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South Africa Tests Eurobond Market After Rating Downgrade

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s borrowing costs may rise in a Eurobond offering Tuesday, the country’s first since it joined the ranks of high-yield issuers after two companies lowered its credit ratings to junk. The country is selling 10-year dollar bonds with initial price guidance of about 5 percent, the National Treasury said in an emailed response to questions, without disclosing the amount. That’s higher than the rate on existing securities due…

Zambia Seeking Bids for New Mobile Provider to Take on MTN

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LUZAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia is seeking bidders for a fourth mobile-network license to take on operators including market leader MTN Group Ltd. in the southern African country, Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba said. The ministry last week gave the go-ahead to the telecommunications regulator to start the process, he said in a recorded response to questions on Monday. The new carrier could be in place over the next six to 12 months and the…

KPMG, McKinsey Feel the Heat Over South Africa Graft Scandal

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – As global companies implicated in a graft scandal in South Africa scramble to contain the damage to their reputations, politicians and law enforcement agencies are prevaricating and stalling official investigations. The scandal has revolved around members of the wealthy Gupta family, who are friends of President Jacob Zuma and have been accused of looting billions of rand in taxpayer funds and exerting undue influence over the state. Accountants KPMG LLP, public relations firm Bell…

KPMG Slammed by South Africa’s Pravin Gordhan on Tax Report

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Pravin Gordhan, who was ousted from his post as South Africa’s finance minister in March, slammed KPMG LLP after it withdrew the findings of a report on the country’s tax agency that was used as evidence in a police probe against him and led to the removal of senior staff. The auditing firm said on Friday that its conclusions and recommendations in a report for the South African Revenue Service about a unit that allegedly…

Zuma’s Fight to Avoid Trial Goes to South Africa’s Appeals Court

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal will consider a case Thursday that may determine whether President Jacob Zuma should stand trial on graft charges that were dropped by the prosecutors eight years ago. Prosecutors probed allegations that Zuma took 4.07 million rand ($310,000) in bribes from arms dealers and brought 783 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against him. They scrapped the case a month before he became president in May…

South Africa Current-Account Gap Widens as Customs Payouts Rise

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s current-account deficit widened in the second quarter as the amount paid to the nation’s customs union partners increased. The shortfall on the current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, increased to 2.4 percent of gross domestic product in the three months through June from a revised 2 percent in the previous quarter, the Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin released on Thursday in the…

Standard Bank Group Names Tshabalala First Sole Black CEO

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Standard Bank Group Limited appointed Sim Tshabalala as sole chief executive officer, ending a dual role he shared with Ben Kruger, and making him the first black person to lead Africa’s largest lender independently. Kruger, 58, will step down as joint-CEO immediately and continue as an executive director, reporting to Tshabalala, 49, Johannesburg-based Standard Bank said in a statement on Tuesday. The joint leadership structure was necessary as part of the company’s management succession…

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