<p>Mozambique plans state spending of a third more than budgeted revenue in 2017 and to cover the shortfall with domestic and foreign loans, state news agency AIM quoted Finance Minister Adriano Maleiane as saying on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The country budgeted for a deficit of 11 percent of GDP this year, high by international standards, at a time when it had the financial support of the International Monetary Fund.</p>
<p>But the Fund and other donors suspended assistance earlier this year after the emergence of more than $2 billion in loans that were not approved by parliament or disclosed publicly, sending the metical currency into freefall.</p>
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<div class="teads-player" id="teads2">That, and steep declines in commodity prices, have sharply slowed growth in one of Africa&#8217;s poorest economies.</div>
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<p>Maleiane said next year&#8217;s spending would total 272 billion meticais ($3.74 billion).</p>
<p>He pegged state revenue at $2.5 billion, which indicated the deficit would narrow next year. Mozambican economic output totalled $15.6 billion in 2013, according to the latest available World Bank figures.</p>
<p>An IMF official said last month the Fund might agree a new aid programme early next year if the government renegotiated loans with creditors and allowed an independent debt audit. </p>
<p>Maleiane said spending on education would account for 23 percent of next year&#8217;s budget while infrastructure, which was ravaged by a 16-year civil war that ended in 1992, would cover 18 percent, AIM reported.</p>
<p>Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony, emerged from that war to become one of Africa&#8217;s best-performing economies, with annual growth averaging around 8 percent between 1996 and 2008.</p>
<p>Growth is expected to accelerate to 5.5 percent in 2017 from a projected 4.5 percent this year.</p>
<p>($1 = 72.6500 meticais)</p>
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<p>(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; editing by John Stonestreet)﻿</p>


Hefty budget deficit for Mozambique in 2017

<p>Municipal government throughout South Africa continues to own upwards of five million urban plots currently occupied by previously disadvantaged individuals. Many of these individuals were denied, in the past, the right to own any property by the apartheid government, and have lived on these properties for their entire lives.</p>
<p>The problem with this state of affairs is that, 22 years after the end of apartheid, these individuals are still accepted as being mere tenants rather than property owners.</p>
<p>The Free Market Foundation (FMF) and a handful of businesses are apparently the only civil society organisations in South Africa who have taken note of this. There are others, however, who continue to push for more government ownership of property, rather than ownership by the people.</p>
<p>During June 2016, for example, the FMF in cooperation with Christo Wiese and the City of Cape Town, were successful in having 100 plots of council-owned property in Cape Town converted to full ownership for the current occupiers. Last year, the FMF and First National Bank did the same in Tumahole, Parys, where Wiese was also a sponsor. The project, known as Khaya Lam (My Home), is aimed at giving inhabitants of council-owned property freehold ownership of the property they live on.</p>
<p>The project embraces the concept that ownership does not only lead to immense economic benefits but also implies dignified living for the owner. In Africa, individuals and communities used to have a very close relationship with the land they lived on. During the colonial era, however, the Eurocentric institution of ‘expropriation’ burst onto the scene, which deprived tens of millions of their land and property. Today, expropriation, in all its colonialist glory, continues to be embraced by our democratic government. With the passing of the new Expropriation Act, our ostensibly ‘post-Apartheid’ government is now itself enjoying the ideological fruits of colonialism.</p>
<p>Expropriation in the colonial era meant that the government could take property from its rightful owners and keep it for itself or hand it out to friends of the State. While much of the latter did indeed happen, vast tracts of land were kept by the government and eventually became ‘native reserves’, and, of course, the urban ‘township’. The result deprived the majority of South Africans of the immense sense of pride and dignity which came with having certain entitlements to property.</p>
<p>The urban township continues to exist today in much the same form as it did a century ago. The municipal government, or some other branch of government, usually owns the land upon which the township and the inhabitants are unable to legally sell, let, or mortgage the property they occupy. Not being able to regard ‘their’ properties in the same way as other South Africans in the suburbs can, the deprivation of ownership leads directly to a lack of investment by inhabitants in these properties and the absence of a property market.</p>
<p>If we wish to see townships become middle class suburbs, we must address ownership. The socialist experiment of state ownership has clearly failed and produced bland, poor, and unappealing areas where the government does not care to maintain the millions of plots and homes which it officially owns. This is nothing new, for we know only private owners have a true incentive to maintain and develop their property.</p>
<p>It is unthinkable that ‘land reform’ in South Africa, for some, seems to mean ‘more of the same’ and not the advocating of the extension and strengthening of property rights for the poor and vulnerable. I believe it is time for real land reform. The legacy of apartheid can be healed only when we distance ourselves from the apartheid state-centric mindset.</p>
<p>           </p>
<p><em>Author Martin van Staden is a law student at the University of Pretoria and the Southern African Regional Director of Students for Liberty. The views expressed in the article are the author’s and are not necessarily shared by the members of the Free Market Foundation</em>.﻿</p>
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Op-Ed: Time to change S.A's apartheid townships

