Zuma Is Said to Face Ouster Bid at South African ANC Meeting

Zuma Is Said to Face Ouster Bid at South African ANC Meeting

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African President Jacob Zuma will face a fresh bid to force him from office when the ruling African National Congress’s top leadership meets this week for the first time since he relinquished control of the party to his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa. A proposal to order Zuma to step down before his term ends in 2019 will be discussed at a Wednesday meeting of the party’s National Executive Committee in the southern…

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Sub-Saharan Africa Outlook subject to significant downside risks

Sub-Saharan Africa Outlook subject to significant downside risks

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The World Bank projected economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to accelerate from 2.4% in 2017 to 3.2% in 2018 and to average 3.6% annually during the 2019-20 period, supported by an increase in commodity prices and stronger domestic demand. Still, it expected the region’s growth rate to remain below the pre-global financial crisis level, as Angola, Nigeria and South Africa, the region’s largest economies, continue to face challenges….

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South Africa’s New Man Has a Daunting Task Pleasing Markets

South Africa’s New Man Has a Daunting Task Pleasing Markets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Investors got what they wanted in South Africa when Cyril Ramaphosa became the ruling party’s new leader, putting himself in prime position to be the nation’s next president. Now comes the difficult part. He’ll be hard pressed to turn around a struggling economy, avoid more rating downgrades and ease political tensions, according to AllianceBernstein LP and Credit Suisse Group AG. That means the rand will struggle to sustain the 14 percent…

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Ramaphosa’s Narrow ANC Vote Win Cuts Odds of Quick Zuma Ouster

Ramaphosa’s Narrow ANC Vote Win Cuts Odds of Quick Zuma Ouster

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Cyril Ramaphosa’s victory in a gruelling battle to lead South Africa’s ruling party may have been the easy part. His narrow win and his allies’ failure to secure three other top posts is likely to delay his ascendancy to the nation’s presidency and plans to revive a stuttering economy. While Ramaphosa won 52 percent of the vote for the top post of the African National Congress, edging out Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma,…

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South Africa Power Price to Rise 5.2%, Less Than Eskom Asked

South Africa Power Price to Rise 5.2%, Less Than Eskom Asked

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s energy regulator gave the state-owned power utility permission to raise its prices by an average of 5.2 percent from April 1, three quarters less than what the cash-strapped company had asked for. Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., which generates almost all of the nation’s electricity, had asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa to allow it to increase tariffs by an average of 20 percent. Nersa Chairman Jacob…

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Court Action Buoys Ramaphosa’s Bid to Lead South Africa’s ANC

Court Action Buoys Ramaphosa’s Bid to Lead South Africa’s ANC

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The fractious race to succeed South African President Jacob Zuma as leader of the African National Congress faced further disarray by court rulings likely to disqualify more than 100 delegates who were scheduled to vote at a party conference this weekend. The decisions on the members in North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Free State provinces, which mainly support Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the president’s ex-wife and preferred candidate, buoyed her main rival, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa….

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Teetering Steinhoff Prepares to Shop Around Its Retail Assets

Teetering Steinhoff Prepares to Shop Around Its Retail Assets

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Steinhoff International Holdings NV, which sells $89 mattresses to Americans and two-for-a-pound cans of tomato soup to the British, faces a potential fire sale of its global retail holdings as it battles for survival. After a week in which its shares collapsed and its bonds were downgraded to junk amid an accounting scandal that prompted Chief Executive Officer Markus Jooste to quit, the owner of U.S. furniture chain Mattress Firm…

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