Zimbabwe is more than doubling its issuance of &#8220;bond notes&#8221;, a domestic quasi-currency, to $500 million, its central bank governor said on Wednesday, stoking fears of a slide towards the rampant money-printing and hyperinflation of a decade ago.
Harare has used U.S. dollars and South African rand since 2009, after the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) printed so many Zimbabwe dollars that inflation hit 500 billion percent, rendering the notes worthless.
But a dwindling supply of cash dollars has led to banks limiting daily withdrawals to as little as $50. Companies are struggling to pay for imports and foreign investors cannot repatriate dividends or profits.
The RBZ introduced the bond notes in November, initially printing $200 million worth, as an antidote to the cash shortages. On Wednesday, RBZ governor John Mangudya said the bank would inject an additional $300 million into circulation.
The bond notes have been trading at a discount to their official 1:1 face value to the dollar since they were launched but have not collapsed in value as some had feared, largely because they too have been in scarce supply.
Injecting more liquidity risks undermining that rarity value. &#8220;If the scarcity goes away, it&#8217;s a threat to that value,&#8221; Harare-based independent economist John Robertson said.
To try to allay the fears of Zimbabweans terrified of a back-door return to the Zimbabwe dollar, Mangudya said foreign currencies would remain in use until the southern African nation&#8217;s moribund economy picks up.
This included having reserves equal to one year&#8217;s import cover, a sustainable budget and &#8220;right&#8221; consumer and business confidence, he told a news conference.
&#8220;The multi-currency system is here to stay up until the fundamentals of our own currency have been achieved,&#8221; the central bank governor said.
Nearly everything in Zimbabwe is priced in U.S. dollars, although the absence of cash means nearly all transactions, including payment of state wages, are electronic, either via domestic payment cards or mobile phones.
Mangudya said Harare was negotiating with the Cairo-based Afreximbank to underpin the $300 million bond note issuance. The development bank, which is partially owned by the RBZ, issued a guarantee for the first $200 million, according to the RBZ.
Afreximbank has refused to confirm this and the terms of the guarantee have not been published. It has declined to comment on Mangudya&#8217;s desire to increase bond note issuance.
Mangudya said that at the end of June local banks were holding $75 million owed to foreigners who have invested in the stock market, and that the central bank would set up a portfolio fund to help them repatriate dividends and profits.
&#8220;The fund is essential to re-establish confidence on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange by demonstrating that there is a pathway for foreign investors to realise their gains,&#8221; Mangudya said.
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Additional reporting and editing by Ed Cropley and Catherine Evans.
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Zimbabwe central bank warms up ‘bond note’ printing presses

Nigeria is expected to emerge from recession this year, but threats to recovery remained elevated and the economy will not grow enough to reduce unemployment and poverty, the International Monetary Fund said on Wednesday.
Nigeria slipped into a recession last year as low crude prices and oil production slashed government revenues, caused dollar shortages and crippled its economy.
The Fund projected Nigeria&#8217;s economy will grow 0.8 percent this year, it said in a report.
&#8220;Concerns about delays in policy implementation, a reversal of favorable external market conditions, possible shortfalls in agricultural and oil production, additional fiscal pressures, continued market segmentation in a foreign exchange market that remains dependent on central bank interventions, and banking system fragilities represent the main risks to the outlook,&#8221; the IMF said.
&#8220;Acting on an appropriate and coherent set of policies to enhance an economic recovery remains urgent,&#8221; it said after a team visited Nigeria last month to review reform implementation.
The IMF said the government saw significant revenue shortfalls in the first half of the year, with interest-payments remaining as high as 40 percent at end of June. It projected interest payments would rise further under current policies.
Nigeria expects a shortfall of $7.5 billion for its 2017 budget. It expect to raise around half that in foreign loans including, from the World Bank and from international debt markets.
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Editing by Larry King
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Nigerian economy to grow 0.8% this year, but risk remains: IMF

Praven Subbramoney | FNB
Many individuals who already own more than one property mistakenly overlook key principles of wealth creation that could potentially unlock their ability to grow their property portfolios.
Praven Subbramoney, CEO of Private Bank Lending at FNB says the ability to build wealth through multiple properties should not be determined by how deep your pockets are, but rather identifying niches in the market and maximising assets and expertise that you already have at your disposal.
“Wealth creation is a process and cannot be achieved overnight. Therefore, the first step is having a clearly defined, long-term strategy and objectives that will underpin your venture,” says Subbramoney, as he unpacks some of the important factors to consider when building wealth through multiple properties:
<ul>
<li>Area of specialisation – identifying the types of properties and market you want to target is vital. If you are in the business of leasing to students, it makes sense to acquire multi-tenant properties situated next to universities, whereas if you focus on renovating and reselling for a profit, finding distressed stand-alone properties which are sold below their market value may be ideal for you.</li>
</ul>
However, as you progress in growing your portfolio, you can then consider property diversification.
<ul>
<li>Market trends – research underpins your success in this sector. Understanding where to buy, when to buy, how much to offer for a property and knowing the right time to sell an underperforming asset will determine your success.</li>
<li>Start small and work your way up – the biggest mistake that individuals make when starting out is overstretching themselves financially by going for properties that are beyond their reach. Start investing in more affordable property and build your way up. For example, if you are in the student accommodation market you can get flats in Braamfontein, Johannesburg next to major universities from as little as R350 000 for a one bedroom flat to R1.3 million for a three bedroom flat.</li>
</ul>
Depending on your strategy, it may be risky to go for the R1.3 million flat when you have limited cash flow.
<ul>
<li>Maximising assets – leveraging the existing equity in the properties that you currently own can help you take advantage of viable opportunities. Lenders are also able to provide you with a range of solutions tailored for your needs, with a competitive mix of rates, flexibility around repayment options as well as capital access.</li>
</ul>
For example, you can always refinance your current property and use the equity to take advantage of new opportunities or use a combination of securities that you currently own to raise a loan.
<ul>
<li>Cash flow management – like in any other businesses, cash flow is the lifeblood of your property portfolio. Not only is keeping track of money coming in and out of your portfolio essential for making strategic decisions, lenders may also require your cashlow statements to approve loans in the future.    </li>
</ul>
Monitoring your cashflow can also help you identify properties that are over and underperforming in your portfolio.
<ul>
<li>Take advantage of technology – innovative digital tools can give you access to valuable information about a property, instantly at a click of a button.</li>
</ul>
For instance, with nav›› Home which can be accessed online and on the FNB Banking App, you have the opportunity to search for new homes, get free instant value estimates, pre-approvals, calculators and access to a database of home service providers.
Nav&gt;&gt; Home also offers free area and property reports that are pulled from a number of sources including the bank’s own valuation base built up over years and the Deeds Office to give a comprehensive overview of a suburb or particular house.
<ul>
<li>Using the right professionals – while this may not be essential when starting out, you should consider investing in a team of professionals as your portfolio grows. Depending on the type of portfolio you are pursuing, you need a list of qualified experts, such as tax practitioners’, estate and rental agents, attorneys, builders, renovation contractors, electricians, plumbers and valuators, amongst others.</li>
</ul>
Although, some of these experts may come at a premium, the investment will be worth it in the long-term.
“Lastly, developing a long-term relationship with a Private Banker who truly understands your financial needs and goals, and can deliver exclusive, carefully considered solutions to help you grow your bottom line, cannot be over emphasized,” concludes Subbramoney.

