Guptas Inflated Oakbay Price Through Trade by Singapore Firm

Guptas Inflated Oakbay Price Through Trade by Singapore Firm

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Gupta family inflated the share price of a company it controlled on its Johannesburg Stock Exchange debut by lending money to a Singapore firm to be used to trade the equities. That came ahead of plans to raise funds for a uranium mine. The Guptas, who are embroiled in a corruption scandal linked to South African President Jacob Zuma, agreed to loan $1 million from bank accounts in Dubai…

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HSBC Said to Be Focus of Criminal Probe Sought by U.K. Lawmaker

HSBC Said to Be Focus of Criminal Probe Sought by U.K. Lawmaker

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – HSBC Holdings Plc is the unnamed bank that is the focus of a senior British lawmaker’s demand for a criminal probe into a relationship with South Africa’s Gupta family, according to two people with knowledge of the allegations. Peter Hain, a Labour Party member of the House of Lords, asked the authorities to investigate a U.K. bank for “possible criminal complicity,” after it allegedly failed to take action on…

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Rio Tinto Says Africa Key to Growth Even After Costly Missteps

Rio Tinto Says Africa Key to Growth Even After Costly Missteps

MAPUTO (Capital Markets in Africa) – Rio Tinto Group said resource-rich Africa is still central to the company’s growth strategy despite a succession of failed investments and scandals in the last 10 years. The continent will expand its production and consumption of metals over the next decades as the economy grows and becomes more industrial, Bold Baatar, Rio’s chief executive of energy and minerals, said in a speech at Bloomberg Intelligence’s LME Week Forum in London….

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South African Jobless Rate at 14-Year High as Economy Stalls

South African Jobless Rate at 14-Year High as Economy Stalls

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s jobless remained at a 14-year high in the third quarter as the continent’s most-industrialized economy staged a weak recovery from a recession. The unemployment rate was 27.7 percent, matching the previous two quarters’ figures, Statistics South Africa said in a report released on Tuesday in Cape Town. The economy expanded 2.5 percent in the three months ended June 30, exiting its second recession in almost a decade…

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South Africa’s State Pension Fund Preparing for National Downgrade

South Africa’s State Pension Fund Preparing for National Downgrade

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s main government workers’ pension fund is seeking permission to invest more cash in international assets to protect against the impact of a possible downgrade of the country’s local-currency debt to junk status. The Government Employees Pension Fund is in talks with Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba about easing its investment criteria to include more foreign bonds and equities, Abel Sithole, principal executive officer, told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday….

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Glencore Abandons Hong Kong Listing as It Sticks With Africa

Glencore Abandons Hong Kong Listing as It Sticks With Africa

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Glencore Plc is planning to withdraw its listing from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange early next year, with the world’s biggest commodities trader saying that only a small number of investors had chosen to hold their shares on the local register. Dealings in Hong Kong-listed shares are expected to cease on Jan. 10, the Baar, Switzerland-based company said in a statement on Tuesday. Glencore, which trades raw materials including copper and zinc, and…

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MTN Appeals to Court to Dismiss $4.2 Billion Turkcell Case

MTN Appeals to Court to Dismiss $4.2 Billion Turkcell Case

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Limited has asked South Africa’s High Court in Johannesburg to dismiss a $4.2 billion damages claim by Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri AS, five years after the case was first brought in relation to the awarding of an Iranian license in 2005. Africa’s largest wireless operator by sales denies Turkcell’s allegations that it paid bribes to South African and Iranian officials to secure 49 percent of Irancell Telecommunication Company Services, according…

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