Africa briefs

Cypriot investor interested in making catalytic converters in ZimCypriot investor Karo Resources wants to use some of the output from its planned US$4.2 billion platinum project in Zimbabwe to make catalytic converters for capping emissions in diesel cars, the mines minister said on Monday.Cyprus-born Loucas Pouroulis, who heads Karo, signed the deal in March to build a platinum mine and refinery in the Mhondoro-Ngezi platinum belt.-Nampa/ReutersDrought, armyworms cut Malawi maize crop by 19%Malawi’s maize output declined by 19.4% in the 2017/18 farming year to 2.8 million tons due to damage caused by drought and crop-eating armyworms, Agriculture Minister Joseph Mwanamvekha said on Monday.This (decline) is because of dry spells experienced in some parts of the country and the armyworm invasion,” Mwanamvekha told Reuters.Malawi produced 3.5 million tons of maize in the 2016/17 season but banned exports of its staple crop earlier this year and said it was considering restocking its national grain reserves.-Nampa/ReutersNigeria's economic growth slows for first time since end of recessionNigeria’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2018 for the first time since the country pulled out of recession last year as the non-oil sector struggled, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.The economy grew by 1.95% in the first quarter lifted by the oil sector. That was a slight dip from 2.11% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2017. The economy shrank 0.91% in the first quarter of 2017, the bureau said.-Nampa/ReutersGhana central bank cuts policy rate to 17%Ghana’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 17% on Monday, saying it was on track to meet its medium-term inflation target as the economy stabilised.Ghana is in its final year of a US$918 million credit deal with the International Monetary Fund to narrow its deficit and reduce debt and inflation and has now lowered the rate by 850 basis points over the past year.Speaking in the capital Accra, Central Bank Governor Ernest Addison projected that inflation would fall to the bank’s target of eight percent by the end of this year or early 2019.-Nampa/Reuters

Africa briefs

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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Africa briefs

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Namibian Sun 2025-04-03

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