The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Wednesday.
GLOBAL MARKETS
Most Asian shares rose on Wednesday, extending a rally driven by upbeat Chinese and U.S. economic data, but the dollar, U.S. yields and gold held steady as investors awaited the Federal Reserve's view on the economy at its policy meeting.
SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS
South Africa's rand firmed against the U.S. dollar early on Tuesday as renewed hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine lifted risk appetite, while investors awaited monetary policy directions from central banks this week.
AGRICULTURE
Nigeria needs to more than double the proportion of bank loans it makes to the agricultural sector to 10% within the next four years to boost food production in Africa's biggest economy, its central bank governor said on Tuesday.
ECONOMY
Kenya's budget deficit for this financial year could increase due to revenue shortfalls and coronavirus-related disruptions, the finance minister said on Tuesday.
MARKETS
The Ugandan shilling (UGX=) traded in the same position on Tuesday from the previous session as subdued importer activity and mid-month tax payments by big firms cut appetite for hard currency.
PRISON
Fifty-two inmates at a prison in the northeastern Congo city of Bunia have starved to death this year because of insufficient government funding, the United Nations and local authorities said.
GRAINS
The Ethiopian government has issued a new international tender to buy about 400,000 tonnes of milling wheat, European traders said on Tuesday.
ECONOMY
Zimbabwe's consumer price inflation slowed to 761.02% year-on-year in August compared to 837.53% the previous month, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.
PROTESTS/BRITAIN
Britain's foreign minister Dominic Raab said on Tuesday he was following the court case in Zimbabwe of journalist Hopewell Chin'ono, who has been critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa's government.
SECURITY
West African mediators failed to persuade leaders of a military coup in Mali to immediately hand over power to a civilian government during talks on Tuesday, the chairman of the regional bloc said.
INSURGENCY
The Mozambican army has condemned the apparent execution of a naked woman by men wearing military uniforms, shown in video footage, where she is beaten with a stick before being shot in the back as she tries to flee.
SANCTIONS/US
Zineb Jammeh, the wife of Gambia's former president, Yahya Jammeh, has been hit with U.S. sanctions for her role in the economic plunder of the tiny West African county during her husband's 22-year rule, the U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday.