<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/47CLWWOLNVIXLLFUCDIG4I2H3M-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-414446" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/47CLWWOLNVIXLLFUCDIG4I2H3M-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/47CLWWOLNVIXLLFUCDIG4I2H3M-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/47CLWWOLNVIXLLFUCDIG4I2H3M-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/47CLWWOLNVIXLLFUCDIG4I2H3M-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/47CLWWOLNVIXLLFUCDIG4I2H3M.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nigeria&#8217;s President Muhammadu Buhari speaks during a plenary session at the start of the Paris Peace Forum, in Paris, France, November 11, 2021. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Feb 16 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria&#8217;s President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday gave approval to the central bank to extend the deadline to turn in old banknotes by another 60 days after cash shortages stoked anger ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections next week.



Nigeria&#8217;s central bank decided last year to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N32J3VS&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">start circulating</a>&nbsp;newly designed 1,000 ($2.17) 500 and 200 naira notes. The deadline to turn in old notes has already been extended once to Feb. 10, after which they would no longer have been legal tender.



But the new notes have been in short supply, leading to long queues and chaotic scenes at banks across the country. Most of Nigeria&#8217;s economy is still informal and many people use cash for transactions because they do not have bank accounts.



Buhari said in a television broadcast that old 200 notes would continue to circulate in the economy alongside new 1,000, 500 and 200 notes until April 10.



But the old 1,000 and 500 notes could only be swapped at the central bank and &#8220;designated points&#8221;, he said.



The comments contrasted with last week&#8217;s Supreme Court interim ruling that said all old notes&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34O2QQ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">remain legal tender</a>&nbsp;until it hears a challenge brought by some state governments.



Buhari defended the initiative saying it would lead to greater transparency in financial transactions, curb money laundering and reduce money supply in the economy.



&#8220;Notwithstanding the initial setbacks experienced, the evaluation and feedback mechanism set up has revealed that gains have emerged from the policy initiative,&#8221; said Buhari.



Some politicians have criticised the timing ahead of Feb. 25 elections, as campaigns are funded by mostly hard to trace cash.



Local media reported on Thursday that some angry citizens had vandalised cash dispensing machines at some banks in southern Nigeria as they protested the cash shortages.



(Reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja and MacDonald Dzirutwe in Lagos; Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Alexander Winning)

47CLWWOLNVIXLLFUCDIG4I2H3M

Nigeria’s Buhari grants 60-day extension to turn in old banknotes

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="518" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HMQQXQQ5CBKVHDRM6CDBAV35IQ-820x518.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-421972" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HMQQXQQ5CBKVHDRM6CDBAV35IQ-820x518.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HMQQXQQ5CBKVHDRM6CDBAV35IQ-300x189.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HMQQXQQ5CBKVHDRM6CDBAV35IQ-143x90.jpg 143w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HMQQXQQ5CBKVHDRM6CDBAV35IQ-768x485.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/HMQQXQQ5CBKVHDRM6CDBAV35IQ.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Customers are seen at an outlet of South Africa&#8217;s MTN Group at the Mall of the South in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 4, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Feb 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;MTN Group&nbsp;MTNJ.J&nbsp;will invest $1 billion in Ghana over the next five years, the mobile operator said on Wednesday, after the government&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N34J331&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exempted its Ghanaian unit</a>&nbsp;from tax claims worth about $773 million.



The investment comes on the heels of the Ghana Revenue Authority&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N34J331&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exempting</a>&nbsp;the company&#8217;s bill for back taxes earlier this month after the incident&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34C4XA&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sparked</a>&nbsp;a diplomatic reaction by the South African foreign minister.



The tax claim was initially issued after the revenue authority audited the company for the years 2014 to 2018 and inferred that it under declared its revenue by about 30% during the period.



MTN Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita said the company was committed to investing in Ghana despite short-term headwinds.



&#8220;To be sure, macro-economic conditions are very challenging in the near term. That said we are focused on the medium and long term and we are seeing growth,&#8221; he said in a statement.



MTN intends to invest the amount in 5G technology which it believes would spur faster growth across sectors, he said.



One of the largest economies in Africa, Ghana is reckoning with its worst economic crisis in a generation as capital outflows, a crushing debt-service burden and rapid currency depreciation wreak havoc on government and household finances.



Its consumer inflation slowed slightly to 53.6% year-on-year in January from a more than two-decade high of 54.1% in the previous month, data showed earlier on Wednesday.



(Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Promit Mukherjee, Kirsten Donovan)

HMQQXQQ5CBKVHDRM6CDBAV35IQ

MTN commits to $1 bln Ghana investment after government scraps tax claim

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="586" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2AMS7WZ45ITZNPP3TTUQPOGGE-820x586.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423144" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2AMS7WZ45ITZNPP3TTUQPOGGE-820x586.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2AMS7WZ45ITZNPP3TTUQPOGGE-300x214.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2AMS7WZ45ITZNPP3TTUQPOGGE-126x90.jpg 126w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2AMS7WZ45ITZNPP3TTUQPOGGE-768x549.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2AMS7WZ45ITZNPP3TTUQPOGGE-1536x1097.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/P2AMS7WZ45ITZNPP3TTUQPOGGE.jpg 1908w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zimbabwe Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube arrives to present the 2020 National Budget at Parliament Building in Harare, Zimbabwe, November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Feb 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s creditors will meet on Feb. 23 as the country takes steps towards clearing more than $6 billion of arrears on its foreign debt, finance minister Mthuli Ncube told Reuters on Wednesday.



About 17 countries from the Paris Club of creditor nations will attend, as well as the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and European Investment Bank, to discuss progress on economic and governance reforms, including compensation to white former farmers, Ncube said.



Zimbabwe, which has suffered periods of hyperinflation in the past 15 years, had over $14 billion in external debt as of September, according to finance ministry data. Due to its arrears, it has not received loans from lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank for more than two decades.



The meeting agenda &#8220;is part of what is needed for us to walk through the road towards arrears clearance,&#8221; Ncube said. &#8220;It has really begun in earnest, so I am pleased we are at this stage and we are making very good progress.&#8221;



He did not confirm if the meeting was virtual, in-person or a hybrid.



The creditors first met on Dec. 1, facilitated by AfDB president Akinwumi Adesina and former Mozambique president Joaquim Chissano.



Ncube said in October the government had begun making&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N31G086&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;token payments&#8221;</a>&nbsp;to the multilateral lenders and planned to do so to its Paris Club creditors as well.



