Africa Briefs

Zim central bank sees official, black market rates convergingZimbabwe's central bank governor said on Tuesday he expected the official exchange rate of a new currency to converge with that on the black market within three months, a move that could help increase the flow of dollars into the banking sector.The country in February ditched its discredited 1:1 official peg to the US dollar, and merged bond notes and electronic dollars into a transitional currency called the RTGS dollar.The value of that currency was on Tuesday trading at 3.3 against the US dollar and at 5 to the dollar on the black market."I think within three months we will have a convergence of these rates of parallel market and interbank market rate," Mangudya said during the launch of an economic report by a private sector company in Harare.Mangudya, who was last week given another five-year term at the helm of the central bank, said the central bank would soon stop drip-feeding the market with some US dollars to allow "willing seller, willing buyer" transactions. – Nampa/ReutersAngola president calls for resolution to fuel crisisAngola's president João Lourenço called on Tuesday for a quick resolution to the fuel crisis plaguing the capital Luanda and cities around the country, causing long queues in Africa's second-largest crude producer.A statement issued by the president's office blamed a lack of communication between state energy company Sonangol and other state institutions that resulted in problems with the import of refined products such as gasoline and diesel.Lengthy lines were seen at petrol stations all over Luanda on Tuesday, severely clogging traffic and frustrating motorists who had to wait for hours to fill up.Over the weekend, Sonangol said it was having difficulty accessing hard currency to cover imports of refined products. The state company said the "constraints" at filling stations were also partly the result of mounting unpaid debts owed to Sonangol by industrial clients to whom it delivers fuel.Angola, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, imports 80% of its refined products despite producing around 1.5 million barrels of crude per day. – Nampa/ReutersSA expects poor wine harvestSouth Africa, the world's eighth largest wine producer, is expected to harvest its smallest amount of wine grapes in 14 years this year, as dry conditions and fluctuating weather hit output, an industry report said on Monday.The report by Vinpro, which represents 2 500 South African wine grape producers, wineries and wine-related businesses said the crop would be 1.4% smaller than 2018's harvest of 1 238 000 tonnes and the lowest output since 2005's 1 171 632 tonnes.Industry body South African Wine Industry Information and Systems (Sawis) estimates the 2019 wine grape crop at 1 225 620 tonnes.The 2018/2019 growing season saw warmer than normal temperatures, weather fluctuations and wetter conditions during parts of the season.Profitability for producers remains a concern despite the average return on investment doubling to 2% in 2018 from 1% the previous year, Vinpro said in its annual State of the South African Wine Industry report.Aging vineyards and thinner profitability margins for producers have contributed to a decline in the area planted with wine grapes of around 6% over the last five years, Vinpro added. – Nampa/ReutersCorruption, payment delays hit Kenyan manufacturersKenyan manufacturers are largely operating below capacity and say economic growth prospects are dim due to a cash crunch, drought and corruption, a survey by their umbrella association showed.The survey, called the Manufacturing Barometer, was carried out by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers in the first quarter of this year.It found that 47% of those surveyed operated at about half capacity, 33% operated at 75% of installed capacity and a fifth operated near full capacity.The sector grew by 4.2% in 2018, official data showed, and contributed 7.7% of the country's annual economic output of about US$80 billion, down from a share of 8% in the previous year.The sector's contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) has been falling gradually since 2014, when it stood at 10%. – Nampa/Reuters

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