African Markets - Factors to watch on Feb 1

NAIROBI, Feb 1 ( - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Monday.

GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares rallied on Monday and U.S. stock futures recouped early losses as newly empowered retail investors turned their attention to precious metals, promising a respite to some hard-hit hedge funds. MKTS/GLOB

WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices edged higher on Monday after a weak start, holding on to the past three months of gains, although patchy coronavirus vaccine rollouts, new infections and the discovery of new variants are keeping a lid on prices. O/R

SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa's rand stormed to a one week best on Friday, shaking off a bout of negative sentiment that hobbled other risk markets as the high yield on offer on local assets lured investors.

MARKETS The Kenyan shilling KES= was stable against the dollar on Friday and was expected to stay range-bound into next week, traders said.

AFRICAN BREWERIES RESULTS East African Breweries EABL.NR expects sales to recover from a coronavirus-induced slump in its second half to June, its outgoing chief executive said, as nations in the region relax measures to curb the spread of the virus.

CORONAVIRUS VACCINES Kenya said on Friday it was seeking an extra 11 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines, on top of 24 million already ordered, and hopes to have 16 million people inoculated by June next year. AFRICA Airtel Africa will focus on growing in the markets where it already operates on the continent and will not bid for licences in Ethiopia, where the nation of 110 million people is opening up its telecoms sector, the company's CEO said on Friday.

DEBT RELIEF Ethiopia plans to seek a restructuring of its sovereign debt under a new G20 common framework and is looking at all the available options, the country's finance ministry told Reuters on Friday.

CORONAVIRUS VACCINES Ghana plans to procure 17.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of June with the first doses arriving in March, President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Sunday.

REPUBLIC OF CONGO POLITICS Democratic Republic of Congo's Prime Minister Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba resigned on Friday, the presidency said, a move that will enable President Felix Tshisekedi to rid the government of his predecessor's allies and push through his own policies. LNG PROJECT Norwegian energy company Equinor EQNR.OL is shelving plans for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) development in Tanzania, arguing it would not be sufficiently profitable, but could revive the project at a later date, it said on Friday.