Zimbabwe Cement Industry Demands Dangote Face Import Tariffs

Zimbabwe Cement Industry Demands Dangote Face Import Tariffs

HARARE, Zimbabwe, Capital Markets in Africa: Zimbabwe’s cement industry has called on the government to impose tariffs on imports from international manufacturers including Dangote Cement Plc of Nigeria, which it says is undercutting local makers of the building material and threatening jobs. The government should impose a tariff of $50 a metric ton on cement made at a lower cost in other countries and then sold in Zimbabwe, the Cement and Concrete Institute of Zimbabwe said in a…

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Opportunity | The Commodity That No One Knows About But Everybody Wants to Buy

Opportunity | The Commodity That No One Knows About But Everybody Wants to Buy

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The world’s mines and steel plants got so devalued during the commodity slump that some were just given away by owners struggling to cut losses or debt. But there’s at least one metal that’s been attracting a lot of attention. Niobium — named for a Greek goddess who became a symbol of the tragic mourning mother — is used to produce stronger, lighter steel for industrial pipes and aircraft parts. It is mined in…

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Gloves Off in South Africa Power Struggle as Gordhan Fights Back

Gloves Off in South Africa Power Struggle as Gordhan Fights Back

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: A power struggle between South African President Jacob Zuma and Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan over control of the National Treasury is approaching a tipping point, unnerving investors and weighing on the rand. Gordhan, 67, on Tuesday accused government officials of conspiring to harass him and his family and described allegations that he had spied on taxpayers when he ran the national revenue service as “malicious rumors” that were “manufactured for other motives.”…

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Nigeria | Central Bank of Nigeria to Create N750 Billion Agriculture Intervention Fund

Nigeria | Central Bank of Nigeria to Create N750 Billion Agriculture Intervention Fund

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The Federal Government, yesterday, said it will collaborate with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to create N750 billion agriculture fund as part of its commitment to making agriculture the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, just as it is committed to tackling the smuggling of poultry products into the country. The Minister of State for Agriculture, Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, who disclosed this at the 2016 National Summit of the…

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Desperate for Dollars, Investors Line Up for a Sure-Fire Loser

Desperate for Dollars, Investors Line Up for a Sure-Fire Loser

CAIRO, Egypt, Capital Markets in Africa: The hot trade in Egypt’s stock market is a sure thing — a guaranteed money-loser. Clients have been snapping up shares of Commercial International Bank Egypt on the Cairo market, paying in Egyptian pounds, only to turn around and sell them in London for dollars at a loss of as much as 30 percent, brokers say. Big international companies are so desperate to get dollars that they’re willing to…

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Sierra Leone Pension Fund Buying Government Debt as Rates Rise

Sierra Leone Pension Fund Buying Government Debt as Rates Rise

Freetown, Sierra Leone, Capital Markets in Africa: Sierra Leone’s state-owned pension fund is increasing its holdings of government debt after rates more than doubled this year on Treasury bills sold by the West African iron-ore and cocoa producer. The National Social Security and Insurance Trust, or Nassit, is also increasing the maturities of its fixed-income investments, Alpha Keita, head of the fund’s Treasury Investment Division, said in an interview in Freetown, the capital. Nassit holds 105…

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SWIFT’s messaging traffic grows by 12.5 percent in Africa

SWIFT’s messaging traffic grows by 12.5 percent in Africa

Mauritius, 17 May 2016 – Data from SWIFT shows that Africa’s traffic growth has outperformed the total growth of SWIFT globally. In the year to date, total message traffic volumes grew by 12.8% versus 5.4% growth for SWIFT worldwide, illustrating that Africa plays an increasingly important role in SWIFT’s global business. Levels of growth were also significantly higher than in EMEA at 3.2% and the Americas at 6.7%, and closely behind Asia Pacific at 15%….

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