<p><em>As a child, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede missed his flight home and was left stranded on the runway. It was the last time he was ever left behind. Not only did he build a bank when others doubted him, he is also leading the way to transform capital markets in Africa.﻿<em>he article below tells his story, it first appeared in Forbes Africa and is republished with its permission. Subscribe today by contacting Shanna Jacobsen Shanna.Jacobsen@abn360.com﻿﻿</em>﻿</em></p>
<p>In 2001, a man looking to buy a bank in Nigeria created a buzz in the financial world. The news caught everyone’s attention because this individual did not come from a wealthy background but was a 32-year-old banker who, through hard work, had become one of the most respected financial professionals in the country. His name was Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede and he was on his way to creating a legacy in Africa. </p>
<p>His journey began while still a boy, in 1971, just after the Nigerian Civil War, when an epiphany struck him as he was stranded at an airport in Kaduna, Nigeria.﻿</p>
<p><?UMBRACO_MACRO brightcove="5193502789001" macroAlias="BrightcoveEmbed" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I went to the airport to come home from school and I remember vividly that Nigeria Airways was the only airline available, which was a state-owned monopoly, and they had atrocious services. I got to the airport and I was left to go get my ticket at the age of 11. With all the hustle and bustle, I didn’t get on the plane and I remember standing on the tarmac, with the other losers, with my suitcase and I was crying because I wasn’t on it,” says Aig-Imoukhuede. </p>
<p>“People ask me ‘why were you crying? Did you think you were never going home?’. But that wasn’t why I was crying. I asked myself, ‘how come there were other people on that plane and I was left on the tarmac?’ I said to myself ‘it would never happen to me again and I will never be left on the tarmac’. I surround myself with people who think the same way, people who are not prepared to be left on the tarmac.”</p>
<p>With this newfound philosophy, Aig-Imoukhuede’s path started to take shape. At the age of 12, that path became clearer when another realisation dawned on him.</p>
<p>“We didn’t have to be rich to go to good schools, go abroad on a holiday, or for your father to own a Mercedes-Benz. But with the economy in very poor shape by 1983 and the structural adjustment programme by 1984, the ability of a civil servant to keep their family in that lifestyle was greatly challenged. So we had to adjust and I noticed that adjustment and that was the first time it dawned on me that some kids came from parents who were wealthy and certainly my parents were not. I observed that my father’s brother, who went into the private sector, did not struggle. So I made a career decision at 12 that I was going to work in the private sector.”</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede looked at the leaders of the top multinationals at the time – they all had a legal background so he decided to study law at the University of Benin. After qualifying as a lawyer, he joined the legal department of Continental Merchant Bank in 1988.</p>
<p>“I wanted to be an executive director of a multinational. Merchant banks recruited the crème de la crème. I remember after applying, one of the guys who interviewed me told me that he saw something in me. I was posted to the legal department and that is where everything changed&#8230; From that point, people will tell you, that in terms of professional output, I wanted to be number one,” he says.</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede stood out among his peers. When some members of the senior management team were leaving to create a new bank, Aig-Imoukhuede was headhunted to join the team as the youngest member of staff.</p>
<p>“One of the assignments I was given, one year after they took me, was to get a commercial license for the owner of the bank. So, at 22, I did just that. I relished the challenge. I didn’t think there was anything I couldn’t take on. I was like ‘bring it on whatever it is’.”</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede had caught the financial bug; he wanted to move from the legal side of business and immerse himself in the banking game.</p>
<p>“My friends in banking were ten years older than me and most were assistant general managers. But I brought something to the table, so they tolerated me and gave me advice. Some of them broke away from the bank to start Guaranty Trust (GT) Bank and they said I should come over with them. I went to GT Bank and I was given the responsibility of setting up what will later on be called retail banking or commercial banking. I hadn’t done it before, I had four people in this team and we started with me leading these people. Very quickly we became the most profitable unit in the bank and every three to six months we were revising our targets,” says Aig-Imoukhuede.</p>
<p>With a high staff turnover in the Nigerian financial markets and a culture of poaching at the banks, those who showed loyalty were able to climb the corporate ladder. Aig-Imoukhuede used this opportunity to work in many areas of the bank, including the treasury, financial control and strategy departments. By the age of 32 he was an executive director who was responsible for running the bank in the absence of the managing director and deputy managing director.</p>
<p>His rapid rise, he says, is down to self-belief.</p>
<p>“Some people call it arrogance and I say no, it is just simply confidence. I believe if I set my mind on something… I can do it.”</p>
<p>“I also had this sense to prove that Nigerian professionals were as good as banking professionals or financial professionals anywhere in the world. I didn’t want to be held by Nigerian standards. So if I look at something like a product or an event or a team of people, say I was running the investment bank in GT, I would say how does the investment bank in JPMorgan function and I would say this is how my investment bank must function,” he says.</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede enrolled in a three-month management programme at Harvard University to figure out his next move but he would find the answers he needed in the pages of a book.</p>
<p>“My late brother-in-law who had just finished an MBA at Harvard had a conversation with me and I told him I was not happy professionally and it was difficult to come to terms with that because I had just been made executive director and I was the youngest at the time and happily married to his sister, so why would I not be happy?”</p>
<p>“He gave me this book called Buyout, by Rick Rickertsen, who had left Harvard Business School a few years before I went in for this programme. It’s a book written for professionals and there was a paragraph that says if you are the type of professional that wants to continue working for other people and help them build their worth, where you get your nice salary and bonuses, then this book isn’t for you. But if you are the type who wants to get into the game and you want to work for yourself then this is for you. After reading the book, I said I know what I want to do; I am going to buy my own bank.”</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede looked at how he would do this and decided he was not going to do it alone.</p>
<p>“Very quickly in life, I determined that there are two types of people you meet, people who enable you and people who disable you. People who disable are not bad people; it is just someone who doesn’t impact you in a way that helps you succeed. Somebody who enables you is somebody who, by your interaction with that person, actually gives you leverage to step up. By the time I left university, I didn’t have time for people who disable me. I also began to build a portfolio of enablers,” says Aig-Imoukhuede.</p>
<p>One of those enablers was his business partner Herbert Wigwe. The pair initially met in 1989 when Wigwe was a credit officer and later on in 1991 when they worked together at GT Bank.</p>
<p>“He was my closest friend in the bank and the professional colleague I most respected and I believe vice versa. So in terms of selecting a partner, he was the best person I could choose. I told Herbert, ‘listen we are doing this and we are doing everything we need to run a bank and the only way we can get that reward is if we are risking our own capital. So let’s get out and buy a bank, let’s do it together’. So Herbert’s entrepreneurial juices started running. We didn’t resign immediately, we were still giving GTB 100 percent, and nobody knew and we were talking to owners of banks,” says Aig-Imoukhuede.</p>
<p>Initially, Aig-Imoukhuede was only interested in banks that were doing well but the inflated prices made them rethink this strategy. At the time, a lot of banks were struggling and it didn’t take long for these young Turks to find one that was suitable for them.</p>
<p>“I had never [considered] Access Bank and it was never an institution I had an interest in. Somebody said this bank had done a public offer looking to recapitalise and they had not been doing well therefore 51% of the bank was up for grabs if you could raise the money. We looked at it and, with limited due diligence, we said ‘fine we can do it’. It took everything we had; we borrowed money and put it together and invested it,” says Aig-Imoukhuede.</p>
<p>Now that they owned a bank, the entrepreneurs had to build trust.</p>
<p>“First of all, the acquisition was deemed to be hostile. We were working somewhere and we were young and we were not the children of rich men, we were 34 when we started and in the eyes of the public, when they knew the full story, all hell broke loose and it wasn’t very easy.”</p>
<p>While trying to gain credibility with the public, they also had to win the votes of the board.</p>
<p>“I delivered a presentation I had been practising for one week. We hadn’t slept in maybe four days. We came up with a transformation agenda and we convinced the board. We presented our track record and the fact that we were risking our own money and everything we had on this venture, so there was an alignment of goals between what we wanted to do, our personal aspirations, and what the bank needed.”</p>
<p>With a resolution signed, Aig-Imoukhuede was appointed Managing Director and Wigwe Deputy-Managing Director. They could now start to transform Access Bank into one of the top banks in Nigeria within five years.</p>
<p>The impact of the bank’s new owners was obvious in just one year. According to Access Bank, the bank doubled its balance sheet, with profit before tax more than the cumulative profit made by the bank in the previous 13 years. The bank’s shareholders fund today stands at over N430 billion ($1.4 billion) with an expanded shareholder base of over a million domestic and foreign investors.</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede attributes the success to three things.</p>
<p>First was the vision.</p>
<p>“Initially our vision was to transform the bank into a world-class financial institution. The idea of this horrible institution taking on the renowned banks was mind-blowing and our mission was to go beyond the ordinary and deliver the perceived impossible and quest for excellence.”</p>
<p>The second factor was the people. Between 2002 and 2012 Aig-Imoukhuede interviewed every person the bank recruited, ensuring they hired the best of the best. Then, finally, the timing was perfect.</p>
<p>“I was in GT Bank representing the bank for the interaction with the government. I could see from what President [Olusegun] Obasanjo was doing that Nigeria was going to enjoy an economic renaissance that was going to be phenomenal. I said to myself if I am going to buy a bank, I am going to do it before these changes in government take off, because otherwise the train would have left the station and it is not that you can’t do it, but it would be much more expensive and difficult to do it if you got your timing wrong.”</p>
<p>With his objectives achieved, Aig-Imoukhuede stepped down as CEO of Access Bank in 2012. He wanted to try something new.</p>
<p>“I am so entrepreneurially driven and not just in the sense of making money, but I knew I would get bored eventually. Also from the perspective of managing an institution as CEO, I don’t think anybody can successfully manage a business beyond 15 years; you will begin to make more mistakes than you should. You will begin to experience diminishing returns. I think a CEO owes the responsibility to his stakeholders to leave at the top of his game. And I knew 15 years would be the maximum. The third reason was that there was a requirement that had been put in place by the central bank that, after 10 years as CEO, you had to leave”, he says.</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede needed to figure out what life after the bank would look like. He knew it had to involve helping and transforming people.</p>
<p>His next venture combined his belief that nobody should be left behind with his vision to build something that lasts for generations. This led to him founding Coronation Capital, a Mauritian-based private equity investment management and advisory company.</p>
<p>“I like sustainability and I don’t like one-hit wonders, things that come and go or a shooting star. I believe in generational institutions, it has to be sustainable and something that would last and leave a legacy.”</p>
<p>“In Coronation Capital you have people that we have told ‘this is how we do it, look at the Access Bank story and let’s find out if there are any more opportunities’. So, when we find the opportunity, we see if we can come up with any compelling stories and then we look at the vehicle we invest with and we attract the people to that investment. We call it the Coronation way,” says Aig-Imoukhuede.</p>
<p>One of those opportunities is Wapic, a company that Coronation Capital is trying to turn into an insurance giant. It is currently the second fastest growing insurance company in Nigeria, says Aig-Imoukhuede.</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede believes that efficient management of the capital market is the only way for Nigeria to become an advanced economy. As the current President of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, Aig-Imoukhuede is well placed to develop the country’s capital market.</p>
<p>“If you are worth $1 million, it will be represented by financial assets of some sort which you will keep somewhere. It could be your pensions or your savings account and you earn and continue to build. If I am someone in Kogi State who needs money to build a factory, I am not going to be able to find you and you are not going to be able to find me to get access to that $1 million. So the capital markets create the infrastructure by which the sources and users of these financial resources interact. The more developed the financial markets are, the more developed the economy becomes.”</p>
<p>Having just turned 50, Aig-Imoukhuede is launching the Africa Initiative for Governance (AIG) to attract talented people to the public sector.</p>
<p>“I have had a front row seat and seen how the public sector works and I know its weakness and what is clear to me is simple, whenever you have gifted people in the public sector, just like you have gifted people in the private sector, transformation takes place. The difference is that in Africa every gifted person is going into the private sector and nobody is going into the public sector. So I am dedicating resources towards a scholarship and a fellowship, which we have signed with Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government who have a fantastic one-year post graduate programme, called the Master of Public Policy (MPP).”</p>
<p>Those given scholarships for the MPP course are required to work for the public sector in their respective African countries for five years.</p>
<p>Aig-Imoukhuede is humbled by how far he has come. Spending time with his wife and three children is a priority for him but is not ready to relax yet. For Aig-Imoukhuede it is all about building a legacy and creating an advanced economy in Africa.   ﻿</p>
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Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede: The Nigerian banker who refused to be left behind

