*Moody's reviews South Africa in late March. CAPE TOWN, Feb 21- Ratings agencies signalled their concern with South Africa's budget on Thursday, saying a 23 billion rand a year bailout for struggling state utility Eskom exemplified growing strain on the public purse before an election in May. The bailout forms part of efforts by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who...
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 21- South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co opened a 10,000- a-year vehicle capacity assembly plant in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Thursday, its first factory in East Africa. "This plant is big enough for Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Sudan," he said. Hyundai Chief Executive Won Hee Lee said the Korean firm was drawn by Ethiopia's...
FRANKFURT/ PARIS/ MADRID, Feb 21- Continental Europe's three biggest telecoms groups expect only modest profit growth this year as they face relentless competition in their home markets and investments in next-generation mobile networks and fibre broadband. France' Orange and Spain's Telefonica both face competition for domestic consumers from low-cost...
KHARTOUM, Feb 21- Sudanese security forces arrested around two dozen opposition members on Thursday who were on their way to deliver a petition to the presidential palace calling for President Omar al-Bashir to step down, a leading member of the opposition said. Those arrested included Mohamed Mokhtar al-Khatib, the general-secretary of the Communist Party,...
JOHANNESBURG/ LONDON Feb 21- Workers led by South Africa's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union plan to down tools at gold and platinum mines next week in support of colleagues at Sibanye-Stillwater who are striking over wages and job cuts. AngloGold Ashanti, Harmony Gold, Anglo American Platinum Lonmin, Village Main Reef and DRDGold have...
LONDON, Feb 21- As Brexit talks drag on, sterling trading volumes in London, the world's biggest forex trading center, are languishing well below long-term averages, with long-term investors and sovereign players set to stay on the sidelines until the crisis is over. Dollar/pound remains the second-most traded exchange rate in London but average daily...
ABUJA, Feb 21- Nigeria's elections were postponed by a week to Feb. 23 just five hours before polling units were set to open last Saturday, causing shock and disappointment among many voters. President Muhammadu Buhari and his rival, former vice president Atiku Abubakar, urged voters to stay calm. Nigeria will on Saturday choose between Buhari and Atiku, both in...
LONDON, Feb 21- Nigeria has ordered foreign oil and gas companies to pay nearly $20 billion in taxes it says are owed to local states, industry and government sources said, in a move that could deter investment in Africa's largest economy. Norway's Equinor, which produced around 45,000 barrels per day of oil in Nigeria in 2017, confirmed the request.
Feb 20- Millicom International Cellular, a cable and mobile operator in Latin America and Africa, said on Wednesday it has bought for $1.65 billion the mobile telecommunications assets of Spain's Telefonica in Panama, Costa Rica and Nicaragua.
CAPE TOWN, Feb 20- South Africa will bail out state utility Eskom with 69 billion rand over three years, the centrepiece of a budget that exposed the limited room President Cyril Ramaphosa has to fix the economy ahead of an election in May. Ramaphosa, who is fighting rifts within his own party before the parliamentary election, has made reforming Eskom one of his top...
LONDON, Feb 20- A surprise delay in Nigeria's presidential ballot has served foreign asset managers another reminder of political risk and volatile investment returns in Africa's biggest economy- just days after piling into assets in a bet on a smooth election run. The electoral commission announced a week's delay to voting in the early hours of Saturday,...
By Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Wendell Roelf and Mfuneko Toyana. CAPE TOWN, Feb 20- South Africa will bail out state utility Eskom with 69 billion rand over three years, the centrepiece of a budget on Wednesday that exposed the limited room President Cyril Ramaphosa has to fix the economy ahead of an election in May. Ramaphosa, who is fighting rifts within his own party...
Feb 20- Canadian miner Barrick Gold outlined on Wednesday details of a deal it reached with the government of Tanzania to settle its disputes with Acacia Mining, including a $300 million payment to resolve tax claims in the country. Barrick's announcement confirms the 2017 deal which called for the creation of a local firm in Tanzania to manage Acacia's assets,...
ABUJA, Feb 20- Nigerian fuel suppliers have cut the price of petrol to encourage people to travel to vote in presidential elections this Saturday after the poll was delayed by a week, the information minister said on Wednesday. Information Minister Lai Mohammed said the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria had cut the price of petrol at the...
CAPE TOWN, Feb 20- South Africa will bail out state utility Eskom with 69 billion rand over three years, according to a budget on Wednesday that exposed the limited room President Cyril Ramaphosa has to fix the economy ahead of an election in May. Ramaphosa, who is fighting rifts within his own party ahead of the parliamentary vote, has made reforming Eskom one of his...
Feb 20- Emerging market stocks jumped on Wednesday encouraged by some progress in China- U.S. trade talks, while currencies firmed as minutes of the last U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that trade talks with China were going well and suggested he was open to pushing off the deadline to complete negotiations. Stocks across Asia were well in the black,...
LONDON, Feb 20- A surprise delay in Nigeria's presidential ballot has served foreign asset managers another reminder of political risk and volatile investment returns in Africa's biggest economy- just days after piling into assets in a bet on a smooth election run. The electoral commission announced a week's delay to voting in the early hours of Saturday,...
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20 JOHANNESBURG, South Africa- South Africa Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to present 2019 budget to parliament- 1200 GMT KINGSTON- Bank of Jamaica holds interest rate announcement and monetary policy report. JAKARTA- Indonesia Central Bank holds board of governors' meeting. SYDNEY- Appearance by Philip Lowe, Reserve Bank of Australia...
JOHANNESBURG, Feb 19- South Africa needs to invest more to rebuild confidence in its ability to supply power, its energy minister said on Tuesday, after its state-run power firm was forced to implement some of the worst blackouts in years. Problems at cash-strapped national power firm Eskom have shaken belief in South Africa's ability to power the continent's...
DAKAR, Feb 19- In a campaign video featuring images of fireballs and flashing lights, Senegalese President Macky Sall is depicted in front of an express train, a motorway, a glass high-rise and then a sports arena. The video montage, describing Sall as an innovator, visionary and entrepreneur, draws attention to big-ticket construction projects in a $16.5-...
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