NAIROBI, Feb 6 (Reuters) – The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday.

EVENTS:

*Uganda’s and Zimbabwe’s central banks to announce their latest respective benchmark lending rate decisions.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asia shares rose on Thursday, tracking gains on Wall Street following a see-saw session, while U.S. Treasury yields came under pressure after mixed economic data.

WORLD OIL PRICES

Oil prices ticked up in early Asian trading on Thursday, steadying from a sell-off the previous day after Saudi Arabia’s state oil company sharply raised March oil prices.

SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS

South Africa’s rand gained against a weaker dollar on Wednesday, as investors awaited President Cyril Ramaphosa’s national address on Thursday and closely watched developments between the U.S. and China in their dispute over tariffs.

NIGERIA BUDGET

Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has increased the size of the 2025 budget to 54.2 trillion naira ($36.4 billion) from 49 trillion naira, he said in a letter to the Senate published on Wednesday.

KENYA MARKETS

Kenya’s shilling was unchanged against the dollar on Wednesday, data from the London Stock Exchange Group showed.

KENYA CENTRAL BANK RATE

Kenya’s central bank cut its main interest rate for the fourth meeting in a row on Wednesday, saying it wanted to do more to support lending and boost economic growth.

KENYA ECONOMY

Kenya has already started talks with International Monetary Fund officials to secure a new lending program when the current one expires in April, its finance minister told Reuters on Wednesday.

KENYA PMI

Kenya’s private sector activity expanded for a fourth straight month in January but only modestly and at a slower pace than in December, a survey showed on Wednesday.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO SECURITY

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have seized control of a mining town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s South Kivu province, eight sources said on Wednesday, in an apparent violation of a unilateral ceasefire they declared this week.

GHANA COCOA

Cocoa arrivals at official Ghanaian warehouses neared 550,000 metric tons by end-January, putting the world’s No. 2 producer within reach of its output target for this season, said a source with access to data from sector regulator Cocobod.

MALI MINING

A new mining law in Mali that raises taxes and seeks to hand over big stakes in assets to the state and local investors will need to be loosened up if gold companies are to invest in new projects there, company CEOs told Reuters.

NAMIBIA PETROLEUM

French oil major TotalEnergies expects to take a final investment decision (FID) on its Namibian offshore oil discovery in 2026, CEO Patrick Pouyanne said on Wednesday at a press briefing.

((Compiled by Nairobi Newsroom))