The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday.
- - - - - EVENTS:*Uganda plans to offer a petroleum exploration license to Armour Energy Limited (AJQ) GLOBAL MARKETS Asian stocks held steady on Thursday, consolidating after touching their highest in a decade and appeared to take in stride a burst of Chinese data which undershot market expectations. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices eased on Thursday, but held on to most of their gains in the previous session when the market was buoyed by a forecast for firmer global oil demand by the International Energy Agency. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa's rand slipped to its weakest in three weeks on Wednesday as traders opted to bank small profits from the currency's dip below a crucial technical mark with creeping concerns about credit downgrades souring sentiment. NIGERIA MARKETS Nigeria plans to sell 917.14 billion naira worth of treasury bills between Sept. 14 and Nov. 30, a central bank debt calendar for the fourth quarter showed on Wednesday. NIGERIA BONDS Nigeria plans to sell 140.9 billion naira ($433.5 million) worth of treasury bills at an auction next week, the central bank said on Wednesday. NIGERIA OIL Nigeria is very unlikely to join OPEC's cuts in oil production before March, its oil minister said on Wednesday. AFRICA SECURITY Mali and Niger, two of the West African nations worst affected by jihadist violence, appealed on Wednesday for international funding for a regional force they have set up to counter Islamist insurgencies. CAMEROON-NIGERIA SECURITY A girl with a bomb strapped to her walked into a mosque in northern Cameroon where it exploded, killing five worshippers in an attack bearing the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, authorities said. KENYA MARKETS The Kenyan shilling KES= was under pressure against the dollar on Wednesday due to importer and corporate demand but was seen trading in a tight range, unlikely to reverse previous gains, traders said. KENYA ELECTION/POLITICS It's much easier to snag a seat in Nairobi's popular Strollers bar these days - a problem that manager Stephen Ngatia partly blames on Kenyan consumers hoarding their money during the turbulent election period. KENYA ELECTION/SECURITY Kenyan police in the western city of Kisumu fired tear gas and bullets in the air on Wednesday to disperse young men who broke into a hotel and beat women attending an election meeting, an officer said. GHANA INFLATION Ghana's annual consumer price inflation rose to 12.3 percent in August from 11.9 percent in July, the statistics office said on Wednesday. IVORY COAST COCOA Ivory Coast is close to agreeing an increase in the minimum price paid to cocoa farmers to 750 CFA francs ($1.40) per kilogramme for the 2017/18 season, while holding the export tax at 16 percent, sources familiar with the matter said. UGANDA MARKETS The Ugandan shilling UGX= traded steady on Wednesday, helped by weak demand and some inflows from offshore investors participating in a central bank Treasury bill auction where a total of 155 billion shillings ($43.18 million) worth of debt was on offer. USA SOMALIA The U.S. military said on Wednesday it had carried out air strikes in Somalia against an al Qaeda-allied Islamist group and killed six militants. SOUTH SUDAN AID The Red Cross has halted operations across a third of South Sudan after gunmen shot dead a staff member, in what the U.N. said on Wednesday was the biggest such suspension during the country's four-year civil war. USA SOUTH SUDAN frican countries should do more to pile pressure on South Sudan's political leaders, who seem incapable of resolving the country's four-year civil war, a top U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday. ZIMBABWE LAND Zimbabwe's Zimplats, which is majority controlled by Impala Platinum IMPJ.J , will return some of the land it has not used for mining to the government, chief executive Alexander Mhembere said on Wednesday. USA GABON/COURT Federal prosecutors are preparing to file criminal charges against an American lobbyist for the Gabonese president, saying on Wednesday he made a false statement to a U.S. customs official stemming from a long-running money-laundering probe. MAURITIUS POLITICS The attorney general of the island nation of Mauritius stepped down on Wednesday after allegations he had helped launder gambling money. ANGOLA ELECTION Angola's Constitutional Court rejected on Wednesday an appeal by the largest opposition party to annul the results of last month's election, which gave a landslide victory to the ruling MPLA party.
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