Africa’s Richest Man, Aliko Dangote over the weekend took a group made up of key media houses and MBA graduates from the Lagos Business School for a tour around his latest business venture, the largest single train petroleum refinery in the world with a production capacity of about 650,000 barrels per day, see images below. 
The $12 billion Dangote Oil Refinery which is scheduled to open in 2019 will be 40 per cent larger than the current largest refinery which only has a capacity of 450, 000 barrels per day. The plant will also house Africa’s largest urea plant with a capacity of 3 million tons per annum as well as 1,100kms of sub sea pipeline infrastructure to handle 3 billion SCF of gas per day.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/DANGOTE-2-IMG_6889.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="960" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-130076" />
“We are bullish on Africa, the Dangote group is driving six major projects which will create about 250, 000 jobs and provide FX earnings and savings of $15 billion. This refinery will create 60,000 jobs with 20,000 of them onsite”, says Dangote. 
[bc_video video_id=&#8221;5486942943001&#8243; account_id=&#8221;1571595826001&#8243; player_id=&#8221;default&#8221;] 
Located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, the site occupies about 2100 hectares of land, which is about six times the size of Victoria Island, Nigeria’s sprawling cosmopolitan town with the highest concentration of high net worth individuals in the country. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/DANGOTE-3IMG_6888.jpg" alt="" width="768" height="1024" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-130077" />
“We believe the best time to invest is during a downturn and it is our goal to diversify the Nigerian economy and as a result we have also increased our investment in agriculture and agro processing with projections of producing 1 million MT of milled and parboiled rice”, says Dangote.
The refinery will create its own power which will run on natural gas with a projected supply of 12, 000 MW of power which will be readily available for commercial use and also meet the demand for petrochemical products in Nigeria.

Inside billionaire Aliko Dangote’s $12bn Dangote Oil Refinery

ROME (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Making agriculture profitable and &#8220;cool&#8221; for young people in Africa is key to lifting millions out of poverty and stemming migration to Europe, said the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Akinwumi Adesina was named the winner of this year&#8217;s World Food Prize on Monday for his decades-long work to boost food production in his native Nigeria, increase access to credit for small farmers across Africa and transform the continent&#8217;s agriculture.
Kenneth Quinn, president of the Des Moines, Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation, said the $250,000 award reflected Adesina&#8217;s &#8220;breakthrough achievements&#8221; as Nigeria&#8217;s minister of agriculture and his critical role in the development of the nonprofit Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Adesina, 57, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation he was humbled by the award but felt his work to ensure Africa could feed itself was &#8220;uncompleted business&#8221;.
Almost 30 percent of the 795 million people in the world who do not have enough to eat are in Africa, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
&#8220;When I look at Africa today I see that many rural areas unfortunately have become zones of economic misery,&#8221; Adesina said in a phone interview ahead of the award&#8217;s announcement.
No sector has greater potential to revive those areas than agriculture, but investments are needed to make it attractive for young people, many of whom risk their lives migrating in search of better opportunities in Europe, Adesina said.
&#8220;We must make agriculture cool for young people,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;The key is to make agriculture a business. Agriculture is not a way of life, is not a development activity, it&#8217;s a business.&#8221;
Africa has 65 percent of the world&#8217;s uncultivated arable land but imports food for $35 billion every year, a bill that is expected to swell to $110 billion by 2025, he said.
&#8220;It makes no sense. That is food Africa should be producing, processing, selling and exporting,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;Africa in the future should not only feed itself but it must contribute to feeding the world.&#8221;
Toward this end, agriculture must become more industrialized, with farmers gaining better access to seeds, fertilizer, credit, power and infrastructure, he said.
Farmers should be supported to transform from producers of raw materials, such as cocoa and cotton, to manufacturers of finished goods such as chocolate and garments, which have less volatile prices, Adesina said.
To accelerate growth, the AfDB aimed to invest $12 billion in the energy sector, hoping to leverage another $50 billion from the private sector, he said.
Last year, AfDB had invested $800 million to support young agro-entrepreneurs in eight countries and planned to extend the scheme to 30 nations, he added.
Adesina called on governments and institutional investors, such as pension and insurance funds, to &#8220;see the gold&#8221; in African agriculture and invest in it to unlock its potential.
He said he was convinced the future billionaires of Africa would come from agriculture.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t believe that the future of African youth lies at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;The future of African young people lies in a more prosperous and inclusive Africa, and there is no other sector that has greater power to create growth than the agricultural sector.&#8221;
Adesina was named winner of the World Food Prize, regarded as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for agriculture, in a ceremony on Monday at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington.
(Reporting by Umberto Bacchi @UmbertoBacchi, Editing by Alisa Tang. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women&#8217;s rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience.

