NAIROBI, Kenya, May 14 – Kenya should wait until after the August 8th General Election before issuing another Euro Bond.
Head of Quantum Global Research Professor Mthuli Ncube says the economy is currently facing pre-election uncertainties that would reflect badly on such a bond.
“Elections are often surrounded by uncertainties. One cannot simply know what will happen, hence issuing such a bond before the elections would not be very wise,” Ncube said.
The Professor also urged Kenya and other African countries to not shy away from seeking foreign bonds as there is immense appetite for them.
The Professor was speaking during the launch of the Africa Investment Index 2016 in Nairobi.
According to the study, Kenya’s economy in the coming years looks bright, saying robust domestic consumption, public infrastructure investments and ICT are sure to support growth.
In the study, Kenya ranked the fifteenth most attractive economy for investments flowing into the African continent, which is lower than indices issued by other institutions such as the World Bank.
According to the report, the country presents investors with relatively high exchange rate risk, has low levels of liquidity and very low import cover, hence the ranking.
The report however says that the country’s rate of economic growth is on track to exceed the average for sub-Saharan Africa for the eighth year in a row.
Botswana was ranked the most attractive economy for investments flowing into the African continent followed by Morocco, Egypt, South Africa and Zambia.
The bottom 10 countries are Somalia, Eritrea, Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sierra Leone.
