JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Barclays Africa warned on Wednesday against proposed changes to the South Africa Reserve Bank&#8217;s primary mandate, saying amendments recommended by an anti-graft agency posed a &#8220;very serious risk&#8221; to the financial system.
The South African-based lender also said it would challenge in court a finding by the agency, published in a report this week, that Barclays had unduly benefited from an apartheid-era bailout.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, head of South Africa&#8217;s constitutionally-sanctioned anti-graft watchdog, called on Monday for the central bank&#8217;s mandate of maintaining currency and price stability to be changed to focus on economic growth.
&#8220;Her recommended amendments pose a very serious risk to the financial system and they cannot be allowed to stand,&#8221; Barclays Africa said in a statement.
The ruling African National Congress&#8217;s secretary general Gwede Mantashe and the central bank itself have also criticised Mkhwebane&#8217;s proposal, which has further stained South Africa&#8217;s image as an investor-friendly emerging market, coming less than a week after Mines Minister Mosebenzi Zwane spooked mining investors with a revised plan to revamp the sector&#8217;s black ownership rules.
Mkhwebane made her recommendation in a report by the agency, published on Monday, which also said the apartheid government breached the constitution by supplying Bankorp, which was acquired by Absa, now Barclays Africa, in 1992, with a series of bailouts from 1985 to 1995. She said Barclays Africa must pay 1.1 billion rand ($84 million).
Barclays Africa denied any wrongdoing.
&#8220;This is due to numerous misrepresentations and factual inaccuracies which form the basis of the Public Protector&#8217;s findings, and what we submit are the irrational and unreasonable legal conclusions in the report,&#8221; the bank said in its statement on Wednesday.
($1 = 13.0520 rand)
(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Susan Fenton)

Barclays Africa warns against changes to South African central bank mandate

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s parliament said it had received a request from the Public Protector&#8217;s office that the central bank&#8217;s constitutional mandate be changed.
Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, the head of the South African anti-graft agency, wants the central bank&#8217;s mandate changed from maintaining currency and price stability to acting in the interests of ordinary citizens.
&#8220;Parliament will consider the report through its usual internal processes and determine an appropriate course of action,&#8221; a statement from the assembly said.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Larry King)

South African lawmakers get proposal to change central bank’s role

Paul Carsten
WARRI, Nigeria (Reuters) &#8211; Shell is considering whether to invest in a gas project in Nigeria&#8217;s southern Niger Delta energy hub, the managing director of the local unit said on Tuesday.
Nigeria has the world&#8217;s ninth largest proven gas reserves, at 187 trillion cubic feet (tcf).
Osagie Okunbor, managing director of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC), said it was &#8220;on the verge of making a final investment decision&#8221; on a project in the city of Asa that would have a capacity of 300 million cubic feet.
He declined to specify the sum of money being considered as a possible investment.
Okunbor told journalists Shell was putting more emphasis on gas and reducing the oil portion of its footprint in Nigeria, although he added that the company was &#8220;still a significant player in onshore (oil)&#8221;.
(Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; editing by Susan Fenton and David Evans)
&nbsp;

Shell Nigeria considering investment in gas project in Niger Delta

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

Absa to seek High Court review of Public Protector’s report

I am an optimist and believe that tomorrow will be better than today; that the future will be better than the present. This is a mind-set that has worked for me in many ways&#8230; and it is core to who I am.
But, in these difficult times, in the world of daily disruption and distractions that we&#8217;re living in, trying to hold on to this attitude isn&#8217;t easy. The news we are exposed to is littered with depressing stories and disheartening information, all directly and indirectly impacting on our psyches: South Africa is in a recession; our unemployment rate is nearly 28% and higher than any time since March 2004; and three rating agencies have lowered SA’s sovereign credit rating, in some cases to sub investment grade. Can things get any worse?
Our very own “WikiLeaks” – the #GuptaEmails – has definitely upped the ante as well as raising the angst of South Africans as we realise that there is no easy way out of the disorder we’re in.
However, it may seem unlikely, but on the domestic front we have had some significant good surprises this year too: the rand is one of the world’s best performing currencies over 12 months; the Purchasing Managers Index is buoyant; our trade surplus is now in positive territory (compared to last year); and inflation is down to 5.3%. In addition, despite the recession, both the mining and the agricultural sectors swung from negative to positive contributions to the economy. The former accounted for +0.9% growth in the first quarter 2017 GDP and the latter a more modest +0.4%.
We need to step back from the jolts and gain some perspective on the situation. When I joined Citadel in 2001, I learnt a fundamental lesson that is integral to our thinking as a business and our approach to financial planning and investing: the future will surprise.
Not only that, but it will surprise us on both the upside and downside.
And, more importantly, to a large extent we have the ability and responsibility to plan for this future by looking through the cycle.
At Citadel, our decisions and recommendations are therefore not just about tomorrow, or for next year, or even the year thereafter, but we need to think and look long term and consider our lives and needs in 2025, 2030 and beyond. And act accordingly.
Adjusting the angle of the view enables us to make much cleaner and clearer choices. And, as a result, what is often distracting today becomes far less so if we extend our time horizon. It puts the people, politics and prices of today into perspective. It changes the narrative and, in our world, it makes investment decisions clearer.
I remain confident that South Africa’s future, in terms of both economic growth and opportunity, will continue to be cyclical with an upward slope, but significantly, that we will continue to be surprised (and shocked) as events unfold both on and beyond our radar screens.
Within this, it is important to remain committed to a well thought through, resilient financial and investment plan that will be able to ride the inevitable positive and negative surprises that will (always) arise in the journey of our lives.