Future of African youth lies in agriculture, not Europe: AfDB President

AfDB’s Akinwumi Adesina named 2017 World Food Prize Laureate

South Africa&#8217;s Naspers (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NPNJn.J">NPNJn.J</a>) does not plan to spin off its $114 billion stake in Tencent, its boss said on Monday, a push back against investors urging a break-up to close a widening discount between its market value and that of its one-third stake in the Chinese internet company.
Founded in 1915, Naspers has transformed itself from an apartheid-era newspaper publisher into an $85 billion multinational with private equity-style investments in e-commerce platforms such as auction sites, online retail and e-classifieds.
But it owes much of that valuation to its 33 percent Tencent (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=0700.HK">0700.HK</a>) stake, which is worth about $114 billion, or 20 percent more than Naspers itself. The discount has prompted some investors to urge Chief Executive Bob van Dijk to find ways to narrow it.
&#8220;From the moment Tencent was listed on Hong Kong stock exchange, some had been asking us to do that. You can imagine how unhappy shareholders would be if I had done that 10 years ago,&#8221; van Dijk told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The value of Naspers&#8217; stake surged from around $231 million to around $114 billion in 2004 when Tencent floated on the Hong Kong stock exchange.
Tencent, which runs China&#8217;s biggest gaming and social media firm, shot past forecasts to post its highest quarterly profit in over two years last month, helped by strong growth in gaming and payments.
Tencent is among the firms best placed to benefit from the roll out of faster 4G mobile network in China because it uses its instant messaging platform WeChat &#8211; a social media fabric in China &#8211; to sell other services such a music and video streaming.
Van Dijk said the discount would narrow as and when the company&#8217;s e-commerce businesses, whose losses have been rising every year since 2012, contribute to the bottom line.
&#8220;We&#8217;re working very hard to build our e-commerce businesses and I&#8217;m confident that the discount will narrow over time as those businesses get closer and closer to profitability,&#8221; he said, without giving further details.
Naspers has splurged around $4 billion since 2012 to drive growth mainly in commerce platforms that include mobile classifieds apps Letgo and OLX &#8211; the biggest classified sites in India and Brazil &#8211; but it has little to show for its investments so far.
It once again rode the breakneck rise of Tencent to lift its annual earnings by more than 40 percent on Friday while the e-commerce unit widened losses to $682 million.
Some investors insist pinning hopes on the e-commerce business is not the best solution to close the discount and that van Dijk should still consider hiving off the Tencent holding.
&#8220;The most effective measure is to spin-off the Tencent stake to Naspers&#8217; shareholders,&#8221; AIM&amp;R Managing Director Albert Saporta said in open letter dated June 15 and addressed to van Dijk.
&#8220;You will not be the CEO of South Africa&#8217;s largest company by market capitalization anymore, but you will greatly enhance shareholder value.&#8221;
(Editing by Susan Thomas)

South Africa’s Naspers rules out $114 billion Tencent stake spin-off

During the independence struggle, leaders like Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah <a href="http://feintandmargin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Africa-Must-Unite.pdf">argued</a> that Africa could only rid itself of the scourges of slavery, colonialism, imperialism and racism as a single united entity. The dream was of a fully integrated <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foDlCCudcsE">United States of Africa</a>.
Instead, <a href="https://www.academia.edu/22297466/THE_CONCEPT_OF_STATE_SOVEREIGNTY_FROM_THE_1648_TREATY_OF_WESTPHALIA_TO_THE_PRESENT_DAY">Westphalian principles</a> which focus on state sovereignty and territorial integrity prevailed. Post-colonial Africa emerged as a community of independent, fully sovereign nation-states, loosely affiliated through the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) <a href="http://www.au2002.gov.za/docs/background/oau_to_au.htm">established in 1963</a>.
With colonialism and apartheid out of the way the OAU became largely dysfunctional and was <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/organisation-african-unity-oau">replaced</a> by the African Union (AU) in 2001.
More recently, the AU has promoted new dynamics in a bid to meet the challenges of globalisation. Accelerating regional integration is one of them. What this means is that African integration is back on the table.
The European Union (EU) is by far the most successful <a href="https://www.cfr.org/report/european-union-model-regional-integration">integration experiment</a> the modern world has seen. Despite the many differences between Europe and Africa, and the AU and EU, European integration is widely considered as a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2015.1119718">model for regional integration</a> and a credible example for Africa to consider.
But the UK’s decision to leave the EU, and other problems faced by the bloc over the past decade, have shown the union to be less than perfect. Under the circumstances, is the EU the best legal blueprint for African integration?
<h2>Giving up sovereign powers</h2>
The EU was formed <a href="https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/history/1945-1959_en">in response</a> to the death and destruction of World War Two. Since then it has successfully brought Europe together, developing an internal single market aimed at the free movement of people, goods, services and capital. Equally important is the fact that EU institutions have the power to make laws. This means that members states have given EU institutions supranational powers to make binding decisions. Ceding these law making powers has played an important role in driving integration.
The EU project led to the bloc becoming a major world trading power and its <a>GDP per capita</a> is now ahead of the US.
Integration across Africa has been weak and ineffectual. Effective integration would bring an opportunity for Africans to collectively take charge of its daunting security, socio-economic and governance problems. And a unified approach would help countries achieve the goals of peace and prosperity <a href="http://www.achpr.org/instruments/au-constitutive-act/">for all African citizens</a>.
The AU says that it’s committed to integration. But so far there’s been very little content to this idea. What we find in Africa is cooperation without integration.
The AU mimics many of the EU institutions in terms of its formal structures. Like the EU, it has its own legislative, executive and judicial bodies in the form of the Pan African Parliament, an Assembly (heads of state), Executive Council (Ministers) and a Court of Justice. But, unlike the EU, institutions don’t have supranational powers enabling them to make binding decisions.
Instead, Africa pursues what it calls “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10220461.2015.1119718">cooperative multilateralism</a>” – a commitment to cooperation alongside keeping the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of member states and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is where the AU’s main problem lies.
Absolute sovereignty is the polar opposite of supranationalism. This gets in the way of binding AU decisions being passed, leaving a legal vacuum that will have to be filled if member states are to collectively develop the capacity and political will to take charge of Africa’s destiny.
But it won’t be easy. National sovereignty has remained a hot potato in the EU and lies at the heart of the UK’s decision to leave. Calls to “<a href="http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/681706/Boris-Johnson-vote-Brexit-take-back-control">take back control</a>” helped to mobilise the support of voters. Promises of restoring national sovereignty – increasing control over the fiscus and borders – managed to clinch it for the leave campaign.
At a superficial level, the British referendum could be seen as an endorsement of the traditional view taken by African governments that sovereign powers shouldn’t be compromised.
African states aren’t ready to shift loyalties to a new centre with political authority over national states. Most believe that a transfer of power will inevitably compromise political independence. This in turn would challenge impunity from accountability that protects many African politicians.
<h2>Finding a balance</h2>
Everything considered, the EU remains a prime example of the benefits regional integration can bring to a continent willing to cooperate.
But AU institutions should only be given supranational powers if it’s done in a way that meets African interests and reflects a balance between regional and national powers.
For that to happen, there needs for a deep trust of governments and ordinary people. And the case needs to be made that the centre can add more than it is taking away when it comes to well-being, security and prosperity.
Recent events in the EU have shown that finding the right balance between regional and national powers is crucial. This balance must be tailored to continental realities. African nations must be convinced that transferring powers would be more beneficial than clinging to absolute sovereignty.
A balance of power can only be achieved by limiting the jurisdiction of the AU to certain mutually agreed areas of cooperation. In these areas AU law would impose legally binding obligations and override national law.
At the same time, any new arrangement cannot allow national sovereignty to continue unlimited.
Striking this balance might entail taking hard decisions. Two big areas of contention would be accepting some interference in domestic affairs and, secondly, endowing the Pan African Parliament with law making powers.
African nations might be persuaded to adopt an EU-style model given the major benefits to trade between member states. Trade within African has far from reached its potential. Intracontinental trade could be enhanced and streamlined.
But the real question is whether the political elite will be willing to take these lessons on board.

