African Digest

Malawi should devalue kwacha
LILONGWE – Malawi should devalue the official exchange rate further to between 230 – 250 against the dollar to address a foreign exchange shortage and stem a thriving black market, the International Monetary Fund said.

Malawi devalued the kwacha by ten per cent in August, but at 166 kwacha to the dollar, the official rate is not as attractive as the black market rate of between 240 and 250 kwacha.Reserve Bank Governor Perks Ligoya in November said Malawi might be forced to devalue its currency further and said some adjustment to the exchange rate would be good.Exxaro bids for African IronJOHANNESBURG – South Africa’s Exxaro Resources made a bid worth US$349 million yesterday for African Iron, chasing the Australian-listed company’s Mayoko iron ore project in the Republic of Congo.Exxaro has lined up a 19,9 per cent stake from African Iron’s top shareholder, Cape Lambert Resources, which owns a further 20 per cent stake.Key to the outcome will be African Iron’s other big shareholder, Equatorial Resources, which owns the neighbouring Mayoko-Moussondji project.Mozambique’s 3rd mobile operator starts test MAPUTO – Mozambique’s third mobile phone operator Movitel has launched a test phase of its network one year after it was awarded an operating licence, the company said.The company is a joint venture between Viettel Group, a unit of Vietnam Military Telecommunications Corp, and SPI Gestao e Investimentos, the investment arm of Mozambique’s ruling party and a group of investors known as Invespark.Mozambique had 7,2 million mobile phone subscribers in 2010, out of a population of 23 million.IMF to visit EgyptWASHINGTON – Egypt and the International Monetary Fund will begin talks in Cairo this week on a possible 18-month US$3 billion IMF loan to ease immediate balance of payment needs following months of political turmoil.Economists have warned that Egypt is headed for a currency crisis if it does not swiftly stabilise an economy battered by more than a year of political turmoil, which unseated Hosni Mubarak in February. – Reports by Nampa-Reuters-AP-AFP

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