Building wealth through multiple properties

Keith Fenner | VP, Sage Enterprise Africa &amp; Middle East
Think back to the last time you attended a meeting with millennials. Did they seem disengaged? Distracted by their devices? More interested in what was happening on the other side of the window?
Could you not help but think back to when you were that age, when you diligently recorded appointments in paper diaries; when you paid attention to every word that was spoken during long internal meetings; when email and mobiles were only just entering the workplace and collaboration was a face-to-face exercise?
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-258871 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Millennials-Meetings.jpg" alt="" width="1550" height="815" />
Young adults of today, right?
But let me tell you something about this  younger generation of today. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaearlemcleod/2015/10/01/why-millennials-keep-dumping-you-an-open-letter-to-management/#6edaddf560b1">These digital natives make up 35% of the workforce</a>. By 2020, that figure will rise to 46%. In ten years, they’ll represent <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2017/05/11/how-to-harness-the-power-of-a-millennial-workforce/#7931d65f382b">75% of the working population</a>.
They are demanding change. They want to dictate their own hours, to work when they’re most productive, to use digital tools to collaborate, share information and get the job done – as quickly as possible.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
The winds of change are blowing through every enterprise but there’s one thing that hasn’t changed: meetings. If we’re honest, meetings are usually distracting, they often don’t achieve much and they hamper productivity.
And why are they always an hour long (or sometimes longer)?
If there’s one thing we can learn from this younger generation, it’s the value they place on their time. Why gather everyone in a room to discuss a project for an hour when it could just as easily be done in minutes over <a href="https://slack.com/">Slack</a> or a quick chat at the coffee machine? Why pull everyone away from their work when a message on Skype for Business or WhatsApp is more effective?
Here are a few ways you can improve collaboration and productivity, while making the most of your meetings:
<ul>
<li>Embrace technology. Standardise on a set of collaborative digital tools that make it easy to coordinate tasks and projects. With Slack, for example, you can quickly set up ‘channels’ by project, client or team, so that you can chat and share files in real-time.</li>
<li>Set an agenda. Outline what needs to be achieved or agreed upon by the end of the meeting and send it to all participants beforehand. This gives them time to prepare, resulting in shorter, more effective meetings. The agenda keeps everyone on track and helps the organiser to prepare adequately. Also, never call last-minute meetings. These are almost always a waste of time because attendees don’t have time to prepare and may feel disrupted.</li>
<li>Schedule shorter meetings. Having an agenda keeps everyone focused and lets you achieve more in less time. Communications expert <a href="http://www.andybounds.com/84/section.aspx/82/never_have_onehour_meetings">Andy Bounds</a> suggests limiting meetings to a maximum of 45 minutes. Shaving off 15 minutes from one meeting a day buys back an entire working week at the end of a year.</li>
<li>If a meeting is not going to be a valuable use of your time, decline it. The meeting organiser should have a solid reason why you need to attend and should only include people who can make a meaningful contribution to the action points. Ask the organiser what they need from you and see if you can supply that information over email. If you can’t add value to the discussion, excuse yourself from the meeting.</li>
<li>Plan for internal meetings. Tell your team when you are available for internal meetings and ask them to respect your time. Similarly, if you’re the one organising the meeting, be considerate of your team and clients’ time – is it crucial that they attend?</li>
</ul>
Meetings aren’t all bad. They can be good for team morale, collaboration and brainstorming. Cutting down on the quantity and focusing on the quality of meetings can make an enormous difference to productivity and employee satisfaction.,.;
Make the few meetings you have more meaningful, and you and your team will find them more productive.