Despite Brexit, the EU still holds valuable lessons for African integration

Britain said it will maintain duty-free access to its markets once it has left the European Union for goods from nearly 50 developing countries including Bangladesh, Sierra Leone and Haiti.
The government said around 48 countries would continue to benefit from tariff-free exports on all goods other than arms and ammunition to the UK and that once it had left the EU in 2019 it would explore options to expand trade relations further.
&#8220;Our departure from the EU is an opportunity to step up to our commitments to the rest of the world, not step away from them,&#8221; International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said in a statement.
&#8220;Free and fair trade has been the greatest liberator of the world&#8217;s poor, and today&#8217;s announcement shows our commitment to helping developing countries grow their economies and reduce poverty through trade.&#8221;
Britain embarked on its negotiations to leave the EU earlier this week, agreeing to deal first with EU priorities such as a possible &#8220;Brexit bill&#8221; before discussing future trade deals with the bloc.
According to the government, around 20 billion pounds a year of goods were shipped to Britain from these developing countries, accounting for around half of its clothing, a quarter of its coffee and other goods such as cocoa, bananas and roses.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by John Stonestreet)

UK to maintain duty-free access for developing countries after Brexit

DAR ES SALAAM (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Sadick Thenest remembers how his 8-year-old daughter had a narrow brush with death two years ago, when she contracted cholera after drinking contaminated water.
“She was so gaunt, weak and had terrible diarrhea,” said the refugee from Burundi. “A slight delay in rushing her to hospital would have meant something else &#8211; but with God’s grace she survived.”
The father of four, aged 35, is among thousands of refugees grappling with frequent outbreaks of waterborne diseases in the crowded Nyarugusu camp in western Tanzania, due to poor sanitation.
“Living in a refugee camp is a constant struggle. You either stick to health rules or contract diseases,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.
The health risks in Nyarugusu camp &#8211; home to around 100,000 refugees, mainly from Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo &#8211; have grown due to an influx of people this year, amid spikes in the political instability afflicting both countries.
But Thenest, who came to the camp two years ago at the height of political tensions in Burundi, has learned how to protect his family from bouts of diarrheal diseases &#8211; a major cause of death in children under five.
“I always ensure that my children use clean and safe water,” he said. “I have instructed them to wash their hands with soap after using a toilet.”
Thenest, who works as a technician with international engineering charity Water Mission, said the health situation in the camp is improving as more people get access to clean water from a recently installed solar-powered water treatment facility.
“The plant produces thousands of liters every day &#8211; women no longer go far to fetch water,” he said.
As part of a broader initiative to help refugees access clean energy and sanitation, Water Mission is installing more such plants in three refugee camps in western Tanzania.
The $5.3 million project, funded by the Denmark-based Poul Due Jensen Foundation, is expected to provide safe water for some 250,000 refugees in Nyarugusu, Nduta and Mtendeli camps.
Benjamin Filskov, Water Mission’s country director, said “huge” investment in solar technologies by the organization would help communities access clean and safe water, and contribute towards achieving the world’s development goals.
“We will document saved lives and ensure general public health, as a result of safe water,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
According to Water Mission, the Tanzania project aims to pump 100 percent of the water using solar power, with diesel generators as back up.
A recent shipment of 780 solar panels to Tanzania will produce 226,000 watts of power and provide a continuous supply of safe water to keep children in good health, it said in a statement.
JORDAN SOLAR FARM
With rising use of renewable energy, refugee communities in Africa and the Middle East are increasingly embracing solar power to help build their economic resilience, reduce deforestation and prevent violence against women and girls.
From Dadaab in Kenya, to Darfur in western Sudan and Azraq in Jordan, solar power is being deployed to provide affordable and sustainable energy solutions for tens of thousands of displaced people.
In semi-arid eastern Kenya, Africa&#8217;s largest solar-powered borehole &#8211; equipped with 278 solar panels &#8211; is providing 16,000 refugees in Dadaab camp with a daily average of about 280,000 liters of water, which they use for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene, according to the European Commission.
In Azraq, a 2-megawatt solar farm that started operating in May &#8211; the world&#8217;s first in a refugee camp &#8211; has enabled the U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, to provide free, clean electricity to 20,000 Syrian refugees, covering the energy needs of two villages connected to the national grid.
Refugee families can now run a fridge, TV, fans and lights in their shelters, and recharge their phones, which is crucial for maintaining contact with loved ones abroad, the agency said.
Yet while access to clean energy for refugees and their host communities is a global priority for UNHCR, analysts say millions of displaced people still lack access to sustainable, cheap energy sources because of a lack of funding.
SAFETY FOR WOMEN
At Kakuma refugee camp in northwest Kenya, residents receive 10 kg of firewood for cooking every eight weeks, but for most, it is not enough, said Anna Okello, a research analyst with Practical Action Consulting International who works in the camp.
