South Africa Scrambles as $10.3 Billion in Welfare Threatened

South Africa Scrambles as $10.3 Billion in Welfare Threatened

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s government, set to miss a deadline to appoint a new distributor of welfare grants worth about $10.3 billion a year to more than 17 million people, asked aspirant bidders to an information session as the end of a contract with Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. looms. The South African Social Security Agency, which oversees the monthly payment system, took the first step toward appointing a new distributor at the session…

Read More

Kenya’s economy to grow at a slower pace this year, IMF Rep Says

Kenya’s economy to grow at a slower pace this year, IMF Rep Says

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s economic growth rate will slow in 2017, from about 6 percent last year, due to sluggish credit growth and as investors take a wait-and-see attitude before a presidential election in August, a senior IMF official said on Monday. Armando Morales, the International Monetary Fund’s representative in Kenya, said growth is likely to remain within the 5-6 percent range of the past five years, despite the slowdown. “We expect a…

Read More

Dangote, China’s Sinotruck set up $100 million Truck Plant in Nigeria

Dangote, China’s Sinotruck set up $100 million Truck Plant in Nigeria

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has partnered with China’s heavy duty truck group Sinotruck to set up a $100 million plant to assemble trucks and cars in Nigeria for local use and export, the executive director of Dangote group said. The joint venture, which is 65 percent owned by Dangote and 35 percent by Sinotruck will assemble components and knocked down parts imported from Sinotruck to the Nigerian plant….

Read More

Donald Trump’s Team Has Questions About Africa. Here Are Answers

Donald Trump’s Team Has Questions About Africa. Here Are Answers

WASHINGTON (Capital Markets in Africa) — President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has circulated a list of questions on Africa to the State Department and Pentagon. At the top of the list are two queries about the United States and China and their relative presence on that continent: “How does U.S. business compete with other nations in Africa? Are we losing out to the Chinese?” Peter Navarro, who will lead Trump’s National Trade Council, provided his…

Read More

Gambia’s Jammeh Pleads for Judges as Deadline to Quit Nears

Gambia’s Jammeh Pleads for Judges as Deadline to Quit Nears

BANJUL (Capital Markets in Africa) – Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh called on regional heads of state to help the country find judges so that its Supreme Court can hear his objections to losing a presidential election last month, two days after Nigeria’s president failed to persuade him to step down. Jammeh filed an injunction at the court to stop the swearing-in of opposition leader Adama Barrow due Jan. 19 and needs judges to hear the case as soon…

Read More

Guinea Must Tighten Grip on Bauxite Industry, President Says

GUINEA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Guinea wants to get a tighter grip on its bauxite industry and keep out companies that aren’t consumers of the ore, President Alpha Conde said in a speech on state television. “We don’t want traders in Guinea. It’s abnormal that we have more than half of the world’s bauxite reserves but not even 2 percent of the market share,” Conde said. “We’re producers and we’re going to work directly with our…

Read More

South African President Won’t Accept Third ANC Leader Term

South African President Won’t Accept Third ANC Leader Term

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African President Jacob Zuma said he won’t accept a nomination for a third term as head of the country’s ruling party, which is “ready” for a woman to take over the leadership. The 105-year-old African National Congress will choose a new president at a national conference in December when Zuma’s term ends. His ex-wife and the outgoing African Union chairwoman, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and ANC Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa are seen as frontrunners for the position. …

Read More
1 211 212 213 214 215 258