GLOBAL MARKETS Asian stocks rallied on Friday as strong corporate earnings helped lift sentiment even as worries over economic weakness lingered, while investors were also waiting on a policy decision from the Bank of Japan. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices posted mild gains on Friday, but headed for a second week of declines as disappointing U.S. economic data and uncertainty over further interest rate hikes weighed on the demand outlook. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on AFRICA FOREX
Kenya's and Uganda's currencies are expected to weaken in the coming week, while Ghana's, Zambia's and Tanzania's are seen holding steady, traders said on Thursday.
KENYA MARKETS
Kenya's shilling eased slightly against the dollar on Thursday, as fuel and merchandise importers sought dollars to clear end-month payments, traders said.
SUDAN POLITICS
Sudan's two warring factions said on Thursday they would prolong a ceasefire agreement by 72 hours, but violence again rocked the capital Khartoum and the western region of Darfur as the U.S. said ceasefire violations were worrying.
MOZAMBIQUE GAS
The restart of TotalEnergies' $20 billion Mozambique liquefied natural gas (LNG) project is being complicated by disagreements with contractors over extra costs, the company said on Thursday.
KENYA CULT
A Kenyan televangelist was arrested on Thursday after reports of the "mass killing of his followers", the interior minister said, as authorities investigated scores of other deaths linked to a religious cult from the same region.
UGANDA LGBTQ
U.S. officials have postponed a meeting in Uganda about an HIV/AIDS programme in the East African country because they need time to assess the impact of an anti-LGBTQ bill soon expected to become law there, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said.
NIGERIA ECONOMY
Nigeria may extend a fuel subsidy beyond June but the government will work with President-Elect Bola Tinubu's representatives to decide when exactly it will be scrapped, Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed said on Thursday.
KENYA ECONOMY
Kenya expects its fiscal deficit to fall to 4.1% of Gross Domestic Product in 2023/24 (July-June) from 5.7% in the year to end-June, the president's office said on Thursday.
UGANDA POLITICS
Police in Uganda detained 11 female members of parliament on Thursday who they accused of staging of an unlawful protest, with some of the lawmakers sustaining injuries during their arrest.
NIGERIA OIL
Exxon Mobil Corp XOM.N resumed operations at its facilities in Nigeria after resolving a labour dispute over pay and conditions with its in-house union, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.
AFRICA CLIMATE CHANGE
The drought that has left some 4.35 million people in the Horn of Africa in dire need of humanitarian aid - with 43,000 in Somalia estimated to have died last year - would not have been possible without climate change, according to an analysis released Thursday.
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