<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="534" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ-820x534.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-491984" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ-820x534.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ-768x500.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ-1536x1001.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



KIGALI, May 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Rwanda&#8217;s central bank cut its key interest rate&nbsp;RWREPO=ECI&nbsp;by 50 basis points to 7.0% on Wednesday, saying inflation was projected to remain within its target band at around 5% this year and next.



The rate cut followed two monetary policy meetings at which the Central Bank Rate was left unchanged.



In February, Governor John Rwangombwa said the bank could reduce the rate at upcoming meetings if inflation dynamics remained positive.



Annual inflation&nbsp;RWCPIY=ECI&nbsp;peaked at 21.7% in November 2022. It fell to 4.5% in April, well within policymakers&#8217; 2%-8% target range.



Rwangombwa told a news conference on Wednesday that risks to the inflation outlook included global geopolitical tensions that could affect international commodity prices and adverse weather conditions in Africa.



He said the economy continued to expand in the first quarter, helped by a strong performance by the agriculture, services and industry sectors.



This month Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana reiterated the government&#8217;s economic growth forecasts of 6.6% this year, 6.5% in 2025, 6.8% a year later and 7.2% in 2027. The economy expanded 8.2% in 2023.



(Reporting by Philbert Girinema; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

XBUX3KKTWRL4XAUGPJYRWVH7WQ

Rwanda central bank cuts key rate as inflation seen within target

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="515" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/E3QSTNRI5NLCHAEJURPRJHWWEI-820x515.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-489417" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/E3QSTNRI5NLCHAEJURPRJHWWEI-820x515.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/E3QSTNRI5NLCHAEJURPRJHWWEI-300x188.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/E3QSTNRI5NLCHAEJURPRJHWWEI-143x90.jpg 143w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/E3QSTNRI5NLCHAEJURPRJHWWEI-768x482.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/E3QSTNRI5NLCHAEJURPRJHWWEI-1536x964.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/E3QSTNRI5NLCHAEJURPRJHWWEI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: The Anglo American logo is seen in Rusternburg October 5, 2015. Picture taken October 5, 2015. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko//File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON/JOHANNESBURG/MELBOURNE, May 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Anglo American&nbsp;AAL.L&nbsp;on Wednesday rejected BHP Group&#8217;s&nbsp;BHP.AX&nbsp;last-ditch request for more time to discuss a $49 billion takeover offer, dismissing it as highly complex and likely ending a five-week pursuit by the bigger rival.



Anglo had granted BHP a one week extension until 1600 GMT on Wednesday to its original May 22 deadline to submit a binding offer, after rejecting a third takeover proposal that it dismissed as difficult to execute.



BHP still has until then to make a firm offer or walk away. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but has previously indicated it would not make a hostile bid.



BHP&#8217;s shares closed flat on Wednesday at A$45.08. Anglo&#8217;s were little changed at 0950 GMT.



London-listed Anglo agreed to hold talks with BHP to try to iron out concerns over the structure of the proposed deal, namely its condition that Anglo unbundle its South African platinum and iron ore units before the takeover.



In an earlier statement, BHP said it needed more time to engage with Anglo, while outlining commitments to minimise regulatory risk in South Africa.



Those commitments included job security for employees in South Africa. BHP also said it would shoulder the costs of increased South African employee ownership that is expected to be required in any demerger.



But Anglo signalled those commitments were not enough.



&#8220;BHP continues to restate its belief that the risks of its complex structure are not material, yet has repeatedly and consistently stated both publicly and during the engagements that it is unwilling to amend its proposed structure to assume these risks,&#8221; Anglo said in its statement.



Anglo was founded in Johannesburg in 1917 and employs more than 40,000 South Africans, so any withdrawal would be a further economic blow to the country whose miners have been cutting jobs and investment as platinum especially falls out of favour.



South Africans are voting in an election on Wednesday, with polls suggesting the African National Congress could lose its majority after 30 years in power, in part due to anger about high unemployment and a stagnant economy.



JP Morgan analysts have estimated a takeover of Anglo by BHP could lead to outflows of $4.3 billion from South Africa and weaken the rand.



&#8220;Today&#8217;s announcement says to me that BHP are doing all they can to placate any concerns Anglo&#8217;s board could have from a South Africa jobs, and regulatory point of view,&#8221; said analyst Hayden Bairstow of broker Argonaut in Perth about BHP&#8217;s request for more time.



However, a source close to Anglo&#8217;s thinking said its investors shared its reservations about BHP&#8217;s proposal.



&#8220;The majority of the Anglo shareholders fully understand the concerns that are being expressed and I don&#8217;t believe that they feel that the risks in the structure and the price are fully taken into consideration by BHP,&#8221; the source said.



BHP&#8217;s latest proposal values Anglo at 29.34 pounds per share or 38.6 billion pounds ($49 billion).



One person familiar with the situation said it was virtually impossible for BHP to put in an offer by Wednesday&#8217;s deadline and Anglo&#8217;s statement could effectively have killed the deal.



Buying Anglo would strengthen BHP&#8217;s position in copper and other metals central to the world&#8217;s clean energy shift. Anglo, meanwhile, has outlined its own plan to divest less profitable assets and focus on expanding copper output.



(Reporting by Clara Denina in London, Felix Njini in Johannesburg, Melanie Burton in Melbourne and Scott Murdoch in Sydney; Additional reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley, Sameer Manekar; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Mark Potter)

FILE PHOTO: BHP-Anglo American deal raises alarm in Japan’s steel industry

Anglo rejects BHP’s last-ditch attempt to continue takeover talks

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="512" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IEOR3BGJSROL5KFMYTELQHZUDI-820x512.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-491950" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IEOR3BGJSROL5KFMYTELQHZUDI-820x512.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IEOR3BGJSROL5KFMYTELQHZUDI-300x187.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IEOR3BGJSROL5KFMYTELQHZUDI-144x90.jpg 144w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IEOR3BGJSROL5KFMYTELQHZUDI-768x480.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IEOR3BGJSROL5KFMYTELQHZUDI-1536x959.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/IEOR3BGJSROL5KFMYTELQHZUDI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina addresses delegates during the Africa Climate Summit (ACS) 2023 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Kenya, September 5, 2023. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/file photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, May 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s economic growth is&nbsp;set&nbsp;to accelerate to 3.7% this year and 4.3%&nbsp;next&nbsp;from 3.1% in 2023, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina said on Wednesday, expressing hope that the bank can boost infrastructure investment with IMF help.