How to make meetings bearable for millennials

Khomotso Molabe | Standard Bank
With South Africa’s economy in its current precarious state, careful money management and next-stage, goals-based financial planning is more important than ever if consumers are to put themselves on the path to financial stability and prosperity. Yet, just looking at our national consumer debt and saving statistics, it’s pretty clear that many SA adults know little about this subject.
“To help the next generation avoid the mistakes of their elders, and to live financially fit lives, they need to be taught the essentials about money,” says Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life, and a member of the US President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability who spearheaded the creation of Money as You Grow, an initiative that offers age-appropriate money lessons for children.
It’s no secret that those who are wise with their money early on grow up to be more financially savvy and able to craft their individual successes from an early age. Khomotso Molabe, Head of Digital Banking and eCommerce at Standard Bank shows you how you can teach your children to save in ways that are inclusive, simple and fun &#8211; enabling them to make their next goal or dream a reality:
<ol>
<li> Give your children an allowance</li>
</ol>
According to experts, the best way to teach your children the value of money is to give them a little of their own to manage. “Just how much is a personal matter, as no two families are the same, each with their own individual circumstances to consider. Therefore a standard approach cannot be taken. However, the aim is to make it a regular amount, given at regular times, so your children learn to plan their spending on an ongoing basis,” advises Mr Molabe. “The fact that they now manage their own money should make them more careful about spending it, and creating a healthy respect for the value of money.”
<ol start="2">
<li> Turn shopping into a learning exercise</li>
</ol>
Author Beth Kobliner says that it’s important to explain to your children that money is finite, so they need to make wise choices, because once they’ve spent the money they have, they won’t have more to spend. To really drive this point home, she suggests the following while shopping with your children:
<ul>
<li>Include your children in financial decisions: For example, tell them that you are choosing the generic, unbranded pasta because it costs R2 less and it still tastes the same.</li>
<li>Talk aloud about your financial thinking: Say things such as, “Do we really need this, can we borrow it, would it cost less somewhere else?” etc.</li>
</ul>
<ol start="3">
<li> Needs versus wants</li>
</ol>
Parents should explain the difference between needs and wants to their children from an early age to help them make good spending choices in whatever they next hope to accomplish. “Teach your children that needs are things that your family must save and pay for, because you can’t do without them, like groceries, school fees and uniforms, and petrol,” Mr Molabe says. “Wants are things such as satellite TV, and the latest toys or electronics; these things are nice to have, but you can survive without them.”
“It is important to instil a sense of responsibility in your children, by teaching them that spending impulsively can have a knock-effect on their savings goals, i.e. spending money on the latest toy now, might take away from a bicycle, or similar, they have been savings for, for months”.
<ol start="4">
<li> The family’s budget is a family affair</li>
</ol>
It’s well-known that children’s attitudes to money are shaped by the way their parents talk about it and treat valuable items. “That’s why it’s important that every member of the family is involved in planning the family budget and take decisions together,” says Mr Molabe. “Parents should show responsible, careful leadership in planning the monthly family spend, but each member should have the chance to express their opinions and needs.”
<ol start="5">
<li> Make it fun, easy, personalised &#8211; and digital</li>
</ol>
Once you’ve decided to give your children an allowance, it is important to make finances fun and not a chore, so that it becomes a natural part of who they are. In this way they will enjoy saving and watching their money grow, and feel a sense of achievement when they gain savings.
There are many digital tools and apps that can assist parents with this, such as the Standard Bank’s Kidz Banking app. The app is the ideal additional tool to help teach children the value of money in a colourful, interactive and fun way.
“While still keeping financial control firmly in parent’s hands, the Standard Bank Kidz Banking app is a good way to pay your children their pocket money,” explains Mr Molabe. “It can be personalised to suit every family and children between 6-12 years of age. As savings are spent, debits are noted and the balance in the account is recorded, teaching the fundamental skill of money management to your children, who can access this information at any time.”
Taking the lesson further, parents can teach children to earn money by paying money into the app when allocated chores, such as cleaning their bedrooms, are completed.
“Think of it as tool for teaching your children the basics of finance while encouraging them in a way that will teach them early participation in the financial world. This will enable them to prepare for a stable financial future that will empower their journey into their next, no matter the state of the economy or size of their aspirations,” says Mr Molabe.
“When they see their money start to grow, their excitement will keep them on the path of financial security – a path that will lead them to achieving whatever their next dream, goal or ambition is.”

Teach your child to be financially fit

Nedbank reported a 3.7 percent fall in mid-year profit on Wednesday as a weak showing at Ecobank weighed on results from South Africa&#8217;s No.4 lender by market value.
Nedbank owns about 16 percent of Ecobank, whose operations across West Africa have been hurt by lower commodity prices and unfavourable currency swings.
Diluted headline earnings per share fell to 10.78 rand for the six months to June 30 from 11.19 rand a year earlier, said Nedbank, part of Anglo-South African financial conglomerate Old Mutual.
Headline EPS strips out certain one-off items and is the main profit measure in South Africa.
Excluding a 1.2 billion rand ($90.70 million) loss from Ecobank, Nedbank would have managed a 6 percent increase in earnings.
&#8220;(Ecobank) remains a strategic investment for Nedbank, providing our clients with a pan-African transactional banking network across 39 countries and access to deal flow in Central and West Africa,&#8221; Nedbank said. &#8220;While risks remain, we believe the outlook for Ecobank is improving.&#8221;
($1 = 13.2300 rand)
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Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by Jason Neely
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South Africa’s Nedbank H1 profit falls nearly 4% on Ecobank

