‘Ballot rerun’ rekindles Kenyan growth jitters

Bloomberg

Kenya’s economy may pay the price of opposition leader Raila Odinga’s successful bid to nullify the outcome of last month’s election, as prolonged political uncertainty pending a court-ordered rerun weighs on growth and investor confidence. “There was a lot of exuberance that the elections were over,” Kenneth Minjire, head of securities at Genghis Capital in Nairobi, said by phone. “Inquiries had shot up from private-equity firms, from foreign investors, who were holding off on investments. A lot of investors will hold off again just to see how this plays out. This writes off the second half as things slow down.”
Odinga’s five-party National Super Alliance alleged the electoral commission’s computer systems were tampered with and vote tallies altered to hand President Uhuru Kenyatta a second term in the Aug. 8 vote. The Supreme Court upheld its complaint on Sept. 1 and ruled a new election be held within 60 days, a shock decision that’s unprecedented in Africa. The prospect of further political upheaval has spooked the financial markets, with the FTSE NSE Kenya 25 Index of stocks slumping 4 percent on Friday, the most in a year, while yields on the nation’s foreign debt climbed the most in almost two months.