&#8220;African economies are experiencing great resilience despite the challenges posed by climate change, geopolitical tensions, global inflation, rising debt, among others,&#8221; Adesina told the annual meeting of the bank.



In the past nine years the bank has&nbsp;invested over $50 billion in infrastructure projects on the continent, he said.



Adesina said two weeks ago that the International Monetary Fund had approved multilateral banks such as the AfDB lending against the Fund&#8217;s Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) monetary reserves.



SDRs are interest-bearing international reserve assets granted to IMF member countries in proportion to their shareholding.



&#8220;If the approved limit of $20 billion of the SDRs is channelled to multilateral development banks like us, we&nbsp;[the AfDB]&nbsp;can leverage this to deliver at least $80 billion of new financial support,&#8221; Adesina said.



The&nbsp;bank is helping to raise $3.2 billion for the East Africa standard gauge railway linking Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, he&nbsp;added.



It is also providing $500 million towards the development of the Lobito Corridor to connect Zambia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.



(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Bate Felix and Kevin Liffey)

Kenya to host first Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi

AfDB aims to boost infrastructure funding as African growth accelerates

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="512" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IFC-World-Bank-edited.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-428524" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IFC-World-Bank-edited.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IFC-World-Bank-edited-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IFC-World-Bank-edited-135x90.jpg 135w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">IFC World Bank Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, May 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The World Bank&#8217;s private finance arm on Tuesday launched a programme to provide up to $4 billion to small businesses in emerging markets, with a focus on women-owned firms and those in the agriculture and climate sectors.



The International Finance Corporation said it would advance the funds to banks, non-bank financial institutions, microfinance institutions, and innovative digital lenders that loan to micro, small and medium-sized businesses.



The MSME Financing Platform would aim to attract a further $4 billion by using credit enhancements to attract private sector capital.



&#8220;Micro, small, and medium enterprises form the backbone of most developing economies, yet they face significant financial barriers that hinder their potential,&#8221; said IFC Managing Director Makhtar Diop in a statement.



MSMEs make up more than 90% of all firms and account, on average, for 60-70% of total employment and 50% of GDP worldwide, the IFC said, yet the SME Finance Forum puts the annual financing gap at around $5.7 trillion.



Access to finance has been hampered by tighter credit conditions, rising interest rates and a decline in risk appetite among mainstream lenders, the IFC said, something it hoped to reverse by offering to take the first loss on loans.



Up to $100 million of finance to help the platform de-risk the credit and foreign currency exposures will come from the International Development Association, it added. I



&#8220;Our new financing platform addresses these challenges head-on, empowering financial service providers to extend critical support to these businesses, particularly those that are women-led or environmentally focused.&#8221;



(Reporting by Simon Jessop; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

IFC World Bank Photo: via Flickr

IFC launches $4 bln platform to support small firms in developing markets

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GEHCKBE6DZLYNKSPJ6M6MCXGOE-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-491568" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GEHCKBE6DZLYNKSPJ6M6MCXGOE-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GEHCKBE6DZLYNKSPJ6M6MCXGOE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GEHCKBE6DZLYNKSPJ6M6MCXGOE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GEHCKBE6DZLYNKSPJ6M6MCXGOE-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GEHCKBE6DZLYNKSPJ6M6MCXGOE-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/GEHCKBE6DZLYNKSPJ6M6MCXGOE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: President of the African National Congress (ANC) Cyril Ramaphosa delivers an address to supporters during the political party’s final rally ahead of the upcoming election at FNB stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, May 25, 2024. REUTERS/Alaister Russell/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 28 (Reuters) &#8211; South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has staked his reputation on cleaning up the image of the ruling African National Congress, will lead the party toward its biggest test of the democratic era when South Africans vote on Wednesday.



Ramaphosa, who helped found the country&#8217;s biggest mining union and later became one of its wealthiest businessmen, took on the presidency in 2018 and survived a misconduct scandal to be re-elected to the ANC&#8217;s helm in 2022.



He has struggled to lift economic growth, make a dent in high unemployment with a third of South Africans jobless, or end crippling power cuts &#8211; all of which voters are expected to punish the ANC for at the ballot box on May 29.



If the party loses its majority for the first time in 30 years, as opinion polls predict, some political analysts say 71-year-old Ramaphosa will be unlikely to see out a second term.



Ramaphosa was the ANC&#8217;s lead negotiator during talks that led to a peaceful end to apartheid, which enabled Nelson Mandela to become South Africa&#8217;s first Black president after 1994&#8217;s historic all-race vote.



He also played an important role in the drafting of South Africa&#8217;s progressive constitution.



Despite his evident gifts, Ramaphosa gave up politics in 1996 and entered business, as Mandela&#8217;s newly elected ANC sought to dilute the dominance of the white minority in the boardrooms of the new South Africa.



Some say he was pushed by Mandela&#8217;s protege and eventual successor, former President Thabo Mbeki. Ramaphosa withdrew from politics under Mbeki and set up an investment vehicle called Shanduka &#8211; which means &#8220;change&#8221; in the language of his Venda people.



Shanduka grew into one of the biggest Black-owned investment vehicles in South Africa. Ramaphosa was one of the main beneficiaries of the ANC&#8217;s policy of Black Economic Empowerment, which was meant to reduce inequality but which critics say led to people with ANC connections acquiring assets at knock-down prices.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-silver-tongued-negotiator">SILVER-TONGUED NEGOTIATOR</h2>



The son of a retired policeman, Ramaphosa was a thorn in the side of white mine bosses in the 1980s, leading the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) that he co-founded in one of the largest strikes in the country&#8217;s history.



He left the NUM in 1991 and was elected secretary-general of the ANC, in charge of the day-to-day running of the party, a year after it was unbanned by the apartheid government.



Ramaphosa&#8217;s negotiating skills at constitutional talks in the early 1990s won him grudging respect from South Africa&#8217;s last white president, F.W. de Klerk, who said Ramaphosa&#8217;s &#8220;silver tongue and honeyed phrases lulled potential victims while his arguments relentlessly tightened around them&#8221;.



Ramaphosa started winding down his business interests in 2012, when he became the ANC&#8217;s No. 2 official under former President Jacob Zuma.



He replaced Zuma as ANC leader in 2017, vowing to rid the ruling party of graft and revitalise the economy.



But just as he was about to start campaigning for his second term as party chief, he faced calls to quit after an advisory panel found preliminary evidence that he may have violated the constitution over a large amount of cash found hidden in furniture at his game farm.



