NAIROBI, May 24 - The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt
and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday. - - - - - GLOBAL MARKETS Asian shares moved lower on Thursday as investors fretted about new setbacks in U.S.-China trade talks, but negative sentiment was tempered by U.S. Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggesting it would not raise the tempo at which it increases interest rates. WORLD OIL PRICES Oil prices fell on Thursday on expectations that OPEC members will step up production in the face of worries over supply from both Venezuela and Iran. EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa's rand steadied against the dollar in late afternoon trade on Wednesday, recovering from losses earlier in the session, as a rise in consumer price inflation (CPI) reduced prospects for further interest rates cuts. NIGERIA OIL Flows of crude oil along Nigeria's Trans Forcados pipeline have started to ramp up again after an outage of almost a week, several trading sources said on Wednesday. NIGERIA SECURITY Nigeria's military has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity including torture, rape and killing civilians during its fight against Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, human rights group Amnesty International said on Thursday. KENYA MARKETS The Kenyan shilling weakened against the dollar on Wednesday due to end of month demand from multinational companies and importers, exceeding inflows in the market, traders said. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO HEALTH Three patients infected with the Ebola virus slipped out of an isolation ward at a hospital in Democratic Republic of Congo, health officials said, as medics raced to stop the deadly disease from spreading in the busy river port of Mbandaka. ETHIOPIA TELECOMS Ethiopia's state-run telecoms monopoly has agreed to allow some local firms to provide internet services through its infrastructure, a move seen as spurring competition and expanding the data market, officials said. SOUTH SUDAN WAR Talks in Ethiopia to revive South Sudan's failed 2015 peace pact and end the country's civil war broke up on Wednesday without a deal, mediators said, potentially prolonging a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions. ZIMBABWE POLITICS Zimbabwe's government distanced itself on Wednesday from a deputy minister who said the army wouldn't allow the opposition to rule if it wins an election this year. SOMALIA CYCLONE More than 50 people have died in Somaliland, livestock has been wiped out and hundreds of farms destroyed by heavy rains and floods caused by a tropical cyclone that hit the Horn of Africa, officials and aid agencies in the breakaway Somali region said. For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on