How to buy African Shares, Stock and Bonds

Have you ever read the Financial Times or looked at the stock market figures before? You are not the only one. Until a few weeks ago I felt I could never understand the figures but if you are patient enough you will see that studying shares is quite straight forward and simple. Now is the time to buy into African markets when the world is looking towards Africa as the next big success story. So, how do know what to buy and where to start from?
The first thing to do to get your toes in the water is to make sure the water is warm!

STEP ONE: Here, I have provided a few interesting news stories which tell you about how the economies of different African countries are doing. It is this information that will provide you with the information you need if you want to buy shares in Africa.

Market News

Safaricom, Airtel have placed bids to buy Kenyan rival Essar's Yu

Kenya's two biggest telecoms operators, Safaricom and the local unit of Bharti Airtel, have made a joint bid for the smallest operator, Indian group Essar Coomunications' Yu, the industry regulator said on Monday.

Kenya's Pan Africa Insurance posts 82% rise in full-year profit

Kenya's Pan Africa Insurance Holdings recorded an 82 percent rise in full-year 2013 pretax profit to 1.52 billion shillings after higher investment income offset a slight drop in gross premiums.

Majority shareholder ups offer to buy rest of Kenya's Rea Viping

Kenyan sisal producer Rea Vipingo's majority shareholder, REA Trading, has raised its offer to buy the rest of the company's shares by 75 percent.

Dubai's Al-Futtaim wins control of Kenyan motor firm CMC

Al-Futtaim Group is close to taking control of Kenyan car retailer CMC Holdings after 91 percent of shareholders accepted its 7.6 billion shilling offer, the Dubai-based company said on Monday.

African tower firm IHS raises $490m to fund expansion

African phone tower group IHS has raised $420 million in equity and $70 million in debt to fund its expansion across the continent, the company said in a statement on Monday.

Kenya's CFC Stanbic posts 57% rise in 2013 profit

Kenya's CFC Stanbic Holdings posted a 57 percent rise in 2013 pretax profit to 7.22 billion shillings, in line with strong growth notched up by other listed Kenyan financial institutions last year.

BUSINESS

Kenya central bank holds key lending rate at 8.50%

Kenya's central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 8.50 percent for the fifth policy meeting in a row, its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) said on Tuesday.

Burundi inflation drops to 6.0% in January

Burundi's year-on-year inflation rate fell to 6.0 percent in January from 9.0 percent in December, thanks to a slower increase in food prices on local markets, data from the country's statistics board showed on Tuesday.

Zambian kwacha hits all time low of 5.900 per dollar

The Zambian kwacha hit an all time low of 5.900 per dollar on Tuesday, Thomson Reuters' data showed, as domestic dollar demand surged.

Ivory Coast raises $315 million in regional bonds, hires banks for $500 mln in Eurobond

Ivory Coast raised 150 billion CFA francs in the regional market and hired banks for a $500 million Eurobond issue, Morocco's BMCE Bank, one of the banks hired to manage the deals, said on Monday.

Zambia central bank raises benchmark rate by 50 bps to 10.25%

Zambia's central bank increased its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 10.25 percent on Friday, saying inflationary pressures remained high.

Locally listed Rwandan bond oversubscribed: ministry

Rwanda said on Friday a locally listed, three-year bond worth 12.5 billion francs (about $18.5 million) that went on sale this month was oversubcribed and said it planned further issues of government bonds in May, August and November this year. 

 

I will be writing more about African Markets next week.

 

Snippets from african-markets.com