He has denied wrongdoing and was not charged with any crimes but his reputation took a hit from the incident dubbed &#8220;Farmgate&#8221;.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-champion-of-global-south">CHAMPION OF GLOBAL SOUTH</h2>



Ramaphosa has been criticised for appearing to prevaricate on crucial reforms to avoid rifts within his party &#8211; a far cry from the decisiveness he showed as a union leader in the 1980s.



Policy changes on energy security, jobs and the green energy transition stumbled on internal party divisions, and several committees he created have only dragged out these disagreements.



But his supporters applaud his ability to preserve consensus and say he has made important achievements advancing South Africa&#8217;s reputation as a champion of the so-called &#8220;Global South&#8221;, shorthand for some low- and middle-income countries including India.



During the COVID-19 pandemic Ramaphosa was one of the most prominent voices globally calling for fairer distribution of vaccines.



More recently South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, leading judges to rule last week that Israel must halt its military assault on the Gaza city of Rafah. Israel has vehemently rejected the allegations.



Ramaphosa has campaigned on the ANC&#8217;s successes over the last 30 years, but critics say he has offered little in the way of new solutions to South Africa&#8217;s biggest challenges, including high crime and stark inequality.



At the ANC&#8217;s final campaign rally before the election, he promised to &#8220;do better&#8221; before a crowd of tens of thousands of supporters gathered at a Soweto soccer stadium. Many filed out before he had finished his speech.



(Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

FILE PHOTO: President of the ANC Cyril Ramaphosa attends a rally ahead of the upcoming election at FNB stadium in Johannesburg

South Africa’s Ramaphosa steers ANC into potentially pivotal 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/2023/11/AXIZJVFVSJPH5JV3TFFSZSORV4-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-429146" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AXIZJVFVSJPH5JV3TFFSZSORV4-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AXIZJVFVSJPH5JV3TFFSZSORV4-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AXIZJVFVSJPH5JV3TFFSZSORV4-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AXIZJVFVSJPH5JV3TFFSZSORV4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AXIZJVFVSJPH5JV3TFFSZSORV4-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/AXIZJVFVSJPH5JV3TFFSZSORV4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><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/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LONDON, May 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zambia&#8217;s ministry of finance said on Tuesday that more than 90% of holders of its $3 billion in outstanding international bonds had accepted its restructuring proposal so far, paving the way for the country to emerge from a lengthy default.



Voting on the proposal only finishes officially on May 30.



However, on the basis of the instructions the government had received by May 24, &#8220;Zambia expects that the meetings will be quorate and that each of the extraordinary resolutions in respect of each series of existing notes will be approved at the relevant meeting,&#8221; the ministry said in a regulatory statement.



Zambia defaulted more than three years ago and is reworking its debt under the Common Framework, a G20 platform to bring together big creditors like China and the traditional group of developed creditor nations, known as the Paris Club, to ensure swift and smooth debt overhauls for low-income countries.



Zambia was widely seen as a test case. But the process has been beset by long delays, which have hamstrung much-needed investments, curtailed economic growth and weighed on local financial markets. A devastating drought had worsened the situation.



Under the proposed plan, bondholders will swap three existing instruments due to mature in 2022, 2024 and 2027, into two amortising bonds, one of which would have higher repayments if the country&#8217;s economic outlook improved.



Zambia secured a $1.3-billion loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2022, which required it to restructure its debt with other creditors.



Zambia&#8217;s international bonds traded unchanged, with the 2024 bond indicated at 63.4 cents in the dollar and the 2027 maturity at 75.9 cents, according to Tradeweb data.&nbsp;XS1056386714=TE,&nbsp;XS1267081575=TE



(Reporting by Karin Strohecker, editing by Amanda Cooper)

FILE PHOTO: Zambia’s Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane attends the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington

Zambia set to emerge from default after bondholders back $3 bln debt rework

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="612" height="357" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-400669" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/istockphoto-1030878162-612x612-1-300x175.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The following scheduled economic events, company announcements, equity and currency market moves may affect South African markets on Tuesday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-economic-events">ECONOMIC EVENTS</h2>



South Africa&#8217;s government to hold its weekly auction of long-term bonds.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-companies">COMPANIES</h2>



South African discount retailer Pepkor Holdings&nbsp;PPHJ.J&nbsp;to release half-year results.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-south-african-markets">SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS</h2>



The South African rand was stronger on Monday, supported by a weaker dollar, ahead of a week headlined by the national election and featuring an interest rate decision.



On the stock market, both the blue-chip Top-40&nbsp;.JTOPI&nbsp;and the broader all-share&nbsp;.JALSH&nbsp;indexes were down almost 0.3%..JZAR/



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-global-markets">GLOBAL MARKETS</h2>



Asian shares held a mixed tone on Tuesday after rallying the previous session, as rising bets of an imminent European rate cut helped risk appetite ahead of some key inflation data.MKTS/GLOB



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wall-street">WALL STREET</h2>



U.S. stocks rebounded on Friday from sharp losses the day before on news of an improving consumer outlook on inflation, sending the Nasdaq to a fifth straight week of gains and record closing high..N



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-gold">GOLD</h2>



Gold prices held steady on Tuesday as the dollar eased, while investors looked forward to key U.S. inflation data that could offer clues on how soon the Federal Reserve can cut interest rates.GOL/



&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211;



Some of the main stories out in the South African press:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-business-day">BUSINESS DAY</h2>



&#8211; Solidarity asks court to declare NHI law unconstitutional



&#8211; Ramaphosa&#8217;s climate advisers not surprised by delayed shutdown of coal power stations



(Compiled by Tannur Anders)

World map with charts and graphs as symbols of global finance

South African Markets – Factors to watch on May 28

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RBDRNX6KFFJ3LNZOTUTISZLDJE-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-491521" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RBDRNX6KFFJ3LNZOTUTISZLDJE-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RBDRNX6KFFJ3LNZOTUTISZLDJE-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RBDRNX6KFFJ3LNZOTUTISZLDJE-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RBDRNX6KFFJ3LNZOTUTISZLDJE-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RBDRNX6KFFJ3LNZOTUTISZLDJE-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RBDRNX6KFFJ3LNZOTUTISZLDJE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: President of China Xi Jinping and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa attend the China-Africa Leaders&#8217; Roundtable Dialogue on the last day of the BRICS Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Alet Pretorius/Pool/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG/NAIROBI, May 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;China&#8217;s flagship economic cooperation program is bouncing back after a lull during the global pandemic, with Africa a primary focus, according to a Reuters analysis of lending, investment and trade data.