Op-Ed: Being an optimist in trying times

Comments by the Public Protector relating to the mandate of the SA Reserve Bank are particularly alarming.
The role and independence of the SARB is critical in maintaining what little certainty remains in our already fragile economy. The banking sector has repeatedly emphasized this point; and once again objects in the strongest possible terms to any interference in the operations and function of the SARB.
In our view, the Public Protector has erred in making comments and recommendations about the Constitutional mandate of the Reserve Bank and its relationship with National Treasury. It is not the role of the Public Protector to pronounce on these matters. In her eagerness to demonstrate her independence and bare her teeth, she has gone too far.
We urge Parliament to confirm the independence of SARB and assure the public and investor community that this critical institution will not be compromised. The SARB sits at the apex of a banking system that is highly regarded globally and we must do everything in our power not to cast doubt on a system that has served our country very well during difficult times, including the global financial crisis.
Although important, monetary policy is not the only critical factor in promoting economic growth. Other critical factors for growth include investment friendly policies and their effective implementation. South Africa has a long way to go if we are to emerge from junk status.
It is also important for government, business and labor to work together to promote inclusive growth. We need to focus our attention on measures necessary to get the country out of junk status and the comments of the Public Protector are as regrettable as they are irresponsible as they distract our attention from this important task.

Banking Association South Africa response to the Public Protector’s comments on the mandate of SARB

