The Editorial Team |

South Africa Posts Third Straight Monthly Trade Surplus in April

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa recorded a surplus on its trade account for a third straight month in April as imports of equipment components decreased. The 5.1 billion-rand ($388 million) surplus with March’s revised 11.3 billion-rand surplus, the Pretoria-based South African Revenue Service said in an emailed statement Wednesday. The median of four economist estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for a surplus of 7.4 billion rand. A smaller trade gap eases pressure on the current account,…

South Africa Removes Eskom CEO Molefe After Bungled Rehire

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa will remove Brian Molefe as chief executive officer of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. less than three weeks after his controversial return to the state power utility. Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown will appoint an acting CEO within 48 hours, after a committee of cabinet ministers asked by President Jacob Zuma to review Molefe’s reinstatement found that the decision was incorrect, she told reporters in Cape Town on Wednesday. Brown has asked the…

Dangote to Invest $1 Billion in Nigeria Rice Production

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Dangote Group is making a five-year investment of at least $1 billion to grow and process rice in seven Nigerian states, bringing sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest importer of the grain closer to its goal of self-sufficiency. Dangote Rice Ltd., a unit of the Lagos-based company, plans to increase cultivation of paddy, or raw rice, to 150,000 hectares (371,000 acres) and harvest an annual 1.7 million metric tons by 2019. Most of…

Kenyan Challenger Says No Violence If President Vote Is Fair

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga pledged to keep his bid to unseat President Uhuru Kenyatta free of violence, while warning that his supporters may rise up if they suspect rigging. “We do not expect any violence,” Odinga told reporters in Nairobi, the capital, on Tuesday. “It’s not in our hands. If elections are free and fair, I don’t think there would be any. Violence will come if somebody interferes with the electoral process.”…

Miners Frozen Out as South Africa Readies Empowerment Rules

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mining companies in South Africa have been frozen out of consultation over regulatory changes that could dilute shareholders, raise costs and impose new levies to fund community development. South Africa’s Cabinet last week approved a new draft of the country’s Mining Charter and Mining Minister Mosebenzi Zwane has promised it will be gazetted within weeks. Yet while labor leaders have been consulted on the long-delayed new rules, the Chamber of Mines,…

Foreign Holdings of Egypt Debt Reach $7.5 Billion, Official Says

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CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Foreign investors are lapping up Egypt’s local-currency debt. Overseas holdings of Treasury bills rose by more than 10 percent in a week to 136 billion pounds ($7.5 billion) as of May 30, Samy Khallaf, head of the Finance Ministry’s public debt division, said on Wednesday. That compares with about 10.1 billion pounds at the end of December, central bank data show. Investors have been pouring money into Egyptian debt and…

Building Starts on Solar Plant to Power Burkina Faso Gold Mine

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OUAGADOUGOU (Capital Markets in Africa) – Construction has begun on a 15-megawatt solar project to help power Iamgold Corp.’s Essakane gold mine in Burkina Faso, developers Eren Renewable Energy SA and Africa Energy Management Platform said Tuesday. The project, which is expected to cost $20 million, is scheduled for completion in January 2018, according to Christophe Fleurence, Eren’s vice president for business development in Africa. The developers have signed a 15-year power purchase agreement with…

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