<p class="Default">The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a seed equity capital investment of USD 25 million into the African Domestic Bond Fund (ADBF). The ADBF was conceived as part of the African Financial Markets Initiative (AFMI, <a href="http://www.africanbondmarkets.org/">www.africanbondmarkets.org</a>), dating back to 2008. Its objectives are to contribute to the development of local debt markets in Africa, by strengthening the domestic bond market infrastructure and investing in local currency-denominated debts. The AFMI’s activities are implemented through its two pillars which are the African Financial Markets Database (AFMD) and the African Domestic Bond Fund (ADBF).</p>
<p>The ADBF is expected to be a game-changer for the investors’ community to access the African markets. It is structured as an enhanced Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) listed in Mauritius, but will also be listed in other stock exchanges in order to invite other investors to invest in the fund. It will be managed by an external fund Manager – MCBIM (Mauritius Commercial Bank Investment Management Co Ltd.). “The ADBF aims to stimulate the development of African domestic bond markets through the provision of an innovative and efficient product in the form of an enhanced Index Bond Fund tobroaden investor’s participation” as confirmed by the Bank’s Finance Vice-President and chairman of AFMI steering committee, Charles Boamah.</p>
<p>The ADBF will address the perception and challenges that create barriers for investors to commit to local currency fixed income in Africa. The markets show that African credit risk is not the stumbling block for international investors. Capital has been staying on the side-lines because of technical barriers that can mostly be overcome. Beginning with the premise that investors are deterred by these factors, structuring a product that mitigates these concerns is an opportunity to attract local and international capital to African markets. While strong demand for Eurobonds demonstrates appetite for African sovereign risk, this does not generally translate into appetite for local currency bonds despite the currency yields being higher and often being adequate enough to compensate for currency exchange risk.</p>
<p class="Default">According to AfDB’s Director for Financial Sector Development, Stefan Nalletamby: “In developing markets, it is particularly important for the lead institutions to act to reduce financial market impediments and instill local and international investor confidence. AfDB is leading the establishmentof the ADBF as a sovereign fixed income ETF investing in different countries which will be the first time institution of this kind established in Africa. AfDB is the premier development Bank for Africa and the Bank’s leadership in the establishment of ADBF is demonstrable of the Bank providing a local solution to several structural weaknesses.”﻿</p>
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AfDB launches multi-jurisdictional fixed income ETF for Africa