The IMF said after a visit to Zimbabwe in December that the country would need durable reforms and a clear path to restructuring its debt, including clearing the $6 billion of arrears, before it could receive Fund money.



Annual inflation fell to 229.8% in January from 243.8% in December, prompting the central bank to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34I515&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">cut interest rates</a>&nbsp;by 50 percentage points to 150%.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Writing by Rachel Savage; Editing by Mark Potter)

FILE PHOTO: Zimbabwe Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube arrives to present the 2020 National Budget at Parliament Building in Harare

Zimbabwe creditors to meet Feb. 23 over arrears clearance, says finance minister

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UQS2USKFNRPKPHKPOEX6IT5BUM-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423140" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UQS2USKFNRPKPHKPOEX6IT5BUM-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UQS2USKFNRPKPHKPOEX6IT5BUM-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UQS2USKFNRPKPHKPOEX6IT5BUM-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UQS2USKFNRPKPHKPOEX6IT5BUM-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UQS2USKFNRPKPHKPOEX6IT5BUM-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/UQS2USKFNRPKPHKPOEX6IT5BUM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) wear traditional attire with APC branding during a campaign rally in Abuja, Nigeria, February 11, 2023. REUTERS/Abraham Achirga</figcaption></figure>



LAGOS/ABUJA, Feb 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Too stylish for political party T-shirts and caps, some fashionistas in Nigeria are donning the colours and faces of their preferred candidates for a presidential election this month on designer outfits.



Ahead of the Feb. 25 vote, political rallies and campaign events have become catwalks for colourful printed fabrics twisted into elaborate dresses, tunics and headscarves.



For many, it is also an opportunity to wear elegant spins on traditional dress rather than more casual, Western-style clothes most city dwellers use for work and daily life.



Opposition Labour Party (LP) youth leader Kennedy Ahanotu attended an event in Lagos in a white tunic known as a &#8220;babban riga&#8221;, which means flowing gown in local Hausa.



He wore an LP-emblazoned, green, red and white version of a traditional hat and held a wooden walking stick that is often used as an accessory among Hausa men.



&#8220;You can see the stick here which means I am a full Lagosian by virtue of this campaign in Lagos,&#8221; said Ahanotu.



At a rally of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party in capital Abuja, women in dark sunglasses and green head wraps staved off the heat with silky fabric in APC colors mounted into fans.



Fatima Suleiman, a personal assistant to the minister of Nigeria&#8217;s federal capital territory, wore a black hat that is part of traditional outfits worn by the Gbagyi ethnic group.



The hat was embroidered with the symbol of a broken shackle Suleiman said represented &#8220;Asiwaju&#8221;, the Yoruba word for leader that has become the nickname of APC candidate Bola Tinubu.



&#8220;This is our official regalia for APC presidential campaign council,&#8221; she explained. &#8220;That is why I am looking probably this colourful.&#8221;



(Reporting by Abraham Achirga in Abuja and Vining Ogu in Lagos; Writing by Sofia Christensen; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Supporters of All Progressives Congress (APC) wear traditional attire with APC branding during a campaign rally in Abuja

Fashion meets politics at Nigeria election campaign events

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1243740012-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423134" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1243740012-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1243740012-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1243740012-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1243740012-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1243740012-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/GettyImages-1243740012-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Natascha Viljoen, chief executive officer of Anglo American Platinum Ltd., during the Joburg Mining Indaba in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022. The annual meeting of mining executives and stakeholders will take place Oct. 5-6. Photographer: Michele Spatari/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Feb 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South African miner Anglo American Platinum Ltd (Amplats)&nbsp;AMSJ.J&nbsp;said on Wednesday Chief Executive Officer Natascha Viljoen would be stepping down next year to join U.S.-based Newmont Corporation&nbsp;NEM.N&nbsp;as its chief operating officer.



Viljoen, who has been the CEO of the world&#8217;s biggest platinum group metal miner since April 2020, will continue to serve as the chief until completion of her 12-month notice period, Amplats said in a statement.



Amplats board chairman Norman Mbazima said the process to nominate Viljoen&#8217;s successor is underway.



&#8220;While I have identified the next phase of my career, my commitment to delivering our clear objectives during this year is as firm as ever, beginning, of course, with keeping our people safe, every day,&#8221; Viljoen said.



A process engineer, Viljoen was group head of processing at Anglo American Plc, before her appointment to head Amplats. She has also held leadership roles at AngloGold and was the general manager of Klipspruit Colliery, which was previously owned by global mining giant BHP&nbsp;BHP.AX.



(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

Key Speakers at Joburg Mining Indaba

Amplats CEO Viljoen to step down, join Newmont as COO

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="546" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/XQD7AXQBARMS5DGKDEXUIHJQ3E-820x546.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423110" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/XQD7AXQBARMS5DGKDEXUIHJQ3E-820x546.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/XQD7AXQBARMS5DGKDEXUIHJQ3E-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/XQD7AXQBARMS5DGKDEXUIHJQ3E-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/XQD7AXQBARMS5DGKDEXUIHJQ3E-768x511.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/XQD7AXQBARMS5DGKDEXUIHJQ3E-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/XQD7AXQBARMS5DGKDEXUIHJQ3E-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Euro, Hong Kong dollar, U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, pound and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in this picture illustration, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/Illustration/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON, Feb 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Officials from China, India, Saudi Arabia and Group of Seven nations will participate in a first virtual meeting of a new sovereign debt roundtable on Friday,&nbsp;the International Monetary Fund said&nbsp;on Monday,&nbsp;confirming an earlier Reuters report.



The roundtable will also include officials from countries that have requested debt treatments under the Group of 20 common framework &#8211; Ethiopia, Zambia and Ghana &#8211; as well as middle-income countries such as Sri Lanka, Suriname and Ecuador, which have faced their own debt crises,&nbsp;three&nbsp;sources&nbsp;had earlier said.



The meeting will be co-chaired by the&nbsp;IMF, the World Bank and India, the current leader of the Group of 20, and comes a week before G20 finance officials are due to gather in Bengaluru, India, from Feb. 23-25.&nbsp;An in-person meeting of the roundtable expected on Feb. 25 and a formal launch is planned at the IMF-World Bank spring meetings in April.



Brazil, which will lead the G20 next year, is also taking part, one of the sources said.



An IMF spokesperson confirmed the first roundtable meeting would take place on Friday, and said more details would be released in the near future.