The need to gather extra firewood often results in personal security problems as adolescent girls and women face sexual harassment when they go out to collect it, she said.
Clean energy sources like solar can deliver benefits to refugees by enhancing safety, security, health and livelihoods, she added.
“If reliance on firewood can be lessened through solar cooking, this will have a direct impact on the development and protection of women in the camp,” she said.
For example, it frees up time otherwise spent on firewood collection or cleaning sooty pots, she explained.
A lack of electric power has caused other problems for Kakuma&#8217;s nearly 180,000 inhabitants.
“I don’t dare go to the toilet alone at night because it’s too dark,” said Aisha Ilanda, 31, from Congo.
Providing solar street lamps and lanterns and energy-efficient cooking stoves can greatly improve the lives of refugees and contribute to their protection, Okello said.
Introducing solar technology to Kakuma could also help build economic resilience among refugees who make up a vibrant community exploiting new business opportunities such as charging mobile phones and operating money transfer services like M-Pesa.
“Access to solar energy would help these businesses stay open longer; street lighting could make the streets safer; and solar lights can provide a safe learning space inside homes,” said Okello.
“The sun is plentiful in Africa &#8211; it’s free, it does not pollute and will never run out of power,” she added.
(Reporting by Kizito Makoye; editing by Megan Rowling. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, climate change, resilience, women&#8217;s rights, trafficking and property rights.

Solar energy powers clean water, business opportunities for refugees

Life’s unexpected moments of insight can come from anywhere. It could be a chance conversation in an airport, a magazine article that grabs your attention or simply a moment of clarity when you think about something from a different perspective. My own personal insight about tackling neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) wasn’t one of these instant lightning-bolt experiences. Instead, it slowly crystallised into view over a series of months. It began with the Higher Life Foundation’s support for a mass drug administration (MDA) in rural Zimbabwe and culminated in a breakfast at the World Economic Forum sanctioned side event that was organized by private philanthropic initiative, the <a href="http://www.end.org/">END Fund</a>.
READ: <a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/special-report/2017/02/17/africas-neglected-disease/">Africa&#8217;s neglected disease 
</a><a href="http://cnbc.africa/news/special-report/2016/12/14/eradicating-neglected-tropical-diseases/">Why this Nigerian multi-millionaire is working hard to eradicate neglected tropical diseases in Africa</a>
In November 2015, I joined the board of the <a href="https://www.higherlifefoundation.com/">Higher Life Foundation</a>, a hands-on philanthropic education initiative created by the founders of Econet Wireless. My job was to help shape its growth strategy. I hadn’t yet made the connection in my mind between the kind of education we were focused on providing and the simple knowledge and information that was needed to battle NTDs. But it was Econet’s part in a public private initiative as the communications partner in an MDA that provided the answer.
Over 500 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa at risk of, and need, treatment for NTDs. These diseases include intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, blinding trachoma, and river blindness. Debilitating symptoms such as blindness, severe pain, and fatigue result in adults being unable to work and children unable to attend school. Without access to education it’s harder to learn about, let alone change behavior that breaks the cycle of these pernicious diseases which reinforce the link between poor health and poverty.
For communities this is a tragedy, but for economies it’s a serious impediment to growth. The latest figures show the profound influence NTDs have on prosperity, with sub-Saharan Africa predicted to save US$52 billion in purchasing power parity by 2030 if it meets the World Health Organization’s 2020 control and elimination goals for the five most common NTDs.
To frame the challenge, how could we combat NTDs to begin the process of protecting people whilst setting the economy on the road to a brighter future? The issue of how to deliver the available treatment to a country’s entire population through an MDA seemed to depend on logistics. But part of the solution for Zimbabwe in this case lay in information, in educating people about what simple steps they needed to take to be rid of these diseases and that it was as easy as turning up to get the free medicine.
Econet enabled its mobile network to be used, via a donation of millions of SMS messages, as part of a larger public private partnership for MDA with the government, NGOs, and pharmaceutical companies. SMS messages letting people know when drugs would be available in hundreds of districts were sent out on a huge scale, supporting other communications about the MDA. Without this means of educating people simply around a few key facts, it would have been hard to reach the 4 million people who ended up being treated.
I recounted this story at a table with leaders from government, the church, the pharmaceutical industry and philanthropy. I was there to represent Higher Life at the END Fund’s World Economic Forum breakfast event. My role was to help everyone present grasp the power of public private philanthropic partnerships in tackling NTDs.  It was in that retelling that I clearly grasped another truth – the importance between education, health, and communication. If we can only keep the channels open, we can help people learn what they need to know to bring about the END of NTDs. If it can start with something as simple as turning up to take a pill in a mass drug administration, then a little bit of knowledge in this case, can be a very good thing indeed.