Chinese leaders have been citing the billions of dollars committed to new construction projects and record two-way trade as evidence of their commitment to assist with the continent&#8217;s modernisation and foster &#8220;win-win&#8221; cooperation.



But the data reveals a more complex relationship, one that is still largely extractive and has so far failed to live up to some of Beijing&#8217;s rhetoric about the Belt and Road Initiative, President Xi Jinping&#8217;s strategy to build an infrastructure network connecting China to the world.



While new Chinese investment in Africa increased 114% last year, according to the Griffith Asia Institute at Australia&#8217;s Griffith University, it was heavily focused on minerals essential to the global energy transition and China&#8217;s plans to revive its own flagging economy.



Those minerals and oil also dominated trade. As efforts falter to boost other imports from Africa, including agricultural products and manufactured goods, the continent&#8217;s trade deficit with China has ballooned.



Chinese sovereign lending, once the main source of financing for Africa&#8217;s infrastructure, is at its lowest level in two decades. And public-private partnerships (PPPs), which China has touted as its new preferred investment vehicle globally, have yet to gain traction in Africa.



The result is a more one-sided relationship than China says it wants, one that is dominated by imports of Africa&#8217;s raw materials and that some analysts argue contains echoes of colonial-era Europe&#8217;s economic relations with the continent.



&#8220;This is something late-19th century Britain would recognise,&#8221; said Eric Olander, co-founder of the China-Global South Project website and podcast.



China rejects such assertions.



&#8220;Africa has the right, capacity and wisdom to develop its external relations and choose its partners,&#8221; China&#8217;s foreign ministry wrote in response to Reuters&#8217; questions.



&#8220;China&#8217;s practical support for Africa&#8217;s path of modernisation in accordance with its own characteristics has been welcomed by an increasing number of African countries.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-a-pivot-with-potential">A PIVOT WITH POTENTIAL?</h2>



China&#8217;s engagement in Africa, a focus of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), grew rapidly in the two decades before the COVID-19 pandemic. Chinese companies built ports, hydropower plants and railways across the continent, financed mainly through sovereign loans. Annual lending commitments peaked at $28.4 billion in 2016, according to the Global China Initiative at Boston University.



But many projects proved unprofitable. As some governments struggled to repay loans, China cut lending. COVID-19 then pushed it to turn inward, and Chinese construction projects in Africa fell.



A rebound in sovereign lending is not expected.



Policymakers in Beijing have instead been pushing Chinese companies to take equity stakes and operate infrastructure they build for foreign governments. The aim,&nbsp;China analysts say, is to help companies win higher-value contracts and, by giving them skin in the game, ensure the projects are economically viable.



Lending to Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), perhaps the most common means of PPP infrastructure investment, has been growing as a proportion of China&#8217;s overseas loans, according to figures shared exclusively with Reuters by AidData, a research centre at U.S. university William &amp; Mary.



The $668-million Nairobi Expressway, a public-private partnership built and run by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), could be proof of concept for the model in Africa. Since it opened in August 2022, the toll road has been allowing commuters to speed above the Kenyan capital&#8217;s notorious traffic snarls, beating revenue and usage targets.



Daily average use in March was already 57,000 vehicles, exceeding a 2049 target of around 55,000 set by CRBC in a 2019 presentation on the project&#8217;s economic viability seen by Reuters.



But few companies are following CRBC&#8217;s example in Africa. While globally some 45% of Chinese non-emergency lending was to SPVs from 2018 to 2021, the most recent year for which AidData figures are available,&nbsp;the figure was only 27% for Africa.



Analysts point to a number of likely reasons, including a lack of legal frameworks for PPPs in many African countries and the view among some Chinese companies &#8211; many of them relative newcomers to PPPs &#8211; that African markets are risky.



China&#8217;s foreign ministry did not directly address a request for comment on the lower SPV figures for Africa. But it said the government encourages Chinese companies to &#8220;actively develop new modes of cooperation&#8221; such as PPPs to bring more private investment to Africa.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-growing-engagement">GROWING ENGAGEMENT</h2>



The Griffith Asia Institute put China&#8217;s total engagement in Africa &#8211; a combination of construction contracts and investment commitments &#8211; at $21.7 billion last year, making it the largest regional recipient.



Data from the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank, showed investments hitting nearly $11 billion in 2023, the highest level since it began tracking Chinese economic activity in Africa in 2005.



Some $7.8 billion of that went to mining, like Botswana&#8217;s Khoemacau copper mine, which China&#8217;s MMG Ltd bought for $1.9 billion, and cobalt and lithium mines in countries including Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.



The hunt for critical minerals is driving infrastructure construction as well. In January, for example, Chinese companies pledged up to $7 billion in infrastructure investment under a revision of their copper and cobalt joint venture agreement with Democratic Republic of Congo.



Western and Gulf powers are also racing to lead the world&#8217;s energy transition, with the United States and European governments backing the Lobito Corridor, a rail link to bring metals from Zambia and Congo to Africa&#8217;s Atlantic coast.



African leaders have struggled, however, to raise financing for some other priority projects.



Despite the success of the Nairobi Expressway, for example, work on several Kenyan roads stalled when the government ran out of money to pay the Chinese construction firms.



During a visit to Beijing last October, President William Ruto asked for a $1 billion loan to complete the projects.



A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said discussions about the request were ongoing. Kenya&#8217;s finance ministry did not respond to a request for comment.



The final phase of a railway line intended to traverse Kenya from its main port to the border with Uganda has been in similar limbo since Chinese financing dried up in 2019. Uganda cancelled the contract for its portion of the line in 2022, after Chinese backers pulled out.



When asked about the decline in lending for African infrastructure, Chinese officials point to a pivot to trade and investment, arguing that BRI-generated trade boosts Africa&#8217;s wealth and development.



Two-way trade reached a record $282 billion last year, according to Chinese customs data. But at the same time, the value of Africa&#8217;s exports to China fell 7%, mainly due to a decline in oil prices, and its trade deficit widened 46%.



Chinese officials have sought to assuage the concerns of some African leaders.



At a summit in Johannesburg last August, Xi said Beijing would launch initiatives to support the continent&#8217;s manufacturing and agricultural modernisation &#8211; sectors African policymakers consider key to closing trade gaps, diversifying their economies and creating jobs.



China has also pledged to increase agricultural imports from Africa.



Such efforts, for now, are coming up short.



With one of Africa&#8217;s largest trade deficits to China, Kenya has been pushing to increase access to the world&#8217;s second-largest consumer market, recently gaining it for avocados and seafood. But cumbersome health and hygiene regulations mean Chinese consumers remain out of reach for many producers.