&#8220;The objective is to bring together key stakeholders involved in sovereign debt restructuring, from traditional creditors from advanced economies, to new creditors like China, Saudi Arabia, India, as well as the private sector and debt countries to address the current shortcomings,&#8221; they said.



The roundtable will include the Paris Club of official creditors and private sector participants &#8211; the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the International Capital Markets Association and two private-sector financial institutions that have asked not to be identified, one of the sources said.



Creation of the body comes amid growing frustration about the slow pace of discussions on debt relief for Zambia, which first requested help two years ago. Organizers say the roundtable could help resolve issues in principle and will not focus on Zambia or other individual cases.



Officials hope to resolve China&#8217;s concerns about cutoff dates to protect new financing from debt restructuring by the end of the year, one of the sources said.



G7, International Monetary Fund and World Bank officials have long pushed for faster and broader efforts to deliver debt relief to heavily indebted nations to avoid cuts in social services that they fear could tip off social unrest.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other G7 officials see China, now the world&#8217;s largest sovereign creditor, as the main stumbling block for quicker work on debt treatments. They are also pushing for agreement by G20 members on expanding the common framework to include middle-income countries.



Eric LeCompte, executive director of the Jubilee USA Network, a coalition of religious, development and advocacy groups, said support for the matter was growing among other countries. But China’s opposition &#8211; and that of Russia &#8211; remained significant a “stumbling block,” he said.



“The majority of countries support expanding these policies to middle-income countries, but China is the biggest challenge,” LeCompte said, adding that Europe had gone through a similar period of reluctance on debt relief in the 1990s, but eventually came around.



Also on the agenda will be China&#8217;s repeated calls for World Bank and other multilateral development banks to participate in debt reductions &#8211; a proposal firmly rejected by U.S. officials, who argue that those lenders already offer highly concessional loans and grants to countries in crisis.



(Reporting by Andrea Shalal in Washington; editing by Karin Strohecker, Chizu Nomiyama, Leslie Adler and Lincoln Feast.)

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Euro, Hong Kong dollar, U.S. dollar, Japanese yen, pound and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in this picture illustration

China, U.S. to participate in first meeting of new debt roundtable on Feb. 17

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GVVD7RTPANKEHJR4J5T4JRVGHA-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422301" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GVVD7RTPANKEHJR4J5T4JRVGHA-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GVVD7RTPANKEHJR4J5T4JRVGHA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GVVD7RTPANKEHJR4J5T4JRVGHA-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GVVD7RTPANKEHJR4J5T4JRVGHA-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/GVVD7RTPANKEHJR4J5T4JRVGHA.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A man trades U.S. dollars for Ghanaian cedis at a currency exchange office in Accra, Ghana, June 15, 2015. Picture taken June 15. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, Feb 14 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The Ghanaian finance ministry said on Tuesday its domestic debt exchange programme (DDEP) had closed on Feb. 10 with more than 80% participation of eligible bonds, taking it a step closer to securing a $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout.



This follows&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34N2VE&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">five extensions</a>&nbsp;of the scheme&#8217;s deadline, as the West African nation fought to secure participation of 80% while holdouts persisted despite several revisions to the original December offer.



In a statement, the ministry said participation had exceeded 80% without giving further details.



&#8220;The government is &#8230; grateful for the overwhelming participation of all bondholders. Your support and contributions have gotten your country much closer to securing the IMF programme,&#8221; it said.



&#8220;The alternative of not executing the DDEP would have brought grave disorder in the servicing of our national debt and exacerbated the current economic crisis.&#8221;



Ghana is fighting its way out of a generational economic crisis by hiking interest rates at record speed, cutting spending, and restructuring its local and foreign debt to secure the IMF funds.



In January it became the fourth nation to apply to the common framework platform, an initiative of Group of 20 major economies launched in 2020 to streamline debt restructuring efforts for poorer countries.



Its bilateral lenders are discussing the formation of an official&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34T1SU&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">creditor committee</a>, a first step needed to engage in debt relief talks, sources told Reuters on Monday.



(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Kim Coghill)

GVVD7RTPANKEHJR4J5T4JRVGHA

Ghana says domestic debt swap closed with over 80% participation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="507" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/64ZH7HNPQNPYPHJMSDJW55C7GA-2-820x507.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423097" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/64ZH7HNPQNPYPHJMSDJW55C7GA-2-820x507.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/64ZH7HNPQNPYPHJMSDJW55C7GA-2-300x186.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/64ZH7HNPQNPYPHJMSDJW55C7GA-2-145x90.jpg 145w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/64ZH7HNPQNPYPHJMSDJW55C7GA-2-768x475.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/64ZH7HNPQNPYPHJMSDJW55C7GA-2-1536x950.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/64ZH7HNPQNPYPHJMSDJW55C7GA-2-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South African bank notes featuring images of former South African President Nelson Mandela (R) are displayed next to the American dollar notes in this photo illustration in Johannesburg August 13 2014. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



The South African rand slid on Monday, after ratings agency Moody&#8217;s flagged risks from crippling power cuts and as the dollar advanced on investor bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep monetary policy tight for longer.



At 1010 GMT, the rand traded at 18.0050 against the dollar , about 0.6% weaker than its closing level on Friday and breaking above 18 to the dollar for the first time since November, 2022.



On Friday Moody&#8217;s said in an issuer comment on South Africa: &#8220;the (power) blackouts&#8217; effect on businesses, consumer sentiment and investment will weaken the country&#8217;s already subdued economic growth prospects and threaten social and political stability&#8221;.



There have been scheduled electricity outages on every day this year, after a record number of days with outages in 2022.



Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national



&#8220;state of disaster&#8221;



over the power shortages, giving the government additional powers including permitting emergency procurement procedures.



The dollar was up 0.1% against a basket of global currencies on Monday, with market attention firmly pinned on Tuesday&#8217;s U.S. consumer price report and its implications for the Fed&#8217;s interest rate trajectory.



No major South African economic data releases were due on Monday, but South Africa&#8217;s latest consumer price report is due on Wednesday when retail sales figures will also be published.



The Johannesburg Stock Exchange&#8217;s All-share index was up 0.4%. The government&#8217;s benchmark 2030 bond was slightly weaker, with the yield rising 5.5 basis points to 9.920%. 