What you don’t know can hurt you: Why Africa can no longer ignore these diseases…

Botswana&#8217;s former president Ketumile Masire, an instrumental figure in establishing the southern African country&#8217;s image as a stable African democracy, has died, his aide said on Friday.
He was 91.
Masire was Botswana&#8217;s second president after independence in 1966 and was in office from 1980 to 1998 when he stepped down voluntarily.
Botswana, the world&#8217;s largest diamond producer and a haven for luxury safari tourism, has been one of the world&#8217;s fastest growing economies since the 1970s and has remained politically stable on a continent plagued by violence and corruption.
Masire had been in intensive care in a Gaborone hospital since last Friday after checking in for surgery. He died on Thursday.
&#8220;He died peacefully at Bokamoso Private Hospital surrounded by his family,&#8221; private secretary Fraser Tlhoiwe said in a statement.
(Writing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by Ralph Boulton)

Botswana ex-president Masire who helped steady democracy dies

JOHANNESBURG
The South African parliament will launch a court challenge against an anti-graft watchdog&#8217;s recommendation of constitutional changes to alter the mandate of the central bank, it said.
The legislative assembly joined the central bank and lender Barclays Africa in seeking a court review of Public Protector Busi Mkhwebane&#8217;s proposal to change the central bank&#8217;s primary mandate of maintaining currency and price stability to focus on economic growth.
&#8220;Parliament believes that the remedial action (mandate change), which is binding in terms of the law, usurps the powers of the institution under the Constitution,&#8221; it said in a statement posted on its website.
&#8220;Parliament will accordingly initiate a court application to have this remedial action set aside on the basis of its unconstitutionality.&#8221;
Mkhwebane made her proposal to a Pretoria news conference on Monday where she delivered her findings on an apartheid-era bailout of Barclays Africa Group. The lender has denied any wrongdoing.
Her call threatens to further stain South Africa&#8217;s image as an investor-friendly emerging market, coming less than a week after mines minister Mosebenzi spooked investors by raising the minimum threshold for black ownership of mining companies to 30 percent from 26 percent.
The independence row over the South African Reserve Bank has also highlighted divisions within the tripartite alliance of the ruling African National Congress, the country&#8217;s biggest union, Cosatu, and the South African Communist Party.
Both the ANC and the communist party are opposed to constitutional changes aimed at altering the role of the central bank while Cosatu backed calls for amendments.
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng)
&nbsp;

South African parliament opposes calls to change central bank mandate

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; South African President Jacob Zuma told parliament on Thursday the economy would come out of recession &#8220;quicker than we believe&#8221;, his first public comments since data showed Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy was struggling.
The country sank into recession for the first time in eight years in the first quarter, hit by weakness in consumer sectors such as wholesale, retail and accommodation.
Asked by a lawmaker why he should still be in office given the economic woes and personal scandals, Zuma said he was elected by the people.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Ed Cropley)
&nbsp;

Zuma says South Africa to leave recession “quicker than we believe”

