African Markets - Factors to watch on Feb 1

The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market
moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.
- - - - -
EVENTS:
* MPC rate decisions in Kenya and Uganda.
* Botswana budget to be released
* Kenya offers 3 billion shillings of 182-day Treasury bills

GLOBAL MARKETS
U.S. equities and the euro slid on Tuesday after weaker-than-expected
U.S. economic data added to gloom over ebbing hopes for a Greek debt
restructuring deal.

WORLD CRUDE OIL PRICES
Brent crude rose above $111 a barrel on Wednesday, gaining for a
second session on fears tensions between Iran and the West may
escalate with U.S. lawmakers mulling more sanctions on Tehran, while
promising China data supported sentiment.

SENEGAL POLITICS
At least one person was killed on Tuesday as Senegalese security
forces armed with truncheons and tear gas clashed with rock-throwing
activists protesting against President Abdoulaye Wade's decision to
seek a third term.

EMERGING MARKETS
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AFRICA STOCKS
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AFRICA FIXED INCOME
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SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
* The South African rand traded slightly firmer against the dollar on
Tuesday, drawing strength from hopes of a successful conclusion to
debt swap negotiations in Greece which boosted risk appetite in
emerging markets.
* Month-end window dressing helped boost South African stocks to their
best January performance in six years, as unit trusts and hedge funds
loaded up on rising shares to bolster their portfolios.

NIGERIA RATES
Nigeria's central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 12 percent
on Tuesday, saying it expects any upward impact on inflation from
removing fuel import subsidies to be short-term.

NIGERIA BOKO HARAM
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KENYA MARKETS
The Kenyan shilling firmed 1.2 percent against the dollar to
its highest level this year on Tuesday, supported by tight liquidity
and inflows from tea exports, as inflation declined for a second
straight month and stocks inched down.

KENYA ECONOMY, INFLATION
* Kenya's economic growth will speed up to 5 percent or more in 2012
if rains vital to the key farm sector do not fail and other shocks do
not materialise, a senior Treasury official told Reuters.
* Kenya's inflation rate slowed in January for the second
month in a row, but the decline was not big enough to sway analysts
from their expectation the central bank would leave rates unchanged
this week.

GHANA MARKETS, ECONOMY
* Shares in Total Petroleum Ghana and Tullow Oil
rose on Tuesday, boosting the GSE Composite Index up for a second
session in a row.
* Ghana's economy will outpace its Nigerian and Kenyan peers this year
and next, even though growth is expected to slow from 2011 when the
country's first oil fuelled a boom in output, a Reuters poll showed on
Tuesday.

UGANDA INFLATION
Uganda's headline inflation rate slowed to 25.7 percent
in January from 27 percent a month earlier, the third straight
decline, helped by a 2.3 percent drop in food prices from a month
earlier.

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