JOHANNESBURG, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s struggling state utility Eskom said on Tuesday that it would implement scheduled power cuts from 9 p.m. local time (1900 GMT) until 5 a.m. on Wednesday after losing generation capacity.
Eskom will cut up to 2,000 megawatts (MW) from the national grid, called locally &#8220;stage 2 load-shedding&#8221;.
&#8220;The return to service of three generation units has been delayed, while another three generation units tripped during the day, reducing available generation capacity,&#8221; Eskom spokesman Sikonathi Mantshantsha said. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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South Africa’s Eskom to implement power cuts after losing generation capacity

(John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)
* Chartbook: https://tmsnrt.rs/2OKZsBF
By John Kemp
LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; The struggles of policymakers in North America and Europe to comprehend the transformation of the world economy and its shift to Asia in recent decades have led to a distorted picture of global change.
Most of the analysis published in Europe and North America treats Asia as a relatively small, albeit fast-growing, component of a global system dominated by the countries around the North Atlantic.
But if that characterisation were true in 1990, it is no longer an accurate description of the distribution of world economic activity in 2021, and will be wholly out of date by the middle of the next decade.
The large and rapidly growing economies of Asia are increasingly technology innovators, dynamic markets and consumers – not just passive imitators, manufacturers, processors and exporters to North America and Europe.
In 1990, East, South and Southeast Asia accounted for 25% of global economic output, compared with 55% for North America, Europe and the Soviet Union.
But by 2019, Asia’s share had increased to 41% and was rapidly approaching parity with the 43% share for North America, Western and Eastern Europe (“World development indicators”, World Bank, 2021).
By the middle of the 2020s, Asia’s combined economy will have overtaken North America and Europe. By the middle of the 2030s, Asia will likely account for more than half of global activity.

THE GREAT RECONVERGENCE
The distribution of economic activity is reverting to a pattern last seen in the 1700s, before the industrial revolution and what historian Kenneth Pomeranz described as the “great divergence” between Europe and Asia.
As recently as 1820, China, India and the rest of Asia accounted for more than half of global economic output (“Chinese economic performance in the long run”, OECD, 2007).
But the subsequent growth surge in Europe and North America left Asia and the rest of the world progressively further behind between the 1830s and the 1950s (“The Great Divergence”, Pomeranz, 2000).
The immediate aftermath of World War Two probably marked the highpoint of the Atlantic-centred global economic and political system (https://tmsnrt.rs/2OKZsBF).
Four of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council were drawn from countries around the North Atlantic, reflecting the balance of economic, political and military power in 1945.
But Asia has been catching up since the 1950s, led first by the “Asian tigers”, then the acceleration of China’s growth following reform and opening up in 1978, and more recently with India and Southeast Asia.
As a result, the Euro-Atlantic dominated economy of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is on course to be succeeded by an Asia-centred economy in the twenty-first century.
The shift will have profound consequences for the direction of trade, the location of commodity pricing, and the trajectory of carbon dioxide emissions, as well as diplomacy, governance and the balance of power.

SHIFTING BALANCE OF POWER
The principal flow of energy and raw materials is already towards the consuming centres of Asia, reversing the mid-twentieth century flow from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America towards the North Atlantic.
In consequence, energy and raw materials prices will increasingly be determined predominantly by the business cycle in Asia, something which is also already increasingly apparent.
For the same reason, the future trajectory of global CO2 emissions will be primarily determined by what happens in Asia, especially the speed with which coal, oil and gas are replaced by gas and zero emission energy sources.
Inevitably, as the balance of economic activity shifts towards Asia, so too eventually will political, diplomatic and military power, reversing the westward shift in the correlates of power in previous centuries.
After two centuries of Atlantic-centrism, the consequences of shifting relative power are likely to prove unfamiliar and uncomfortable for policymakers, businesses, workers, consumers and the public in North America and Europe.
Many policymakers and commentators in Washington, London and Brussels are still struggling to comprehend the implications or develop strategies to smooth the adjustment.
Many seem to still assume the major economic and political decisions will be taken in North America and Europe, then passively transposed to Asia, in an extension of the Cold War and post-Cold War system.
But if that was the case in 1945, 1989 and even 2001, it is very unlikely to reflect the way the global economic and political system works in 2021 let alone in 2035 and 2050.
Policymakers need a much better awareness of the long-term economic forces reshaping the global system, so they can attempt to adapt and shape them – or resist and risk rupture and breakdown.