South Africa&#8217;s top court, in a potential blow to President Jacob Zuma, ruled on Thursday that secret ballots may be held for motions of no confidence in parliament, but stopped short of ordering one.
A secret ballot is seen by Zuma&#8217;s critics as emboldening lawmakers from his own party to support his ouster by shielding them from pressure.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng said in effect that whether a secret ballot actually takes places is up to the Speaker of parliament.
Zuma, who will be in parliament later on Thursday, has survived four no-confidence votes during his eight years in power thanks to loyal voting by African National Congress (ANC) lawmakers, who form a strong parliamentary majority.
But opposition parties believe a recent cabinet reshuffle that led to the dismissal of respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan and a slew of credit rating downgrades have angered ANC MPs sufficiently to desert Zuma.
Speaker Baleka Mbete, a top ANC official, had said parliamentary rules did not allow for a secret ballot but the court disagreed.
In handing down a unanimous ruling by the full bench, Mogoeng said a vote in parliament should not be &#8220;a fear or money-inspired sham&#8221; and the Speaker should consider the interests of the country, rather than party, when deciding the nature of the vote.
&#8220;Crass dishonesty in the form of bribe-taking or other illegitimate methods of gaining undeserved majorities must not be discounted from the Speaker&#8217;s decision process,&#8221; he said. &#8220;When that happens in a motion of no-confidence, the outcome could betray the people&#8217;s interests.&#8221;
In a statement, the Speaker noted the court&#8217;s ruling that it was up to her.
&#8220;The Court has ruled that the Speaker of the National Assembly has the Constitutional power to determine if motions of no confidence should be conducted by way of a secret ballot or not,&#8221; her office said in a statement.
After the ruling, the rand pared its gains to 0.5 percent against the dollar from 1 percent earlier. The currency had firmed on hopes Mogoeng would order, rather than simply permit, a secret vote.
The ANC &#8212; once all-powerful as heir of South Africa&#8217;s anti-apartheid struggle &#8212; has lost popularity under Zuma, underscored by its worst electoral showing in over two decades of power in local elections last year.
One ANC lawmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that in a secret ballot they would vote for Zuma&#8217;s removal. &#8220;I would vote for him to go. He is ruining the country,&#8221; the legislator told Reuters.
Zuma&#8217;s administration has been best by scandals and criticized for failing to address serious economic problems.
South Africa has sunk into recession and had its credit rating downgraded to junk by two of the top three credit rating agencies. Unemployment is at a 14-year high of 27.7 percent.
SECRET BALLOT?
The main opposition Democratic Alliance party said Mbete now would have little choice but to call for a secret ballot.
&#8220;I think it&#8217;s a great day for democracy for South Africa. I think the speaker will be very hard pressed indeed to deny a secret ballot in this particular case,&#8221; said the party&#8217;s Federal Executive Chairperson James Selfe.
The ANC rallied behind Zuma, saying it will vote against the motion to remove the 75-year old leader. A successful vote of no-confidence would trigger the collapse of Zuma&#8217;s government.
&#8220;We have unqualified and unequivocal confidence in the ANC caucus not to vote in support of a motion to remove the president,&#8221; ANC&#8217;s parliamentary chief whip Jackson Mthembu said.
Zuma has suffered a string of judicial setbacks, but has held on to power with the backing of his party.
Zuma last month defeated mounting pressure against him within the ANC, surviving a no-confidence motion against him by several officials at a meeting of top members within the party.
Analysts said that there was no way the Speaker could be forced to call for a secret ballot vote against Zuma.
(Additional reporting by Wendell Roelf in Cape Town and Ed Cropley in Johannesburg; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

Zuma no-confidence vote can be secret, up to South Africa’s parliament

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LIVE: Secret Ballot judgment

Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Sujata Rao
A row over central bank independence could worsen South Africa&#8217;s bond sell-off after foreign investors last week dumped the biggest amount of the country&#8217;s securities in nearly five months over new ownership rules for mining companies.
Any erosion of central bank independence is likely to spook investors even more.
Foreigners were net sellers of local bonds last week, dumping 2.2 billion rand ($169 million) worth of debt, the biggest weekly sell-off since early February, Johannesburg Stock Exchange data showed.
Offshore investors then sold 1.1 billion rand in bonds on Monday, after the idea of changing the central bank&#8217;s mandate was floated, buying back 1.5 billion rand worth on Tuesday when the Reserve Bank said it would fight the proposal in court.
South African pension funds have already cut their holdings in local government bonds to the lowest level in nearly 4-1/2 years because of political turbulence in the country.
But yield-hungry foreign investors &#8212; who are the largest holders of South African government bonds &#8212; have been more resilient so far.
<div class="teads-inread"> This is partly because South Africa is in the Citi WGBI index, followed by many funds, and local debt is rated investment grade by two major agencies. If it lost that rating over central bank independence, up to $10 billion could flow out, analysts have estimated .</div>
S&amp;P Global Ratings has already warned South Africa that its rating could be cut deeper if the government meddles with the central bank.
The dispute &#8212; triggered by Public Protector Busi Mkhwebane recommending that the Reserve Bank&#8217;s mandate of maintaining currency and price stability be changed so that it can focus on economic growth &#8212; could hardly have come at a worse time.
South Africa has just sunk into recession, had its credit rating downgraded, and is echoing to calls for President Jacob Zuma to resign, which he shows no sign of doing so.
John Peta, Old Mutual Global Investors head of emerging market debt, said his firm bought South African debt after a March cabinet shake-up that sent yields higher. But it had now cut back on the ongoing political noise and as yields fall.
&#8220;No previous government in South Africa has even hinted at (changing the central bank mandate) and Zuma&#8217;s people now doing it is pretty disconcerting,&#8221; Peta said. &#8220;So if they do make more noise in that direction certainly the market will take notice
TOO OPTIMISTIC
Morgan Stanley analysts said they believe investors are too optimistic about a resolution on the uncertainty.
&#8220;We are bearish on South Africa,&#8221; the analysts wrote in a note, adding: &#8220;We believe that the main factors supporting the currency and bonds – attractive real bond yields and a gradually improving terms of trade – will start to lose importance gradually as evidence grows that recent political changes continue to have negative macroeconomic consequences.&#8221;
Investors were already shaken in late March when Zuma dismissed respected finance minister Pravin Gordhan, triggering credit ratings downgrades to &#8220;junk&#8221; status.
The yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 rose to a 4-month high of 9.2 percent in the aftermath of Gordhan&#8217;s axing, but has since recovered to 8.55 percent.
In another blow to investor confidence Moody&#8217;s and Fitch have warned that new rules, which raised the minimum threshold for black ownership of mining companies to 30 percent from 26 percent, could deter investment. The rules are meant to redress the exclusion black people experienced during apartheid, which ended in 1994.
The Chamber of Mines, which represents mining firms, plans to challenge the new rules in court.
&#8220;There is no light in the tunnel for growth,&#8221; Richard Segal, an emerging debt strategist at Manulife Asset Management. If inflation comes down, you could see some interest rate cuts which could help a bit, but the overall picture for the South African markets is still uninspiring.&#8221;
($1 = 13.0258 rand)
(Additional reporting by Karin Strohecker and Claire Milhench in London; Editing by James Macharia/Jeremy Gaunt)

