Nigeria&#8217;s Zenith Bank has made a provision on 30 percent of its loan to 9mobile, the country&#8217;s fourth largest telecoms group formerly known as Etisalat Nigeria, the bank&#8217;s chief executive said on Monday.
&#8220;We have taken about 30 percent &#8230; as a provision which we believe is very prudent as the company is undergoing restructuring &#8230; to prepare for a new investor,&#8221; Peter Amangbo told a conference call.
Nigerian regulators stepped in last month to save Etisalat Nigeria from collapse and prevent lenders placing the country&#8217;s fourth biggest telecoms group into receivership, prompting a board, management and name change.
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Reporting by Oludare Mayowa; Editing by Greg Mahlich
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Zenith Bank makes provision on 30% of its 9mobile loan: executive

Ghana&#8217;s central bank has revoked the operating licenses of two distressed local banks and transferred their deposits and selected assets to state-owned GCB Bank in order to protect financial stability, it said on Monday.
The liquidation of UT Bank and Capital Bank became necessary in order to protect depositors funds owing to the &#8220;severe impairment&#8221; of their capital, the central bank said.
The liquidation formed part of prior-actions agreed with the International Monetary Fund ahead of the next review of Ghana&#8217;s three-year aid programme, at the end of August.
GCB bank is the second largest bank by assets out of 33 banks operating in Ghana, including UT and Capital.
&#8220;UT Bank and Capital Bank were deeply insolvent, meaning that their liabilities exceeded their assets, putting them in a position not to be able to meet their obligations,&#8221; a spokesman at the bank said in a response to emailed questions.
Deposits at the two banks are safe and depositors will now become customers of GCB Bank and they may continue banking at the UT Bank and Capital Bank branch locations, the spokesman added.
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Reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Editing by Tim Cocks
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Ghana central bank transfers assets of two distressed local banks to GCB

Henning Melber | University of Pretoria
These days the African middle class is widely discussed as a phenomenon considered indicative of social change.
But a great deal of the debate hasn’t been very well informed. For a long time contributions lacked a rigorous analysis, failing to examine the so-called middle class in terms of its potential as a proper class. People involved in the debate hardly bothered to engage with the more methodological aspects of the analysis of classes, which has a long tradition in social sciences and should be an integral part of any analysis.
Most problematic was the fiddling with figures, which classified people according to a minimum income as middle class. This is clearly not a very sensible way to approach proper class definition. It puts almost exclusive emphasis on financial and monetary aspects. But professional and social status, cultural norms and lifestyle related attributes as well as political orientation(s) and influence were often ignored. Where they were considered, it was often only in passing.
The debate largely ignored earlier analyses on African elites. It promoted the assumption that the middle class(es) are a positive ingredient for the development of and in African societies.
But such optimism is unhelpful both in terms of the potential economic role of these loosely defined middle classes, as well as the expectations about their political relevance.
In the meantime that’s started to change. Scholars from various disciplines related to African Studies are gaining the upper hand and claiming ownership. <a href="http://witspress.co.za/catalogue/the-rise-of-africas-middle-class/">New publications</a> testify to increasingly concerted efforts to respond with different and more nuanced perspectives.
These engagements offer insights based on more than lofty generalisations void of any social realities on the ground. Rather, the case studies test some of the assumptions and are able to portrait existing identities and practices of social segments of societies, which might be considered as middle class &#8211; or not.
So then, what class is the middle class?
<h2>Caution required</h2>
What is lumped together as middle classes represent at best an opaque awareness – if not about themselves (in the plural) – then at least about society and their position, aims and aspirations. Such ambiguity explains the different political and social orientations of members of a middle class, their different roles and positions in social struggles and their difference in interests.
The conclusions seem to suggest that there is no social force in the making, which by status and definition would indeed be the torch bearer for more democracy, participation, human rights, social equality and redistribution of wealth beyond benefiting just the group. One might call this a class interest, shared by many members of these middle classes across the continent.
But depending on the circumstances, ethnicity, pigmentation and other criteria (not least religion) matter at least as much as (at best) diffuse class awareness.
This should not stand in the way of continued interest in this species called middle class, which at a closer look is not as new as some contributions to the wider debate suggest. After all, there were always some middle layers of societies with a set of differing interests and orientations – only that their visibility and size in African countries seems to have increased lately.
But we should be much more cautious about providing simplified and sweeping explanations about the scope for potential social and political reforms and the impact on transformation of societies these middle classes are able – or willing – to promote.
After all, it is neither the middle class(es) nor even the upper fifth of the income pyramid that has any influence on the distribution of wealth in societies. They too are at the receiving end.
It is indeed the top decimal if not the top 5% or an even smaller fraction that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/profile/andy-sumner">drives inequality</a>, and it is these haves that have grasped the steering wheel. Their forms of appropriation and enrichment are the ultimate determinants of the scope and limit of poverty reduction by means of redistributive measures in favour of those in the bottom half of society.
To understand inequalities and the mechanisms of their reproduction, the motto coined by University of Cambridge economist <a href="http://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/people/emeritus/jgp5">Gabriel Palma </a>is appropriate. He points to the decisive impact of the wealthy segment of societies as regards growing inequalities on a global scale and <a href="http://www.networkideas.org/featart/mar2011/Palma.pdf">concludes</a>:
<blockquote>It’s the share of the rich, stupid.</blockquote>
One is tempted to suspect that the middle class(es) hype seeks to propose a historical mission of these social layers in terms of future perspectives. But, in the light of the real (also material and political) power relations and structures of societies and the global economy, they are never able to live up to this mission.
Despite this sobering conclusion, the current engagement with the phenomenon called the African middle class(es) is anything but obsolete. Independent of their size, they signify modified social relations in African societies, which indeed deserve attention and rigorous analysis – with the emphasis on the latter.
These edited extracts are from the Introduction and Conclusion of Henning Melber (ed.), <a href="http://witspress.co.za/catalogue/the-rise-of-africas-middle-class/">The Rise of Africa’s Middle Class</a>: Myths, Realities and Critical Engagements.