The World Bank’s relationship with US president Donald Trump has raised concerns about its <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/5c9f7f16-45f4-11e7-8d27-59b4dd6296b8">political neutrality</a> in recent weeks, but a larger and potentially much more important shift in how the Bank operates is underway. The World Bank is reinventing itself, from a lender for major development projects, to a broker for private sector investment.
In April 2017, World Bank Group President <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Yong_Kim">Jim Yong Kim</a> outlined his vision <a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/website-archive/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=3802">in a speech</a> given at the London School of Economics. He argued that development finance needs to fundamentally change in speed and scale, growing from billions of dollars in development aid <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DEVCOMMINT/Documentation/23659446/DC2015-0002(E)FinancingforDevelopment.pdf">to trillions in investment</a>.
Kim said that there are significant financial resources readily available, literally trillions of dollars “<a href="http://www.lse.ac.uk/website-archive/newsAndMedia/videoAndAudio/channels/publicLecturesAndEvents/player.aspx?id=3802">sitting on the side-lines</a>” on capital markets, generating little in the way of returns, particularly compared to what they could make if invested in developing countries. Private investors’ lack of knowledge about these countries, and their tendency to remain generally risk-averse, mean that these funds remain largely untapped.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-129306 aligncenter" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Jim-Yong-Kim_Flickr-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />
<h2>New role</h2>
In Kim’s view, the World Bank should therefore be a broker between the private sector and developing countries. Its future top priority should not be to lend money, but to “systematically de-risk” development projects and entire developing countries. To do that, it will promote policies that make countries and projects attractive for private investment.
Kim hopes that this will enable private sector financing, while at the same time benefiting poor countries and their populations. In his view, the bank would mediate between the interests of a global market system, developing country governments, and people in poverty.
Kim provides several examples of this catalytic role: the bank’s International Finance Corporation (<a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/home">IFC</a>) enabled private sector involvement in building and managing Jordan’s <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/817031468040509631/Jordan-Queen-Alia-international-airport">Queen Alia International Airport</a>; the IFC and the bank’s investment guarantee agency <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/817031468040509631/Jordan-Queen-Alia-international-airport">MIGA</a> <a href="http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/817031468040509631/Jordan-Queen-Alia-international-airport">helped privatise Turkey’s energy sector</a>; and the IFC’s <a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/d3011c804717ee8aa34def57143498e5/MCPP+Factsheet+for+Investors.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&amp;id=1422400453272">new risk mitigation program</a> covers private sector investment risk with public money. As a broker, the World Bank thus provides a mixture of services that range from investment and insurance to business advice and policy lobbying.
<h2>Power shifts</h2>
Kim’s vision would shift power away from the traditional lending arms of World Bank operations, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA), and towards the private sector arm of the bank, the IFC.
The IBRD, formed in 1948, provides loans and advice to middle-income and low-income countries which are deemed creditworthy. These loans are profitable, even if the IBRD does not work to maximise its income but aims instead to <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTABOUTUS/Resources/ibrd-articlesofagreement.pdf">foster global socioeconomic development</a>. The IBRD is largely financed via capital contributions it receives from its 188 member states <a href="http://globalhealthgovernance.org/blog/2017/5/11/so-what-is-the-world-banks-business-model">as well as via the issuance of World Bank bonds</a>. In 2016 it disbursed US$22.5 billion (<a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/annual+report/2016+online+report/printed+version">almost half of World Bank Group disbursements overall</a>).
The IDA was created in 1960 and provides low-interest loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries. It is funded by so-called “<a href="http://ida.worldbank.org/financing/replenishments/replenishments">replenishments</a>”, or donor commitments, generally every three years. Broadly speaking, it does not make a profit, but works mostly towards the goals of poverty alleviation and economic growth. In 2016 it disbursed US$13.2 billion (slightly over a quarter of group disbursements).
The IFC, created in 1956, aims to <a href="http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/about+ifc_new/ifc+governance/articles/about+ifc+-+ifc+articles+of+agreement+-+article+i">foster private sector involvement</a> in development projects around the globe. In 2016 its disbursements amounted to US$10.0 billion (one-fifth of group disbursements). Its work has been severely criticised by activists, academics and civil society organisations. They argue for example that the IFC has exacerbated <a href="https://go.oxfam.ca/docs/investing-for-few-ifc-health-in-africa-2014-09.pdf">inequality in health</a> and famously, concerns persist about the fallout from its <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4bf9ea0a-1a84-11da-b7f5-00000e2511c8.html?ft_site=falcon&amp;desktop=true">attempts at water privatisation</a>.
<h2>The rise of private finance</h2>
The role of investment broker makes sense from the World Bank’s own perspective, if we take into account the larger political economy context of development. Low and middle-income countries <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/saving-the-world-bank-by-ngaire-woods-2016-01?barrier=accessreg">have become less reliant on World Bank lending</a>, given increasingly attractive alternative sources of financing; the current US and UK administrations <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/72b6d08c-25ac-11e7-a34a-538b4cb30025">favour trade and business over development aid</a>, and private finance has in past decades <a href="https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3a23/fc53714484cdcfb21aaa8695cccef3246a52.pdf">rapidly outgrown other parts of economic activity</a>.
The World Bank therefore risks becoming irrelevant unless it reacts to these trends. Moreover, since its <a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTABOUTUS/ORGANIZATION/BODEXT/0,,contentMDK:50004943~menuPK:64020045~pagePK:64020054~piPK:64020408~theSitePK:278036,00.html">founding articles of agreement</a> define the bank as an institution that facilitates private sector investment, its role as a finance broker does correspond to its core mandate.
However, making the private sector its first port of call may fit less well with the goal of making development <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/about/what-we-do">work for the world’s poorest people</a>. Two major concerns are worth highlighting. First, why exactly should assessment of the value and effectiveness of development activities primarily be made with reference to their profitability for the private sector? As French economist Thomas Piketty has shown, when left to its own devices the rising power of private capital markets is a <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/features/capital-in-the-twenty-first-century-introduction.html">force for, rather than against, income and wealth inequality</a>. Surely, the most important question to ask is thus whether the private sector does enough for people living in poverty or in highly unequal societies, rather than vice versa.
Second, what makes this renewed turn towards private sector solutions so much more promising today than during previous decades <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/aug/11/world-bank-jim-yong-kim">when Kim himself had vigorously criticised them</a>? In his LSE speech, he remarked that the bank has learned from past mistakes. Yet, “de-risking” entire countries for private sector investors is likely to include policies such as strict inflation controls, large-scale privatisations, rapid trade liberalisation and strong government cutbacks on social spending. These have in the past made World Bank lending activities notoriously destructive for developing countries.
In Bolivia, for example, structural adjustment policies imposed as part of World Bank lending conditions from 1985, led not only to a <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629801000786">rise in unemployment and a reduction in public revenues</a>, but eventually to <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2002/04/08/leasing-the-rain">countrywide riots</a> over water privatisation and resulting price hikes.
Even if we leave aside <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/us/panama-papers.html">concerns over the financial transparency</a> of the corporations which will be involved, the bank’s changing role reflects a worrying shift in how the development sector operates more widely. There may well be vast amounts of capital waiting in the wings, but putting development work in the service of private capital creates a new risk altogether – that of people in poverty being pushed out of sight.

