CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt’s net foreign reserves rose to $24.265 billion at the end of December from $23.058 billion at the end of November, the central bank said on Thursday, cash that economists said would cover imports for more than five months.

Egypt has been struggling with a foreign currency shortage since an uprising in 2011 drove away tourists and foreign investors, and had roughly $36 billion in reserves before then.

Domestic debt rose by 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2016/2017 to reach 2.758 trillion Egyptian pounds ($154.42 billion) at the end of September verses 2.619 trillion at the end of June, the central bank said in a statement.

And Egypt’s external debt rose to $60.153 billion at the end of September from $55.764 billion at the end of July, the statement said.

Egypt floated its currency in November as part of a series of economic reforms aimed at reducing the budget deficit and balancing the currency market. The move helped it clinch a $12 billion three-year loan from the International Monetary Fund.

The reserves were further supported, economists say, by a $2 billion repurchase transaction that the central bank secured with global banks last month. The transaction with a consortium of international banks has a maturity of one year.

“The central bank succeeded in achieving its target of $25 billion … The rise is strong and noticeable and would cover imports for more than five months,” Cairo-based CI Capital economist Hany Farahat said.

“The rise in reserves will restore confidence in the central bank’s ability to restore stability in the foreign exchange market,” said Farahat.

The country of over 90 million has been seeking a variety of funding sources, from development loans to foreign grants and aid, to plug its financing needs as it struggles with an acute dollar shortage caused by years of post-uprising turmoil.

($1 = 17.8600 Egyptian pounds)

(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Ehab Farouk; Writing by Amina Ismail; Editing by Giles Elgood and Louise Ireland)

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JOHANNESBURG, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Activity in South Africa’s private sector rose in December, bolstered by higher output and new orders, a survey showed on Thursday.

The Standard Bank Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by Markit, rose to 51.6 from 50.8 in November, remaining above the 50 mark dividing expansion from contraction.

“The overall upturn was bolstered by faster expansions of output and new work in December. Both rose to the greatest extent in 21 months, with anecdotal evidence highlighting a general improvement in client demand,” Markit said.

“That said, growth of total new work was dampened by falling exports. The amount of new orders from abroad dropped for the second straight month, despite reports of orders from Russia and

some African economies.”

South African companies have struggled to stay viable as the economy struggles, with the Treasury forecasting growth of 0.5 percent for 2015.

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NAIROBI (Reuters) – Kenya’s central bank sold dollars in the foreign exchange market on Wednesday after the shilling weakened due to heavy importer demand from sectors like energy, traders said.

At 0723 GMT, commercial banks quoted the shilling at 103.10/20 to the dollar, compared with Tuesday’s close of 102.80/103.00. The shilling last traded at its present levels in mid-October 2015, when it hit a low of 103.50/60 on Oct. 13.

“Markets weakened and then we have seen central bank in the market. It has reduced the pace of the shilling’s depreciation. There is lots of demand,” said a senior trader at one commercial bank.

The central bank rarely comments on dollar sales.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Duncan Miriri)

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LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambian workers have downed tools at a mine and copper processing plant belonging to Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a unit of Vedanta Resources, in a dispute over the pace of wage talks, a union official said on Wednesday.

“The day shift workers have not entered the plant, they are protesting the slow pace of salary negotiations,” National Union of Mine and Allied Workers (NUMAW) trustee Jonathan Musukwa told Reuters.

(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Susan Fenton)

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LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia’s retail fuel prices will fall from midnight on Tuesday due to subdued oil prices and a stronger kwacha currency, the energy regulator said.

The price of petrol will be reduced to 12.50 kwacha from 13.70 kwacha and diesel will drop to 10.72 kwacha per litre from 11.40 kwacha per litre.

In October last year, Zambia hiked the retail price of petrol by nearly 39 percent, while the price of diesel was increased by 33 percent.

($1 = 718.5000 kwacha)

(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Joe Brock)

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ABIDJAN (Reuters) – Favourable weather in Ivory Coast’s main cocoa regions bode well for the April-September mid-crop harvest, farmers said, even though low international prices continued to dent demand.

The Harmattan, a northerly wind that blows dust off the Sahara between December and March, damaging crops to the south, so far remained mild, farmers said. Last season, strong winds caused severe damage.

“It did not rain, but everything is fine on the trees. We still have a lot of pods to cut,” said Pascal Kobena, who farms in the Abengourou region, an area known for the good quality of its beans.

Farmers said low global prices had depressed demand from buyers, leading to mounting stockpiles of beans. New York and London cocoa futures hit three-year lows last month on strong supply and forecasts of a global surplus next year.

Activity at the exporting port of Abidjan was slow because of low international prices, farmers across the growing regions said. This could impact picking towards the end of the month, said one farmer in the centre-western region of Daloa

“The problem at the moment is that we cannot sell. Growers are worried because beans are coming out slowly,” Kobena said.

Still, the crop was progressing well. In the western region of Soubre, at the heart of the cocoa belt, farmers said one rainfall this month would ensure a healthy mid-crop.

Good growing conditions were reported in southern regions of Aboisso, Agboville and Divo and in western region of Duekoue.

(Reporting By Loucoumane Coulibaly, editing by Edward McAllister)

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TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Libya was producing 685,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) on Sunday, up from around 600,000 a day last month, an official from the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said.

Output has risen after a two-year blockade was lifted two weeks ago on major pipelines leading from the western fields of Sharara and El Feel.

Production has been resuming gradually at Sharara, which has a capacity of 330,000 bpd. But there has been no announcement of a restart at El Feel, which can produce 90,000 bpd but where a group of guards has been blocking operations. The NOC official declined to give details on the status of operations at the fields.

National output remains far below the more than 1.6 million bpd that Libya was producing before its 2011 uprising. The NOC says it hopes to raise production to nearly 900,000 bpd by March, but this remains at risk from political conflict.

Libya is one of two members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) that is exempted from a recent deal to cut output.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; Writing by Aidan Lewis; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)

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KINSHASA (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo’s central bank expects GDP to grow by 2.9 percent this year, up from 2.5 percent in 2016, as commodity exports pick up again, it said in a statement on Sunday.

The mining and oil sectors account for some 95 percent of export revenues in Congo, Africa’s top copper producer. Low commodity prices led the central bank to lower its 2016 growth forecast last week for the fourth time from an original projection of 9 percent.

(Reporting By Aaron Ross; Editing by Tim Cocks)

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