The decline of the West due to debt is being offset by the rise of the East. In the years ahead, Western lending institutions will be embroiled in domestic affairs, leaving them will little or no capacity to venture overseas. Eastern lending institutions are bolstered by a strong savings and investment culture.

"May 17 (Bloomberg) -- FirstRand Ltd., South Africa’s second-biggest lender, has completed its first transactions in Africa with China Construction Bank Corp. after the two agreed to cooperate last July.

“We’ve done a number of transactions with the Chinese bank including in Zambia and in South Africa,” FirstRand Chief Executive Officer Sizwe Nxasana said in a May 14 interview in Johannesburg. “There are more in the pipeline in Angola and Tanzania.”

Read more:

http://www.businessweek....ete-deals-update1-.html

KK. I remember what you said before. Interesting statement at the bottom of the article...

The country's best option is to seek concessional loans for financing the public investment part of its medium-term economic development plan, the fund said.

"Authorities are advised to re-engage donors and avoid excessive borrowing," it said in the statement which was compiled by the IMF and the International Development Association.

We need to re-engage donors...that's seems a bit of a backtrack. What conditions will they impose? Looking at our foreign debt its denominated as follows: 33% in Euro, 30% in Dollars, 27% in Yen and 10% others. What's your take on forex risk or other risks given foreign debt exposure?

We need to avoid excessive borrowing...true, but unlikely to happen. I heard MPC is meeting today. Grapevine connections tell me they plan 200 bn in domestic deficit financing for this year's budget. There seems to be no getting out of this debt issue.

As always I appreciate your thoughts, dude.

@ Scubidu. Thanks for the compliment.

Kenya's hands are tied as far as foreign exchange risk. The Euro debacle is a foretaste of what is to come for the Dollar. Loan repayments denominated in Dollars are presently rising whilst those in Euros are declining. That situation will reverse with time.

The best counterbalance to these liabilities is a strong asset base; gold is one prime candidate.

Mr Geithner should take a peek at the period in Roman history between 240 AD and 253 AD when the Roman Silver Denarius lost 98% of its value. The decline of Imperial Rome had began during the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD and was accelerated from the reign of Maximinus I (235 - 238 AD). Then was a tyrannical age denoted with civil unrest and battles for the throne.

The market is the final arbiter.

"US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has ruled out any possibility of US facing a Greece-like debt crisis and said that better-than-expected economy would help strengthen government accounts.

"It's not going to happen in the United States. The important thing is you are seeing in the US, a much stronger recovery than most people would expect even just three months ago," Geithner said in an interview.

Since the Greece crisis, the opposition Republicans have been warning that a similar crisis is awaiting to hit the US in the coming days."


Read more at: http://beta.profit.ndtv....t-crisis-in-us-49736?cp

By 2016, gold will be Kenya's highest earning mineral export.

"Rising gold prices in the international market jolted Kenya’s underperforming mining industry, changing tide against non-metal minerals such as soda ash and fluorspar that have dominated the sector.

Official data indicate earnings from gold rose almost four times to Sh2.3 billion in 2009 from Sh593 million the previous year.

It has also overtaken fluorspar that brought in only Sh123 million. Soda ash earned Kenya Sh6 billion.

Mines and geology department attributed the jump to the sharp rally in gold prices in 2009 and increased mining activity as favourable prices egged dealers...."

Read more:

http://www.businessdaily...0/-/uoxlti/-/index.html