Currency

The Nigerian naira weakened slightly to 150.70 to the dollar on the interbank market on Wednesday from 150.60 close on Tuesday on the back of strong demand for the greenback by fuel importers, traders said.

The banking industry registered reduced forex trade income in the first half of this year due to minimal currency fluctuations.

Internet service provider, AccessKenya has reported a 59 per cent drop in profit after tax, which the company attributes to price cuts and a weaker Kenyan shilling.

On July 1, 127 million people of East Africa (EA), a block of five nation states with combined purchasing power of $150b became a single market.

WITH all this debate about whether we need a tax on "hot money" inflows, no one has asked why we're treating the symptoms, as it were, and not the cause.

A strong national currency is not necessarily healthy for the economy since it makes exports expensive and increases price of goods and services, Bank of Tanzania (BoT) governor Prof Benno Ndulu has said.