Zambians Await Presidential Vote Results After Frenzied Campaign

Zambians Await Presidential Vote Results After Frenzied Campaign

LUSAKA, Zambia, Capital Markets in Africa: Ballot counting in Zambia was under way Friday after voting ended in a hotly contested election that pitted President Edgar Lungu against his main challenger, Hakainde Hichilema, for the second time in 19 months. Less than 28,000 votes separated the two men when they contested a snap poll in January last year, after President Michael Sata died in office. While Lungu’s administration has improved the country’s road system and built new clinics and schools, a growth…

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SBM of Mauritius Looks to New Hires to Sustain Earnings Growth

SBM of Mauritius Looks to New Hires to Sustain Earnings Growth

Mauritius, Capital Markets in Africa: SBM Holdings Ltd., the second-biggest company by market value in Mauritius, plans to reshuffle its top management and make new hires to sustain earnings growth that saw first-half profit more than double. “With further appointments at strategic posts in the coming months, in line with the implementation of our modernization and diversification plan, SBM is poised to generate new sources of income which will impact even more favorably on our…

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Currency conundrums in Zimbabwe

Currency conundrums in Zimbabwe

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zimbabwe abandoned the use of its own currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, in February 2009 and adopted a multi-currency regime. The demise of the Zimbabwe dollar was not mourned. By the time it was phased out it had lost all credibility as a medium of exchange, after years of hyperinflation running to many million percent. While the multi-currency regime legalised the use in Zimbabwe of a number of currencies, among…

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Zambia Votes After Violence Mars Close-Run Presidential Race

Zambia Votes After Violence Mars Close-Run Presidential Race

LUSAKA, Zambia, Capital Markets in Africa: Zambians began voting Thursday in elections that are set to be a rematch of last year’s neck-and-neck contest between President Edgar Lungu and his main rival, Hakainde Hichilema, following a violence-marred campaign. Less than 28,000 votes separated the two men the last time they squared off in a snap poll 19 months ago, after President Michael Sata died in office. While incumbent Lungu, 59, has enjoyed blanket state-media coverage of his campaign, an economic…

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South Africa Sued to Protect Recipients of $9.7 Billion in Welfare

South Africa Sued to Protect Recipients of $9.7 Billion in Welfare

JOHANNESBURG, Capital Markets in Africa: South Africa’s government is facing a counter legal challenge in a dispute with Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. with a rights group demanding that it protect welfare recipients from companies that are allegedly selling the nation’s poorest people goods and services they don’t need and deducting payments from grants paid to them by the state. Black Sash Trust, a human rights activist group, on Wednesday applied to the High Court in…

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Ethiopia Key U.S. Africa Ally Faces More Unrest After Scores Killed

Ethiopia Key U.S. Africa Ally Faces More Unrest After Scores Killed

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Capital Markets in Africa: Ethiopia, a key U.S. ally in the fight against Islamist militants in East Africa, faces the prospect of further unrest after a crackdown on anti-government demonstrations held by its two largest communities over the weekend that Amnesty International said left 97 people dead. Security forces opened fire on protesters in the country’s Amhara region, with the worst bloodshed in the northern city of Bahir Dar where at least 30 people…

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South Africa Opposition Wants Deal to Shut ANC Out of Johannesburg

South Africa Opposition Wants Deal to Shut ANC Out of Johannesburg

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: South Africa’s Democratic Alliance is proposing a deal that would allow it to run the country’s biggest city while giving a smaller rival control of its first municipality and locking the ruling African National Congress out of the management of the two cities. The country’s biggest opposition party, known as the DA, wants to swap support with the Economic Freedom Fighters following local elections last week that would…

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