The African middle class matters: but not for the reasons commonly put forward

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga on Sunday called for a strike to support his claim to the presidency and accused the ruling party of &#8220;spilling the blood of innocent people&#8221;, despite growing pressure on him to concede election defeat.
The election commission on Friday declared incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta winner of the presidential poll by 1.4 million votes. International observers said Tuesday&#8217;s election was largely fair but Odinga disputes the results, saying it was rigged. He has not provided documentary evidence.
&#8220;Jubilee have spilt the blood of innocent people. Tomorrow there is no work,&#8221; Odinga told a crowd of around 4,000 cheering supporters, referring to the ruling party. He promised to announce a new strategy on Tuesday.
Senator James Orengo, one of Odinga&#8217;s chief supporters, said the opposition would call for demonstrations.
&#8220;When we people call you to action, peaceful action, don&#8217;t stay behind,&#8221; Orengo told the crowd in Kibera, Nairobi&#8217;s largest slum. He also called for a boycott of Nation television and newspapers, Kenya&#8217;s largest independent media group, over their coverage of the disputed elections.
The rally, Odinga&#8217;s first public speech since Thursday, was a unequivocal message that he has no intention of renouncing his claim to be the winner of Tuesday&#8217;s vote despite calls from the international community for him to concede.
There have been deadly clashes between police and civilians in his stronghold areas. Presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu blamed the bloodshed on protesters.
&#8220;The violent protests are unlawful,&#8221; he said in a statement on Sunday.
&#8220;The Police will not tolerate breaches of the peace; instead, they will protect the lives and property of Kenyans; and they will restore law and order.&#8221;
Reuters reporters have seen police repeatedly fire tear gas and bullets to disperse crowds of people in slums. Police have also detained and physically attacked journalists.
<h3 data-reactid="50">DEATHS</h3>
There have been at least 24 deaths in election-related unrest so far, a rights group said on Saturday, including that of a nine-year-old girl. The Kenya Red Cross said on Saturday it had treated 93 injured people.
By Sunday the violence had largely abated, to the relief of Kenyans who feared a repeat of the carnage that followed 2007&#8217;s disputed election.
Around 1,200 people were killed then and 600,000 displaced after Odinga called for political protests that sparked ethnic violence. Regional trade was paralysed and Kenya&#8217;s economy &#8211; the region&#8217;s biggest &#8211; took years to recover.
Some Odinga supporters are convinced that victory was stolen from them in the 2007 and 2013 polls, both marred by irregularities and problems. Odinga contested both, and lost, and his supporters say they will not back down this time.
&#8220;We are sick and tired of these people stealing the country from us. We need to split this country in two,&#8221; said David Orwa, 44, his words hinting at the ethnic divide that underlies Kenyan politics.
Odinga is a Luo, an ethnic group from the west that has long felt neglected by central government and excluded from power. Kenyatta is a Kikuyu, a tribe that has provided three out of Kenya&#8217;s four presidents since independence from Britain in 1963.
Diplomats and regional leaders are urging Odinga, a former political prisoner, to concede. Their united stance leaves the 72-year-old opposition leader isolated if he chooses to maintain the allegations of election fraud and proclaim himself president.
&#8220;I want to congratulate Uhuru Kenyatta,&#8221; said a Sunday statement by Federica Mogherini, foreign minister for the European Union, which did over $3 billion worth of trade with Kenya last year.
&#8220;In line with the African Union, the EU expects the opposition to respect the results and to use legal means available for appeals and complaints.&#8221;
<h3 data-reactid="60">NO POWER-SHARING DEALS</h3>
A Western diplomat said allies were not interested in revisiting the type of power-sharing deals that ended the post-election violence a decade ago. That avenue was &#8220;not an option&#8221;, he said.
&#8220;If you have evidence that the election was rigged, produce it &#8230; NASA has been changing its position in quite significant ways in the past week,&#8221; he said, referring to Odinga&#8217;s opposition coalition, the National Super Alliance.
&#8220;Most of the stuff they are alleging is not accurate.&#8221;
Initially, the coalition alleged the electoral server had been hacked, and produced 50 pages of computer logs that security experts said were inconclusive at best.
They later said a secret source within the electoral board had passed them the true election results. That two-page document was debunked by the election commission, who pointed out basic mathematical errors.
Later, Odinga said paper forms from each polling station scanned and uploaded to the election commission website to support its electronic tally were fake. He has not produced alternative forms.
Regional leaders have already congratulated Kenyatta, the 55-year-old son of the country&#8217;s first president, on winning a second term.
&#8220;Congratulations my brother @UKenyatta for a successful election and the trust Kenyans have placed in you!&#8221; tweeted Rwandan president Paul Kagame. Burundi, Tanzania, and Uganda have also sent congratulations.
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Additional reporting by Maggie Fick in Kisumu and George Obulutsa in Nairobi; writing by Katharine Houreld; editing by Andrew Roche
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Kenya opposition leader defies pressure to concede defeat