The World Bank reinvents itself – and puts poverty reduction at risk

South Africa&#8217;s current account deficit widened to 2.1 percent of GDP in the first quarter of this year from a deficit of 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, the central bank said on Tuesday.
Economists surveyed by Reuters had expected a 2.3 percent deficit for the quarter.
South Africa&#8217;s trade surplus was largely unchanged at 57 billion rand ($4.4 billion), helped by a slight increase in the value of net gold and merchandise exports, the bank said.
&#8220;The broadly unchanged trade surplus occurred alongside a widening of the shortfall on the services, income and current transfer account. Consequently, the deficit on the current account of the balance of payments widened,&#8221; the Reserve Bank said in its June quarterly bulletin.
($1 = 12.9875 rand)
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by James Macharia)

South Africa’s Q1 current account deficit widens to 2.1% of GDP

Etisalat has been instructed to transfer its 45 percent stake in Etisalat Nigeria to a loan trustee after debt restructuring talks with lenders failed, the Abu Dhabi telecoms company said on Tuesday.
Etisalat Nigeria had been in talks with Nigerian banks to restructure a $1.2 billion loan after missing repayments but those discussions failed to produce an agreement on restructuring the debt, Etisalat said in a statement.
Nigeria&#8217;s financial system, hobbled by lower oil prices and economic recession, has suffered shortages in dollars, making it difficult for companies to make the loan repayments.
Etisalat said its had been notified to transfer its stake by June 23. It said the stake had a carrying value of zero on its books.
An Etisalat Nigeria spokesman said the company was still in discussions with lenders to find a &#8220;non-disruptive&#8221; solution.
Etisalat said its financial exposure to Etisalat Nigeria was related to operational services worth 191 million UAE dirhams ($52 million) and that discussions were ongoing with lenders regarding the use of the Etisalat brand.
($1 = 3.6729 UAE dirham)
(Reporting by Stanley Carvalho and Chijioke Ohuocha; editing by Jason Neely)