&#8220;The Chinese market is a new one,&#8221; said Ernest Muthomi, CEO of the Avocado Society of Kenya. &#8220;It was a challenge because you have to install the equipment for fumigation.&#8221;



Of 20 billion shillings ($150.94 million) worth of avocados exported last year, just 10% went to China.



Overall, Kenyan exports to China fell over 15% to $228 million, Chinese customs data showed, as a decline in titanium production led to a drop in shipments of the metal &#8211; a key export to China.



But Chinese manufactured goods kept coming.



That&#8217;s not sustainable, said Francis Mangeni, an advisor at the Secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area.



Unless African nations can add value to their exports through increased processing and manufacturing, he said, &#8220;we are just exporting raw minerals to fuel their economy.&#8221;



($1 = 132.5000 Kenyan shillings)



(Reporting by Rachel Savage in Johannesburg and Duncan Miriri in Nairobi; Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema in Kampala, Joe Cash in Beijing, Nyasha Chingono in Harare, Chris Mfula in Lusaka and Felix Njini in Johannesburg; Editing by Joe Bavier and Alexandra Zavis)

FILE PHOTO: China-Africa Leaders’ Roundtable Dialogue

Post-COVID, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="429" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-433367" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI-1536x804.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Construction work is seen opposite a statue of Samora Machel, the first President of Mozambique, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, a Roman Catholic cathedral in downtown Maputo, Mozambique, September 1, 2019. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



May 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Mozambique&#8217;s central bank cut its MIMO interest&nbsp;rate by 75 basis points to 15.00%, the third meeting in a row at which the rate has been reduced, the bank said on Monday.



The bank&#8217;s Monetary Policy Committee said in a statement that the decision was based on favourable forecasts while trying to keep inflation in single digits in the medium term.



The southern African country&#8217;s inflation edged up to 3.26% year on year in April&nbsp;MZCPIY=ECI&nbsp;from 3.03% in March, statistics agency data showed this month.



(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning)

PF3JNZQUQ5M65OD7XXTYURHSSI

Mozambique central bank cuts key rate for third meeting in a row

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/VFKU2JNBTBIDVNPMOMLDRAUIO4-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-491240" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/VFKU2JNBTBIDVNPMOMLDRAUIO4-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/VFKU2JNBTBIDVNPMOMLDRAUIO4-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/VFKU2JNBTBIDVNPMOMLDRAUIO4-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/VFKU2JNBTBIDVNPMOMLDRAUIO4-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/VFKU2JNBTBIDVNPMOMLDRAUIO4.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Pedestrians walk in front of Ghana&#8217;s central bank building in Accra, Ghana, November 16, 2015. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, May 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Ghana&#8217;s central bank held its main interest rate steady at 29%&nbsp;GHCBIR=ECI&nbsp;for the second meeting in a row&nbsp;on Monday,&nbsp;as a slide in the local cedi currency has slowed inflation&#8217;s decline.



The West African cocoa, gold and oil producer,&nbsp;which defaulted on most of its external borrowing in December 2022,&nbsp;has been restructuring its debts as it tries to emerge from its worst economic crisis in a generation.



&#8220;The latest forecast shows a slightly elevated inflation profile on account of recent exchange rate pressures,&#8221; Bank of Ghana Governor Ernest Addison told a news conference, adding that inflation was expected to fall to between 13% and 17% by the end of 2024.



Consumer inflation fell marginally last month to 25.0% year-on-year GHCPIY=ECI from 25.8% in March, but it remains well above the central bank&#8217;s 8% target with a margin of error of 2 percentage points either side.



Addison said the cedi&nbsp;GHS=&nbsp;had been partly hurt by speculative foreign currency buying but that the central bank had enough reserves to support the market.



Godfred Alufar Bokpin, professor of finance at the University of Ghana, said there was not much scope to ease monetary policy given current risks to the cedi and a general election later this year.



Last week Ghana received a draft memorandum of understanding from its bilateral creditors including China and France to restructure $5.4 billion of debt, which it is currently reviewing before signing.



Once agreed, the document will pave the way for the International Monetary Fund&#8217;s executive board to meet next month to approve a disbursement of $360 million under the country&#8217;s $3 billion bailout programme, which Addison said helped clear uncertainty.



&#8220;We are very happy and quite certain that the Fund meeting will happen in June,&#8221; Addison told Reuters on Monday.



In addition to the restructuring memorandum with official creditors, Ghana is seeking a deal with holders of about $13 billion in international bonds. It has&nbsp;restructured most of its local debt.



(Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Bate Felix, Alexander Winning and Andrew Heavens)

VFKU2JNBTBIDVNPMOMLDRAUIO4

Ghana central bank holds rate as currency slide slows disinflation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="505" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/YVOFDSRNTVM37PQ7357O7KQHAY-820x505.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-459210" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/YVOFDSRNTVM37PQ7357O7KQHAY-820x505.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/YVOFDSRNTVM37PQ7357O7KQHAY-300x185.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/YVOFDSRNTVM37PQ7357O7KQHAY-146x90.jpg 146w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/YVOFDSRNTVM37PQ7357O7KQHAY-768x473.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/YVOFDSRNTVM37PQ7357O7KQHAY-1536x946.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/YVOFDSRNTVM37PQ7357O7KQHAY-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A customer walks beneath the logo of South African supermarket operator Pick n Pay in Cape Town, South Africa, April 26 2016. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The Ackerman family, which founded South Africa&#8217;s Pick n Pay&nbsp;PIKJ.J, will relinquish control of the struggling retailer as part of a revamp aimed at stemming losses, cutting debt and regaining market share.



Gareth Ackerman will also retire as chairman after 14 years in the job and 40 years at the company, though he will stay on to support management until next year&#8217;s annual results.



New CEO Sean Summers is tasked with reviving a business that has been losing market share to bigger rival Shoprite&nbsp;SHPJ.J&nbsp;and others for more than a decade.



Founded by Raymond Ackerman in 1967, Pick n Pay was once South Africa&#8217;s largest retailer, but &#8220;inappropriate strategic initiatives&#8221; over the last decade failed to prevent profit declines in the core business, Gareth Ackerman said on Monday.



This led the group, whose crown jewel is discount grocery chain Boxer, to report a comparable loss before tax and capital items of 1.67 billion rand ($91 million) in the year ended Feb. 25, from a profit of 1.8 billion rand the year before.



Summers announced a two-step recapitalisation plan earlier this year that includes a rights issue to raise up to 4 billion rand and Boxer&#8217;s listing in order to cut the group&#8217;s 6.1 billion rand of debt and help fund its new strategy.