(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Ed Osmond)

Photo illustration of South African bank notes displayed next to the American dollar notes in Johannesburg

South African rand slides as Moody’s flags risks, dollar gains

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KS7KDAMAYJPMJOIVQWNTTBVP5Q-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423086" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KS7KDAMAYJPMJOIVQWNTTBVP5Q-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KS7KDAMAYJPMJOIVQWNTTBVP5Q-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KS7KDAMAYJPMJOIVQWNTTBVP5Q-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KS7KDAMAYJPMJOIVQWNTTBVP5Q-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KS7KDAMAYJPMJOIVQWNTTBVP5Q-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/KS7KDAMAYJPMJOIVQWNTTBVP5Q-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Branded T-shirts and baseball caps with images of Nigerian presidential candidates are displayed at a shopping center in Abuja, Nigeria February 2, 2023. REUTERS/Abraham Achirga/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Feb 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Voters in Nigeria go to the polls on Feb. 25 and international investors are cautiously hopeful that whoever is elected as the next president of Africa&#8217;s largest and most populous economy will be more market-friendly than the current government.



While there are also parliamentary elections, the focus is on the presidency. With incumbent Muhammadu Buhari not on the ballot, the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3435RW&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">main contenders</a>&nbsp;are ruling party veteran&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2XV3J2&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bola Tinubu</a>, former vice president&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30Z2HO&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Atiku Abubakar</a>, and third party candidate&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2ZV37D&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Peter Obi</a>.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-main-issues-for-investors">WHAT ARE MAIN ISSUES FOR INVESTORS?</h2>



Multiple exchange rates, widespread insecurity and low oil production due to massive crude theft are all problems that worry investors. Another focus is soaring fuel subsidy costs that devour government revenues and drive up debt.



Reform of the foreign exchange market is the number one concern for international equity investors, said Steve Pollicino of U.S. brokerage Auerbach Grayson, adding that uncertainty over how long it takes to get money out of Nigeria was a big deterrent.



&#8220;No investor&#8217;s going to want to buy into a market where you can&#8217;t sell stock and get your money out,&#8221; he said.



Foreign investors held 16% of shares on Nigeria&#8217;s stock exchange last year, sharply down from 58% in 2014, Nigerian Exchange Group data showed.



Removing petrol subsidies, which cost&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N345450&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$10 billion in 2022</a>, is also key but a &#8220;hard sell&#8221;, said Babatunde Ojo, emerging markets equities portfolio manager at Harding Loevner.



&#8220;This is the short-term pain you have to take in a long-term game,&#8221; he said.



Strong and clear regulation is important for international oil and gas companies, which are pivoting to cleaner gas, said Amaka Anku, head of Eurasia Group&#8217;s Africa practice.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">WHAT ABOUT NIGERIA&#8217;S DEBT?</h2>



Nigeria&#8217;s debt-to-GDP ratio is low compared to countries with similar credit ratings. However, its debt servicing burden is among the highest globally according to ratings agency Fitch. In 2022, the federal government spent 96.3% of its revenues paying interest, the IMF&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/02/07/pr2334-nigeria-imf-executive-board-concludes-2022-article-iv-consultation" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said recently.</a>



Abubakar plans to seek &#8220;debt forgiveness&#8221;, while Obi has&nbsp;<a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/PeterObi/status/1622518130223218690" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;creditors will be &#8220;engaged for debt restructuring and possible cancellation /forgiveness&#8221;.



&#8220;I believe that he used that word in a very liberal sense that is not the same sense that the markets give to that word,&#8221; Carlos de Sousa, an emerging market debt portfolio manager at Vontobel, said of Obi&#8217;s use of the word &#8220;restructuring&#8221;.



&#8220;If the question is, &#8216;Is Nigeria&#8217;s debt sustainable today?&#8217; Absolutely yes, nobody has any doubt about that. Is it in a sustainable path? No it is not,&#8221; said de Sousa.



The next president will need to ramp up government revenues from a very low base to make debt manageable and provide citizens with services, said de Sousa, noting that none of the major candidates had pledged to raise taxes.



Many investors, however, were cautiously optimistic that Nigeria would see improvements, whoever wins on Feb. 25.



&#8220;President Buhari has set such a low bar,&#8221; said de Sousa. &#8220;It&#8217;s really not difficult to do things better.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">DO INVESTORS HAVE A PREFERRED CANDIDATE?</h2>



Few investors expressed a strong preference for who wins. All three main candidates propose variations of similar policies &#8211; FX reform, fuel subsidy removal or phase-out and boosting the economy.



A peaceful outcome is key for Nigeria which has suffered violence around elections in recent decades.



If Tinubu emerges as the winner, there would likely be &#8220;a smoother transition,&#8221; said Joe Delvaux, a portfolio manager at Amundi, which holds Nigerian sovereign bonds.



A victory for Atiku would probably mean more uncertainty as power shifts, said Delvaux. Many analysts see Atiku as more pro-business.



&#8220;If you have a candidate like Peter Obi coming in, the challenge will be that (the) machinery isn&#8217;t there,&#8221; said Delvaux. &#8220;So I cannot judge what capacity will be there on implementation.&#8221;



Nigeria&#8217;s interest payment strains Nigeria&#8217;s interest payment strains&nbsp;<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3X2W8it" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://tmsnrt.rs/3X2W8it</a>



(Reporting by Rachel Savage, Additional reporting by Libby George in London and Rodrigo Campos in New York, Editing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Karin Strohecker and Christina Fincher)

FILE PHOTO: Branded T-shirts and baseball caps with images of Nigerian presidential candidates are displayed at a shopping center in Abuja

What is at stake for investors in Nigeria’s election?

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-60.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423083" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-60.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-60-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-60-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/download-60-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Zambia&#8217;s Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane attends the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, U.S., October 15, 2022. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan</figcaption></figure>



Feb 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zambia&#8217;s finance minister rejected a call from China for the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to join a restructuring of the country&#8217;s debt and warned that delays were holding up the economy, the Financial Times reported on Monday.



In an interview with the newspaper, Situmbeko Musokotwane said that &#8220;time is of the essence&#8221; to finish a restructuring of about $13 billion of external debt this year and signalled that China&#8217;s demand was a distraction from talks for reducing the loans.



&#8220;Discussions at higher levels like those just make our situation worse, because what we are looking for is urgent solutions, not discussions that may drag out the matter,&#8221;&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/b136a36b-5822-4647-8efe-67fc18b00ea3" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the report</a>&nbsp;quoted Musokotwane as saying.



The People&#8217;s Bank of China and the Ministry of Finance both did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.