Residents of Kailer village normally live to the rhythm of mooing cows and bleating goats. But over the past year, silence has reigned over these swathes of dry land dotted with cacti and mathenge, a dense shrub.
Faced with severe drought, herders and their animals have had to travel further than normal to find water or grazing &#8211; and to escape worsening raids on their livestock at home, say the village&#8217;s women.
&#8220;We don&#8217;t know when they&#8217;ll return, as cattle raiders may attack them on the way,&#8221; said a worried Christine Lewatachum of Kailer, a village in the Rift Valley county of Baringo.
As climate change brings worsening drought and more erratic rainfall, competition for water and grazing is growing, stoking rivalry and theft between livestock herders.
Women and their children, left to mind some of the animals at home, also find themselves vulnerable to livestock raids &#8211; and left without an income when they happen.
But an unusual kind of livestock is helping: bees.
Since 2009, women in the village &#8211; and others like it in the region &#8211; have managed beehives as a new way of earning a living.
They use the hives to produce honey, soap, beauty creams, candles and cough syrup, among other products, and sell them to residents from neighboring villages.
While the business has been going on for some time, it is proving particularly valuable as droughts grow more frequent and severe as a result of climate change.
Even as conditions grow more uncertain, &#8220;we want to break free from poverty,&#8221; said Josephine Lemangi, one resident.
Solomon Kerieny, an animal production officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that a longer dry season and erratic rainfall have severely affected earnings from livestock, making families more vulnerable.
&#8220;When houses lose livestock, they lose their livelihood,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Women need to embrace alternative sources of income like beekeeping so they can withstand weather shocks like these.&#8221;
<h3 data-reactid="42">Foiling Cattle Raiders</h3>
For women in Baringo county, cattle raids and violence are a fact of life. In 2009, Faith Lekimosong, a member of the women&#8217;s group, was forced to leave her village of Kiserian without her livestock &#8211; 80 goats and 18 cows – after eight raiders attacked her home.
&#8220;After that I would hear gunshots ringing in my head for a long time,&#8221; she recalled, having found refuge in a nearby village.
&#8220;It is a nightmare to live in a place where you have no idea if your animals will be there tomorrow,&#8221; she added.
The women&#8217;s group, which Lewatachum co-founded in 2000, initially specialized in buying and raising dairy goats &#8220;to stop depending on our husbands&#8217; income&#8221;.
In 2005, however, cattle raiders stole most of the women&#8217;s herd. &#8220;It was too much,&#8221; said Lewatachum. &#8220;We sold the few remaining goats and had to find a new solution.&#8221;
They decided on beekeeping. &#8220;Raiders are less interested in bees as they don&#8217;t consider them as valuable as livestock,&#8221; Lewatachum said.
The Ministry of Agriculture and various charities donated five beehives to the women in 2009, and trained them on making honey-derived products.
<h3 data-reactid="50">Income and Jobs</h3>
Every three months, the group harvests and sells about 22kg of unprocessed honey for 4,000 Kenyan shillings (about $38). Processed honey sells for three times that price.
A 100g pot of body cream goes for 200 shillings ($2), while a piece of honey soap fetches between 20 and 30 shillings ($0.20-0.30).
Other products made from honey or honeycomb are more unusual.
&#8220;The arthritis and asthma syrup as well as the snake venom antidote are particularly popular,&#8221; said Lewachtum. &#8220;Residents often get bitten by snakes lurking in shrubs when fetching water or searching for grazing spots.&#8221;
The women display their products at weddings or farm fairs, she said. When they aren&#8217;t able to meet demand, they buy honey from other beekeepers.
&#8220;In times of drought there is no nectar for bees to feed on, so we can only harvest once a year instead of three times,&#8221; said Lemangi, another group member.
The women put the profit they make into a fund from which members can take out loans with a 1 percent interest rate.
This has allowed them to expand their operation to 14 beehives and to buy a 2.25-acre piece of land in the village, where they plan to set up a honey processing plant.
&#8220;We will use it (the plant) to increase our production so we can sell products in the rest of the country and offer jobs to women and girls,&#8221; said Lewatachum, as she straightened a crumpled bee suit in a makeshift shed.
She said the initiative has provided women with not only a better income but better prospects for the future.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6 in-article-tag"></div>
&#8220;When the members take out loans, they know they have to pay them back and that prompts them to think about potentially setting up their own businesses or renting a portion of land to farm it,&#8221; she said.
Group members now earn an average of 26,000 shillings (about $250) per month from their various businesses, compared to next to nothing previously, as everything was stolen by raiders, she added.
<h3>Security Still an Issue</h3>
While the women are becoming more secure economically, continuing insecurity threatens their progress, experts say.
&#8220;Without physical security, the women cannot establish long-term investments, as cattle raids or counter-attacks routinely burn houses and injure residents,&#8221; said Tom Nyamache, a professor of economics at Kenya&#8217;s Turkana University College.
In February, the government deployed over 100 police reservists to the area to reinforce local authorities &#8211; but even they were attacked by the bandits, Nyamache said.
But while cattle raids continue, the beehives have so far remained intact.

Kenyan women try new livestock: bees, in spite of drought and conflict

Theo Neethling | University of the Free State
China hasn’t been known for establishing military bases in Africa – or even beyond its immediate sphere of influence. This is changing following its decision to build a military base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa. The base will be next door to the United States Africa Command.
China will be able to use the base to improve the way it manages its peacekeeping operations and humanitarian efforts in Africa, as well as its regional maritime operations.
How should this be understood in terms of China’s global positioning? And what are the implications of its expanding military footprint in Africa?
The brief answer is that there has not been a sudden change in China’s role and foreign policy profile on the continent. Instead, the change has been gradual and incremental. This is particularly evident from an international peacekeeping perspective.
Beijing’s views and approach towards United Nations peacekeeping have changed significantly since China joined the UN in 1971. A major shift took place after the end of the Cold War and, over the years, it’s gradually taken a more positive stance and indicated a greater willingness to contribute.
Today China contributes peacekeepers in substantial numbers to operations in South Sudan, Mali and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In doing so, it’s deliberately sending a message that its rising profile is not a strategic threat to other major powers. Instead, it wants to be regarded as a friend to developing nations and be more responsive to global expectations. This includes the need to reduce tensions and conflicts.
China’s role in Africa can be understood from three broad perspectives: to assert its position as a global power, craft a positive image of itself, and to promote its national interests.
<h2>A global player</h2>
China increasingly intends to show that it is a global power. The new base in Djibouti should be viewed in this context. It’s in line with China’s views on international peacekeeping. This is that peacekeeping is way of exerting greater influence on international affairs through the UN.
Unlike the US, which has numerous military bases around the world, China has exercised its global presence through peacekeeping operations. As a result, Beijing has emerged as a significant actor in international peacekeeping operations – in Africa and elsewhere.
Its commitment to this can be seen from the fact that it’s the only country that significantly contributes both troops and money to UN peacekeeping operations.
Secondly, China’s expanding role in UN peacekeeping over the last two decades has helped it craft a more positive and constructive global image and reputation. It has used peacekeeping deliberately, and systematically, as a diplomatic instrument aimed at projecting China as a responsible global power. Its approach to peacekeeping has also allowed it to respond more quickly to African requests or challenges. And it’s worked as a confidence building measure with both African governments and the African Union.
Thirdly, China’s emerging role in Africa is part of an evolving and pragmatic reorientation in Chinese policymaking circles, specifically where Beijing’s political interests and related investments are at stake. China is Africa’s largest trading partner, and its strategic and material interests have become more integrated and entangled with African concerns.
<div id="attachment_257809" style="width: 1546px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-257809" class="wp-image-257809 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/China-Army-peacekeepers_UN.jpg" alt="" width="1536" height="1024" />The Chinese Battalion in Juba, Sudan.</div>
But its growing involvement in peacekeeping has become more difficult to reconcile with its historical commitment to non-interventionism. This is particularly clear in the case of South Sudan.
<h2>Strategic interests</h2>
Africa’s youngest nation has presented both challenges and opportunities for China. It has had to soften its historical arm’s length approach to facilitate a political solution to the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. But it has also needed to secure its strategic interests, especially the production of oil.
In this volatile and turbulent environment, Beijing felt compelled to make a substantial peacekeeping contribution to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. This included deploying combat troops.
But it also had to assume a number of new political roles, such as mediating between warring parties and engaging in multilateral peace talks. This put Chinese foreign policy principles under pressure and steered its involvement in international peacekeeping operations in a new direction.
China’s peacekeeping experience in South Sudan suggests that it tacitly recognises that some kind of intervention is sometimes needed to protect its strategic interests.
Although China’s involvement in peacekeeping in South Sudan should not be overstated in terms of its scope and extent, it does seem to signal the beginning of a far more assertive role in Africa’s peace and security issues.
At the same time, as much as China is being forced to adopt high risk strategies in cases of overseas investment, as in South Sudan, its approach can still be defined as being carefully impartial. It remains true that China’s increased involvement in political dynamics in South Sudan doesn’t sit easily with its long held policy of non-intervention.
<h2>A new colonialism?</h2>
Will China’s presence in Africa – including its military footprint in Djibouti – turn into a new form of colonialism in Africa?
I believe this is highly unlikely. China remains acutely aware of the pitfalls associated with the politics of interventionism, especially in developing nations. It wants developing countries to regard it as a friend in global politics.
But it wouldn’t be surprising if China started to apply at least a measure of military (hard) power alongside diplomatic (soft) power if it believes its economic interests are under threat.
African leaders must be realistic about developments such as the Djibouti military base. They can’t welcome China’s presence – and investments – as an acceptable alternative to America, while opposing Beijing’s use of diplomatic – and even military – means to protect its interests.

