Impala Platinum Miner Weighs Plan to Curb Losses Amid Slump

Impala Platinum Miner Weighs Plan to Curb Losses Amid Slump

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. is facing some tough choices as the South African miner works to stem losses at aging shafts amid slumping prices for the metal. The world’s second-largest producer has already cut 2,500 jobs in the year through June and says there may be more to come. Only three of the 10 shafts at its sprawling Rustenburg mining complex were making money as of March. Things have only…

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Moody’s: Sovereign green bond issuance to accelerate as governments seek to promote sustainable policies

Moody’s: Sovereign green bond issuance to accelerate as governments seek to promote sustainable policies

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The pace of sovereign green bond issuance is set to accelerate as governments seek to promote sustainable policy agendas, encourage private capital into low-carbon and climate-resilient infrastructure, as well as signal their commitment to the Paris Agreement, says Moody’s Investors Service in a report published today. The report, “Green Bonds — Sovereign – Sovereign green bond market on course for critical mass, but challenges remain,” is now available on…

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Risk for EM Assets Simmers as Trade Tiff Turns Into All-Out War

Risk for EM Assets Simmers as Trade Tiff Turns Into All-Out War

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The threat that a battle over trade between the world’s biggest economies will escalate is hanging over emerging-markets’ battered assets. President Donald Trump hinted the final total of goods that would be slapped with duties could eventually reach $550 billion. That exceeds all of U.S. goods imports from China in 2017. But it’s not just the tit-for-tat duties that’s worrying investors. Some say that import tariffs on Chinese goods…

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Heroin Is One of Biggest Mozambique Exports, Researchers Say

Heroin Is One of Biggest Mozambique Exports, Researchers Say

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique boasts vast coal, ruby and gas deposits, but one of the southeast African nation’s biggest exports may be something more sinister: heroin. As much as $800 million worth of the narcotic is shipped annually from its beaches to neighboring countries and to Europe. That’s according to a research paper by Enact, a European Union-funded initiative to mitigate the impact of transnational organized crime, and a related working paper…

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Japan’s Retail Army Is Piling Into Rand While Shunning Lira

Japan’s Retail Army Is Piling Into Rand While Shunning Lira

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The lira’s loss is the rand’s gain. Japan’s retail investors are boosting holdings of South Africa’s currency at the fastest pace since 2009 while cutting foreign-exchange exposure in Turkey. Individual investors from the Asian nation have raised their net rand long position against the yen for five straight months through June, according to data from Tokyo Financial Exchange Inc. They have been reducing their net lira positioning for four months. “Japanese…

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Higher Debt Costs Cut South Africa Fiscal Room, Moody’s Says

Higher Debt Costs Cut South Africa Fiscal Room, Moody’s Says

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The weaker rand and foreign-investment outflows from South Africa are raising the nation’s debt costs and reducing its fiscal flexibility, but its vulnerability to tightening financing conditions is still low, Moody’s Investors Service said. The rand depreciated 14 percent against the dollar in the second quarter, the worst performance among major currencies after Brazil’s real, while portfolio outflows totaled about $6.4 billion, Moody’s said in an emailed report Tuesday, citing data…

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Kenya Fund Managers Warn New Transaction Tax May Curb Investment

Kenya Fund Managers Warn New Transaction Tax May Curb Investment

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenyan fund managers slammed a new tax on financial transactions, saying it risks inhibiting trading and reducing the country’s attractiveness to investors. Forcing the government to rethink the levy would curb the revenue it needs to implement President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda — a development program that seeks to boost agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare and home construction. The tax is one of a raft of levies announced by Treasury Secretary Henry…

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