<p>Time Magazine named U.S. President-elect Donald Trump its person of the year on Wednesday, citing the upheaval in American politics brought about by the New York businessman&#8217;s election campaign and victory.</p>
<p>&#8220;It’s hard to measure the scale of his disruption,&#8221; Time said in its announcement, noting Trump&#8217;s career as real estate magnate and reality television star before he won the presidency on Nov. 8.</p>
<p>The Republican president-elect, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, ran an unconventional and controversial campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton. Time noted that views of him were deeply divided.</p>
<p>&#8220;For those who believe this is all for the better, Trump’s victory represents a long-overdue rebuke to an entrenched and arrogant governing class,&#8221; the magazine said.</p>
<p>&#8220;For those who see it as for the worse, the destruction extends to cherished norms of civility and discourse, a politics poisoned by vile streams of racism, sexism, nativism.&#8221;</p>
<p>The magazine said its short list for person of the year included Clinton, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and singer Beyonce.</p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a great honor, it means a lot,&#8221; Trump told NBC&#8217;s &#8220;Today&#8221; show in an interview shortly after the announcement.</p>
<p>But he rejected Time&#8217;s characterization of the country as fractured. The magazine&#8217;s cover called him the &#8220;president of the divided states of America.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I didn&#8217;t divide them, they&#8217;re divided now,&#8221; he told NBC. &#8220;We&#8217;re going to put it back together.&#8221; He added: &#8220;I think putting &#8216;divided&#8217; is snarky.&#8221;Time makes its annual choice based on the impact a person has on world events, for better or for worse. Last year the magazine chose German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Previous winners have ranged from Mahatma Gandhi to Adolf Hitler.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(Reporting by Susan Heavey, Doina Chiacu and Bill Trott; Editing by Alden Bentley and Frances Kerry)﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Time magazine names Trump Person of the Year, this is why…