Zambia became the first African country to default in the COVID-19 era in 2020, but the restructuring of its external debts of almost $15 billion with creditors including China and Eurobond holders has been greatly delayed.



Government data showed Zambia owed Chinese creditors nearly $6 billion of the total of $17 billion external debt at the end of 2021.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other Group of Seven have grown increasingly frustrated about what they see as foot-dragging by China in moving forward on debt rescheduling for countries seeking help. China, for its part, argues that multilateral institutions should also be required to accept reductions in the debt they are owed.



(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Kim Coghill &amp; Simon Cameron-Moore)

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Zambia rejects China’s call for World Bank to join its debt restructuring – FT

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NZTJZWHDH5OV5F4KEOZGHGLCPY-1-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423063" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NZTJZWHDH5OV5F4KEOZGHGLCPY-1-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NZTJZWHDH5OV5F4KEOZGHGLCPY-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NZTJZWHDH5OV5F4KEOZGHGLCPY-1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NZTJZWHDH5OV5F4KEOZGHGLCPY-1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NZTJZWHDH5OV5F4KEOZGHGLCPY-1-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/NZTJZWHDH5OV5F4KEOZGHGLCPY-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A transient freight rail train is seen next to tons of coal mined from the nearby Khanye Colliery mine, at the Bronkhorstspruit station, in Bronkhorstspruit, around 90 kilometres north-east of Johannesburg, South Africa, April 26, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



Feb 10 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s logistics utility Transnet on Friday suspended freight rail services on its North East Corridor, which links with several countries in southern Africa, as heavy rains damaged infrastructure on the line.



The corridor, which mostly moves mineral commodities, links South Africa to Swaziland, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.



&#8220;Disruptive weather conditions in Mpumalanga and Limpopo have adversely affected Transnet Freight Rail operations in the North-East Corridor,&#8221; Transnet said.



&#8220;Heavy, abnormal rains damaged the rail infrastructure across the corridor&#8217;s major commodity pathways resulting in severe disruption to the train service,&#8221; the utility said.



The corridor would only be re-opened after a full safety assessment and the line certified as safe for normal running of train traffic.



Cross-border&nbsp;operations to the Maputo port and TCM Matola terminal in Mozambique also came to at a standstill due to flooding of the network, affecting the movement of magnetite, rock phosphate, chrome and ferrochrome, Transnet said.



(Reporting by Nelson Banya; editing by Jason Neely and Arun Koyyur)

South Africa coal miners eye rail investments as crumbling infrastructure depresses exports

South Africa’s Transnet halts rail link to regional countries after heavy rains

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="480" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/QX4CBDCRYNL3JGMQE5AH2PS35E-820x480.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423053" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/QX4CBDCRYNL3JGMQE5AH2PS35E-820x480.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/QX4CBDCRYNL3JGMQE5AH2PS35E-300x176.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/QX4CBDCRYNL3JGMQE5AH2PS35E-154x90.jpg 154w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/QX4CBDCRYNL3JGMQE5AH2PS35E-768x450.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/QX4CBDCRYNL3JGMQE5AH2PS35E-1536x899.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/QX4CBDCRYNL3JGMQE5AH2PS35E-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough, Britain, July 20, 2022. REUTERS/Peter Cziborra/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Feb 10 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;A U.S. judge in Texas late on Thursday denied a legal bid by families of the victims of two Boeing&nbsp;BA.N&nbsp;737 MAX crashes to reopen or reject a January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.



Boeing won immunity from criminal prosecution as part&nbsp;ofthe&nbsp;$2.5 billion Justice Department agreement over a 737 MAX fraud conspiracy charge related to the plane&#8217;s flawed design.



The families had asked the court to strip Boeing of immunity from prosecution, toss out, revise or supervise the agreement and order disclosure of information about Boeing&#8217;s conduct.



U.S. District Judge Reed O&#8217;Connor ruled he did not have legal authority to grant the relatives&#8217; requests&nbsp;despite what he called &#8220;Boeing’s egregious criminal conduct.&#8221;



O&#8217;Connor ruled in October the 346 people killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 are legally &#8220;crime victims&#8221; and said the Justice Department had not complied with its obligations under the law.



O&#8217;Connor ordered Boeing arraigned on the 2021 felony fraud conspiracy charge. Boeing,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34B1TG&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">which pleaded not guilty</a>&nbsp;last month and had argued against reopening the plea deal, did not immediately comment. Boeing says it has fully complied with the agreement and made significant reforms.



&#8220;This court has immense sympathy for the victims and loved ones of those who died in the tragic plane crashes resulting from Boeing’s criminal conspiracy,&#8221; he said in his ruling. &#8220;Had Congress vested this court with sweeping authority to ensure that justice is done in a case like this one, it would not hesitate.&#8221;



But O&#8217;Connor said he did not the legal means &#8220;to remedy the incalculable harm that the victims’ representatives have suffered.&#8221;



Boeing&#8217;s best-selling 737 MAX was grounded worldwide in March 2019 for 20 months after two fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia &#8211; a move that cost Boeing more than $20 billion.



&#8220;Boeing’s crime may properly be considered the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history,&#8221; O&#8217;Connor wrote.



The Justice Department settlement included a fine of $243.6 million, compensation to airlines of $1.77 billion and a $500 million fund for crash victims.



O&#8217;Connor also Thursday rejected requests by Polish national airline PLL LOT and Czech airline group Smartwings to deem them both victims in the Boeing 737 MAX criminal case, a move that could have made them eligible for compensation.



Both airlines separately sued Boeing and argued they should have gotten compensation from Boeing as part of the plea deal, as other airlines did. Those suits in Seattle are pending.



In September,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AFWN30T27Y&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Boeing paid $200 million</a>&nbsp;to settle civil charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it misled investors about the safety of the 737 MAX.



(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Gerry Doyle)

FILE PHOTO: A Boeing 737 Max aircraft during a display at the Farnborough International Airshow, in Farnborough

U.S. judge rejects family members’ bid to reopen Boeing 737 MAX plea deal

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="574" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RD75A4JLHJPALK6RQZPORSSRVA-820x574.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423045" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RD75A4JLHJPALK6RQZPORSSRVA-820x574.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RD75A4JLHJPALK6RQZPORSSRVA-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RD75A4JLHJPALK6RQZPORSSRVA-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RD75A4JLHJPALK6RQZPORSSRVA-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RD75A4JLHJPALK6RQZPORSSRVA-1536x1074.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RD75A4JLHJPALK6RQZPORSSRVA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during his 2023 state of the nation address in Cape Town, South Africa, February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander/Pool</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Feb 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday declared a national &#8220;state of disaster&#8221;&nbsp;over&nbsp;his country&#8217;s crippling power shortages, saying they posed an existential threat to the economy and social fabric.