Etisalat Nigeria loan restructuring talks fail as lenders step in

In an interview following his recent return as Prime Minister of Lesotho, Tom Thabane has blamed the army for the country’s chronic political instability. Stating that his previous administration (after an election in 2012) was “scuttled” by the army, he went on to say that he now intended to neutralise the Lesotho Defence Force, even if it means <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-15-who-is-thomas-thabane-and-why-is-lesothos-army-so-scared-of-him">getting rid of it entirely</a>.
That certainly sounds a good idea. After all, what real use is a pondokkie(ramshackle) army? Okay, it gave a <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/1998-09-25-sandfs-chaotic-invasion">good account of itself</a> when the South African National Defence Force entered the country to restore order when opposition parties disputed the result of the general election in 1998. But then that was one of the most ham-fisted operations in the annals of military history.
Anyway, despite its incompetence on that occasion, the South African army did impose control. Given that Lesotho is surrounded by South Africa, who is the 3000-strong military intended to defend the country from?
But whether Thabane’s latest government has the political capital to tame the army, let alone get rid of it, is questionable.
From the outside, politics in Lesotho looks inordinately complicated, with a mish-mash of competing <a href="https://africacheck.org/factsheets/factsheet-lesotho-goes-to-the-polls/">political parties</a>, fractious governing coalitions, and repeated interventions by the military. It’s a mess, but basically, it’s not that hard to unravel.
<h2>History of political instability</h2>
After a South African backed <a href="https://www.eisa.org.za/wep/lesoverview6.htm">coup in 1986</a>, Lesotho was returned to civilian rule in 1993, when an election returned the Basutoland Congress Party to power with a <a href="http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2181_93.htm">landslide victory </a> and no opposition party representation in parliament.
This was a fault of the British style <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/first-past-post-voting-system/">first-past-the-post</a> electoral system, which produced hugely disproportionate results. A similar outcome was recorded in another election in 1998, although this time, the victor was the <a href="http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/arc/2181_98.htm">Lesotho Congress for Democracy</a>.
This was the creation of the sitting Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili, who had walked out of his own ruling party in 1997 after he had lost control of its party machinery. All this was too much for the opposition to stomach, and they poured their protesters on to the <a href="http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/demonstrators-close-down-businesses-and-government-offices-lesotho">streets of Maseru</a>, the capital. Mosisili called for help, and in shambled the South African National Defence Force.
The South Africans, acting for the Southern African Development Community oversaw inter-party negotiations which resulted in a new and fairer electoral system which combined the first past the post system with <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/proportional-representation">proportional representation</a>.
It worked well at first, ensuring proportionate representation of opposition parties in parliament. It should have led to greater accountability, but it didn’t because Lesotho didn’t have the political culture of give and take to go with it.
In a country with little prospect of employment unless one can access government largesse, politics is about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/mar/14/politics">who can eat </a>. In the political sphere, this means that politicians scramble desperately for position. If they lose out, they undermine those who win.
Since 2002 there has been a steady fragmentation of the once dominant Congress tradition, as party malcontents have hived off to form new parties, and to search out new alliances. Indeed, such was the threat to his position that Mosisili pulled his previous trick once again in 2012, walking out of the Lesotho Congress for Democracy to form the Democratic Congress.
But this proved his undoing, as in an election that year he <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/048f63004b70ed2c915199a9f8f2aadf/Lesotho-election-leads-to-coalition-battle-20120531">lost out to a multi-party coalition</a> formed by the <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/lesothos-interparty-talks-more-turbulence-ahead">All Basotho Convention</a> led by Thabane, a former Lesotho Congress for Democracy minister. But Thabane’s coalition didn’t last long either, its disarray forcing the country into another crisis, and under SADC prompting, another election in <a href="http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/Lesotho-elections-free-and-fair-20150302">2015</a>.
<h2>Politics and the military</h2>
Mosisili had sought to shore up his increasingly fragile political position through the support of the army. Thabane had sought to counter this by replacing Mosisili’s appointment of Lieutenant-General Tlali Kamoli as Commander by Brigadier-General Maaparankoe Mahao. This was when the serious trouble started.
Elements loyal to Kamoli staged an attempted coup in 2014 which led to Thabane and his fellow coalition leaders <a href="http://www.enca.com/lesothos-prime-minister-thomas-thabane-south-africa">fleeing to South Africa</a>. Although the coup was thwarted by the Southern African Development Community, which told the army to return to barracks, South Africa insisted that the latest crisis be resolved by the holding of yet another election.
This time round it was Mosisili who scraped home, displacing Thabane as prime minister by forming an unwieldy coalition of seven parties. It was unlikely that this would last for long, so Mosisili turned to the army. A temporary commander had been appointed to head the Lesotho Defence Force during the election campaign, when SADC sent both Kamoli and Mahao into exile .
When they returned after the election, Kamoli clearly expected to be reappointed to his position – and was. Meanwhile, prosecutions of soldiers involved in the attempted coup were winding their way <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/03/lesotho-quash-mutiny-charges-against-freed-soldiers/">through the courts</a>, making Kamoli nervous. Amid this drama, soldiers were sent to detain Mahao, <a href="http://amabhungane.co.za/article/2015-09-23-army-and-state-threaten-lesotho-inquiry">who was shot dead in cold blood</a> (supposedly for “resisting arrest”).
Yet more crisis. Mosisili’s coalition began to unravel. He lost a <a href="http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/a0dd578040400fd09d64ddb29663e5e6/Lesothos-Prime-Minister-loses-confidence-vote-20170103">vote of no-confidence</a> in parliament. With SADC ensuring that he could not use the army to prop himself up in power, he had to face (yes, you’ve got it) <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/06/07/ramaphosa-welcomes-african-union-s-declaring-that-lesotho-polls-were-free-and-fair">another election</a>, just a few weeks ago.
By this time, Mosisili’s political credit was running on empty. But although Thabane’s ABC <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/06/07/ramaphosa-welcomes-african-union-s-declaring-that-lesotho-polls-were-free-and-fair">won 48 out of the 60 constituency seats</a>, it was not enough to form another government, so along came another coalition. How long this one will last, remains to be seen.
What is certain is that the dominant faction in the army remains hostile to Thabane (even if it is loyal to Kamoli rather than Mosisili). Thabane’s estranged wife was <a href="http://ewn.co.za/2017/06/15/tom-thabane-s-wife-killed-in-random-shooting-ahead-of-inauguration-in-lesotho">assassinated</a> even before he had been sworn in as prime minister, some saying that this was the army warning him to watch his step. This may give him sound domestic reason for wanting to do to the army what should have been done a long time ago: reining them in. But does he have the power to do it?
<h2>Demilitarising Lesotho’s politics</h2>
The best hope lies with decisive action by Southern African Development Community, for whom the troubled situation in Lesotho is a running sore. (South Africa’s deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa, the regional body’s points man for Lesotho, must have a room permanently booked for him at the Maseru Sun).
But does the Southern African Development Community have the guts and the unity to do anything about it? Will they be prepared to impugn Lesotho’s “sovereignty”?
Anyway, quite how would they do it?
Demilitarising Lesotho’s politics won’t be easy. But if it doesn’t happen, there will be a constant replay of military intervention and changing political coalitions. There would be no shortage of donor assistance, perhaps to retrain foot soldiers as police. But the officer corps needs to be pensioned off. In toto. Full stop.