<p>Nigeria hopes to boost its oil production to 2.1 million barrels per day next month, the country&#8217;s oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Kachikwu also said he was expecting more production cuts from non-OPEC producers at Saturday&#8217;s meeting of oil producers in Vienna, and that he hoped to see oil prices at $60 a barrel by December 2017.</p>
<p>Kachikwu was speaking at a Bloomberg Markets summit in Abu Dhabi.</p>
<p>Nigeria&#8217;s output is at 1.9 million bpd with all three of its main fields online, the minister said on Monday.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Nigeria targets oil output of 2.1 mln bpd in Jan

<p>It’s nearly the end of the year and whether or not your finances are in good shape, it’s still important to review your finances and make a fair determination of how you can improve your financial well-being before moving into the new year.</p>
<p>Preenay Sathu, Channel Head at FNB Financial Advisory, says “The end of the year should not be the only time to relook  finances, it must be an ongoing process. However, conducting a reassessment of your financial status over a 12 month period provides a clear picture of where you are and can help spot any gaps or mistakes that may need correcting. After this step it becomes easier to set new financial goals and targets over the coming year. Discipline in this process is paramount as the most effective way to achieve results is being able to set goals and stick to them.”</p>
<p>Here are some areas to look at for the coming year:</p>
<p><strong>Change your spending habits</strong></p>
<p>A change in financial behaviour goes a long way. Make a list of items that are not priority for you and yet they dent your wallet. This, for example, may include downgrading on the type of vehicle you drive so that you can allocate more funds towards your retirement or other savings goals. By being more conscious of your spending habits you will be in a better position to make changes where necessary and avoid making the same mistakes.</p>
<p><strong>Beat the debt trap</strong></p>
<p>This is easier said than done, but it can be achieved and the first step is to avoid taking on more debt, instead focus on managing the current debt burden. Only borrow when you need to and avoid falling for the temptation of what lenders offer you. Rather focus on reducing debt and using any surplus cash to increase payment towards your home loan or saving for your child’s education.</p>
<p><strong>Relook your investment portfolio</strong></p>
<p>Review your investments to see if you have asset classes that provide a good mix of exposure to growth, protection and preservation strategies. That will allow you to maximise any opportunities to achieve your goals over time. Any adjustments that are made should be informed by your risk appetite and long-term investment objectives. Diversification remains key; your portfolio should have a balanced spread across equities, bonds and cash instruments; this may vary depending on personal circumstances and goals.</p>
<p>It may be worthwhile to assess your portfolio performance; however, short –term market shocks should not be used as a reason to make adjustments that could have a lasting impact. This is a task that may need to be done in consultation with a qualified financial adviser.</p>
<p><strong>Reassess your retirement contributions and savings</strong></p>
<p>Review your retirement plan, contributions to your retirement fund and other associated savings as it becomes much more critical as we move closer to the golden years. Check with your financial adviser if the annual premium increase is in place and sufficient to meet your goals at retirement. It is also beneficial to assess if you are maximising the tax benefits available to you by virtue of your contributions to retirement funds i.e. pension funds; provident funds and retirement annuities are being fully utilised.</p>
<p><strong>Ensure your estate is in order</strong></p>
<p>Review your will and ensure it serves the best interest of your dependents and protects your assets. It is important to remember that an estate that is well planned and articulated through your will be quicker to execute and not be subjected to unnecessary delays.</p>
<p>“Be realistic with the financial goals that you set for yourself as there are many external forces in the broader economic environment that may have an impact on your finances,” adds Sathu﻿.</p>
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South Africa introduces $260 a month national minimum wage