Zambia plans to drop treason charges against the country&#8217;s main opposition leader and free him from prison on Monday under a deal brokered by the Commonwealth secretary-general, government and legal sources told Reuters.The United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema and five others were arrested in April and charged with treason after Hichilema&#8217;s convoy failed to make way for President Edgar Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
The United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema and five others were arrested in April and charged with treason after Hichilema&#8217;s convoy failed to make way for President Edgar Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
Hichilema&#8217;s trial had been due to begin on Monday but two sources said the prosecution would apply to the court to discontinue the case.
 The case has stoked political tensions in the continent&#8217;s No. 2 copper producer, seen as one of Africa&#8217;s more stable and functional democracies, following a bruising election last year.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland visited Zambia last week and told reporters she had met Lungu and Hichilema separately and that the two leaders had agreed to a process of dialogue facilitated by her office.
&#8220;That process of dialogue, which the Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland is leading with the help of Catholic bishops, starts with the release of the opposition leader from prison,&#8221; a government source told Reuters on Sunday, referring to local religious leaders.
  &#8220;The state will discontinue the treason case in the public interest as both the opposition leader and the head of state are committed to burying their past and starting dialogue envisaged to help address some of the issues the opposition raised after the 2016 elections so that the 2021 elections are better held.&#8221;Lungu is committed to all aspects of the dialogue agreed between the president and the opposition leader, the source said, which include promoting peace, stability and
Lungu is committed to all aspects of the dialogue agreed between the president and the opposition leader, the source said, which include promoting peace, stability and public good.
&#8220;An overt act serious enough to warrant prosecution exists but the public interest seems to be the overriding consideration, so a nolle prosequi will be entered,&#8221; a public prosecutor told Reuters, using the legal term for the discharge of a case.The southern African country has always been relatively stable but relations between the government and the opposition have been fraught since August when Lungu&#8217;s Patriotic Front (PF) beat the UPND in a presidential election marred by violence and which the opposition says was rigged.
The southern African country has always been relatively stable but relations between the government and the opposition have been fraught since August when Lungu&#8217;s Patriotic Front (PF) beat the UPND in a presidential election marred by violence and which the opposition says was rigged.It was the second time that Lungu beat Hichilema, an economist and businessman popularly known by his initials &#8220;HH&#8221;, in a presidential election by a razor-thin margin.
It was the second time that Lungu beat Hichilema, an economist and businessman popularly known by his initials &#8220;HH&#8221;, in a presidential election by a razor-thin margin In June, church leaders including those from the influential Catholic
In June, church leaders including those from the influential Catholic church, called for Hichilema&#8217;s release.
Last month Lungu invoked emergency powers to deal with &#8220;acts of sabotage&#8221; by his political opponents, after fire gutted the country&#8217;s biggest market.
Under emergency laws, police can prohibit public meetings, detain suspects longer than usual, search without a warrant, close roads, impose curfews and restrict certain people&#8217;s movements.
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Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Susan Fenton
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Zambia to drop treason charges against opposition leader

Nigeria&#8217;s President Muhammadu Buhari has said he feels ready to return home from medical leave in Britain, and is awaiting his doctor&#8217;s permission, a presidency statement said on Saturday.
Buhari&#8217;s extended absence for an undisclosed ailment, his second this year, left many in Nigeria questioning whether he was well enough to run the country. The president has spent more time since the beginning of 2017 in Britain than in Nigeria.
That has sparked numerous protests, including demands that Buhari should resign, as well as calls for more transparency about the president&#8217;s condition.
&#8220;I feel I could go home, but the doctors are in charge,&#8221; Buhari said, according to Saturday&#8217;s statement, adding that there has been a &#8220;tremendous improvement&#8221; in his health.
Photos released by the presidency show Buhari standing outdoors, grinning and wearing sunglasses while holding a large &#8220;Get well soon&#8221; card, with a handful of officials around him in a leafy, residential area.
The 74-year-old president had already been in London from January to March for sick leave before returning to Britain in May for further treatment.
Both times, the president appointed his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, to act in his stead.
Buhari&#8217;s lengthy illness has sparked speculation about his ability to seek a second term in 2019. Politicians and diplomats have started privately discussing potential candidates should the current president not run.
If Buhari does not stand, it could also lead to greater ethnic and religious tensions in Nigeria, long riven by divisions between the largely Muslim north and the mostly Christian south.
Members of both the Muslim north and Christian south feel that a representative from either side should hold the presidency for the maximum two terms, eight years, before the opposite faction&#8217;s candidate can then lead the nation.
Yet Buhari&#8217;s appointment of Osinbajo, a southern Christian, as acting president did help allay fears of the intense political infighting of 2010 after then-president Umaru Yar&#8217;Adua fell ill and failed to nominate someone to run the country.
It was only when Yar&#8217;Adua, a northern Muslim, died in May that year that his vice president Goodluck Jonathan became Nigeria&#8217;s leader, resolving the constitutional crisis.
When Jonathan successfully won the presidential election in 2011, one that many viewed as a vote that should have given the Muslim north its second term in the presidency, hundreds died in riots protesting against that victory.
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Reporting by Felix Onuah; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by David Evans
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Nigeria’s Buhari “feels ready to go home”