Op-Ed: Why Lesotho’s in such a mess and what can be done about it

Idrissa Sangare and Adama Diarra
BAMAKO (Reuters) &#8211; A new alliance of Islamist militant groups linked to al Qaeda on Monday claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least five people at a Mali luxury resort popular with Western expatriates just outside the capital Bamako.
The assailants stormed the hotel on Sunday afternoon, opening fire on guests and battling with French and Malian special forces deployed to try to free those trapped inside.
Mali&#8217;s Security Ministry said in a statement late on Monday that four of the dead were guests and one was a local soldier who died in the firefight.
The nationalities of the dead were a French-Malian, a French-Gabonese, a Chinese, a Portuguese and a Malian soldier, the ministry said. The European Union&#8217;s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, confirmed that two of the dead were working for its mission there.
Although the attackers succeeded in mounting a lethal assault, security forces backed by French and United Nations troops managed to rescue around 60 residents in two batches on Sunday night, including 13 French citizens and several children.
Some survived thanks to a hotel cashier who led them to a cave embedded in the red-earth hillside near the hotel, according to an interview he gave to Radio France International (RFI).
&#8220;This was without doubt a terrorist attack,&#8221; Security Minister Salif Traore told RFI on Monday.
His ministry&#8217;s statement added that authorities had killed four attackers and arrested five others.
Earlier in the day, Traore said some of the militants&#8217; accomplices were still at large. Several security forces were still being treated for serious injuries.
DESERT NORTH
French troops and a 10,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force have been battling to stabilise Mali, a former French colony, ever since France intervened in 2013 to push back jihadists and allied Tuareg rebels who had taken over the country&#8217;s desert north a year earlier.
The alliance that claimed the attack, Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen, was created earlier this year from a merger of local groups and is led by a notorious Tuareg commander. It was later endorsed by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Islamist groups have claimed increasingly frequent attacks on Western targets in Mali and the wider West Africa region, including a raid on a Bamako hotel in late 2015 which killed 20 people.
But analysts said security forces appeared to have responded more quickly this time than in previous such attacks.
&#8220;One thing is sure: They are becoming more responsive,&#8221; said Adam Thiam, a Malian analyst and expert on the conflict. He said this was partly because an elite counterterrorism unit was now properly up and running.
&#8220;They&#8217;re specialised in this kind of operation,&#8221; he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to the leader of Mali after the attack and pledged his country&#8217;s full support for the country, Macron&#8217;s office said on Monday. 
&#8220;France condemns with utmost firmness this murderous attack,&#8221; the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The African Union condemned the attack and reiterated its commitment to support Mali in combating terrorism.
Earlier this month, the United States warned its citizens about a possible increased threat of attacks against places popular with Westerners.
&#8220;I am tired, shocked. I have no other words to say,&#8221; the resort owner Manou Morgane, a French national, told Reuters TV overnight. &#8220;All I want to do is to see the list of my clients. I want to find them (anyone missing).&#8221;
(Additional reporting by Andrei Khalip in Lisbon and Tim Cocks in Dakar; Writing by Tim Cocks and Emma Farge; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
&nbsp;

Al Qaeda-linked group claims deadly attack at Mali resort

ABIDJAN (Reuters) &#8211; The International Monetary Fund&#8217;s Executive Board approved $224.8 million in additional credit for Ivory Coast under an existing lending framework, it said in a statement on Monday.
&#8220;The Board &#8230; approved an augmentation of access under the two arrangements by about US$224.8 million or 25 percent of the country&#8217;s quota,&#8221; the statement said.
Ivory Coast has emerged from a 2011 civil war to become Africa&#8217;s fastest growing economy, but the government has had to cut its budget this year amid falling cocoa prices and payment demands from disgruntled soldiers.
&#8220;The country has been hit by a substantial terms of trade shock and experienced social tensions earlier this year,&#8221; said IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa.
&#8220;Nonetheless, the country’s economic outlook remains strong, with growth projected at about 7 percent in 2017–19,&#8221; he added.
The additional credit brings total lending under the existing two credit arrangements spread over three years to around $900 million, the IMF added.
It was unclear how much President Alassane Ouattara&#8217;s government had requested. The IMF said Ivory Coast had now reached its lending quota under the existing programme.
(Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by James Dalgleish)