Time to set financial goals for 2017

<p>Steinhoff reports solid results for the quarter ended 30 September 2016.</p>
<ul>
<li>Revenue improves by 12.1% to €3.4bn (3MSep2015: €3.0bn)</li>
<li>Operating profit increased by 12.5% to €327m (3MSep2016: €291m)</li>
</ul>
<p>Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. today announced its financial results for the quarter ended 30 September 2016. Due to the change in year end, as approved at the extraordinary general meeting held on 30 May 2016, a summarised consolidated income statement highlighting the performance of the group for the twelve months ended 30 September 2016 is also provided.</p>
<p>The group showed good momentum in the last quarter of the fiscal year 2016. The group’s total revenue for this quarter increased by 12.1% to €3.4 billion. Approximately 93% of revenue is generated by group retail operations. The retail operations improved sales by 15.6% for the quarter under review. While 61% of group revenue is earned in Europe and the United Kingdom, 32% of revenue is earned in Africa, mostly in South Africa. Adjusted for the impact of currency fluctuations during the quarter, versus that of the comparative quarter, retail sales in constant currency increased by 20.3%.</p>
<p>The group reported a 12.5% increase in operating margin to €327million representing an operating profit margin for the group as a whole of 9.7%. When adjusting for one of restructuring costs, the group increased margin by 21.1% to €352million, representing an 80 basis points increase in operating margin for the quarter under review.</p>
<p>Markus Jooste, CEO of Steinhoff, said: “As this calendar year is drawing to a close and I reflect on the past year, I recognise that this has been one of the most transformative years in the 53-year history of Steinhoff.”</p>
<p>Steady growth</p>
<p>Revenue of the Household goods retail segment increased by 13.6% to €2.2 billion, for the quarter ended 30 September 2016 (3MSep2016: €1.9 billion) and operating profit rose by 10.1% to €241 million in the quarter. Conforama reported revenue growth of 2% for the quarter with a good operating profit and cash flow performance in France. In Switzerland, the group is holding its own despite a particularly challenging market. The remainder of the international division comprising Italy, Iberia and the Balkans continue to report good growth. The sales growth in the European business units is particularly encouraging, given the fact that the European summer months are historically a slower period for the household goods business in many territories where the group operates. Germany and the eastern European markets continued to show solid growth, whereas sales in Austria and Africa were affected by the repositioning and restructuring initiatives in these markets. Despite the Brexit vote and pound weakness, the bedding and furniture retail business in the United Kingdom performed exceptionally well. Similarly the Australasian business performed well for the quarter under review, led by the strengthening of the housing market in that region.</p>
<p>For the three months ended 30 September 2016, theGeneral Merchandiseretail segment improved revenue by 18.0% to €895 million (3MSep2015: €758 million). Adjusted for currency fluctuations relating mostly to the South African rand, the general merchandise segment increased sales by 26.3% in constant currency during the quarter. In South Africa, this year marks the 17th consecutive year of double-digit revenue and operating profit growth in that region. An increased product range and a diligent focus on keeping prices to the consumer low, resulted in market share gains in this territory. The eastern European division continued its growth trajectory, with like-for-like sales growth during the quarter exceeding 20% in all countries, with a particularly strong performance in Hungary and Romania. The business in Australasia performed well, with increased like-for-like sales and improved profitability.</p>
<p>When adjusting for currency fluctuations in the South African rand, revenue in theAutomotive divisionwas stable compared to the previous quarter. This performance should be evaluated against the performance of the South African motor industry, in particular new vehicle sales, which has declined compared to the previous year.</p>
<p>Acquisitions</p>
<p>The period saw Steinhoff entrench their global market share in bedding further, with the acquisition of MattressFirm. This acquisition will form the world’s leading multi-brand mattress retail distribution network and facilitate the group’s entry into the USA, which has proven to be a strong mattress industry, that has demonstrated long-term stability and growth.</p>
<p>The strategic partnership with Groupe Cofel, in France will enhance the group’s access to the five factories operated in France, thereby supporting sustainability of supply and improving the ability to manage efficiencies throughout the supply chain.</p>
<p>The general merchandise product segment was expanded through the successful acquisition of Poundland in the United Kingdom and Tekkie Town in South Africa. In line with the company’s strategy to increase its relevance and product range to its core customer base in value and discount markets, and in addition to the decision to substantially scale the successful Pep&amp;Co model in the United Kingdom, the Poundland acquisition presented a unique opportunity to the group to satisfy both these strategic initiatives. Similarly, Tekkie Town presents a good opportunity to the group to maximise supply chain benefits and add further scale and buying power to the group in footwear.</p>
<p>Outlook</p>
<p>Sales momentum in the group is expected to continue for the remainder of the year. In markets where the group has material market share, such as in France and Switzerland sales are expected to approximate or slightly outperform that of the market. In regions such as Germany, Spain, Portugal and eastern Europe, where the group is actively expanding its footprint, market share growth is expected to continue. In the United Kingdom and Australasia, focus remains on increasing market share in all segments of the resilient bedding market. Sales momentum, as measured in constant currency, is expected to continue in the African region.</p>
<p>The group remains confident in its ability to keep prices to consumers low, and to continue to improve operating margins.</p>
<p>Additional information</p>
<p>Additional information and the quarterly financial report and presentation for analysts and investors are available in English via the following link: <a href="http://www.steinhoffinternational.com/">www.steinhoffinternational.com</a>.</p>