Stacey Vorster | University of the Witwatersrand
&nbsp;
On the evening of 26 July, over 5,000 people streamed into Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg to attend the opening of its latest exhibition, Warhol Unscreened: Artworks from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection. Andy Warhol, an American artist known for his images of pop culture, celebrities and everyday objects, is arguably the person who invented fame and celebrity in the art world.
At the very least, Warhol is credited with coining the term “15 minutes of fame” after his statement that appeared in a programme for an exhibition in 1968.:
<blockquote>In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.</blockquote>
Warhol’s own world-fame has lasted decidedly longer. Almost 50 years later, he is still popular enough to pull unprecedented crowds to a museum on the southern tip of a continent that he never visited.
The Wits Art Museum show, which spans two floors, features many of Warhol’s iconic screen prints including a Marilyn and set of Campbell’s Soup Cans. And despite having seen these images in a hundred books, on t-shirts and mugs and countless TV and computer screens, it’s hard to not feel bewitched by the actual objects.
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For one, they are much larger than expected and the surface quality of the print is so much more impressive in real life. Perhaps this reference is a ghost of some high school art history text book past, but Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”comes to mind. Published in 1936, German philosopher, Benjamin, differentiated between the original and the copy. He argued that the actual artwork has an “aura” that is complicated once a work is mass-distributed via reproduction.
For Benjamin, the aura is diminished by the copy, though he does not posit this as a negative effect. Rather, the death of the aura allows the viewer a different kind of subjectivity: one which is open to the politicisation of art.
<h2>The fragile surface of the American dream</h2>
Of course, in the context of mid-20th century America, Warhol’s works were political. They commented on capitalism and mass consumption. They commented on advertising and the fragile surface of the American dream advertised on larger-than-life billboards.
The process of screen printing is rooted in the very practice and effect of reproduction. What is fascinating, however, is that the blur between the original and the copy doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of the minds of visitors to the WAM exhibition.
Most of the works shown are one of an edition of 250 odd prints. In other words, these are “diluted” originals. They’re limited editions yes, but not in any way unique except for the small number marking the edition.
Nonetheless, the cult of genius that Warhol embodies, and which is clearly still inscribed onto the surface of these famous works, inspired thousands of selfies at the opening. Interestingly, the act of reproducing the images again — even viewing them through an additional screen in the form of cell phone cameras — seemed to be the mode through which the audience engaged. Warhol clearly had a prophetic grip on what the future indeed does look like.
<h2>Why is Warhol popular in Africa?</h2>
If we are to consider Benjamin’s prophecies too, it’s intriguing that the political context of post-apartheid South Africa manifests in small ways in the exhibition. Wits Art Museum has been under pressure in the last few years, caught in the crossfire of debates around what constitutes African art, who has the power to decide and how narratives are constructed, mediated and authored.
Increasingly, the museum is being challenged to show more African artists, contemporary and historical, rather than international blockbusters. The curators’ understandable self-consciousness of these issues comes through in several “feedback” installations, which ask the audience to consider the appropriateness of the Warhol exhibit in an African art museum. One of the panels asks:
<blockquote>Why do you think WAM should be showing the work of Andy Warhol?</blockquote>
And this is the question, right? Why is Warhol still so popular (in Africa) after the post-colonial turn? How do we reconcile the massive popularity of an exhibition of artworks by a dead white man, when Wits University, where the museum is located, is caught in the (sometimes violent) conflict of decoloniality?
Furthermore, as the #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall student protest movements continue to unfold, how does the blatantly western capitalist flavour of these works go unnoticed as young people Instagram their participation in this spectacle? How is the late-capitalist neoliberal agenda screened or unscreened?
Un-ironically, the exhibition is sponsored by and comes from the collection of the Bank of America. But since Wits Art Museum couldn’t afford the copyright fees, the invitation and marketing of the show features imitation screen prints by local South African artists.
This exhibition embodies so many of the contradictions, complications and conflicts in both art and society in contemporary South Africa. What interrogation or translation of the exhibition can we look forward to as exams loom closer and universities brace for a possible third wave of protests? I look forward to reading the responses accumulated on the feedback panels in two months’ time.
Warhol Unscreened: Artworks from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Collection runs until 8 October 2017

Op-Ed: Warhol in Africa – contradictions, complications and conflicts

Anglo-South African financial services group Old Mutual (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=OML.L">OML.L</a>) aims to list two divisions rather than sell them as it pursues a plan to split into four parts by the end of next year.
Old Mutual, which said last year it is breaking up because regulatory change made its disparate businesses too complex to run, posted a 37 percent rise in first-half operating profit on Friday to 969 million pounds ($1.26 billion), helped by sterling weakness and strong performance in Old Mutual Wealth.
After starting life as an insurance company in Cape Town in 1845, Old Mutual has branched out into other parts of Africa, Britain and the United States, and into banking and funds.
But within a few months of joining as chief executive last year, Bruce Hemphill announced the break-up which will leave him without a job but may entitle him to a maximum bonus of 1,000 percent if he can deliver it successfully.
Hemphill&#8217;s plans led to speculation of a sale of Old Mutual Wealth, its fund management arm, but the CEO said there were no offers for the firm&#8217;s businesses on the table at present.
&#8220;We have had all sorts of interest, our preferred route is to list these businesses,&#8221; he told Reuters by telephone.
Old Mutual is not alone in shaking up its businesses, other insurers and asset managers have also been reassessing their make-up due to increased competition.
Prudential (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=PRU.L">PRU.L</a>) said this week it would merge its UK insurance and asset management arms, while Standard Life (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=SL.L">SL.L</a>) will merge next week with Aberdeen Asset Management (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=ADN.L">ADN.L</a>).
Old Mutual will list Old Mutual Wealth in London and Johannesburg, along with Old Mutual Limited (OML), a new holding company covering its emerging markets division, its majority stake in South Africa&#8217;s Nedbank (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NEDJ.J">NEDJ.J</a>) and Old Mutual plc.
The listings will involve a demerger for the benefit of existing shareholders, with the possibility of an initial public offering for Old Mutual Wealth. They will take place as soon as possible after the release of full-year results in March.
Analysts say Old Mutual Wealth has a valuation of at least 3.0 billion pounds.
A demerger of Nedbank will follow the listing of OML, although Old Mutual will keep a &#8220;strategic minority stake&#8221;. It is also reducing its holding in U.S. firm OM Asset Management (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=OMAM.N">OMAM.N</a>) to 5.5 percent and plans to pay an interim dividend of 3.53 pence, up 32 percent from a year ago.
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Analysts said the results were slightly ahead of forecasts, which Barclays called &#8220;a credible performance in a tough and uncertain macro environment in South Africa&#8221;, reiterating its &#8220;equal weight&#8221; rating on the stock.
Old Mutual&#8217;s shares fell 1.44 percent to 199 pence per share at 0821 GMT, compared with a 1.0 percent fall in the FTSE 100 index <a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=gb%21ftse">.FTSE</a>.
($1 = 0.7700 pounds)
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Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Alexander Smith
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Old Mutual to list not sell businesses in split

