Africa Market Update - April 2015

MARKET UPDATE – AFRICA | March 2015
Budget estimates
now stand at USD
2.6 Billion for the
financial year
underway.
Agriculture Sector Growth
Rwanda’s Main Export Destinations
9.2% 13.0%
8.0%
14.0%
34.0%
22.0%
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, StratLink Africa
Industry: Trailing the Growth Charge
Industry grew by 6.0% in 2014, 300.0 bps
below the fourteen years’ average. We note
that vital sub-sectors such as manufacture
of food; manufacture of beverage and alcohol;
and manufacture of chemicals contracted
by 1.0%, 5.0% and 3.0%, respectively,
negatively impacting the sector’s aggregate
momentum.
Industry Growth
Tanzania DRC Kenya
China Malaysia Others
Source: OECD Data, StratLink Africa
DEBT MARKET UPDATE
T-Bill yields have continued to decline as
the country’s inflation trended further below
the 5.0% mark to close February 2015
at 1.5%. Inflation stands at unprecedented
lows in the economy which coupled with
improved donor aid inflows for budgetary
purposes are weighing down yields in the
market.
T-Bill Yields
Source: National Bureau of Statistics, StratLink Africa
Trade relations between Rwanda and its key
export destination (Democratic Republic of
Congo) faced challenges in 2014 with Rwanda’s
Trade Ministry decrying non-tariff barriers
from DRC 9 . At the same time, Rwanda’s
informal trade with Tanzania suffered an
all-time low in 2014 with exports declining
by 40.0% 10 .
9 Rwanda Eye January 17th, 2015
Source: Bank of Rwanda, StratLink Africa
Yields could, however, exhibit marginal uptick
in the near term following the government’s
plan to increase domestic borrowing
in view of a 0.4% upward revision of
the 2014/15 budget. Budget estimates now
stand at USD 2.6 Billion for the financial
year underway.
10 The East African February 27th, 2015
20 | StratLink Africa Ltd.
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