Steinhoff announces 12.5% increase in operating profit

<p>Long queues formed at voting stations in Ghana on Wednesday as President John Mahama ran for a second and final term against a backdrop of an economy that has slowed sharply since he took power.</p>
<p>There have been few opinion polls but most political analysts say the vote could be close, with a strong challenge from opposition leader and former foreign minister Nana Akufo-Addo.</p>
<p>Ghana is held up a beacon of democracy in West Africa with a track record of peaceful elections. Twice since 2000 voters have rejected the government of the day.</p>
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<p>Some voters queued overnight to cast their ballots in a show of enthusiasm for a hotly-contested vote.</p>
<p>&#8220;I needed to register the strong feeling I have about this country with my thumb and the least I could do was to sacrifice sleep,&#8221; said Comfort Laryea, 78, who waited to vote since 4 a.m. (0400 GMT) in the Teshie suburb of the capital. She declined to say who she would vote for.</p>
<p>For years, Ghana had one of Africa&#8217;s most dynamic economies but it hit the buffers in 2014 due to lower global prices for its gold, oil and cocoa exports and a fiscal crisis that featured a spike in the budget deficit and elevated inflation.</p>
<p>The currency also halved in value since 2014, though it has largely stabilized this year. The government is mid-way through a $918 million International Monetary Fund programme to restore economic stability.</p>
<p>The ruling National Democratic Congress argues that, despite the difficulties, Ghana is poised for a return to growth above 8 percent and it has improved roads, schools and hospitals.</p>
<p>The opposition New Patriotic Party says the government has mismanaged the economy and squandered the country&#8217;s resources causing hardship and a rise in unemployment.</p>
<p>Security forces have deployed in strength and political parties who have sent thousands of agents to the country&#8217;s 29,000 polling stations to spot any irregularities.</p>
<p>The opposition challenged the 2012 election result leading to an eight-month Supreme Court case most said reinforced the country&#8217;s democracy.</p>
<p>The opposition says it has little faith in the electoral commission and its first-time commissioner Charlotte Osei.</p>
<p>There are 15.7 million registered voters in the country of 26 million and 275 parliamentary seats are also being contested. Five other candidates are also contesting the presidency, though they are considered to have little chance of victory.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Voting begins in Ghana's election as Mahama runs for second term

<p>Business confidence in South Africa rose to its highest in four months in November, helped by improvements in new vehicle sales and manufacturing output, a survey showed on Wednesday.</p>
<p>The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry&#8217;s (SACCI) monthly business confidence index (BCI) rose to 93.9 in November, its highest reading since August, from 93.0 in October.</p>
<p>&#8220;Positive monthly contributions to the BCI mainly came from real value of building plans passed, new vehicle sales (seasonally adjusted) and manufacturing output,&#8221; SACCI said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Notwithstanding the volatility in the business climate, the present turnaround in the BCI could gather more momentum.&#8221;﻿</p>
<p> </p>


South Africa's business confidence index rises

<p>Mozambique&#8217;s cabinet has approved changes to liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts with U.S. oil major Anadarko and Italy&#8217;s Eni to allow the two companies to sell the government&#8217;s share of gas from projects in the Rovuma Basin.</p>
<p>&#8220;The government opted to relinquish its right to receive in kind its quota of available gas as well as the gas production tax. The aim is to turn the projects viable,&#8221; government spokeswoman Ana Coana said late on Tuesday after the amendments were approved by cabinet.</p>
<p>&#8220;The concessionaires commit themselves to a joint-sale of liquefied natural gas in order to offer huge volumes and get better prices at the market.&#8221;</p>
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<p>The contracts relates to Anadarko&#8217;s Dolphin Tuna project and Eni&#8217;s South Coral project in areas 1 and 4 of the Rovuma basin.</p>
<p>Eni is expected to make a final investment decision on its LNG project by the end of this year, while Anadarko&#8217;s investment decision is expected next year.</p>
<p>Mozambique has some 85 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves &#8212; enough to supply Germany, Britain, France and Italy for nearly two decades. It is likely to take at least five years after final investment decisions before gas production begins.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Mozambique approves changes to LNG contracts with Anadarko & Eni

<p>Mauritius expects foreign direct investment to come to 14 billion rupees ($391 million) in 2016, up more than 44 percent from 9.7 billion last year, its finance minister said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The Indian Ocean island nation is trying to expand into offshore banking, business outsourcing, luxury real estate and medical tourism, in a bid to diversify its economy away from sugar, textiles and tourism.</p>
<p>In the nine months to September, foreign investment inflows came to 10.59 billion rupees, up 46.8 percent year-on-year, driven by real estate, financial services and insurance activities, according to Bank of Mauritius data.</p>
<p>&#8220;They are estimated to be around 14 billion for the year 2016,&#8221; Finance Minister Pravind Jugnauth told parliament.</p>
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<p>The bank said investment in real estate totalled 7.56 billion rupees, while financial and insurance activities received 2.04 billion rupees in the first nine months.</p>
<p>France was the main investor over that period with investments totalling 3.52 billion rupees, followed by China which accounted for 1.90 billion rupees.</p>
<p>The Bank of Mauritius expects the island&#8217;s economy to grow about 3.8 to 4.0 percent in 2017.</p>
<p>Jugnauth said the central bank forecasts a higher balance of payments surplus of around 22 billion rupees for 2016 against 20 billion last year.</p>
<p>($1 = 35.8000 Mauritius rupees)﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Mauritius sees 2016 foreign investment flows up over 40 pct

