The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.
GLOBAL MARKETS Asian share markets slipped to two-week lows on Wednesday as the floor fell out from under crude prices, exposing the deep economic damage wrought by the global coronavirus health crisis.
WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices found some respite on Wednesday as U.S. oil futures rose more than 20% and Brent prices steadied after a two-day price plunge, as markets struggle with a massive crude glut amid the coronavirus outbreak.
SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa's rand slumped more than one percent on Tuesday, sliding along with fellow emerging market currencies, as the plunge in global oil prices fuelled risk aversion and renewed dollar buying.
PRISONS Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the chief judge to free prison inmates who have been awaiting trial for six years or more to ease overcrowding as the novel coronavirus spreads, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
CURRENCY The Nigerian naira fell to its lowest level against the dollar in three years on the black market on Tuesday, traders said, a day after a historic oil price rout pushed U.S. crude futures below zero. INFLATION Nigeria's annual inflation in March rose for a seventh straight month, the statistics office said on Tuesday, as border closures continued to push prices higher.
MARKETS The Kenyan shilling KES= was unmoved on Tuesday but was seen under pressure due to an economic slowdown induced by measures taken to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus amid thin trading activity, traders said.
NCBA Kenya's third largest bank by assets, NCBA NCBA.NR , has pulled its final dividend for last year of 1.50 shillings per share due to the coronavirus crisis, becoming the first lender in the East African nation to do so.
FASO-GHANA CORONAVIRUS Burkina Faso and Ghana have eased some coronavirus lockdown restrictions this week to test the possibility of a return to a semblance of normality after weeks of shutdowns that have hobbled both economies.
RIGHTS Police in Uganda said on Tuesday they had arrested a prominent journalist and news anchor at one of the country's biggest TV stations for alleged subversive activities.
MARKETS The Ugandan shilling UGX= was unchanged on Tuesday on the back of thin appetite for hard currency from both merchandise importers and commercial banks.
INSURGENCY About 52 villagers in Mozambique's troubled northernmost province were killed by Islamist insurgents on April 7 after they refused to be recruited to their ranks, police said on Tuesday.
SECURITY Authorities in Cameroon said they have arrested three soldiers for their role in an alleged deadly attack on civilians in a village in the west of the country where the military is fighting a separatist insurgency.
MINING A programme to monitor and improve artisanal cobalt mines in Democratic Republic of Congo will double the number of mining sites it covers this year through a partnership between RCS Global and the Responsible Minerals Initiative.
CENTRAL BANK Namibia's President Hage Geingob on Tuesday appointed a former Old Mutual (LON:OMU) OMUJ.J executive, Johannes Gawaxab, as the new governor of the Bank of Namibia, effective June 1.