IMF approves $224.8 mln in extra credit for Ivory Coast

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s central bank said on Tuesday a recommendation by the Public Protector to change the constitution to promote growth was unlawful and would hit the regulator&#8217;s independence by stripping it of its key aim to protect the currency.
&#8220;The Reserve Bank has consulted its legal team and has been advised that the remedial action prescribed by the Public Protector falls outside her powers and is unlawful,&#8221; it said in a statement.
It would take urgent legal action, it added.
On Monday, Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane proposed a change to the bank&#8217;s mandate as part of her findings on an apartheid-era bailout of a bank that was subsequently bought by Absa, now a unit of Barclays Africa Group.
http://cnbc.africa/news/financial/2017/06/19/barclays-africa-says-no-obligation-pay-sa-govt/
(Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Ed Cropley)
&nbsp;

South Africa central bank hits back against Public Protector

<div id="article-byline"> <a href="http://www.reuters.com/journalists/aziz-el-yaakoubi">Aziz El Yaakoubi</a> | DUBAI</div>
The United Nations, short of funds to support millions of displaced people in the Middle East, has begun a scheme that would let Muslims make donations from the alms they typically pay state bodies for the benefit of the poor.
Muslims around the world are expected to pay &#8220;zakat&#8221;, typically 2.5 percent of any savings accumulated over the year, generally via state institutions that collect funds for aid to impoverished citizens.
The U.N. High Commission for Refugees said it had obtained religious rulings from top Muslim clerics in Egypt, Morocco and Yemen as well as a senior Islamic scholar in Saudi Arabia, that it hoped would persuade wealthy Muslims, especially in oil-rich Gulf countries, to donate their alms directly for relief work.
&#8220;It is an innovation in our efforts to raise funding,&#8221; said Muhammed Abu Asaker, a UNHCR Middle East spokesman.
The UNHCR posted the rulings on its webpage that appeals for zakat contributions to aid programs.
The amount of zakat money distributed each year in Muslim countries ranges from $20 billion to $30 billion, experts say.
The United Nations has projected it will need a total of $8 billion this year to provide life-saving assistance to millions of Syrians inside their shattered homeland and to refugees and their host communities in neighboring countries.
UNHCR has also called for $2.1 billion to provide food, and medicine for Yemen, where 12 million people are at risk of famine and cholera brought on by two years of civil war.
Millions of Syrians, Iraqis and Yemenis have been displaced by years of civil war, sometimes to neighboring countries, straining the hosts&#8217; resources as well as United Nations and other non-governmental humanitarian agencies.
UNHCR said it will use some of the additional funds it expects from the alms project to help some 30,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugee families in Jordan, with around $180 in monthly cash support for each family.
&#8220;The needs of these people increase daily and because the crises are ongoing, for example, the Syrian crisis is entering its 7th year,&#8221; Abu Asaker said.
&#8220;So anything these people had is not completely gone and they need continuous support. So this requires us as an organization to search for creative ways that go in parallel with governmental support, which has become insufficient given the rising number in refugees and IDPs (internally displaced people).&#8221;
Zakat payments can be a matter of personal choice in many Muslim countries, though it is a religious obligation under Islamic law. Governments in some countries deduct payments from savings accounts on a pre-determined day. The funds tend to be used to help those in poverty, in debt or refugees.
(Reporting By Abdelhadi Ramahi and Tarek Fahmy; writing by Aziz El Yaakoubi; editing by Sami Aboudi and Mark Heinrich)

UNHCR wins nod to use Islamic alms to aid Middle East refugees

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Fitch Ratings agency said on Monday that new regulations seeking to accelerate black ownership in South Africa&#8217;s mining industry would deter investment.
The government published its revised Mining Charter on Thursday, raising the minimum threshold for black ownership of mining companies to 30 percent from 26 percent.
But the Chamber of Mines, which represents mining firms, said it would challenge the new rules in court.
Fitch said in a statement that although the Black Economic Empowerment programme &#8211; meant to include more blacks in the economy to redress their exclusion during apartheid &#8211; was a longstanding feature of South African economic policy, the new charter was the result of a more radical approach.
The mining sector accounts for about 7 percent of South Africa&#8217;s economic output.
&#8220;It indicates that the government is prioritising radical transformation even if this leads to weakening of the business climate and could reduce trend growth,&#8221; Fitch said.
&#8220;Uncertainty about final outcomes, the implications on returns for existing shareholders of the new provisions, and the challenges of meeting procurement targets will continue to constrain investment in the mining sector.&#8221;
&nbsp;
(Reporting by James Macharia. Editing by Jane Merriman)
&nbsp;

