The Editorial Team |

Amazon Effect Meets Russian Consumers Slogging to Recovery

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Russian consumers, the missing piece of the economic recovery puzzle, may have been there all along — they were just browsing the web. As online shopping lifts off in Russia, it’s taking a growing bite out of brick-and-mortar businesses, helping account for the months-long mismatch between gains in incomes and retail sales near a standstill. That disconnect, one of the biggest mysteries of Russia’s rebound from its longest economic contraction this century, could at least…

South Africa Urges PIC to Invest in Social Development Projects

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Public Investment Corporation, which manages South African state-worker pensions, should consider investing a portion of its 1.93 trillion rand ($143 billion) in assets into projects that will boost job creation and support people on lower incomes, a parliamentary committee said. That shouldn’t include providing funds for ailing and mis-managed state-owned companies that won’t deliver a return on investment, the standing committee on finance said in an emailed statement…

AngloGold Ashanti to raise $307 mln with South African mine sales

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s AngloGold Ashanti is to sell its newest mine to Harmony Gold for $300 million and another mine for 100 million rand ($7.4 million) to China’s Heaven-Sent SA Sunshine Investment Company, the company said on Thursday. AngloGold, after suffering heavy losses in its home market, said in June it would restructure its South African mines which could see 8,500 workers, around 30 percent of its workforce, laid off….

Nigerian lawmakers to probe national grid firm over $2 bln of foreign loans

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria’s lower house of parliament will investigate $2 billion of foreign loans which the state-owned national electricity grid operator may have raised without official approval, lawmakers said on Wednesday. The investigation could be a blow to efforts to improve Nigeria’s creaking power infrastructure, which is often blamed for hobbling growth in Africa’s largest economy. Nigeria privatized most of its power sector in 2013 but retained control of the dilapidated…

Zimbabwe says to slash budget deficit despite looming elections

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe plans to cut its budget deficit by half next year to 4 percent of GDP, the national Treasury said, an ambitious goal at a time when the country is expected to hold a presidential vote that veteran President Robert Mugabe is set to contest. The southern African country has over the last four years failed to cut its deficit despite promises to do so, mainly due to high…

South Africa’s poor tax revenues to delay fiscal consolidation

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s finance minister is expected to address concerns over dwindling tax revenues in his mid-term budget on Wednesday to reassure credit agencies of his commitment to a tighter purse, a Reuters poll found. Malusi Gigaba is due to give his first review on finances on Oct. 25 and economists expect him to announce a revenue shortfall of 40 billion rand ($3.0 billion) for the year that began in…

Nigeria looks to food exports to boost FX income after oil shock

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Nigeria is looking to boost agricultural exports to earn more hard currency, and aims to cut imports of rice and wheat which together cost it almost $4 billion a year, Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh told Reuters. Nigeria emerged from recession in the second quarter as oil revenues rose, but growth was sluggish. The government has touted agriculture as a way to wean the country off its oil dependence, improving…

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