Ackerman Investment Holdings (AIH) supports the plan and will invest up to 1.025 billion rand in the rights offer.



But AIH and related persons have also agreed to forgo control of Pick n Pay, such that their voting rights will fall slightly below 50% after the planned offer, the company added.



AIH will also relinquish the right to nominate the chair, CEO and finance chief, and the Ackerman family&#8217;s representation on the board of directors will reduce to three members from four.



&#8220;We need new blood and ideas,&#8221; Gareth Ackerman said.



Chief Financial Officer Lerena Olivier told investors the retailer needed about 10-12 billion rand of capital, with 6-8 billion projected to come from the Boxer listing.



&#8216;QUALITY NOT QUANTITY&#8217;



Under Summers&#8217; new plan, over 100 loss-making Pick n Pay supermarket stores will be closed or converted to Pick n Pay franchise or Boxer stores, resulting in about 850 million rand of savings.



He said he expected the core Pick n Pay business to break-even in its 2027 financial year, and would also revamp the company&#8217;s operating model, with about 1.3 billion rand of cost cuts targeted over the next three years.



&#8220;It&#8217;s not a race to see who can have the most stores. Retail is not about having the most stores, it&#8217;s about which stores and where and for us it&#8217;s going to be a flight to quality not quantity,&#8221; Summers said.



($1 = 18.4008 rand)



(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Stephen Coates and Mark Potter)

FILE PHOTO: A customer walks beneath the logo of South African supermarket operator Pick n Pay in Cape Town

Ackerman family cedes control of South Africa’s Pick n Pay in revamp

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423556" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Illustration photo shows a two-rand coin above a South African flag April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s rand was little changed early on Monday at the start of a packed week headlined by the national election and also featuring an interest rate decision and a slew of other economic data releases.



At 0715 GMT, the rand traded at 18.4325 against the dollar&nbsp;ZAR=D3, not far from its previous close of 18.4250.



South Africans vote in national and provincial elections on May 29, with market participants eager to learn whether the governing African National Congress would lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of apartheid in 1994.



&#8220;The local currency has managed to hold below the key 18.50 technical level for now, but with the election on Wednesday, we could still see some volatility and a possible break above,&#8221; said Andre Cilliers, currency strategist at TreasuryONE.



The South African Reserve Bank will announce its latest monetary policy decision on Thursday, a day after the election.



Monthly producer inflation, trade and budget balance data are also due this week.



On the stock market, the Top-40&nbsp;.JTOPI&nbsp;index was up 0.3% in early trade.



South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2030 government bond&nbsp;ZAR2030=&nbsp;was weaker, with the yield up 4.3 basis points to 10.578%.



(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Illustration photo of South African rand

South African rand steady as focus shifts toward elections, rate decision

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-491185" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Tiger Brands beverage production facility is seen in Germiston, South Africa November 17, 2022. REUTERS/James Oatway</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 27 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s Tiger Brands&nbsp;TBSJ.J&nbsp;reported an 11% rise in half-year profit on Monday as the country&#8217;s biggest food producer hiked prices to recover higher input costs, although that dampened volume growth as customers reined in spending.



Consumer goods producers globally have raised prices to cope with surging costs for almost all raw materials, energy, and packaging after Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine compounded pandemic-related supply chain logjams.



&#8220;Consumers remain constrained and continue to rationalise spend, prioritising value offerings and staple categories,&#8221; the company said in a statement.



The owner of Jungle Oats and Koo baked beans said its headline earnings per share from total operations, a leading profit measure in South Africa, rose to 808 cents in the six months ended March 31, from 731 cents a year ago.



It also declared an interim dividend of 350 cents per share, up 9%.



Group revenue declined 0.8% to 19.2 billion rand ($1.04 billion) year-on-year, as higher prices squeezed volumes.



The company said it expected customer spending to continue, citing restrained wage growth amid the surge in inflation.



($1 = 18.4040 rand)



(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Nqobile Dludla, Bhargav Acharya, Kirsten Donovan)

Tiger Brands beverage manufacturing facility in South Africa

South Africa’s Tiger Brands half-year profit rises 11%

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="559" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RLSNGTM6G5NE7C4IJFIL2VTIHE-820x559.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-484600" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RLSNGTM6G5NE7C4IJFIL2VTIHE-820x559.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RLSNGTM6G5NE7C4IJFIL2VTIHE-300x204.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RLSNGTM6G5NE7C4IJFIL2VTIHE-132x90.jpg 132w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RLSNGTM6G5NE7C4IJFIL2VTIHE-768x523.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RLSNGTM6G5NE7C4IJFIL2VTIHE-1536x1047.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/RLSNGTM6G5NE7C4IJFIL2VTIHE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Supporters of the African National Congress hold the party flag during ANC campaign in Atteridgeville a township located to the west of Pretoria, South Africa July 5, 2016. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 26 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africans will vote on Wednesday with widespread anger over power cuts, joblessness and corruption&nbsp;threatening to end the dominance of the African National Congress, thirty years after Nelson Mandela led it into power.



At no point since world media beamed iconic images of Black South African voters queueing to cast ballots for the first time&nbsp;following the end of white-minority rule&nbsp;has the ANC looked so likely to lose its parliamentary majority.



Polls suggest the ANC&#8217;s share of the vote could fall as low as 40%, compared with 57.5% in 2019, which would force the party into a wobbly coalition with rivals &#8211; and potentially expose President Cyril Ramaphosa to a leadership challenge.



Yet a survey released earlier this week by Afrobarometer suggested a third of voters were undecided, making this poll the most unpredictable in South Africa&#8217;s democratic history.



Nicole Beardsworth, politics researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, sees the ANC getting &#8220;a bit of a bump&#8221; on the day, confounding the worst predictions &#8211; especially with Ramaphosa&#8217;s introduction this month of popular measures such as a national health insurance law and proposed basic income grant.



&#8220;But I don&#8217;t think we&#8217;re going to see the ANC get over 50%,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They&#8217;re &#8230; going to have negotiate a coalition. The big question is: with whom?&#8221;



Much will depend on how well or badly they do, she said. A small margin would enable them to do a deal with a marginal party with limited leverage to make significant demands.



Bigger losses could mean a coalition with the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) &#8211; a prospect that makes business leaders and South Africa&#8217;s privileged white minority shudder &#8211; or with several small parties that could thwart decision-making.