Fitch says South Africa’s new mining rules may deter investment

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African Reserve Bank&#8217;s mandate to keep inflation low and protect the value of the currency is supportive of economic growth, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Monday.
&#8220;If we can keep inflation lower, anchoring inflation expectations, that should in turn generate a lower rate of interest to support the economy,&#8221; Kganyago told a business gathering.
&#8220;We will continue to honour our constitutional mandate and the trust placed in us by the South African society.&#8221;
His comments came after the Public Protector, an anti-graft agency, recommended constitutional changes to make the central bank promote economic growth rather than currency and price stability.
(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Toby Chopra)
&nbsp;

S.Africa’s cenbank governor: currency, price stability aims are supportive of growth

MOSCOW (Reuters) &#8211; Russian energy group Rosatom is a contender for South Africa&#8217;s nuclear expansion project and the country will award the contract by the end of the year, the chairman of the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa) said on Monday.
South Africa is planning to build 9,600 megawatts (MW) of nuclear capacity to wean itself off coal, a project that could be one of the world&#8217;s biggest nuclear contracts in decades.
Besides Rosatom, major nuclear firms from South Korea, France, the United States and China are interested in bidding for it.
&#8220;We are aiming for this to be done before the end of the year, and we very imminently want to start,&#8221; Kelvin Kemm, Necsa chairman, told Reuters on the sidelines of a nuclear conference in Moscow, when asked when South Africa would make a decision on which company would build the new nuclear reactors.
&#8220;Rosatom is definitely in there, but a decision has not been finally made. That will be a decision made by the senior politicians in collaboration with the technological and the company people,&#8221; Kemm said.
Earlier on Monday, a Rosatom official said the Russian company was in contact with South African authorities over their plans to increase the country&#8217;s nuclear capacity.
Those plans were disrupted after South Africa&#8217;s High Court earlier this year deemed a nuclear cooperation pact with Russia unlawful.
In May, state-controlled Rosatom said it was still committed to taking part in a competitive bidding process to build nuclear plants in South Africa. Rosatom was created in 2007 from the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry with a view to turning nuclear power into a major export industry for Russia.
Necsa&#8217;s Kemm said on Monday that the court ruling had delayed the country&#8217;s plans by a couple of months.
In response to a question as to whether Rosatom was a leading contender for the planned nuclear expansion, Kemm said: &#8220;Absolutely, Rosatom is a very important player&#8221;.
(Reporting by Alexander Winning. Editing by Jane Merriman)

News

Barclays Africa warns against changes to South African central bank mandate

South African lawmakers get proposal to change central bank’s role

Shell Nigeria considering investment in gas project in Niger Delta

Absa to seek High Court review of Public Protector’s report

Op-Ed: Being an optimist in trying times

Banking Association South Africa response to the Public Protector’s comments on the mandate of SARB

The World Bank reinvents itself – and puts poverty reduction at risk

South Africa’s Q1 current account deficit widens to 2.1% of GDP

Etisalat Nigeria loan restructuring talks fail as lenders step in

Op-Ed: Why Lesotho’s in such a mess and what can be done about it

Al Qaeda-linked group claims deadly attack at Mali resort

IMF approves $224.8 mln in extra credit for Ivory Coast

South Africa central bank hits back against Public Protector

UNHCR wins nod to use Islamic alms to aid Middle East refugees

Fitch says South Africa’s new mining rules may deter investment

S.Africa’s cenbank governor: currency, price stability aims are supportive of growth

S.Africa aims to choose company for nuclear project by year-end

News Tips

Advertise With Us

News

Barclays Africa warns against changes to South African central bank mandate

South African lawmakers get proposal to change central bank’s role

Shell Nigeria considering investment in gas project in Niger Delta

Absa to seek High Court review of Public Protector’s report

Op-Ed: Being an optimist in trying times

Banking Association South Africa response to the Public Protector’s comments on the mandate of SARB

The World Bank reinvents itself – and puts poverty reduction at risk

South Africa’s Q1 current account deficit widens to 2.1% of GDP

Etisalat Nigeria loan restructuring talks fail as lenders step in

Op-Ed: Why Lesotho’s in such a mess and what can be done about it

Al Qaeda-linked group claims deadly attack at Mali resort

IMF approves $224.8 mln in extra credit for Ivory Coast

South Africa central bank hits back against Public Protector

UNHCR wins nod to use Islamic alms to aid Middle East refugees

Fitch says South Africa’s new mining rules may deter investment

S.Africa’s cenbank governor: currency, price stability aims are supportive of growth

S.Africa aims to choose company for nuclear project by year-end

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters