The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Friday.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian shares bounced back on Friday as progress on COVID-19 vaccines boosted investor sentiment, but tricky Brexit negotiations and U.S. stimulus talks capped gains in riskier assets.
WORLD OIL PRICES
Oil rose around 1% on Friday, extending a sharp rally overnight that saw Brent rise above $50 for the first time since March, as coronavirus vaccination rollouts kept hopes alive that demand for crude would build up next year.
SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
South Africa's rand retreated on Thursday, putting a hold on a rally that took it to near a 10-month high as weak local data dampened buying, while stocks were mostly unchanged.
CORONAVIRUS
Nigeria may be on the verge of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, the health minister warned on Thursday, as another official said the country expects to roll out a vaccine by April next year.
TELECOMS
Nigeria has directed all telecommunications firms, including giants such as Airtel and MTN (JO:MTNJ), to stop selling SIM cards while it audits rule compliance, according to a statement from the Nigeria Communications Commission.
WORLD BANK
The World Bank needs Nigeria to strengthen reforms of its currency, the naira, before it can approve a $1.5 billion loan, its country director said on Thursday.
MARKETS
The Kenyan shilling (KES=) held steady on Thursday due to subdued demand for hard currency, traders said.
CONFLICT
Two U.S. senators have called on their government to consider imposing sanctions on any political or military officials found responsible for human rights violations during a month of conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.
CONFLICT/ERITREA
The United States believes reports of Eritrean military involvement in the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region are "credible," a State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday, despite denials by both nations.
POLITICS
Two U.S. congressmen have asked the U.S. government to punish seven top Ugandan security officials under the Global Magnitsky Act for their role in rights abuses, saying the country is sliding toward authoritarianism.
POLITICS
The Democratic Republic of Congo's lower house of Parliament voted on Thursday to remove its speaker, handing President Felix Tshisekedi a major victory in a power struggle with his predecessor and coalition partner Joseph Kabila.
ECONOMY
Ghana intends to raise up to $5 billion in 2021 on international capital markets to support budget expenditures, buy back outstanding Eurobonds and allow the government to refinance domestic debt, the finance ministry said on Thursday.
ELECTION
Ghana's ruling party held a one-seat lead in parliament with one race still to be decided, the election commission said on Thursday, a day after declaring President Nana Akufo-Addo the winner of the presidential vote.
MINING
Indian-based metals and mining group Vedanta Resources VDAN.NS said on Thursday it will fight any attempt by the Zambian government to sell its Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) business to third parties.
DEBT
Zambia has earmarked 47.7 billion kwacha ($2 billion) to tackle debt servicing as it tries to navigate out of a debt crisis, Finance Minister Bwalya Ng'andu said on Thursday
ELECTION
The ruling party of Cameroon's President Paul Biya has won control of nine out of 10 regional councils in an election boycotted by his opponents, official results showed on Thursday.