What the Djibouti military base tells us about China’s growing role in Africa

Nigeria&#8217;s Dangote Industries Limited has sold a 2.3 percent stake in Dangote Cement to foreign buyers in a stock market deal valued at 86.1 billion naira ($236 million).
The stock exchange confirmed the Tuesday&#8217;s sale, adding that a total of 416 million shares of Dangote Cement were traded at 210 naira in six off-market deals negotiated between Stanbic IBTC and Meristem stockbrokers, its spokesman said.
Dangote Cement spokesman said the deal was between Dangote Industries Limited and some foreign investors.
Shares of Dangote Cement were exchanged at a 5.5 percent discount to its market price of 222.22 naira on Tuesday.
Dangote Cement, which makes up one third of the Nigerian bourse&#8217;s total market capitalisation, shed 0.68 percent on Tuesday, to value it at 3.79 trillion naira ($10.4 billion).
A banking source said Dangote Cement, owned by Africa&#8217;s richest man Aliko Dangote and listed on the Lagos bourse in 2010 was yet to meet its minimum float requirement due to its heavy capitalisation which made finding a buyer tough.
Dangote has less than 10 percent free float as against the market&#8217;s requirement of 20 percent, the source added.
In 2013, Dangote Industries sold a 1.5 percent of its 95 percent stake in Africa&#8217;s biggest cement producer to South Africa&#8217;s Public Investment Corporation (PIC) for $289.3 million.
Subsequently it sold a 1.4 percent stake to Sovereign fund Investment Corp of Dubai (ICD) for $300 million in 2014.
The company told Reuters in July it planned to invest about $4 billion over the next two to three years to nearly double its production capacity to 80 million tonnes in Africa.
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However it faces competition in Africa from French cement maker Lafarge which has combined its Nigerian and South African businesses to accelerate growth on the continent, as well as other local rivals.
Nigeria&#8217;s biggest listed company last week said its half-year pretax profit rose 24.6 percent to 155.58 billion naira ($426.3 million).
($1 = 365.00 naira)

Dangote sells $236M stake in cement firm to foreign buyers

At last count, unemployment in Kenya was running at around 11 percent of the workforce; for the young, those aged 15-24, it was twice that.
Kenya&#8217;s years of strong economic growth &#8212; a key factor in President Uhuru Kenyatta&#8217;s reelection campaign &#8212; has created jobs. But they are mostly low-paying, informal and coming at a rate economists say is too low to absorb the rapidly growing population.
That has not gone unnoticed by the voters and has left Kenyatta, seeking a second and final five-year term in office on Aug 8, trying to make the most of recent improvements.
It is also why his Jubilee party is pledging to create year-long paid internships to all graduates in the future.
Around 800,000 jobs were created last year, while the economy expanded by 5.8 percent, well outperforming the global and regional averages.
But 90 percent of the new jobs are in the poorly-paid informal sector, according to Jibran Qureishi, East Africa economist at Stanbic Bank.
&#8220;That is the challenge that policymakers need to address,&#8221; he said.
The number of new formal jobs is small. Terry Ryan, who has served on the central bank&#8217;s monetary policy committee, said just 15,000 of them were created in the economy annually.
By contrast, more than 560,000 students enrolled in university last year.
&#8220;We are not creating formal sector jobs at anything like the rate of the supply of formal sector potential employees,&#8221; Ryan told Reuters.
That means no jobs for people like 25-year-old Cecilia Awuor, who earned a degree in business information technology last year. She is working as a maid at $50 a month.
She is skeptical of politicians and doesn&#8217;t plan to vote next week even though she is a registered voter. &#8220;I can&#8217;t waste my time queueing to vote for a politician who just wants to enrich himself,&#8221; Awuor said.
Most Kenyans share her concerns, according to a national survey released by global polling company Ipsos last month.
Sixty-one percent of respondents said the country was going in the wrong direction; unemployment and inflation were some of their key worries.
Demand for work, meanwhile is rising.
Kenya&#8217;s 44 million-strong population is growing by 2.5 percent per year, and 9 million more jobseekers will join the market by 2025, the World Bank said in a report last year.
<h3 data-reactid="61">Politicians&#8217; Promises</h3>
The government has built new roads and a railway and invested in energy generation to attract new manufacturers.
The efforts have yielded modest results. Kenya&#8217;s standing in the World Bank&#8217;s annual Ease of Doing Business rankings climbed 45 places since Kenyatta took over, up to position 92 last year.
Investors like Sri Lanka&#8217;s textiles firm Hela Intimates have responded. Hela opened an $8 million factory last year, employing 4,000 workers who produce underwear for brands like Calvin Klein, Nautica and Tommy Hilfiger.
CEO Wasantha Perera said Hela were attracted by a large, easily trained work force, infrastructure and government incentives.
&#8220;Setting up a factory, besides registration, was pretty straightforward,&#8221; he told Reuters in his office, overlooking a brightly lit factory floor where thousands of workers sewed garments on production lines while music blared in the background.
But there are not enough investors like Hela. The head of the state-run export processing zone, set up to entice foreign firms, said the 111 firms based there have expanded slowly, now employing 53,000 workers, up from 39,000 in 2012.
The next president, meanwhile, may inherit a slowing economy. Growth was at 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2017, down from 5.9 percent the same time last year, mainly due to drought and sluggish private sector credit growth.
&#8220;Even the years of good headline growth have not made much of a difference to Kenyan job creation. In a cyclical downturn, we are unlikely to see improved performance,&#8221; said Razia Khan, head of Africa research at Standard Chartered in London.
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Editing by Katharine Houreld/Jeremy Gaunt
</div>

