NAIROBI, July 12 (Reuters) – The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Friday.

GLOBAL MARKETS

The yen swung between losses and gains on Friday in volatile trade, reflecting investors’ skittishness after Tokyo was thought to have intervened to prop up the Japanese currency in the wake of a cooler-than-expected U.S. inflation report.

WORLD OIL PRICES

Oil prices inched up on Friday amid signs of easing inflationary pressures in the world’s biggest oil consumer, the United States, though the contracts were headed for a weekly decline.

SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS

The South African rand extended its gains on Thursday after U.S. inflation unexpectedly fell last month, fuelling bets that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates in September.

AFRICA CURRENCIES

Zambia’s kwacha and Kenya’s shilling could fall against the dollar in the next week to Thursday, while Uganda’s shilling, Nigeria’s naira and Ghana’s cedi are seen broadly stable, traders said.

NIGERIA CENTRAL BANK

Nigeria’s central bank will do whatever is necessary to tame double-digit inflation but expects price pressures to moderate and interest rates to drop in the not-too-distant future, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor said on Thursday.

NIGERIA PETROLEUM

Nigeria’s oil regulator has struck a deal with producers to allow sales of crude to domestic refiners at market prices, ending a supply dispute that had strained relations with international oil companies.

KENYA MARKETS

Kenya’s shilling was weaker on Thursday due to increased demand for dollars from oil-retailing companies and general goods importers, traders said.

KENYA POLITICS

Kenyan President William Ruto on Thursday fired his entire cabinet apart from the foreign minister, bowing to pressure from nationwide protests that have created the biggest crisis of his two-year presidency.

UGANDA CENTRAL BANK

Uganda’s central bank has begun buying locally-produced gold to bolster its depleted foreign reserves and tackle emerging challenges in international financial markets.

ZAMBIA ELECTRICITY

Zambia’s Maamba Collieries will build a 300 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant costing an estimated $400 million over a two-year period from August 2024, its local shareholder ZCCM-IH said in a statement.

ZAMBIA MINING

China’s JCHX Mining plans to invest $300 million to breathe new life into Zambia’s Lubambe Copper Mines which it recently acquired, Zambia’s state mining investment unit, ZCCM-IH said on Thursday.

((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom))