry three million passengers in the year through March 2011, up from 2,7 million a year earlier. It said cargo hauled would rise to 60 000 tonnes in the same period from 57 700 in 2009. Soaring demand for travel to the coastal city of Mombasa by holidaymakers led to an increase in the frequency of daily flights from ten from seven, rising to 16 flights in the run-up to Christmas, Kenya Airways said.Millions for Mozambique mobile sectorMAPUTO – Movitel, Mozambique’s third biggest mobile phone operator, will invest US$120 million in the next 12 months to built infrastructure, its chief executive said on Friday. ‘We have just been awarded the license and we have twelve months to start. We are going to spend US$120 million to build new base stations in remote areas where our competitors do not exist,’ chief executive Safura Conceicao said. Movitel competes with state-run Mozambique Cellular, mCel and Vodacom Mozambique, a unit of South Africa’s Vodacom.Seychelles inflation fallsVICTORIA – Seychelles’ inflation fell to 0,4 per cent year-on-year in December from 0,7 per cent in November, the statistics office said on Friday. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the average rate of inflation in the 12 months to December was minus 2,4 per cent. It attributed the slide to drops in prices of fruits, meat and beverages. Decreases were also recorded in the price of transport and recreation.SA’s net reserves dropsJOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s net gold and foreign exchange reserves stood at US$43,353 billion at the end of December from US$43,08 billion in November, data from the Reserve Bank showed on Friday. Gross reserves edged higher to US$43,434 billion in December from US$43,351 billion, the central bank said. The forward position, which represents the bank’s unsettled spot or swap transactions, was at US$4,183 billion compared with US$3,779 billion in November.Sierra Leone lowers export barriersFREETOWN – Sierra Leone is to remove export licenses and customs duties from certain goods as part of a raft of new incentives to attract foreign entrepreneurs, its official investment body has said. ‘Foreign entrepreneurs have been offered new incentives for furthering their businesses in Sierra Leone,’ the state-run Sierra Leone Investment and Promotion Service said in a statement. From now on ‘no export licence is required for the export of locally produced goods except gold, diamond and other precious minerals.’ After a decade-long civil war ended in 2002, the west African nation, often ranked amongst the poorest countries in the world, is furiously trying to attract investors to rebuild its economy. In 2010 a World Bank report ranked Sierra Leone as the easiest place to start a business in West Africa.