Kenya’s growth not helping employment

South Africa&#8217;s economy is in a state of &#8220;duress&#8221; and 2017 growth will fall short of 0.5 percent, President Jacob Zuma said late on Monday, more bad news in an economy that slid into recession in March.
&#8220;The economy is under duress &#8230; In the last budget, growth was expected to be 1.3 per cent. It is now expected that it will be below 0.5 per cent,&#8221; Zuma said in a speech at an agricultural business conference.
&#8220;The weak consumer demand and stagnant business investment in the economy continue to be a challenge,&#8221; Zuma said.
South Africa&#8217;s central bank unexpectedly cut its benchmark lending rate for the first time in five years on July 20, citing weak growth. The bank halved its 2017 growth forecast to 0.5 percent, and trimmed next year&#8217;s projection to 1.2 percent.
The 25 basis points cut to 6.75 percent was the first reduction in lending rates since July 2012 and ran counter to market consensus that rates would be held steady.
The recession in Africa&#8217;s most developed economy is adding to pressure on Zuma, who is also handling fallout from credit downgrades and massive corruption scandals that have further dented investor confidence.
South Africa&#8217;s economy is likely to have returned to growth in the second quarter of 2017 after a short recession, Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Friday.
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Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by James Macharia
</div>

South Africa’s economy in a state of “duress”: Zuma

Malawi has issued an arrest warrant for its former President Joyce Banda over alleged abuse of office and money laundering offences over a two-year period when she was in office, a police spokesman said on Monday.
Banda&#8217;s spokesman denied any wrongdoing.
The alleged offences were part of a wider corruption scandal uncovered in 2013, in which senior government office siphoned millions of dollars from state coffers, national police spokesman James Kadadzera said.
Investigations by police&#8217;s fiscal and fraud department had &#8220;unearthed credible evidence&#8221; against Banda, he said.
&#8220;The evidence gathered raises reasonable suspicion that the former President committed offences related to abuse of office and money laundering. The warrant of arrest is in force and necessary legal formalities are being pursued,&#8221; Kadadzera said in a statement.
Banda, who was Malawi&#8217;s president for two years from 2012, left the country when she lost in elections to incumbent Peter Mutharika and has not returned since 2014.
It is not clear where she is now.
Banda&#8217;s spokesman Andekuche Chanthunya said he was not aware of the arrest summons, but said the former president was not guilty of anything. &#8220;As far as we are concerned she has not done anything wrong,&#8221; he said.
The corruption scandal, dubbed &#8220;cashgate&#8221;, led to international donors halting aid to the southern African nation.
A former justice minister and attorney general was convicted over &#8220;cashgate&#8221; and is in jail, along with a number of former high-ranking government officials and business persons.
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Reporting by Frank Phiri; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by James Macharia and Richard Balmforth
</div>

Malawi issues arrest warrant for former president over graft scandal

The Tanzanian government and Barrick Gold have started talks to resolve a tax dispute involving the Canadian company&#8217;s subsidiary Acacia Mining, the president&#8217;s office said on Monday.
The government accuses Acacia, which is 63.9 percent owned by Barrick, of evading taxes for years by under-declaring exports and has banned exports of gold and copper concentrates.
Acacia denies the accusations, which have pummelled its share price, and said last week it had been hit with a $190 billion tax bill, which is equivalent to four times the East African country&#8217;s annual gross domestic product.
&#8220;Talks between a special committee formed by President John Magufuli and representatives of Barrick Gold Corp &#8230; started today in Dar es Salaam,&#8221; a statement from the presidency said.
&#8220;The Tanzanian team is well prepared to negotiate with Barrick Gold Corp on Tanzania&#8217;s claims towards its mining business in the country and will make sure it safeguards national interests,&#8221; it said
Acacia, which is not taking part in the talks because of the tax dispute, said it looked forward to a &#8220;timely resolution&#8221;.
The Tanzanian side is led by Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Palamagamba Kabudi and Barrick by its Chief Operating Officer Richard Williams, the statement said.
Barrick Chairman John Thornton and Magufuli met in June in Dar es Salaam and agreed to hold talks about the dispute between the government and the country&#8217;s largest mining company.
Acacia, which says it is in full compliance with the law and has paid all relevant taxes, has said it will have to close its Bulyanhulu mine by Sept. 30 if the export ban is not lifted.
Magufuli has threatened to shut all gold mines in the country if mining companies delay talks to resolve disputes over billions of dollars in back taxes the government says they owe.
His stance has rocked the mining sector in the East African country, the continent&#8217;s fourth-largest gold producer, and driven Acacia&#8217;s shares down by more than 50 percent this year.
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Writing by Aaron Maasho; editing by Susan Thomas and David Clarke
</div>

