Features

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. appointed former South Africa Deputy Finance Minister Mcebisi Jonas as chairman and Nigeria’s ex-central bank Governor Lamido Sanusi as a non-executive director as part of boardroom shake up at Africa’s biggest wireless carrier. Jonas, 59, will replace Phuthuma Nhleko, who plans to step down in December after almost two decades as chairman or chief executive officer of the Johannesburg-based company. The stock held onto gains and traded 2.4 percent higher as of…

NEW YORK (Capital Markets in Africa) – As more presidential candidates release their tax returns, a picture of Democrats’ charitable giving is beginning to emerge. For the most part, they’re not as generous as most Americans. With notable exceptions, most high-polling 2020 Democratic presidential candidates gave well below the U.S. average to charity in 2018, according to the deductions claimed on their tax returns. While Americans give between 2 percent and 4 percent of their…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – Theresa May’s government will continue talks with the main opposition Labour Party aimed at securing a Brexit compromise, as time runs out before the U.K. is forced to take part in European Parliament elections. “It’s important that we try and work as hard as we can to try and come up with a single unified approach,” the premier’s spokeswoman, Alison Donnelly, told reporters on Friday. “The talks are ongoing and…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Several senior members of the Democratic Alliance, South Africa’s official opposition, have considered breaking away to form a new party because of disputes about its policy direction, according to people familiar with the matter. Some officials are concerned by the adoption of policies that shift it away from liberal roots ahead of national elections on May 8, including a “Secure our Borders” campaign that analysts say is a populist appeal…

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tropical Cyclone Kenneth continued to grow stronger as it swirled toward the coast of Mozambique, where Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has halted all flights to and from its liquefied natural gas site. Mozambican authorities declared a “red alert” in Cabo Delgado province as they prepared to evacuate people from the northern region. Relief agencies in the country are already stretched as they deal with the aftermath of Cyclone Idai, which struck…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Labor Department said it intends to deregister one of the country’s biggest and most aggressive mining unions, just weeks before crucial platinum-industry wage talks are expected to begin. A relative upstart compared with the more-established National Union of Mineworkers, the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union has shaken up the country’s mining industry over the past decade. It gained prominence in a dispute at Lonmin Plc that…

SOUTH SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) – After five years of civil war, South Sudan’s biggest danger may not be loaded guns but empty bellies. Even as the government and rebels prepare to join forces to end a conflict that’s claimed almost 400,000 lives, the threat of famine is stalking the East African country. With local farming yet to recover, almost seven million people — more than half the population — may face severe food shortages between…