The electricity crunch has been years in the making, a product of delays in building new coal-fired power stations, corruption in coal-supply contracts, criminal sabotage and failures to ease up regulation to enable private providers to swiftly bring renewable energy on tap.



&#8220;We are in the grip of a profound energy crisis,&#8221; Ramaphosa said in his annual State of the Nation Address to parliament.



&#8220;The crisis has progressively evolved to affect every part of society. We must act to lessen the impact of the crisis on farmers, on small businesses, on our water infrastructure and our transport network.&#8221;



State electricity utility Eskom is implementing the worst rolling blackouts on record, leaving households in the dark, disrupting manufacturing and hurting businesses of all sizes.



The power cuts are expected to reduce economic growth in Africa&#8217;s most industrialised nation&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AJ8N325029&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to just 0.3% this year</a>.



Declaring a national state of disaster gives the government additional powers to respond to a crisis, including by permitting emergency procurement procedures with fewer bureaucratic delays and less oversight.



The legislation was used to enable health authorities to respond more swiftly to the COVID-19 pandemic, but some analysts doubt it will help the government expand power supply much quicker.



Eskom said it would study the details of the declaration before commenting.



Brighton Hlupego, a street trader outside Cape Town City Hall where Ramaphosa delivered his speech, said the biggest problems facing South Africans were poverty, unemployment and electricity.



&#8220;To some extent he gave some solutions to the problems, but these won&#8217;t be solved easily,&#8221; said Hlupego, who bought mobile data to listen to the speech with friends. &#8220;The state of disaster is a good thing but we don&#8217;t want to see them (politicians) put the money in their pockets.&#8221;



The biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, said it would challenge the &#8220;state of disaster&#8221; declaration in court, alleging Ramaphosa&#8217;s party issued nonsensical regulations and abused procurement processes during the pandemic.



Ramaphosa&nbsp;also said on Thursday that the&nbsp;government was working on a mechanism for targeted basic income support for the most vulnerable,&nbsp;within&nbsp;fiscal constraints.



He&nbsp;started his speech about 45 minutes late after opposition lawmakers, mainly from the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party, disrupted proceedings&nbsp;and&nbsp;tried to barge onto the stage.



EXPLAINER-What is causing South Africa&#8217;s power crisis?<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34P445&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya in Johannesburg; writing by Tim Cocks and Nellie Peyton; editing by Alexander Winning, Sandra Maler and Mark Heinrich)

South Africa’s Ramaphosa delivers state of the nation address

South Africa invokes disaster law to tackle energy crisis

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="545" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/G5DRAIAZGRNVFKEPTZVUGBFZEE-820x545.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423037" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/G5DRAIAZGRNVFKEPTZVUGBFZEE-820x545.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/G5DRAIAZGRNVFKEPTZVUGBFZEE-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/G5DRAIAZGRNVFKEPTZVUGBFZEE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/G5DRAIAZGRNVFKEPTZVUGBFZEE-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/G5DRAIAZGRNVFKEPTZVUGBFZEE.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Botswana&#8217;s Minister of Minerals and Energy Lefoko Moagi poses for a photograph, after speaking to Reuters at the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2023 conference in Cape Town, South Africa, February 9, 2023. REUTERS/Shelley Christians/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Feb 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;African governments must be wary of the risks created by rising global competition for the continent&#8217;s minerals, Botswana&#8217;s mines minister said, as world powers seek new sources of metals needed for the transition to a lower carbon economy.



&#8220;When there is a rush, people come in, take whatever they want to take, and go, leaving gaping holes in Africa,&#8221; Lefoko Moagi, whose remit also includes energy and &#8220;green technology&#8221;, said in an interview with Reuters.



&#8220;If you want to push production because there is money that is being dangled, you start compromising on how you legislate, how you do your environmental permitting, how you consult your communities,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There is a great danger there that Africa must watch out for.&#8221;



Botswana is reviewing its mines and minerals legislation to &#8220;tighten up&#8221; laws on mine rehabilitation, for example, Moagi said. Mining accounts for around a fifth of Botswana&#8217;s GDP and 80% of export earnings, with diamonds the biggest contributor.



The country is also seeking to reduce its reliance on diamonds and is ramping up exports of coal as demand surges, even as the world seeks for the longer term to reduce coal use because of its carbon emissions.



Botswana says its coal supply can provide a solution to regional electricity shortages.



&#8220;While we have a window for coal, we can push it out, and help arrest the energy crisis within the region,&#8221; Moagi said.



UPDATE 9-&#8216;Hands off Africa,&#8217; Pope Francis tells rich world &#8211; Reuters News<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34G0PP&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Read full story</a>



(Reporting by Helen Reid; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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Botswana warns of dangers in dash for African minerals

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/J2DLBFG6MZOL5CEMEYMMC4AUCQ-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423031" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/J2DLBFG6MZOL5CEMEYMMC4AUCQ-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/J2DLBFG6MZOL5CEMEYMMC4AUCQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/J2DLBFG6MZOL5CEMEYMMC4AUCQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/J2DLBFG6MZOL5CEMEYMMC4AUCQ-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/J2DLBFG6MZOL5CEMEYMMC4AUCQ.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People queue to withdraw cash from an automated teller machine (ATM) at a bank, ahead of presidential elections, in Zamfara, Nigeria February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja</figcaption></figure>



LAGOS, Nigeria, Feb 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;At a fuel station in Nigeria&#8217;s commercial capital, tempers flare and harsh words are exchanged as motorists wait in line for hours to fill up their tanks at one of the few outlets with petrol left in the vicinity.



Across the road, young men drenched in sweat from the sweltering Lagos heat sell petrol in plastic containers at more than double the regulated pump price.



Recurring fuel shortages in Africa&#8217;s top oil producer are adding to voter frustration as Nigeria prepares to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on Feb. 25. They are a stark example of the economic hardships that have dogged Nigeria for years, including surging inflation, widespread unemployment and acute shortages of foreign exchange that have severely weakened the naira currency.