South Africa’s credibility on the line with foreign bond investors

The Angolan capital Luanda has knocked Hong Kong off the top spot in an annual survey that ranks the cost of living for expatriate workers in world cities.
The survey found the cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment suitable for expatriates in Luanda was £4,800 ($6,055) per month, while a fast food hamburger meal priced at £11.50.
It was the second time in three years that Luanda topped the survey, which compares the costs of housing, transport and clothing in 209 cities.
While Luanda rose, all UK cities fell significantly in this year&#8217;s rankings which were released on Wednesday, with 30th-ranked London dropping 13 places from 2016.
The survey, conducted by global consulting firm Mercer, suggested that the country&#8217;s vote to leave the European Union had played a role in the drop by causing the value of sterling to fall.
For those in the market for a cheaper expatriate experience, the survey found the least expensive cities are Tunis, ranked 209th, followed by Kyrgyzstan capital Bishkek and Skopje in Macedonia.
Top 10
1. LUANDA, Angola
2. HONG KONG
3. TOKYO, Japan
4. ZURICH, Switzerland
5. SINGAPORE,
6. SEOUL, South Korea
7. GENEVA, Switzerland
8. SHANGHAI, China
9. NEW YORK, U.S.
10. BERN, Switzerland
($1 = 0.7927 pounds)
(Writing by Babatunde Ayoade and Mark Hanrahan in London. Editing by Gareth Jones)
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Angolan capital tops list of most expensive cities for expats

One of the lawyers who saved Nelson Mandela from the rope and became a millionaire English lord died in his country home of Liddington, in Wiltshire, on June 18, aged 85.
Joel Joffe, the former chairman of Oxfam, was one of three surviving lawyers from the so called Rivonia Trial that ended in 1964 in life imprisonment for Mandela and his comrades on 221 charges of sabotage. He is survived by Johannesburg Human Rights Lawyers George Bizos and Denis Kuny.
I had the pleasure of meeting him at a 50th anniversary reunion of the raid on Liliesleaf, in Rivonia Johannesburg, the hideout where police arrested most of the accused in 1963.
I was struck by how he carried his wealth and title lightly – you wouldn’t have blinked if you saw him shopping in a Johannesburg supermarket. He was made Baron Joffe of Liddington, in 2000, by Labour premier Tony Blair; I asked about his title.
“Ag, just call me Joel,” says he.
At the time the trial began in 1963, Joffe, who wanted out of apartheid South Africa, was packing for Australia. Bram Fischer, who led the defence, asked him to be the instructing attorney.
“He slept on a mattress on the floor with his wife; his furniture had gone to Australia. He was persuaded to stay .They lived on as little as possible so the defence fund could go as far as possible…What Joel showed is that courage takes many different forms, here was a lawyer who wanted out of apartheid and yet stayed to uphold the principles of justice for people who had no hope of surviving, at a time when no other lawyer would take it on. That is courage,” says accused number three Denis Goldberg, aged 84, who lives in semi-retirement in Hout Bay, near Cape Town.
The trial, that lasted nearly a year, cost 29,000 pounds, at 1964 prices, but the defence team chose not to take a penny.
At the climax of the trial, Mandela spoke these words that went down in history: “It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
It was Bizos who added the words “if needs be” into the speech to try to stay the death penalty and Mandela wasn’t amused.
“I read my speech and there seems to be an error, he said. It is my sentence and I want it back!” chuckled Joffe.
On a more sombre note, Joffe recalled the handwritten note by Mandela, now in a museum, in which he wrote his last words, should he hang.
“This handwritten note said ‘I apologise for nothing, I was fighting for justice and there’s no sacrifice I am not prepared to make in the cause of justice’ that was Mandela, faced with hanging, no fear,” smiled Joffe on that warm spring evening back in 2013. He left the country of his birth in 1965 for England where he founded the life assurance Allied Dunbar, in 1970, with seed capital from Hambros Bank. It made him a multi-millionaire, yet he spent much of his time and money helping the poor. He was a little downbeat about the country of his birth when I asked him about it in 2013.
“In South Africa today sadly the majority of the population is living in poverty and unemployment and one believes there is much more that government could do about that and then these problems with corruption, incompetence and inefficiency would disappear.” he says.
Words that ring even truer today.

