Category: Southern Africa

South Africa’s central bank is worried that a sharp weakening of bonds and pending ratings decisions could badly affect investor sentiment towards the country while increasing the cost of funding government debt. South African Reserve Bank’s Deputy Governor Daniel Mminele said Standard & Poor’s decision to revise the ratings outlook in Africa’s most industrialised economy…

Zambia’s government has agreed targets with the International Monetary Fund, preparing the way for a support programme by the fourth quarter of the year, Zambian Treasury Secretary Fredson Yamba said on Friday. Proposals for a sliding scale to ensure mineral royalty taxes can respond to changes in metal export prices will be put before parliament…

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has mobilised $20 million in additional funding to help feed people affected by the prevailing drought. The funds were channelled through the United Nations World Food Programme. The development was confirmed by USAID/Zimbabwe Mission director Stephanie Funk yesterday. This brings to $55 million the amount of money…

MTN lags behind rivals Vodacom, Telkom and Cell C in customer satisfaction, according to new research that shows the industry broadly is not faring well in keeping clients happy. Although average customer satisfaction scores with wireless internet providers has improved slightly over the past year, new findings from the South African Customer Satisfaction Index (SAcsi) show that…

A ratings downgrade by Moody’s would have little impact on Zambia as it was already negotiating a programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), officials and analysts said. Moody’s downgraded the southern African nation’s long-term issuer rating to B3 from B2 late on Tuesday and changed the outlook to negative from stable, due to anticipated…

Investors holding Mozambique’s recently restructured ‘tuna bond’ are demanding answers from the government and its bankers over what the International Monetary Fund says are previously undisclosed loans that could exceed $1 billion. The revelations have rocked the relationship between one of the world’s poorest countries and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which last year agreed…

South Africa’s government said three cabinet ministers will contact banks that closed accounts belonging a company controlled by members of the Gupta family, who’re friends of President Jacob Zuma, to determine the reasons for their actions. Oakbay Investments has been dropped as a client by Barclays Plc’s Absa unit and FirstRand ’s First National Bank,…

Amstel Securities said that Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) is the most under performing market in Africa due to the low returns that it delivers to investors, compared to other African markets. In an investment report, Amstel Securities said ZSE suffered a 7,5% drop and this compared unfavorably with other African markets such as Kenya and…

South African coal miner Exxaro plans to cut up to 565 office jobs as it tries to cut costs in the face of depressed prices and the loss of a major contract, the Solidarity trade union said on Tuesday. “Exxaro served a Section 189 on us on Monday indicating that they will cut jobs at…

South Africa’s rand climbed on Tuesday to its strongest against the dollar in more than 4 months, reflecting a recovery in commodity currencies as the price of crude appeared to stabilise. The rand touched 14.4085 to the greenback, the firmest it has been since Dec. 7, according to Thomson Reuters data. – Credit: CNBC Africa