&#8220;People are suffering; there is no money; there is no food,&#8221; said Titus Nwafor, a 53-year-old bus driver as he waited to fill up at the Lagos station.



With elections around the corner, he expressed frustration with the candidates, who he said were &#8220;blaming this, blaming that&#8221; without offering any solutions.



President Muhammadu Buhari, who will be stepping down in May after serving his constitutionally allowed two terms, promised to revive the economy and improve livelihoods when he took office in 2015.



He has prioritised state-funded infrastructure, investing billions of dollars in new roads, bridges, airports and rail.



Nigeria&#8217;s poor transport and power networks have stymied economic growth for decades, holding back the distribution of wealth in Africa&#8217;s biggest economy where 63% of people live below the poverty line, according to the national statistics bureau.



Building infrastructure has, however, come at a cost.



Nigeria&#8217;s foreign debt has risen fourfold to $40 billion under Buhari, and the budget deficit has widened every year. The government spent 98% of the revenue it collected in 2022 on debt servicing, finance ministry data showed.



Buhari has also pushed protectionist policies, including import bans on the staple rice. This initially spurred local production, but spreading insecurity is hurting farmers&#8217; ability to plant, while the high cost of fertiliser and diesel have pushed the price of a 50 kg bag of rice nearly 90%, to 55,000 naira ($120) last year.



In 2017, the central bank introduced a multiple exchange rate system to avoid devaluing the naira currency, but this has contributed to dollar shortages, and the local unit has weakened to record lows against the greenback on the black market.



A central bank decision to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N34O3WW&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">replace old banknotes</a>&nbsp;with new ones &#8211; part of an initiative to curb cash in circulation and control double-digit inflation &#8211; has caused huge controversy because there are not yet enough new notes in circulation. Enterprising Nigerians are selling cash at premiums of up to 20%.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-getting-worse">GETTING WORSE</h2>



While Buhari says his government has been laying the foundations for a stronger economy, many Nigerians complain that economic conditions have worsened on his watch.



The country has weathered two recessions since 2016, driven by crude oil price slumps, hard currency shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic.



Economic fallout from the war in Ukraine and heavy flooding last year pushed inflation to its highest level in 17 years, further squeezing consumers in a country where 33% of job seekers are unemployed.



Oil is the biggest foreign exchange earner, but&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N30G2JN&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">rampant crude theft</a>&nbsp;in the Niger Delta and years of underinvestment have hurt output and strained government finances. For a few months last year, Angola overtook Nigeria as Africa&#8217;s biggest oil producer and exporter.



Nigeria relies on imports for nearly all refined fuels. Its state refineries have produced little or no fuel over the past decade due to poor maintenance, and a refinery being built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote has been beset by delays.



Fortune Alfred, who makes a living driving for the Bolt ride-sharing business, had to park his car at home after spending six hours in a fuel line in Nigeria&#8217;s southern oil-producing Rivers state. When he reached the pump, fuel had run out.



&#8220;The economic situation at the moment is worse than the early days of Buhari, the 40-year-old said. &#8220;The hardships have been created by failure of government.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">CANDIDATES PROMISES</h2>



Amaka Anku, head of the Eurasia Group consulting firm&#8217;s Africa practice, said Nigeria&#8217;s economic woes had &#8220;created this very high anti-establishment sentiment&#8221;.



That is propelling a presidential candidate, the Labour Party&#8217;s Peter Obi, who is mounting a challenge to the two parties that have dominated Nigeria since the end of military rule in 1999.



&#8220;Obi will do better, and I hope he is able to resuscitate this country and not let it drown even further,&#8221; said Ruth Geku, a 21-year-old street food seller in Yenagoa city, Rivers state.



However, there are few major policy differences between Obi and his establishment rivals &#8211; Bola Tinubu of Buhari&#8217;s All Progressives Congress and Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People&#8217;s Democratic Party.



All have promised to reform the economy, including ending the multiple exchange regime and a fuel subsidy that cost the government $10 billion last year.



But that has proven difficult in the past. Nigerians say cheap fuel &#8211; at 184 naira ($0.40) a litre &#8211; is one of the few benefits they get from their government.



($1 = 459.9200 naira)



Budget deficit growing faster than economy<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3DOWjqw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://tmsnrt.rs/3DOWjqw</a>



Nigeria&#8217;s falling oil output<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3QqyI3b" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://tmsnrt.rs/3QqyI3b</a>



(Additional reporting by Tife Owolabi in Yenagoa, Chijioke Ohuocha in Abuja and Libby George in London, Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Angus MacSwan)

J2DLBFG6MZOL5CEMEYMMC4AUCQ

Fuel and cash shortages rile Nigerian voters heading into election

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RH4CUMLZCFNHFE4A24HCPYL6WI-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423026" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RH4CUMLZCFNHFE4A24HCPYL6WI-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RH4CUMLZCFNHFE4A24HCPYL6WI-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RH4CUMLZCFNHFE4A24HCPYL6WI-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RH4CUMLZCFNHFE4A24HCPYL6WI-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/RH4CUMLZCFNHFE4A24HCPYL6WI.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zimbabwe mines minister Winston Chitando speaks to Reuters at the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2023 conference in Cape Town, South Africa, February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Shelley Christians/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Feb 9 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Lithium-rich African countries, including Zimbabwe and Namibia, are trying to develop processing and refining industries to capture more of the profits of global demand for the battery material.



As the auto industry shifts towards electric vehicles (EVs) &#8211; spurred by proposed bans on fossil-fuel cars beginning at the end of the decade &#8211; lithium prices and demand have soared.



China, the world&#8217;s top lithium refiner and a leading producer dominates the supply chain, but Western governments and international companies are trying to challenge that and see Africa&#8217;s lithium reserves as an opportunity.



For their part, African countries are determined to retain more of the value of their resources than they have in the past, which means not just mining them but processing them before export, which economically is referred to as beneficiation.



&#8220;We are saying to ourselves, if you have got the minerals that everybody wants now, you need to make sure that at least you probably mine those minerals differently and not in the usual manner,&#8221; Namibia&#8217;s mines minister Tom Alweendo told Reuters in an interview at the Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town.



&#8220;We are going to insist that all lithium mined within the country has to be processed in the country.&#8221;



Africa&#8217;s lithium production is set to rapidly increase this decade. From 40,000 tonnes this year, the continent will likely produce 497,000 tonnes in 2030, commodities trader Trafigura estimates, with the bulk of that coming from Zimbabwe.



