Features | - Part 198

South Africa’s Welfare Agency Scraps Minister’s Advisory Teams

Johannesburg (Capital Markets in Africa) – The South African Social Services Agency has scrapped the advisory groups that were set up to plan for the future of the country’s more than $11 billion of annual welfare payments. Letters were sent to the so-called “work streams” last week informing them of their termination, Sassa Chief Executive Officer Thokozani Magwaza said in an interview at Bloomberg’s Johannesburg office on Monday. Magwaza said he had informed Social Development Minister…

Climate of Fear Engulfs Rwanda’s Upcoming Vote, Amnesty Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

KIGALI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Rwandan President Paul Kagame is seeking re-election amid a climate of fear that’s the result of two decades of crackdowns on the political opposition, media and human-rights defenders, Amnesty International said. A report from the London-based group released Friday said freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly have all been restricted since the Rwandan Patriotic Front came to power in the wake of the East African nation’s 1994 genocide. Opposition politicians…

Tanzania Passes Laws Enabling Renegotiation of Mining Deals

Posted on by The Editorial Team

DAR ES SALAAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – Tanzania approved two laws that enable the government to renegotiate contracts with mining and energy companies as the state seeks a greater share of revenue from natural resources. The bills, which deal with state sovereignty over mineral wealth and contracts containing “unconscionable terms,” were approved by parliament on Monday 3rd July 2017. The Tanzania Chamber of Minerals and Energy (TCME), the main industry lobby group that has…

Hunger Used as a Weapon of War in South Sudan, Amnesty Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JUBA (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Sudanese government forces and rebels have used hunger as a weapon of war in a region once seen as the country’s breadbasket that’s been ravaged by killings, gang-rapes and looting over the past year, Amnesty International said. Civilians’ access to food in the southern region of Equatorial, where conflict spread last July, is “severely limited” after combatants cut supplies, looted from markets and homes and targeted civilians, the…

President Trump Travel Ban Said to Start Thursday Evening U.S. Time

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Trump administration will introduce new restrictions on travel to the U.S. by refugees and migrants from six countries as of 8 p.m. eastern time Thursday, according to a person familiar with the matter. The rollout of the measures, which follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday allowing parts of an executive order to proceed, is being led by the State Department. The timing is aimed at giving embassies…

South African Miners Apply to Court to Block Government Charter

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURGH (Capital Markets in Africa) – Johannesburg South Africa’s mining companies have applied to the High Court in Pretoria to block the government’s Mining Charter, arguing that the new rules would destroy the industry. The Chamber of Mines, which represents mining companies, has applied for an urgent interdict that would halt the implementation of the charter, published by the Department of Mineral Resources on June 15, it said in an emailed statement Monday. The group plans…

Kenyan President Pledges Investment Plan in Hunt for Votes

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s ruling Jubilee Party pledged to transform East Africa’s largest economy into a middle-income nation by 2022 by boosting investment in public infrastructure and technology and offering increased financing for small businesses. President Uhuru Kenyatta’s party also said it will increase the number of poor and elderly on free health care and offer free education to some primary and secondary public school students. The number of elderly receiving state grants would…

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