Tanzania and Barrick start talks to resolve Acacia row

South Africa&#8217;s central bank is mandated by the constitution to protect the value of the currency, governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Tuesday, in the wake of a proposal by the head of anti-graft watchdog to switch the target of its monetary policy.
Kganyago told a parliamentary committee that the bank&#8217;s mandate was to focus on inflation and protect the value of the currency in the interest of achieving balanced economic growth.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane set off a political row and sparked a selling frenzy in the rand currency in June with her proposal to switch the target of the bank&#8217;s monetary policy from inflation and currency stability to economic growth.
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Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by James Macharia
</div>

South African Reserve Bank mandated by law to protect value of currency: governor

Tahiru Azaaviele Liedong | University of Bath
It’s been nearly two decades since the idea of a single currency for West Africa was first mooted. Yet the sub-region is still far from having a common legal tender. What is ordinarily a good idea seems to have fizzled into a fantasy.
Now, the story is that the single currency has been scheduled for 2020. But there is scepticism about the prospects of this coming to pass, especially at a time when economic blocks like the European Union are struggling.
The decision to create a single monetary zone for West Africa was reached by Heads of State of the 15 member countries at a summit of the Economic Community of West African States, the region’s economic commission, in Lome, Togo in 1999.
At the time, a currency union of Francophone West African Statesalready existed to facilitate economic integration among countries which use the CFA Franc (courtesy of the Communauté Financière Africaine, or the African Financial Community) as their currency.
To speed up the macroeconomic convergence necessary for a single currency across the entire sub-region, six Anglophone Heads of State met in Accra Ghana in 2000 and agreed to create a second monetary zone for the Anglophone countries, with the ultimate aim of merging with the Francophone countries. The aim was to create a single and harmonised monetary union for all of West Africa by 2004.
The implementation of that common currency for West Africa’s Anglophone countries was postponed four times before finally being jettisoned, dimming the hopes of a single currency for the sub-region.
The convergence criteria the Economic Community of West African States set for its member countries seem to be the bane of the single currency project. While the criteria are essential, they are also very high bars to scale for the countries concerned.
<h2>The hurdles to overcome</h2>
To implement the single currency, the regional economic body set some conditions.
First, it requires all countries to achieve a single digit inflation of 5% or less, which is a difficult task. In Ghana, data shows that the average yearly inflation between 2000 and 2016 was 16.92%, which is far from a single digit. Nigeria, the largest economy in the region, recorded an average inflation of 11.92% between 2003 and 2016, a rate which far exceeds 5%.
Moreover, West African countries are net importers, even of food. Nigeria, for instance, spends USD$6.5 billion annually on food imports. This sad situation compounds the inflation problem, which is made even worse by the region’s unfavourable exchange rates.
Second, the regional economic body requires all member countries to achieve budget deficit to GDP ratios of 4% or lower before the single currency is launched. In other words, budget shortfalls should be 4% or less of the total market value of all goods and services produced in the respective member countries. It will take a miracle for this to happen by 2020, three years from now.
How can Ghana, whose total debt to GDP stood at 73.3% in 2016, be expected to attain this ratio? How about Gambia whose public debt stood at 108% of GDP in 2015? Even Nigeria, which has one of the lowest debt to GDP ratio in West Africa, is far from the milestone. Essentially, budget deficits have soared and governments will continue to borrow to finance public expenditure.
If the convergence criteria are not revised to reflect the real macroeconomic situation in the sub-region, the single currency dream will remain work-in-progress for the unforeseeable future. This is because economic growth in the sub-region is slow, poverty is rife and the fundamentals for integration are far from realisation.
<h2>Is a single currency even necessary?</h2>
A single currency could help address West Africa’s monetary problems, such as the lack of independence of central banks and non-convertibility of some currencies. Ultimately, a single currency and its associated regional institutions could also boost investor confidence and promote trade within the sub-region.
But sadly, Africa does not trade with itself. Overseas trade represents 80% of total trade on the continent. Trade between African countries accounts for a woeful 10%, compared to 40% and 60% between North American and European countries respectively.
The story is not different for West Africa where trade between countries is extremely low. The sub-region’s largest partner, the EU, accounts for 37.8% of total trade. Meanwhile Nigeria, which has the largest economy in the sub-region, exported only 2.3% and imported less than 0.5% from other West African countries in 2010. Has the trend since changed? No.
In the current circumstances, the necessity of a single currency is untenable if trade is the main motivation, except the regional commission is hoping West Africa will trade more with itself or attract more investors after the launch.
But that will not happen overnight. Even the Francophone countries which have used CFA Franc as their common currency since 1945 record less than 16% of intra-union trade.
<h2>Loss of monetary sovereignty</h2>
Launching a single currency will also require creating and empowering new regional institutions, such as the West African Central Bank, to manage or supervise monetary policy for the member countries.
The regional commission has made it clear that it’s committed to do what’s necessary to achieve its goal, but what remains to be tested is whether this commitment is real or rhetorical.
The search for wealth drives African politics. Hence it will be interesting to see how politicians react when they lose sovereignty over the management of one of the major things that draws them into politics – money.
Nigeria is expected to play a catalyst role in the single currency project, but it’s also one of the most corrupt countries in Africa. In fact, nine of the 15 member countries of the sub-region ranked between 101st and 168th in the 2016 corruption index, out of a total of 176 countries.
To some extent, a single currency and a regional central bank will reduce corruption in the individual countries. The big question is, will the politicians’ greed allow this to happen? Even if the single currency is successfully implemented in 2020, spectators should not be surprised by any chaos or renunciation of earlier political pledges when the reality starts to kick in.