National Treasury
The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) has confirmed that Mr Dondo Mogajane, Director-General of the National Treasury has been appointed as the new Director representing South Africa. This follows the expiration of Mr Tito Mboweni’s term of service as Director of the NDB in early July. Mr Tito Mboweni commenced his term as South Africa’s Director at the NDB on 03 July 2015, for a 2-year term, which ended on 02 July 2017.
The nomination of Mr Mogajane by the Minister of Finance Malusi Gigaba and subsequent appointment will ensure that no additional costs are incurred further by government in remunerating an appointment from outside of public service while also enhancing strategic alignment and collaboration between the government of South Africa and the Bank.
In a letter formally informing Mr Mboweni of the decision, Minister Gigaba has thanked Mr Mboweni for his excellent representation of the government of South Africa as a member of the Board and Chair of the Audit, Risk and Budget Compliance Committee with commendable professionalism and dedication.
In accordance to Articles 11(a), 12(b) and (c) of the NDB Articles of Agreement, the NDB has also confirmed the following appointments:
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Mr Sfiso Buthelezi, Deputy Minister of Finance has been appointed as the Alternate Governor of the NDB for South Africa;</li>
<li>Mr Monale Ratsoma, Deputy Director-General for Economic Policy at the National Treasury, in his capacity as Acting Deputy Director-General for International and Regional Economic Policy will continue to serve as alternate Director of the NDB for South Africa.</li>
</ul>
These appointments are also in line with the practice from the other founding members of the Bank whose representatives are from their countries’ Ministries of Finance and Treasury departments.

BRICS New Development Bank confirms appointment of South Africa’s representatives

Talks between African and U.S. officials to review the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) free trade deal ended on Thursday with no decision and a feeling on all sides that it has achieved little since it was set up.
President Donald Trump&#8217;s top trade negotiator Robert E. Lighthizer and other U.S. officials have been in the tiny West African nation of Togo over the past two days to discuss the Clinton-era trade pact with sub-Saharan Africa.
Trump&#8217;s &#8220;America First&#8221; campaign has seen him withdraw from the Trans Pacific Partnership, threaten to tear up NAFTA and seek to renegotiate the U.S.-South Korea free trade deal.
But his administration has said little about Africa, and had not previously mentioned the 2000 AGOA trade agreement. It is not clear whether the U.S. wants to change the deal before it expires in 2025 or extend it further &#8211; no decision was made on either count.
AGOA allows tariff-free access for thousands of goods from 38 African nations to U.S. markets.
&#8220;The number of countries benefiting from AGOA is very limited, as is the number of sectors,&#8221; Peter Barlerin, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs, said at the forum on Wednesday.
&#8220;We will see if the situation improves in the coming years, but it is also up to the beneficiary countries to enhance their business climate.&#8221;
Bernadette Legzim-Balouki, Togo&#8217;s trade minister, who presided over the meeting, was equally lukewarm on AGOA.
&#8220;Not all the countries eligible have benefited from the law,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We are trying to examine the constraints that prevent some African countries from profiting.&#8221;
Legzim-Balouki added that the United States and the nations eligible for AGOA had agreed on some loose aims, including: to develop a better plan to take full advantage of the pact, for each eligible country to have bilateral talks with the United States, and the need for a mechanism to protect African producers from price volatility.
The U.S. trade deficit with the AGOA countries shrank to about $7.9 billion last year from a peak of $64 billion in 2008, as U.S. shale oil production increases have lessened the need for oil imports from major exporters Nigeria and Angola.
&#8220;AGOA is an excellent opportunity but we aren&#8217;t making the most of it, mainly due to a lack of knowledge about it,&#8221; Beninois agribusinessman Sylvain Adewoussi told Reuters.
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Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Andrew Bolton
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Africa-U.S. AGOA trade talks end with no decision

George Gathigi | University of Nairobi
The media has been a critical part of the Kenyan election process. But did they do a good job?
I spoke to a variety of sources including journalists, commentators and experts and a number of issues came out. Overall, the insights they gave me suggest that the mainstream media’s coverage of the 2017 general election can best be described as a mixed bag. While it played a very important role, it still has a way to go in terms of the factual, unbiased and objective coverage of elections.
During the election process the media remained at the forefront of presenting different opinions – leading newspapers, television and radio stations all presented different views, and carried opinions from political figures across the spectrum.
But one criticism that came through was that sections of radio, especially local language stations, were very often parochial. Some played extremely partisan politics that was more aligned to local audiences than to national interests.
Another criticism expressed by many of the people I spoke to was that they felt the mainstream media had been lazy in its coverage of competing candidates. The largest media outlets constantly amplified the political binary represented by the two main coalitions, the National Super Alliance (NASA) and the Jubilee Party (JP). There was limited coverage outside the two coalitions with other parties and candidates receiving little airtime.
<h2>Preaching the peace</h2>
The Kenyan media has struggled with the burden of being accused of fuelling post-election violence in 2007 and 2008. For example it was accused of failing to moderate hate messages and of passing on messages that incited violence. TV stations were accused of showing violent messages that led to retaliation between members of different communities.
Given these experiences, this time round the media was at pains to emphasise messages of peace throughout the electioneering period. It also showed restraint and self-censorship in terms of the information and images it presented.
This was evident if you compared coverage provided by the international media with the Kenyan media. While international media has alluded to imminent violence and showed images of isolated instances – before and after the polls closed – the Kenyan media has been more careful.
<h2>Assessing coverage</h2>
Journalists played a critical role in negotiating political and electoral discourse. But the people I spoke to called into question the professionalism of some of the members of the press.
Some people felt that adherence to the principles of truth and accuracy, independence, fairness and impartiality was wanting. There are examples of journalists perceived to be partisan for example Kameme FM broadcasters, some KTN and Citizen anchors and reporters. And that some journalists, including well known television anchors, revealed their political biases by seeming to favour specific candidates and parties.
Another issue that was raised was that some journalists blurred the lines between the personal and the professional. This was especially problematic on social media platforms. The impartiality expected of journalists was viewed as compromised when they openly expressed their political preferences.
The elections also come with a range of issues which demanded various levels of inquiry and analysis. The knowledge of many journalists didn’t always match these demands. At times coverage was shallow and not critically engaging.
In addition, while media houses called on dozens of “experts” and “analysts”, many couldn’t make contributions that justified their titles. Television stations paraded what they called “eminent” and “super” panels to little effect. Beyond being large in size, the panels were often thin when it came to substance.
One big gap was that mainstream media didn’t feature many women. ‘Manels’ (men-only panels) dominated television broadcasts and fewer women were used as news sources and on-air analysts. Women politicians also received significantly less coverage – and far more critical coverage – than their male counterparts.
<h2>The highs and lows</h2>
Compared with previous elections there was been an improvement in live coverage, immediacy, and updates on the campaigns, as well as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission’s preparations. Media houses also followed the various legal challenges relating to the 2017 elections very closely.
There were also genuine attempts to encourage issue-based debating platforms and to give different contestants opportunities to argue their positions and engage with the electorate.
Media houses also deployed more resources than ever before to cover campaigns in various parts of the country. The rise of fact-checking was also a notable development.
Some of the low moments included the presidential debates that didn’t go as planned. This denied voters the opportunity to fully engage with the candidates. Nevertheless, the media must be commended for organising them.
There were also times when the mainstream media was seen to compete with bloggers to break news. The rush to publish meant that allegations and challenges weren’t verified and that assertions by politicians weren’t checked first.
There were also examples of journalists being sluggish in setting the agenda. For example, there was a general lack of inquiry into campaign financing, the use of state resources for campaigns and the conduct of party primaries.
<h2>Evolving role of social media</h2>
The role of traditional media in election coverage has come under pressure for two reasons.
The first is the emergence of digital platforms that allow political and election discourse, combined with the rise of citizen journalism. This means that the mainstream media is now just one of many news sources.
The second is that traditional media houses are under increasing financial pressure. Many have cut costs by letting experienced journalists go, in turn affecting the quality of media coverage.
But when all is said and done, the mainstream media continues to play a critical role in educating and informing the populace. The increased number of media outlets, especially local language radio and television stations, has ensured broader access to election information.
The mainstream media continues to provide a platform where the people can exchange ideas and engage with their leaders. The integration of multiple platforms including print, broadcast and digital has allowed broader interaction with audiences such that the media both speaks and listens.