Prices for lithium more than doubled last year as demand from the electric vehicle industry outstripped supply.



Zimbabwe in December imposed a ban on raw lithium exports, a measure aimed at stopping the smuggling of lithium ore and spurring mines to process in the country.



&#8220;We made plans to only allow the export of concentrates,&#8221; the country&#8217;s mining minister Winston Chitando told Reuters. &#8220;Because of the ban, other investors have come in wanting to mop up lithium ores and develop them to concentrate stage.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-poison-of-greed">&#8216;POISON OF GREED&#8217;</h2>



Mining has often been linked to the exploitation of workers or environmental degradation by foreign powers. In his visit to Democratic Republic of Congo, Pope Francis at the end of January condemned the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34G0PP&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">&#8220;poison of greed&#8221;</a>&nbsp;for mineral resources that has exacerbated conflict in the country&#8217;s east.



The latest effort by African governments is far from the first time they have resolved to retain more of the value of their mineral wealth, which ultimately should boost tax revenue, encourage new businesses and add jobs.



The global transition away from fossil fuels is giving a sense of urgency, although many obstacles remain, notably insufficient electricity supply.



As companies and investors around the world focus on goals to reduce carbon emissions and increase supplies of the minerals that should help, companies and investors are reconsidering projects they may have previously overlooked.



&#8220;These are really unique times we are living in, with this whole transition to a clean energy future and Ghana could be part of this story,&#8221; Len Kolff, interim chief executive officer at Atlantic Lithium&nbsp;ALLA.L, said.



The company&#8217;s Ewoyaa mine project is set to be the first lithium producer in the West African country. U.S. firm Piedmont Lithium has signed a deal to get 50% of the lithium produced.



&#8220;Everybody&#8217;s approaching us, like the whole who&#8217;s who on the Chinese list and now it&#8217;s all the Western OEMs [original equipment manufacturers],&#8221; Kolff said.



In Mali, Leo Lithium&#8217;s Goulamina mine plans to take advantage of high prices to export two 30,000-tonne shipments of lithium ore by the end of this year, managing director Simon Hay said.



The proceeds would help to develop the project to allow domestic processing, Hay said, with first production expected in the middle of next year to be sent to China&#8217;s Ganfeng Lithium.



($1 = 0.9319 euros)



(Reporting by Clara Denina, Wendell Roelf; additional reporting by Helen Reid; editing by Barbara Lewis)

RH4CUMLZCFNHFE4A24HCPYL6WI

Africa gears up to keep more of the profits from lithium boom

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="573" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LPGOAARBINMAPE65H3ZZLTICWM-820x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423003" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LPGOAARBINMAPE65H3ZZLTICWM-820x573.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LPGOAARBINMAPE65H3ZZLTICWM-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LPGOAARBINMAPE65H3ZZLTICWM-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LPGOAARBINMAPE65H3ZZLTICWM-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/LPGOAARBINMAPE65H3ZZLTICWM.jpg 960w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A shopper looks for goods during an electricity load-shedding blackout in Johannesburg, South Africa, February 12, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Feb 8 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South African manufacturers and retailers of food and other essential products warned on Wednesday that consumers will face much higher prices unless the government urgently finds solutions to the power cuts that are crippling the economy.



Food, consumer goods companies and retailers in South Africa are cranking up diesel generators and spending more on back up power supplies, adding to the pressure from soaring costs for raw materials, transportation and packaging.



South African businesses and households are spending between six and ten hours a day without electricity as state-owned utility Eskom implements some of the harshest blackouts in living memory owing to breakdowns at its coal-fired power plants.



In an open letter to President Cyril Ramaphosa, the chief executives of member companies of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa pleaded for urgent and decisive action from the government to solve the power crisis.



&#8220;While we have maintained our operations and supply chains so far by using emergency power generators, this has been at an unsustainable financial cost,&#8221; the council said in the letter, which was sent to local media.



&#8220;It is crippling our businesses, and will in the end mean much higher prices for consumers, who are already under severe financial strain.&#8221;



Last year, Ramaphosa&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2Z64VL&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">promised to expand generation</a>, slash red tape and buy surplus electricity from private producers.



He is expected to address the power crisis in his state of the nation address on Thursday.



The council, whose members include the country&#8217;s biggest supermarket group and food producer Shoprite&nbsp;SHPJ.J&nbsp;and Tiger Brands&nbsp;TBSJ.J, said if the crisis continues, businesses will not be able to guarantee stable supplies of food, medicines and other essential goods.



Shoprite has said its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AJsee0003a&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">additional spend on diesel</a>&nbsp;to operate generators amounted to 560 million rand ($32 million) in the six months to Jan.1.



Supermarket group Pick n Pay&nbsp;PIKJ.J<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N34O0H3&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">spent 346 million rand</a>&nbsp;in the 10 months to Dec. 25 to run generators, and is currently spending about 60 million rand per month.



($1 = 17.5103 rand)



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Kirsten Donovan)

Reuters

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Zambia rejects China’s call for World Bank to join its debt restructuring – FT

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U.S. judge rejects family members’ bid to reopen Boeing 737 MAX plea deal

South Africa invokes disaster law to tackle energy crisis

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Fuel and cash shortages rile Nigerian voters heading into election

Africa gears up to keep more of the profits from lithium boom

South Africa’s consumer goods firms warn of much higher prices as power cuts bite

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Reuters

Nigeria’s Buhari grants 60-day extension to turn in old banknotes

MTN commits to $1 bln Ghana investment after government scraps tax claim

Zimbabwe creditors to meet Feb. 23 over arrears clearance, says finance minister

Fashion meets politics at Nigeria election campaign events

Amplats CEO Viljoen to step down, join Newmont as COO

China, U.S. to participate in first meeting of new debt roundtable on Feb. 17

Ghana says domestic debt swap closed with over 80% participation

South African rand slides as Moody’s flags risks, dollar gains

What is at stake for investors in Nigeria’s election?

Zambia rejects China’s call for World Bank to join its debt restructuring – FT

South Africa’s Transnet halts rail link to regional countries after heavy rains

U.S. judge rejects family members’ bid to reopen Boeing 737 MAX plea deal

South Africa invokes disaster law to tackle energy crisis

Botswana warns of dangers in dash for African minerals

Fuel and cash shortages rile Nigerian voters heading into election

Africa gears up to keep more of the profits from lithium boom

South Africa’s consumer goods firms warn of much higher prices as power cuts bite

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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