Op-Ed: Why the quest for a single currency for West Africa won’t materialise soon

South Africa&#8217;s main stock index scaled a record high on Monday, underscoring the market&#8217;s disconnect from an economy mired in recession, hobbled by damaging ratings downgrades, and still largely defined by apartheid&#8217;s income inequalities.
Skewed ownership patterns have made the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE), which has been mostly lifted by the offshore earnings of a few companies, a prime target of political resentment in a country where the divisions between haves and have-nots still run largely along racial lines.
Almost half of the market is foreign owned, according to JSE data, and black people who account for 80 percent of the population only hold 23 percent of the top 100 companies, much of it through the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) which manages the pensions of civil servants.
&#8220;There is white dominance and control of our economy. Today when you remove the ownership by the (PIC) pension fund from the stock exchange, the remaining 90 percent belongs to white families,&#8221; the leader of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party Julius Malema said at a weekend rally.
Those who don&#8217;t hold equities would include the vast majority of the 17 million people, a third of the population, who reside in the former Homelands, islands of rural poverty where most black South Africans were confined under white rule.
South Africa&#8217;s official unemployment rate is around 28 percent but widely regarded to be well over 40 percent and few of those without a job, the vast majority of whom are black people, would hold any shares.
The starkness of the divide is highlighted by the financial district of Sandton where the JSE is located: a bustle of construction activity where ornate office towers are being erected on every block and huge cranes reach skyward, a fitting metaphor for a market at historic highs.
<h3 data-reactid="45">South Africa Inc Not Behind Rally</h3>
Sandton&#8217;s apparent prosperity is a contrast to the JSE&#8217;s construction index .JCONM. Ground firmly in the wider local economy, it is down about 20 percent from its year highs reached in March and is almost 80 percent off its life high hit in 2007.
The bourse&#8217;s performance &#8211; the All-share index <a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=za%21j203">.JALSH</a> rose 0.85 percent in early trade on Monday to a new peak of 55,366.74 &#8211; has been driven by foreign flows into equities and earnings garnered offshore.
&#8220;It is the case that a handful of shares not linked to the South African economy&#8217;s fortunes have done well,&#8221; said Feroz Basa, head of Old Mutual&#8217;s Global Emerging Markets Fund.
Naspers (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=NPNJn.J">NPNJn.J</a>), a newspaper publisher turned global e-commerce giant which accounts for over 20 percent of the JSE&#8217;s market capitalization, was largely responsible for the JSE&#8217;s run, having risen sharply as investors see it trading at a large discount to its one-third stake in China&#8217;s Tencent.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-250221 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Johannesburg_Stock_Exchange_-198x300.jpg" alt="" width="198" height="300" />
Naspers, trading close to an all-time high and up 42 percent so far this year, has its primary listing on the JSE, and luxury goods group Richemont (<a href="http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=CFRJ.J">CFRJ.J</a>), which has a secondary listings on the bourse, is up 21 percent.
Only about 35 percent of the companies listed on the JSE derive all their earnings from South Africa, said Gryphon Asset Management analyst Cassie Treurnicht.
&#8220;Our [locally focused companies] have really underperformed recently and if you look at small and medium cap shares it is hard not to notice the effect of the recession,&#8221; said Treurnicht.
And big companies exposed to South Africa&#8217;s battle-bruised consumers, such as retailers and banks, have &#8220;underperformed significantly&#8221;, Basa said.
Consumer sentiment is plumbing multi-year lows and most retailers have flagged lower or stalling profits, with the demise of unlisted department store Stuttafords an ominous sign for other retailers.
South Africa fell into recession in the first quarter of 2017 for the first time in eight years, with high unemployment and stagnant wages dragging down the once resilient consumer sector.
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Editing by James Macharia and Susan Thomas
</div>

South Africa’s stock market defies recession, scales record highs

The first interest rate cut in five years by South Africa&#8217;s central bank will likely boost the country&#8217;s economic growth potential, ratings firm Moody&#8217;s said, but warned that the policy decision also signalled growing political pressure on the bank.
South Africa&#8217;s main anti-graft watchdog recommended last month that the central bank mandate be changed to place more focus on growth and not just inflation and protecting the value of the currency, the rand.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) party then proposed at a policy conference to nationalise the central bank.
Central bank governor Lesetja Kganyago has said the central bank remained independent and had not come under any pressure to cut rates.
Moody&#8217;s said in a note dated July 28 that the South African Reserve Bank&#8217;s (SARB) decision to cut rates by 25 basis points to 6.75 percent should support near-term growth by lowering the cost of investment, but also cited political pressure.
&#8220;Political pressures on the SARB to maintain expansionary monetary policies are likely to prevail, alongside heightened pressures for fiscal spending,&#8221; said Moody&#8217;s, which rates the country&#8217;s debt just one level above subinvestment with a negative outlook.
&#8220;The timing of the public protector’s report (that is, after a major cabinet reshuffle and before the ANC policy conference) points to growing political pressure for less independent monetary policy, a key pillar in our assessment of South Africa’s gradually deteriorating institutional strength.&#8221;
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Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by James Macharia
</div>

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Op-Ed: Why the quest for a single currency for West Africa won’t materialise soon

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Zimbabwe central bank warms up ‘bond note’ printing presses

Nigerian economy to grow 0.8% this year, but risk remains: IMF

Building wealth through multiple properties

How to make meetings bearable for millennials

Teach your child to be financially fit

South Africa’s Nedbank H1 profit falls nearly 4% on Ecobank

Kenyan women try new livestock: bees, in spite of drought and conflict

What the Djibouti military base tells us about China’s growing role in Africa

Dangote sells $236M stake in cement firm to foreign buyers

Kenya’s growth not helping employment

South Africa’s economy in a state of “duress”: Zuma

Malawi issues arrest warrant for former president over graft scandal

Tanzania and Barrick start talks to resolve Acacia row

South African Reserve Bank mandated by law to protect value of currency: governor

Op-Ed: Why the quest for a single currency for West Africa won’t materialise soon

South Africa’s stock market defies recession, scales record highs

South Africa’s rate cut signals political pressure on central bank: Moody’s

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