Op-Ed: How the media covered Kenya’s general election

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised Botswana&#8217;s 2017 and 2018 economic growth forecast due to rising diamond demand, investment in the water and power sector and reforms to attract investment.
The IMF on Wednesday lifted diamond-producer&#8217;s 2017 and 2018 economic growth forecast to 4.5 and 4.8 percent respectively.
&#8220;The forecast assumes a gradual pace of reforms to improve the efficiency of the public sector and foster private sector activities,&#8221; the IMF said.
Following a downturn in 2015, growth is expected to gradually increase supported by a recovery in the diamond market and moderate fiscal stimulus, the IMF said in the report.
The latest forecast is higher than the IMF&#8217;s previous forecast for Botswana contained in its Africa regional economic outlook report released in April, which forecast growth at 4.1 percent in 2017 and 4.2 percent in 2018.
The IMF’s growth projection is more bullish than government forecasts. Finance Minister Kenneth Matambo said in February during the national budget presentation that the local economy was expected to grow by 4.2 percent this year.
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Writing by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by James Macharia
</div>

IMF revises Botswana’s 2017 growth forecast

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By Chris Hattingh
In an article for the Daily Maverick (26 July 2017) Professor Ben Turok called for more information regarding the wealthy in South Africa. We are all quite aware of the repeated calls of experts, analysts, and academics for inequality to be addressed, that it is the most pressing issue of our time. I agree. It does need to be resolved.
It needs to be resolved because experts and respected figures such as Thomas Piketty, Christine Lagarde and Professor Turok repeatedly hammer the message that inequality is caused by one group forcibly taking from others. With this narrative being drilled into us, it should come as no surprise when social tensions rise and violence occurs.
Why is wealth inequality such a pressing moral problem? As in many other pieces by other authors, Professor Turok offers no explanation – it is merely accepted as fact. If I were to accept the line of argument offered here, I would have to accept the premise that wealth is fixed, that it is communally produced, and that a certain group forcibly takes the biggest slice of the wealth pie. Fortunately, for every one of us, wealth is not fixed – the wealth of individuals is constantly shifting as they make their individual choices and try to live their lives as they deem best.
<h4>Wealth as a result of the mind at work</h4>
The statistics Professor Turok provides show wealth inequality in South Africa, and are just that – statistics. They have no moral content. It is flippant to infer that wealth has been accrued because it was stolen from others. Wealth is the result of man’s mind at work. A person looked at the world around them, weighed up the threats and opportunities present, evaluated their talents, abilities, time and resources available, formulated how they could best be used to improve his life, and then acted on their vision. This is a moral process because it is up to each one of us to use our minds to survive and thrive in this world.
If wealth was gained because of force or fraud used against others, then the burden of proof rests on Professor Turok and the others who agree with his view. Any charge that a person has become wealthy because of theft or fraud must be taken very seriously because South Africa is supposed to be a country based on democracy and equality before the law. If there is no evidence that the accused person became wealthy through immoral means, then any such charge falls flat. The shift from ‘that person has wealth’ to ‘therefore they must be a criminal’ is a shocking weakness in reasoning.
<h4>Freedom does not mean handouts</h4>
Do we think so little of people that we want the government to run our lives? Through myriad legislations, stifling interventions and controlling minimum wage edicts, the government removes the agency and dignity of people who should be free after decades of colonialism and apartheid. Freedom does not mean handouts; it means that anyone can try, to the best of their ability, to better their life in ways no government bureaucrat or ivory-tower academic could even imagine. It means that they can engage in business with others and improve their lives, and, by doing so, increase the inequality that separates them from those who have not worked equally as hard. What kind of person could deny this ideal?
In the article by Professor Turok, the case of the Guptas is the only example of inequality that is immoral. Through payoffs, underhand dealings and fraud which all of this exemplifies, the Guptas allegedly bought their way into the corridors of power. They did not compete with anyone on an open market. They negated all attempts open competition by allegedly using fraud to buy their influence and in so doing they have entrenched the kind of inequality that must be exposed and punished. For inequality critics to try and equate businessmen who voluntarily trade with others, with people who use shady political dealings and fraud to improve their standing, is dishonest and, seemingly, merely a means to score political points.
<h4>To trade with another, you have to appeal to their reason</h4>
Inequality in the economy is the result of people succeeding at providing goods and services needed and desired by others. To trade with another, you have to appeal to their reason. You cannot force another person to buy your goods – you have to make the best possible case to convince them of the value they will gain by trading with you.
With the rise of the ‘app economy’, even more inequality will develop in the years to come. Already, more and more people are moving away from traditional means of employment and benefitting from more sources of income. The result is, and increasingly will be, that they are earning more money than before. My most fervent hope is that, hopefully, the government will realise that its mandate is not to run people’s lives; that it will step back, cut regulations and allow people to trade voluntarily, honestly and freely with each other.
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Author: Chris Hattingh is a researcher at the Free Market Foundation. The views expressed in the article are the author’s and are not necessarily shared by the members of the Free Market Foundation.

