South Africa | - Part 47

South Africa’s ANC attacks banks over forex rigging charges

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s ruling ANC party called on Thursday for the toughest possible sanctions against more than a dozen local and foreign banks accused of rigging the rand currency, piling political pressure on lenders that have become a target for public anger. The Competition Commission said on Wednesday it had found the banks, including U.S., European, Japanese and Australian lenders, had colluded to coordinate their trading activities when dealing in…

South Africa’s Imperial buys stake in Kenyan pharmaceutical distributor

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African logistics group Imperial Holdings will buy a 70 percent stake in Kenyan pharmaceutical distributor Surgipharm for $35 million in line with its African growth strategy, the company said on Wednesday. Surgipharm, which is headquartered in Nairobi, is a leading distributor of pharmaceutical, medical, surgical and allied supplies in Kenya, with an annual turnover of about $70 million, the company said in a statement. It gave no further…

South Africa’s trade balance recorded a further surplus of R12.04 billion

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – In December 2016, South Africa’s trade balance recorded a further surplus of R12.04 billion. This compares with a trade deficit of –R1.7 billion in November 2016. The market was expecting a trade surplus of around R6.3 billion for the month, although the trade data is extremely difficult to forecast accurately on a month-by-month basis, especially since the data is not seasonally adjusted and prone to revisions. South Africa has…

South Africa’s Macroeconomic Prospects and Risks in 2017

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The South African macroeconomic landscape is expected to gradually improve this year following the weak growth performance recorded last year. In essence, growth should lift, inflation should fall and policy rates should remain stable. This view is underpinned by several developments. Importantly we expect global growth to continue to rise gradually in the period ahead as the recent increase in commodity prices boost growth in commodity-exporting EMs, improved household…

African mining hopes are distant from uncertain reality: Russell

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CAPE TOWN (Capital Markets in Africa) – It should be a match made in heaven. Developing Africa’s vast mineral resources to meet the needs of the resource-hungry economies of China and the rest of Asia. But if there is one message to take away from this week’s Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town, it’s that there remains a large gap between hopes and reality, and that in much of sub-Saharan Africa mining investment remains challenging,…

Nigeria fine to push South Africa’s MTN to 2016 loss, shares fall

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa-based MTN Group expects to report a full-year loss due to a $1 billion regulatory fine in Nigeria and underperformance there and at home, it said on Wednesday, sending its shares to a two-month low. Africa’s most populous nation and biggest economy Nigeria is MTN’s most lucrative but increasingly problematic market, hobbling its growth outlook. But the appointment of banker Rob Shuter, who starts next month, as chief…

South Africa targets auto sector with fuel cell plant

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CAPE TOWN (Capital Markets in Africa) – Africa’s first fuel cell component plant using platinum as a catalyst will start production by December aiming to take advantage of rising demand for clean energy cars, officials from Isondo Precious Metals said. Isondo has secured a license from U.S-based Chemours Technology to assemble components for fuel cells using platinum, which has mainly been used in catalysts to clean up car emissions. South Africa is the world’s top…

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