Category: INTERNATIONAL
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South Africa introduces $260 a month national minimum wage
South Africa will introduce a national minimum wage of 3,500 rand ($261) per month in 2018, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday, following protracted negotiations between the government and labour unions. Supporters of a minimum wage say it can stimulate growth as workers can spend more, as well as reducing inequality. Critics say it…
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Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi charged with international corruption
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Italian prosecutors have reportedly charged Eni and its CEO Claudio Descalzi with international corruption over the controversial acquisition of an offshore block in Nigeria in 2011. Apart from Descalzi, the charge reportedly extends to the former CEO Paolo Scaroni and nine other people involved in the $1.3 bilion deal. Scaroni served as the Chief Executive…
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Forget demonetization. India’s central bank is worried about inflation
Economists may be have fretted over how demonetization would hit India’s economic growth, but the subcontinent’s central bank is focused more on its old foe, inflation. The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday kept interest rates on hold at its policy meeting on Wednesday. That surprised the market, which had leaned heavily toward expecting a…
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Nigeria: Ex-Minister, Senior Nigerian Lawyer Docked for Alleged N450 Million Laundering
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mohammed Belgore, and a former Minister of National Planning, Abubakar Suleiman, were on Wednesday in Lagos granted bail on own recognisance after entering a plea of ‘not guilty’. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, charged the duo before a Federal High Court, Lagos, for alleged five-count offences bordering on…
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Nigeria to Auction N142 Billion Treasury Bills
The federal government hopes to raise about N142.43 billion (about $453.60 million) from the issuance of short-term treasury bills to be auctioned on February 15, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, said on Tuesday. The auction is expected to raise about N32.43 billion in three-month debt, N30 billion in six-month bills and N80 billion in…
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S.A:MTN shares knocked as mobile operator swings to loss
South African mobile phone operator 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. MTN agreed in June to pay Nigeria a 330 billion naira ($1.05 billion at the time)…
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SocGen beats with fourth-quarter earnings and raises dividend; profits up 15% in 2016
Societe Generale‘s fourth-quarter net profit fell by around two-fifths due to the negative impact of higher taxes and a unit sale, France’s third largest bank by assets announced on Thursday. However, the net profit figure of 390 million euros ($417 million) still came in ahead of analyst expectations of 354 million euros in a Reuters…
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Investments in European wind power hit $29.4 billion last year
Last year saw 27.5 billion euros ($29.4 billion) invested to finance the development of wind energy in Europe, a 5 percent increase compared to 2015, according to new figures from industry body WindEurope. In total, 12.5 gigawatts (GW) of capacity was added across the European Union (EU) – 3 percent less than installations in 2015…
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Losses for Kenyan exporters after Mogadishu closes airport for polls
Kenyan logistics firms and exporters are counting losses following the closure of the heavily guarded main airport in Mogadishu Wednesday in a lockdown instigated by the Somalia presidential elections. Siginon Group, which operates Siginon Aviation, said it had to cancel six flights on Wednesday because of the elections. At the same time, Astral Aviation, which…
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Egyptian Pound Slightly Appreciates Against U.S. Dollar in Major Banks
The Egyptian pound slightly appreciated against the US dollar on Tuesday, as it was sold at between EGP 18.25 and EGP 18.5 to the dollar in some of Egypt’s major banks. Ahly Bank had the dollar sold at EGP 18.25 and bought at EGP 18.20, down 10 piasters from Monday’s figures. The selling price of…