Op-Ed: The inequality bells are ringing again in South Africa

Tanzanian growth slowed to 5.7 percent in the first quarter of this year, hurt by slower-than-expected performance of construction, transport, agriculture and the financial services sectors, the statistics office said on Thursday.
Growth in the same period of 2016 was 6.8 percent.
The state-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the construction sector grew 8.4 percent in January to March, compared with 8.9 percent a year ago, while transport and storage grew 4.1 percent from 7.9 percent previously.
&#8220;During the period under review, mining and quarrying increased at the highest growth rate of 35.3 percent followed by information and communication at 13.8 percent,&#8221; it said.
NBS attributed the surge in growth of the mining sector to increased production of gold, tanzanite, copper and coal.
Tanzania is Africa&#8217;s fourth-biggest gold producer and also has vast deposits of coal, uranium and gems.
Tanzania&#8217;s economy, East Africa&#8217;s second biggest, also relies on rain-fed farming, tourism and communications.
Agriculture sector growth edged down 2.6 percent in the first quarter compared with 2.7 percent a year ago, while growth in the financial intermediation and insurance services sector also slowed to 8.1 percent from 13.5 percent a year ago.
Tanzania projects its economy to grow 7.1 percent this year from 7.0 percent in 2016, making it one of the fastest-growing in Africa.
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Reporting by Fumbuka Ng&#8217;wanakilala; Editing by Ed Cropley
</div>

Tanzania Q1 growth slows to 5.7%

The head of the European Union&#8217;s election observer mission in Kenya said on Thursday it had seen no signs of &#8220;centralised or localised manipulation&#8221; of the voting process.
Marietje Schaake said that the EU mission&#8217;s final report would evaluate the conduct of the tallying process, which opposition leader Raila Odinga said had been compromised by hackers.
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Reporting by Ed Cropley; Writing by David Lewis
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No signs of manipulation of Kenya vote: EU observers

Misheck Mutize | University of Cape Town
The view that South Africa should look towards the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be rescued from the unfolding economic meltdown seems to be growing by the day. It has been touted in the most unlikeliest of places. Even the new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, a proponent of the so-called radical economic transformation, has expressed willingness to engage the IMF.
There is no doubt about the seriousness of South Africa’s economic crisis. The country entered a technical recession after the economy contracted in the fourth quarter of last year and first quarter of this year. Unemployment seems to be rising towards the 30% mark.
And global credit rating agencies are uneasy about South Africa’s economic prospects. After a spate of downgrades early this year, they have threatened further downgrades which will take the country deeper into junk status.
While the South African situation is getting more desperate, which calls for desperate measures, the idea to turn to the IMF is a bad idea and must be dismissed. There are a number of reasons why I think this is the case.
First, historical evidence suggests that IMF administered rescue programmes are actually a recipe for disaster. They worsen rather than rescue the situation.
Second, to suggest that South Africa’s problems are financial in nature is a dangerous misdiagnosis. It will distract the government from the critical issues it needs to address which have little to do with the finances.
Third, one of the main driving factors of the current economic predicament is a loss of investor confidence. This is linked to other factors like policy uncertainty, political instability within the ruling party and mismanagement of public resources mixed with corruption. An IMF bailout won’t address these problems.
And lastly, hopping onto the IMF programme would disturb the country’s commitment to reforming the global multilateral financial world. South Africa is part of the BRICS bloc which is grooming a new and perhaps alternative multilateral development finance institution called New Development Bank. If anything, South Africa must look to BRICS if it needs financial rescue.
I believe that the solutions to the country’s economic crisis are within. It needs internal discipline to address them – not an external force.
<h2>Bad record</h2>
The IMF does not have a good historical record. A view of the many countries which have subjected themselves to the IMF doesn’t inspire confidence. Instead of bailing out countries, it has created a list of countries suffering from debt dependency.
Of all the countries across the world that have been bailed out by the IMF:
<ul>
<li>11 have gone on to rely on IMF aid for at least 30 years</li>
<li>32 countries had been borrowers for between 20 and 29 years, and</li>
<li>41 countries have been using IMF credit for between 10 and 19 years.</li>
</ul>
This shows that it’s nearly impossible to wean an economy from the IMF debt programmes. Debt dependency undermines a country’s sovereignty and integrity of domestic policy formulation. The debt conditions usually restrict pro-growth economic policies making it difficult for countries to come out of recession.
IMF’s poor record is partly influenced by the policy choices that it imposes on countries it funds. The IMF policy choices for developing countries, known as a structural adjustment programme, have been widely condemned. The main reason is that they insist on austerity measures which include; cutting government borrowing and spending, lowering taxes and import tariffs, raising interest rates and allowing failing firms to go bankrupt. These are normally accompanied by a call to privatise state owned enterprises and to deregulate key industries.
These austerity measures would cause great suffering, poorer standards of living, higher unemployment as well as corporate failures. The current technical recession would be magnified into a full-blown crisis, leading to even greater shrinking of investment.
<h2>South Africa and the IMF</h2>
South Africa has always been aware of the dangers of taking IMF money. In December 1993, five months before the country became a democracy, the National Party government, under the guise of transitional executive committee, signed an IMF loan agreement.
When the African National Congress (ANC) came to power after the elections in April 1994 it walked away from the IMF offer. Its concern was mainly that the IMF would undermine the sovereignty of the newly established democracy by imposing inappropriate, policy choices that would have further harmed poor people.
Over the past 23 years South Africa has stayed away from the IMF. There is no reason to change this. In fact there are more reasons today for South Africa to maintain its position.
<h2>The BRICS factor</h2>
South Africa is set to assume the rotational chair of the BRICS bloc in 2018. The BRICS bloc was formed, in part, to challenge, the dominance of western Bretton Woods institutions – the IMF and the World Bank.
It would be politically naive and economically counterproductive for South Africa to give itself to the IMF. It would undermine South Africa’s integrity and tarnish its place within the BRICS bloc. And it would undermine the idea that the BRICS’ New Development Bank can offer an alternative to the Bretton Woods institutions.
BRICS promises to yield real economic benefits to South Africa because it can leverage trade between the member countries as well as public and private investment from within the bloc.
<h2>A better way to deal with the crisis</h2>
Advancing any financial assistance to South Africa without addressing the current bad policies would not address the current economic turmoil. Rather, it would result in the country sliding deeper into debt.
And any assistance would be entrusted to a government that has created the crisis because of imprudent policies. The result would be an extension of the crisis because the pressure would have been taken off the government leaving the architecture of the meltdown intact.
What needs to happen is that policymakers need to turn their minds to the real problems. This can simply be done without a bailout.

