GLOBAL MARKETS Asian stocks slid on Thursday and investors turned to the safety of gold, bonds and dollars as Credit Suisse became the latest focal point for fears of a banking crisis, leaving markets on edge ahead of a European Central Bank meeting later in the day. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices clawed back some ground on Thursday after sliding to 15-month lows in the previous session as markets calmed somewhat after Credit Suisse CSGN.S was thrown a financial lifeline by Swiss regulators. 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 African shares and the rand plummeted on Wednesday as the U.S. banking crisis spread to Europe and continued to wreak havoc on global markets.
KENYA MARKETS
The Kenyan shilling edged lower on Wednesday as persistent foreign-currency demand from the oil and manufacturing sectors outmatched muted supply from aid agencies, tourism operators and remittances, traders said.
ETHIOPIA USA
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised Ethiopia on Wednesday for its progress in implementing a peace deal to end the Tigray conflict, but stopped short of ushering the country back into a U.S. trade programme.
NIGERIA CENSUS
Nigeria will now hold its first census in 17 years in May instead of at the end of March, the information minister said on Wednesday, citing a rescheduling of governorship elections for the delay.
NIGERIA OIL
Shell's Nigerian subsidiary SPDC has lifted force majeure on Bonny crude exports, an SPDC spokesperson said on Wednesday.
KCB GROUP RESULTS
Kenyan lender KCB Group KCB.NR on Wednesday posted a 19.5% rise in 2022 after-tax profit to 40.8 billion shillings ($314.57 million), driven by a similar revenue increase.
IVORY COAST DEBT
The International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday that its staff had reached a broad agreement with Ivory Coast authorities on policy objectives to support a new IMF loan programme of at least $2.6 billion.
IVORY COAST GOLD
Ivory Coast produced a record high of about 48 tonnes of gold in 2022, up 14% from the previous year, a document from the Ministry of Mines, Petrol and Energy showed.
NIGERIA INFLATION
Nigeria's inflation picked up again in February, hitting 21.91% in annual terms from 21.82% in January, the statistics agency said on Wednesday.
GHANA INFLATION
Ghana's consumer inflation slowed to 52.8% year on year in February from 53.6% in January, the statistics service said on Wednesday.
ZAMBIA DEBT
Zambia is working very hard with its creditors, including China, so that hopefully a debt restructuring can be agreed by the end of March or shortly afterwards, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said on Wednesday.
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