<p>Tanzania is in talks with Nigeria&#8217;s Dangote Cement on the supply of natural gas to a manufacturing plant for the building material, but negotiations are currently held up over prices, said a government body in the East African country.</p>
<p>The $500 million cement factory in the southeastern Tanzanian town of Mtwara, set up last year with an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes, runs on expensive diesel generators and has sought government support to reduce costs.</p>
<p>The company, whose majority owner and chairman is Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote, halted production at the plant last week over technical issues.</p>
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<p>State-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) said talks were expected to conclude in January, with price disagreements yet to be resolved.</p>
<p>&#8220;Dangote has held protracted talks with TPDC on the pricing of natural gas. The Dangote Cement factory has asked for gas supply at below market prices, equivalent to the price of raw natural gas from producing wells,&#8221; TPDC said in a statement.</p>
<p>&#8220;TPDC cannot sell natural gas (to final consumers) on at-the-well price because there are additional costs incurred in processing and transporting the gas,&#8221; it said.</p>
<p>Tanzania announced in February it had discovered an additional 2.17 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of possible natural gas deposits in an onshore field, raising its total estimated recoverable natural gas reserves to more than 57 tcf.</p>
<p>Dangote, Africa&#8217;s biggest cement producer, has an annual production capacity of 43.6 million tonnes and targets output of between 74 million and 77 million tonnes by the end of 2019 and 100 million tonnes of capacity by 2020.</p>
<p>The company plans to roll out plants across Africa. In Tanzania, Dangote seeks to double the country&#8217;s annual output of cement to 6 million tonnes.</p>
<p> (Reporting by Fumbuka Ng&#8217;wanakilala; Writing by Aaron Maasho; Editing by George Obulutsa and Tom Hogue)﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Tanzania in talks with Nigeria's Dangote Cement over pricing

<p>A Gambian court freed a prominent lawyer and 18 other political prisoners on bail on Monday pending an appeal of their jail sentence for &#8220;unlawful assembly&#8221;, in a sign that President Yahya Jammeh&#8217;s shock election defeat last week could end years of repression.</p>
<p>A Reuters witness was present for the decision to release Ousainou Darboe along with other senior members of the United Democratic Party (UDP), who had been jailed for three years in July for taking part in a small protest near the capital Banjul.</p>
<p>Darboe appeared thin in a long blue robe but grinned broadly as he hugged family members and friends in the courtroom. He was greeted by cheers and cries of &#8220;A new Gambia!&#8221; as riot police attempted to control a large crowd of supporters outside.</p>
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<p>Jammeh ruled Gambia for 22 years with and iron fist and little tolerance of dissent. Rights groups say the government routinely imprisoned and tortured political opponents.</p>
<p>But his ouster at the ballot box, and his shock acceptance of his defeat despite previously saying he would rule for &#8220;a billion years&#8221;, has raised hopes that democracy is dawning in the tiny, riverside West African nation of 1.8 million people.</p>
<p>The election results gave Adama Barrow, a real estate developer who once worked as a security guard at retailer Argos in London, a clear win over Jammeh.</p>
<p>Barrow has said he will free political prisoners.</p>
<p>&#8220;It is finally time for the families of those people wrongly detained to be reunited with their loved ones,&#8221; Amnesty International&#8217;s Steve Cockburn said.</p>
<p>&#8220;Adama Barrow has promised to release all political prisoners and he should ensure this goes beyond opposition figures and includes everyone jailed simply for expressing their views,&#8221; he added.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Gambia court frees prominent lawyer

<p>An internal United Nations inquiry has identified 25 peacekeepers from Burundi and 16 from Gabon accused of sexual abuse and exploitation in the Central African Republic in 2014 and 2015, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.</p>
<p>&#8220;Responsibility for further investigations lies with Burundi and Gabon,&#8221; said Dujarric, adding that the United Nations had asked those states to interview the identified troops, who all left Central African Republic before the allegations surfaced.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


UN identifies 41 Burundi & Gabon troops accused of abuse

<p>South Africa&#8217;s economy grew by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2016 after expanding by a revised 3.5 percent in the second quarter, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Gross domestic product rose 0.7 percent on an unadjusted year-on-year basis in the third quarter, compared with 0.6 percent expansion in the previous three months, the agency said.</p>
<p>Economists polled by Reuters had expected a quarter-on-quarter GDP expansion of 0.5 percent while the economy was seen expanding 0.7 percent year-on-year.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


South Africa's economy grows 0.2 pct in third quarter

<p>South Africa&#8217;s real gross domestic expenditure grew by 0.5 percent in the third quarter of 2016 after expanding by a revised 3.7 percent in the second quarter, the statistics agency said on Tuesday.</p>
<p>Household expenditure increased by 2.6 percent in the third quarter of the year after increasing by 1.4 percent in the previous quarter.</p>
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<p>Government expenditure was up, increasing by 2.1 percent in the quarter compared to a 1.4 percent increase in the second three months of the year. Gross fixed capital formation contracted by 1 percent against a decrease of 6.8 percent previously.﻿</p>
<p> </p>


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