Yet some think punishment at the polls could be a catalyst for the ANC to clean&nbsp;itself&nbsp;up: &#8220;A different party might come out of it,&#8221; independent analyst Ralph Mathekga said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-achievements-and-failures">ACHIEVEMENTS AND FAILURES</h2>



For three decades the ANC has traded off its legacy of freeing the Black majority from white rulers&nbsp;whose apartheid system&nbsp;took their land, kept them poor and uneducated, and forbade them to visit most of the country except to clean houses or dig gold mines.



In its early years in government, it began reversing these inequities &#8211; bringing electricity, water and half-decent housing to millions.



But corruption and incompetence have eroded some of those gains. State power provider Eskom&#8217;s creaking coal-fired power stations haven&#8217;t kept up with demand, causing frequent blackouts, while roads, sewage treatment plants and schools rot from the inside. A third of South Africans are jobless.



&#8220;I don&#8217;t see what I&#8217;m voting for. We don&#8217;t have roads (or decent) houses,&#8221; Zinhle Nyakenye, 31 and unemployed, told Reuters in Mandela&#8217;s home town of Qunu, as she fetched water for household use from a stream.



Corruption has spread, although a strong rule of law &#8211; one of the ANC&#8217;s most enduring legacies &#8211; has resulted in legal proceedings against powerful people such as ex-president Jacob Zuma, while the parliamentary speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula resigned last month. Both deny wrongdoing.



Zuma in December created a breakaway party called uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) that could take votes from the ANC in its eastern Zulu heartlands. It may also stir up trouble if Zuma&#8217;s supporters &#8211; who rioted and looted for days when he was arrested for contempt of court in July 2021 &#8211; don&#8217;t like the results.



But South Africa&#8217;s robust legal system also means rules for coalition building are clear, even if the players have never done it, said Chatham House&#8217;s Chris Vandome.



&#8220;South Africa&#8217;s system was designed so that political parties in a very fractured country could work together,&#8221; Vandome said. &#8220;It was never designed for a dominant party to maintain absolute control &#8230; for 30 years.&#8221;



(Additional reporting by Nellie Peyton and Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Estelle Shirbon and Toby Chopra)

Supporters of the African National Congress hold the party flag during ANC president Jacob Zuma’s election campaign in Atteridgeville a township located to the west of Pretoria

South African election could spell the end of ANC dominance

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/KWU57PCES5KMPLXRN6DA4Y32LI-820x533.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-490133" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/KWU57PCES5KMPLXRN6DA4Y32LI-820x533.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/KWU57PCES5KMPLXRN6DA4Y32LI-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/KWU57PCES5KMPLXRN6DA4Y32LI-139x90.jpg 139w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/KWU57PCES5KMPLXRN6DA4Y32LI-768x499.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/KWU57PCES5KMPLXRN6DA4Y32LI-1536x998.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/KWU57PCES5KMPLXRN6DA4Y32LI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A man walks past election posters of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), as South Africa prepares for the May 29 general elections, in Soweto, South Africa, May 24, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africans vote in national and provincial elections on May 29 with opinion polls suggesting the governing African National Congress will lose its majority for the first time in the democratic era, while remaining the largest party.



Under South Africa&#8217;s constitution, voters elect 400 members of the National Assembly, who then elect the president by a simple majority. In all previous elections since 1994, the ANC won and lawmakers elected the party&#8217;s leader as president.



Here are scenarios that could unfold this time, depending on the electoral maths.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anc-outperforms-polls-and-wins">ANC OUTPERFORMS POLLS AND WINS</h2>



In recent months, several polls suggested ANC support was hovering around the 40% mark, which would represent a collapse from its performance in 2019, when it won 57.5% of the vote.



However, a tracking poll suggests ANC support has risen in the weeks leading up to election day. Analysts say the party has an unmatched grassroots campaigning machine, with activists going door-to-door in communities across the country.



Over the past four electoral cycles, the ANC&#8217;s share of the vote gradually dropped, but never by more than five percentage points from one election to the next.



If the ANC wins a majority, it is highly likely that President Cyril Ramaphosa, the party leader, would be re-elected as head of state by the new National Assembly.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anc-loses-majority-and-ramaphosa-gets-ousted">ANC LOSES MAJORITY AND RAMAPHOSA GETS OUSTED</h2>



If the ANC loses its majority by a wide margin and Ramaphosa is blamed, the party could seek to oust him as its leader and nominate someone else for the National Assembly to elect as South African president.



It would have to move quickly as the constitution says the new National Assembly must convene within 14 days of the election result being declared to elect a president.



Most analysts say this is unlikely unless the ANC vote share is around 40% or less, a worst-case-scenario for the party. A more&nbsp;probable&nbsp;scenario would be for Ramaphosa to hand over to a successor in an orderly transition part way through his term.



Whether Ramaphosa stays or goes, the overwhelmingly likely scenario is that he or the next ANC leader will be president after the election. There would have to be a colossal upset for another party to have a chance of winning the presidency.



Regardless of whether Ramaphosa or someone else is president, if the ANC loses its majority it will need support from one or more other parties to keep governing.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anc-narrowly-loses-majority-and-seeks-small-partners">ANC NARROWLY LOSES MAJORITY AND SEEKS SMALL PARTNERS</h2>



If the ANC comes close enough to 50%, it will try to make a deal with small- or medium-sized parties to form a government.



Analysts say the socially conservative Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), which is strong in KwaZulu-Natal province and is polling at about 5% nationally, could be the ANC&#8217;s first choice, though the IFP leader says it would rather not prop up the ANC.



The two parties were in violent conflict during the final years of apartheid, but worked together in the government of national unity that was formed after the 1994 election.



Other potential partners include the small Muslim party Al-Jama&#8217;ah and the Patriotic Alliance, which draws its support from the mixed-race community.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anc-loses-majority-by-wider-margin-and-seeks-larger-partner">ANC LOSES MAJORITY BY WIDER MARGIN AND SEEKS LARGER PARTNER</h2>



Depending on the numbers, the party may have no choice but to seek support from one of its larger rivals: the free-market Democratic Alliance (DA) or the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).



The price of a deal with either of those would likely be significant policy concessions by the ANC, as well as the offer of some senior government positions for their partner.



Analysts say it is difficult to envisage a stable arrangement under this scenario, and South Africa could be facing a period of unprecedented government volatility.



Investors and the business community would prefer a deal with the DA, which has said it would not rule one out. However, many analysts think the ideological divide between the ANC and the DA is so wide as to make a deal difficult or impossible.



Led by Julius Malema, a former leader of the ANC&#8217;s youth wing, the EFF may be a more natural fit for the ANC, but relations are tense between Malema and some ANC factions.



The EFF said in April it would partner with the ANC if it got the powerful post of finance minister. The ANC, which has not disclosed its thinking on any non-majority scenario, would be unlikely to agree to this unless it were hugely weakened.



Steven Friedman, an academic affiliated with the University of Johannesburg and Rhodes University, said it was hard to imagine the ANC and the EFF governing together for five years.



He cited their inability last year to agree on a constitutional change on land reform even though their positions on the issue are closely aligned.



(Additional reporting by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Estelle Shirbon and Toby Chopra)

South Africa prepares for the May 29 general elections, in Soweto

Will South Africa have a new government or president after 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/2023/12/GettyImages-1251771740-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-432767" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1251771740-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1251771740-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1251771740-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1251771740-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1251771740-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/GettyImages-1251771740-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ebrahim Patel, South Africa&#8217;s trade minister, speaks during the South Africa Investment Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Thursday, April 13, 2023. Today&#8217;s conference starts as data this week showed that the South African economy has probably entered a technical recession. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 24 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s trade, industry and competition minister Ebrahim Patel said on Friday he will retire from cabinet after the May 29 national election,&nbsp;the latest longstanding economics figure from the ruling African National Congress to step down from government.



Patel&#8217;s department oversees a number of regulatory and financial development agencies, including the competition commission which would have a say in any potential new bid by BHP Group BHP.AX for Anglo American AAL.L.



&#8220;It has been a great honour to serve my country as a member of cabinet for 15 years and three terms of office,&#8221; Patel said in a statement. &#8220;I have advised the President that I will conclude my service in cabinet at the end of this third term.&#8221;



President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Patel as trade minister in 2019. Prior to this, he was the Minister of Economic Development.



South Africa&#8217;s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan also announced in March that he would not be available to serve in the next national executive after the election.



Gordhan oversees state entities including struggling power utility Eskom and logistics firm Transnet, whose poor performances have dragged down South Africa&#8217;s economic growth.



Ramaphosa&#8217;s ANC is at risk of losing its parliamentary majority for first time since 1994, according to polls.



(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Toby Chopra)

Key Speakers at the South Africa Investment Conference

South Africa’s trade and competition minister Patel to exit cabinet after election

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="555" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/QHXVUHX3MJJHRDRSFYCEORRMQ4-2-1-820x555.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-469888" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/QHXVUHX3MJJHRDRSFYCEORRMQ4-2-1-820x555.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/QHXVUHX3MJJHRDRSFYCEORRMQ4-2-1-300x203.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/QHXVUHX3MJJHRDRSFYCEORRMQ4-2-1-133x90.jpg 133w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/QHXVUHX3MJJHRDRSFYCEORRMQ4-2-1-768x520.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/QHXVUHX3MJJHRDRSFYCEORRMQ4-2-1-1536x1040.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/QHXVUHX3MJJHRDRSFYCEORRMQ4-2-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People walk past the Bank of Ghana in Accra, Ghana, November 28, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ACCRA, May 24 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Ghana has agreed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with its bilateral creditors, including China and France, to restructure $5.4 billion of debt, two government sources said on Friday, one-and-a-half years after the West African country defaulted.



The MoU paves the way for the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to approve the disbursement of $360 million under Ghana&#8217;s $3 billion, three-year bailout programme, which is expected next month.



Once signed, the agreement would form the basis of a deal to restructure loans its official creditors, including China and France under the Paris Club of creditor, agreed in January.



Ghana&#8217;s Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam is due to hold a press briefing on Friday morning.



Ghana was the second country in Africa to default on most of its $30 billion external debt during the pandemic as the exporter of gold, cocoa and oil battled to emerge from its worst economic crisis in a generation. The first country was Zambia.



Ghana&#8217;s economy has since started to recover, with inflation easing from 54.1% in December 2022 to 25% in April 2024 and 2023 growth of 2.9% exceeding the IMF&#8217;s 2.3%.



Together with Zambia and Ethiopia, the world&#8217;s second-biggest cocoa producer is reworking its debt under the G20 Common Framework, a process set up during the pandemic to speed up debt overhauls.



However, progress has been slow, holding back the countries&#8217; economic recoveries and access to much needed overseas loans, aid and investment.



The IMF declared Ghana&#8217;s debt unsustainable in its Debt Sustainability Analysis (DSA) and is aiming for the country to restore itself to a &#8220;moderate&#8221; risk of debt distress by 2028.



This would bring Ghana&#8217;s public debt-to-GDP ratio from 88.1% at the end of 2022 to 55% by 2028.



Terms with official creditors will be of interest to Ghana bondholders, who are next in line for a deal, as they will seek an equitable solution under the comparability of treatment principle, a key element of the Common Framework for debt restructuring.



Ghana did in April find common ground with some of its biggest bondholders, including Western asset managers and hedge funds as well as regional African banks. But the IMF said that the interim deal was outside the DSA threshold and needed to be tweaked.



The regional African banks had also rejected parts of the deal, including an option to retain the original value of the bonds with a longer maturity and lower coupon.



The government said it was working to satisfy the IMF&#8217;s requirements.



The country concluded a domestic debt restructuring in October, during which 206 billion Ghanaian cedi ($17.5 billion) was swapped for longer-dated, lower-interest debt, resulting in 61 billion Ghanaian cedi of savings, then Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta said.



(Reporting by Maxwell Akalaare Adombila; Writing by Sofia Christensen, Karin Strohecker and Portia Crowe; Editing by Alison Williams and Subhranshu Sahu)

Reuters

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Reuters

Rwanda central bank cuts key rate as inflation seen within target

Anglo rejects BHP’s last-ditch attempt to continue takeover talks

AfDB aims to boost infrastructure funding as African growth accelerates

IFC launches $4 bln platform to support small firms in developing markets

South Africa’s Ramaphosa steers ANC into potentially pivotal election

Zambia set to emerge from default after bondholders back $3 bln debt rework

South African Markets – Factors to watch on May 28

Post-COVID, China is back in Africa and doubling down on minerals

Mozambique central bank cuts key rate for third meeting in a row

Ghana central bank holds rate as currency slide slows disinflation

Ackerman family cedes control of South Africa’s Pick n Pay in revamp

South African rand steady as focus shifts toward elections, rate decision

South Africa’s Tiger Brands half-year profit rises 11%

South African election could spell the end of ANC dominance

Will South Africa have a new government or president after election?

South Africa’s trade and competition minister Patel to exit cabinet after election

Ghana seals debt restructuring deal with official creditors, sources say

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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