WINDHOEK (Reuters) – Namibia’s economy is expected to grow at a slower pace of 2.5 percent in 2016 compared with 5.3 percent last year, due to drought and a contraction in sectors like diamond mining, the central bank said on Thursday.

In an economic outlook update posted on its website, the Bank of Namibia said diamond output was projected to shrink 7.3 percent, after a 3.4 percent decline in 2015.

(Writing by Stella Mapenzauswa; Editing by James Macharia)

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ABIDJAN (Reuters) – The African Development Bank’s board approved a 900 million euro ($1 billion) loan for Algeria on Wednesday aimed at supporting reforms to help the North African nation confront falling oil revenues, it said in a statement.

The money will support the government’s efforts to improve domestic revenue mobilisation and the investment climate as well as boosting the efficiency of the energy sector and promoting renewable energy.

($1 = 0.9013 euros)

(Reporting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)

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CAIRO (Reuters) – The head of Egypt’s stock exchange said on Wednesday the decision to extend the suspension of capital gains tax on shares will attract investment and boost IPOs in the market.

Egypt’s Supreme Investment Council opted on Tuesday to prolong for three years a freeze of a 10 percent tax on gains from shares first imposed in July 2014 as part of moves to replenish depleted state coffers.

Egyptian blue chip shares rose on Wednesday, bucking a downtrend among emerging markets, after the government approved 17 steps designed to boost investment including the extension of the tax suspension. [nL8N1D32FB]

“The decision was a surprise to the market and everyone … but a pleasant surprise … The tax had a negative impact,” stock exchange chief Mohamed Omran said in an interview.

“The decision will help ensure the success of future offerings in the market, whether governmental or private offerings,” he told Reuters.

Egypt has been striving to entice investment to restore growth since a popular uprising in 2011 that ushered in protracted political turmoil and scared away tourists and foreign investors – its main sources of hard currency.

The investment council, set up by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi last month, approved 17 stimulative measures including wide-ranging tax exemptions for farmers and manufacturers who produce strategic crops or goods that Egypt imports or exports.

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; writing by Amina Ismail; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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By Tom Arnold

DUBAI (Reuters) – Standard Chartered’s Islamic division is seeking banking licences in three African countries in order to offer its services to the continent’s large Muslim population.

Standard Chartered Saadiq could enter at least one of these markets – Nigeria, Botswana and Zambia – as early as 2017, Mohammad Ali Allawalla, who is head of Islamic banking for retail clients at the bank, said on the sidelines of a media briefing on Tuesday.

The Muslim population in sub-Saharan Africa is forecast to more than double from about 250 million people in 2010 to nearly 670 million in 2050, according to Pew Research Center.

As well as talking to regulators in the three African countries, Standard Chartered Saadiq is also in discussions about gaining an Islamic banking licence in Brunei in South East Asia and working with the regulator there on guidelines for Islamic wealth management.

Standard Chartered Saadiq’s core markets are Pakistan, Malaysia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Bangladesh and in 2014 it entered the Kenyan market, its first move into Africa.

“Nigeria is an interesting market in terms of size we are exploring and other markets like Botswana and Zambia, which are not big markets in terms of sheer size but in terms of pockets of customers they present a good opportunity,” Allawalla said.

Nigeria, the continent’s most populous nation, has around 77 million Muslims, according to Pew Research Center.

Allawalla said the country presented challenges for retail banking because of the gap between rich and poor.

Standard Chartered already operates in Nigeria, Botswana, Zambia and Brunei and Saadiq would only venture into them if there was a need for a alternative Islamic products, Allawalla said.

“Its not just a matter of what we would like to do, it’s also a matter of how mature the regulations are, what do the regulations allow you to do, what is the cost of setting up vis-à-vis the products you can roll out in the market,” he added.

(Editing by Alexander Smith)

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CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Italy’s ENI said a final investment decision is expected from partners on Mozambique’s deep-water Coral South floating liquefied natural gas project by next month, with production starting five years later.

“The facility will have 3.3 million tonnes of LNG production comprising gas treatment, liquification, storage and off-loading facilities,” Luca Bertelli, chief exploration officer, told an African oil and gas conference on Tuesday.

He also said ENI expected first oil production starting in early next year from Ghana’s $7.9 billion offshore field, with gas production coming online in the second half of 2018.

Bertelli said an estimated 60,000 barrels of oil will be produced by a floating production facility capable of also treating around 210 million standard cubic feet of gas as Ghana aims to become a major African oil and gas producer.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia)

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CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – French oil major Total expects first production from Congo Republic’s offshore Moho Nord field to add an extra 100,000 barrels a day when it starts early next year, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Guy Maurice, Africa president for exploration and production, also said the company expected to make a final investment decision on its onshore Ugandan field “by the end of 2017”.

“Lower operational expenditure on one side and lower development costs on the other side should lead to the possibility to sanction new developments in a low price environment,” Maurice told an African oil and gas conference.

(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)

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HARARE (Reuters) – Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has side-stepped parliament to issue a decree clearing the way for the introduction of “bond notes” that have raised fears of a return to a domestic currency abandoned in 2009 as hyperinflation crippled the economy.

The bond notes are meant to ease biting cash shortages that have gripped the southern African nation since March but have helped fuel anti-government protests in recent months.

Mugabe late on Monday used his presidential powers to amend the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Act, designating bond notes as legal tender that will be equivalent to the U.S. dollar, according to an official government notice.

Mugabe said bond notes, which he has previously called surrogate currency, “shall be legal tender in all transactions in Zimbabwe” just like the U.S. dollar, British sterling pound and South African rand, which are also used in the country.

Zimbabwe was this year hit by a devastating drought that left 4 million people in need of food aid. It is facing its worst financial crisis since switching its currency for the U.S. dollar as weak mineral commodity prices hurt its major exports, while formal unemployment remains above 80 percent.

Mugabe’s decree did not say when bond notes will be introduced. The regulations will last six months, after which parliament has to ratify or reject them.

But former finance minister and opposition leader Tendai Biti said Mugabe’s decree was illegal and could be challenged in court. He criticised Mugabe for resorting to a decree when parliament, dominated by the ruling ZANU-PF party, could have easily passed the law.

The RBZ first announced plans for bond notes in May.

“Even if assuming they (regulations) were legal, the presidential powers should only be used in extreme circumstances where there is no sufficient time to go to parliament in the interest of public safety and public good,” Biti said.

RBZ Governor John Mangudya has struggled to allay concerns of a return to the rampant money printing and inflation rates that peaked at 500 billion percent, by saying bond notes were an incentive for exporters and would not be forced on people.

Mangudya, who has previously said the new bank notes would start circulating early this month, did not answer calls to his mobile phone.

The RBZ on Tuesday started running advertisements in local newspapers and radio saying up to 5 percent incentive would be paid on all exports and diaspora remittances in bond notes.

(Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

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