Op-Ed: Why South African shouldn’t turn to the IMF for help

Unemployment in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa&#8217;s largest economy, is running at more than 14 percent and climbing; in South Africa, the second largest economy, it is over 27 percent. For youth in both places, it is far more.
This may seem bad enough, but according to International Monetary Fund calculations the sub-Saharan Africa region&#8217;s jobs travails are in danger of reaching uncharted territory in less than two decades.
That is, unless the economies can create jobs for their burgeoning, young population.
&#8220;By 2035, sub-Saharan Africa will have more working-age people than the rest of the world’s regions combined,&#8221; the IMF wrote in a blog post this week. &#8220;This growing workforce will have to be met with jobs.&#8221;
This has major implications for the region&#8217;s economy, its security and wider immigration patterns.
In the past, some of the jobs strain has been taken up by the so-called informal economy which is dominated by street vendors, household workers and off-the-radar cash jobbers.
Typically, these workers pay no tax and do not come under regulation, but they do add to a country&#8217;s wealth.
The informal sector in sub-Saharan Africa was around 38 percent of gross domestic product in 2010-14, according to the IMF.
This represented a steady decline from nearly 45 percent in 1991-99, possibly a reflection of more formal growth in some parts of Africa. But up to 90 percent of jobs outside agriculture are still in the informal sector.
It is not generally by desire.
The IMF found that a third of new entrepreneurs in sub-Saharan Africa said they were doing what they were doing out of necessity.
&#8220;Most would prefer a job in the formal sector, but don’t have that option,&#8221; it said.
The International Labour Organization goes further.
&#8220;Some of the characteristic features of informal employment are lack of protection in the event of non-payment of wages, compulsory overtime or extra shifts, lay-offs without notice or compensation, unsafe working conditions and the absence of social benefits,&#8221; it notes.
&#8220;Women, migrants and other vulnerable groups of workers who are excluded from other opportunities have little choice but to take informal low-quality jobs.&#8221;
<h3 data-reactid="55">ECONOMIC IMPACT</h3>
For the economy, informal sector work can be both positive and negative for growth. In some cases, for example, it represents entrepreneurship and start-up businesses.
But a lot of it is far from opportune for growth. The informal sector tends to be low productivity work, partly because it attracts lower skilled workers.
&#8220;In a country where the informal sector is large, the rate of economic growth is reduced,&#8221; the IMF said.
This would suggest that countries such as Tanzania and Nigeria, where the informal economy is 50 to 65 percent of GDP, will fare worse than others such as Mauritius, South Africa and Namibia, where it ranges from between 20 to 25 percent.
Africa is not alone, of course. Indeed at the moment the region where the informal sector plays the biggest role is Latin America and the Caribbean. It also amounts to around 15 percent of GDP in developed countries.
But with the large working age population about to explode, the countries of the region are facing a crunch.
&#8220;Countries need to adopt a balanced approach in the design of policies to grow the formal sector. This means focusing on ways to increase the productivity of the informal sector, while working to support the expansion of formal businesses,&#8221; the IMF said.
It also called for improved access to finance to create the right kind of jobs.
The IMF blog post can be read at: <a href="http://bit.ly/2vKPAfl">bit.ly/2vKPAfl</a>
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Reporting by Jeremy Gaunt; Editing by Andrew Bolton
</div>

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Zenith Bank makes provision on 30% of its 9mobile loan: executive

Ghana central bank transfers assets of two distressed local banks to GCB

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Kenya opposition leader defies pressure to concede defeat

Zambia to drop treason charges against opposition leader

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Op-Ed: How the media covered Kenya’s general election

IMF revises Botswana’s 2017 growth forecast

Op-Ed: The inequality bells are ringing again in South Africa

Tanzania Q1 growth slows to 5.7%

No signs of manipulation of Kenya vote: EU observers

Op-Ed: Why South African shouldn’t turn to the IMF for help

Informal economy not enough to handle Africa’s workforce explosion

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