Joel Joffe: Rivonia Trial lawyer, a man you could bet your life on

After consultation with its legal team, Absa has decided to approach the High Court in order to have the report of the Public Protector that was released on Monday 19 June 2017 reviewed and set aside. This is due to the numerous misrepresentations and factual inaccuracies which are used as the basis for its findings, and what we submit are the report&#8217;s clearly irrational and unreasonable legal conclusions.
Absa respects constitutional institutions and has to date done everything possible to cooperate with the Office of the Public Protector during the course of this investigation. However the report leaves Absa with no choice but to seek recourse in the courts as provided for by the Constitution when an affected party disagrees with the findings of the Public Protector.
The office of the Public Protector appears to have either effectively ignored or misunderstood Absa’s detailed submissions, which were made to it on two occasions. A copy of our February 2017 submission has been released to the public.
We also note that the Public Protector’s remedial actions include a directive to Parliament to amend the Constitution in order to change the mandate of the South African Reserve Bank. We are advised that the Public Protector Act does not empower the Public Protector to direct that constitutional amendments be made. Her recommended amendments pose a very serious risk to the financial system and they cannot be allowed to stand.
It is noteworthy that the report’s findings and remedial actions in relation to Absa are mainly premised on the conclusions of the Davis Panel of Experts, which delivered a comprehensive report on the same matter in February 2002. The Public Protector also uses the statement of the Heath Special Investigating Unit as a further basis for her conclusions on Absa.
In the case of the Davis Panel, the Public Protector’s final report misrepresents or misconstrues its findings. While it concluded that the manner in which the assistance was provided to Bankorp was unlawful (ultra vires), the Davis Panel unequivocally found that Absa is not liable to pay because it paid fair value for Bankorp.
The Davis Panel Report reads as follows:
“The Reserve Bank’s assistance conferred benefits on Sanlam’s policy holders, its pension fund beneficiaries and on the minority shareholders of Bankorp. That is contrary to public perception published in the media, and contrary to the conclusions of the Heath Special Investigative Unit. Those perceptions and conclusions have incorrectly asserted that major benefits were received by the shareholders of Absa.”
It goes on to say:
“The Panel is of the view that Absa paid for the continued assistance of Bankorp by the Reserve Bank and could not be regarded as beneficiaries of Reserve Bank assistance package. Absa paid fair value for Bankorp. Due to the complex nature of the impact that the various packages might have had on the value of capital invested in Bankorp, it is difficult for the Panel to assess with accuracy, the extent of the benefits derived by Bankorp shareholders. 
Evidence supports the conclusion that Sanlam, the major Bankorp shareholder was aware that it would have received no value, or less value, for its shareholding absent Reserve Bank assistance.”
While the Public Protector’s final report accepts large parts of the Davis Panel Report as a basis for its findings and remedial actions, the report fails to explain why the rest of the Davis Panel’s findings on Absa are not accepted. In this respect, the Public Protector’s report appears irrational. The Public Protector’s final report not only omits the rest of the Davis Panel’s finding, it also does not explain how it comes to the diametrically opposite conclusion that Absa’s shareholders unduly benefited, rather than Sanlam’s policy holders and pension fund beneficiaries – which is what the Davis Panel found.
It is also noteworthy that in the provisional report that was leaked in January 2017, the office of the Public Protector had relied on the alleged testimony of former SA Reserve Bank Governor Dr Chris Stals. In that report, it was claimed that Dr Stals had testified that the Bankorp/Absa loan was at an interest rate of 16% instead of 1%, and that he had produced a contract to support this. Dr Stals strongly refuted the claim in the media shortly thereafter.
The alleged testimony of Dr Stals and the document he was said to have produced are conspicuously absent from the final report. In the final report this basis is abandoned and instead it selectively relies on a report that in any case found that Absa is not liable.
Ahead of our submissions to the Public Protector, we requested access to documents in her possession that had a material impact on our position. That request was unjustifiably refused. The Public Protector’s report’s assertion that its findings are not in dispute, when Absa was never given insight into, let alone the opportunity to dispute what is supposedly contained in those documents, is therefore contested.
In any event the information upon which the report bases its findings is not new. It was at the disposal of the Public Protector’s office before the findings in the provisional report were made. It appears that this information was not regarded as relevant at the time.
The misconceptions and inaccuracies in the report are profound and damaging to Absa’s reputation. We have instructed our lawyers to immediately prepare an application to the High Court to have the report&#8217;s findings and its remedial actions (including the remedial action concerning the intervention of the Special Investigative Unit and the amendment of the Constitution) reviewed and set aside.
We firmly maintain our position &#8211; supported by uncontroverted evidence – that Absa met all its obligations to the SA Reserve Bank in full by October 1995.

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