Kenya's statistics office is due to release consumer inflation data for March. Inflation was 9.2% year-on-year in February.
GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares were headed for a second quarterly gain on Friday while bonds were enjoying the best month since 2008, but the market was braced for a stormy session after an upside surprise in German CPI raised the stakes for U.S. inflation data. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices climbed in early Asian trade on Friday as sentiment was boosted by an expansion in factory activity in China, the world's second largest crude consumer, and as concerns grew about Middle Eastern supply. 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 firmed against the dollar on Thursday after the central bank raised its main interest rate by a higher-than-forecast 50 basis points to 7.75%.
KENYA MARKETS
The Kenyan shilling traded flat against the dollar on Thursday, as the long-dormant interbank market picked up steam, helping to meet foreign exchange demand, traders said.
AFRICA MARKETS WEEKAHEAD
Kenya's shilling and Nigeria's naira are forecast to weaken against the dollar in the next week to Thursday, while Ghana's cedi will strengthen, traders said.
USA AFRICA
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced plans to boost trade with and investment in Tanzania during a visit there on Thursday, part of an African tour aimed at strengthening ties with a continent where China and Russia increasingly hold sway.
KENYA POLITICS
Protesters threw stones at police in Kenya's capital and attackers set fire to an office run by the president's party in a western town on Thursday during a third wave of demonstrations organised by his opponents.
SUDAN HEALTH
Dengue fever has spread into Sudan's capital for the first time on record, as the country tackles its widest ever outbreak of the disease, exacerbated by an under-funded health system, officials say.
SENEGAL POLITICS
Senegal's leading opposition politician and presidential aspirant Ousmane Sonko on Thursday received a two-month suspended prison sentence for libel in a case involving the tourism minister, the minister's lawyer El Hadji Diouf said.
NIGERIA OIL
Nigeria's Timipre Sylva has resigned as the country's minister of state for petroleum to seek a new term as governor of oil-producing Bayelsa State in the southern Niger Delta, ministry and presidency sources told Reuters on Thursday.
NIGERIA DEBT
Nigeria's total public debt rose to 46.25 trillion naira ($103.1 billion) in 2022, from 39.56 trillion naira a year earlier, as the government ramped up borrowing to fund its budget deficit, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said on Thursday.
KENYA ECONOMY
Kenya's economy is expected to expand by 5.8% in 2023, a slower pace than the previously forecast 6.1% because of lower growth in the agricultural sector, Central Bank Governor Patrick Njoroge said on Thursday.
SOUTH SUDAN POLITICS
South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has appointed a member of his own party as defence minister, according to a decree read on state media, breaching a peace deal in which the role should be selected by the party of opposition leader Riek Machar.
For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on
499 1232))