Related chartbook:
&#8211; Global economy: historical perspective (Reuters, March 31, 2021)

Related columns:
&#8211; China’s rise and U.S. fears about decline (Reuters, Oct. 21, 2020)
&#8211; United States and China enter a new cold war (Reuters, July 22, 2020)
&#8211; China and the world economy’s shifting centre of gravity (Reuters, March 5, 2020) (Editing by Barbara Lewis)
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COLUMN-Asia and the great reconvergence: Kemp

SOUTH AFRICA&#8217;S SCHOUB ON J&amp;J VACCINE: ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON VACCINES &#8216;WILL BE LOOKING AT ALL THE ISSUES SHORTLY&#8217;
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SOUTH AFRICA’S SCHOUB ON J&J VACCINE: ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON VACCINES ‘WILL BE LOOKING AT ALL THE ISSUES SHORTLY’

LONDON, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Supply gluts of Angolan and Nigerian crude remained sizeable as both Europe and Asia rein in buying during refinery maintenance season and competing grades attract buyer interest.
* Nearly 10 cargoes of May-loading Angolan crude remain unsold.
* China&#8217;s Unipec purchased a cargo of Saturno from Sonangol for below dated Brent minus $2, traders said.
* Refinery maintenance and a Brent-Dubai spread, which favours non-Atlantic basin crudes, were largely responsible for the slow sales.
* Lower offers for U.S. light crude were pressuring West African crudes in European and Asian markets, but Mideast crude continues to be in higher demand in the Far East.
* India&#8217;s IOC issued a new buy tender for June-loading crude set to close on Thursday.

RELATED NEWS
* OPEC on Tuesday raised its forecast for growth in world oil demand this year on expectations the pandemic will subside, providing help for the group and its allies in their efforts to support the market.
* China&#8217;s crude oil imports jumped 21% in March from a low base of comparison a year earlier as refiners ramped up operation amid robust fuel demand post-COVID-19, though purchases slowed ahead of the maintenance season. (Reporting by Noah Browning) ))
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W. Africa Crude-Sales stay slow on tepid demand, competition

OUAGADOUGOU, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; A Burkina Faso court charged former President Blaise Compaore in absentia on Tuesday in connection with the 1987 murder of then-President Thomas Sankara, one of the most infamous killings in Africa&#8217;s post-independence history.
Sankara, a charismatic Marxist revolutionary often called &#8220;Africa&#8217;s Che Guevara&#8221;, was assassinated during a coup led by his former friend Compaore.
Compaore went on to rule Burkina Faso for 27 years before being ousted in a 2014 uprising and fleeing to Ivory Coast, where he is believed still to live. He has previously denied any involvement in Sankara&#8217;s death.
A military tribunal on Tuesday charged Compaore with complicity in the assassination, undermining state security and receiving cadavers, a court document seen by Reuters showed.
Compaore&#8217;s former right-hand man, General Gilbert Diendere, was also charged with several crimes related to Sankara&#8217;s killing, including complicity in the assassination.
Diendere, who has been in prison since a failed coup in 2015, was in court to hear the charges. He will enter a plea later.
Burkina Faso issued an arrest warrant for Compaore in 2015, but Ivory Coast has declined to hand him over.
Sankara, who seized power in a 1983 coup at the age of 33, was known for his trademark military fatigues and red beret and rejection of a lavish lifestyle.
In four years as president, he became the first African leader to denounce the menace of AIDS, took a stand against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, and promoted women&#8217;s rights by opposing female genital mutilation and polygamy. (Reporting by Thiam Ndiaga; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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Former Burkina Faso leader Compaore charged in predecessor Sankara’s murder

By Ateeq Shariff April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Major stock markets in the Gulf ended lower on Tuesday, as financial shares dropped after the International Monetary Fund warned of rising debt risks in the coronavirus-hit Middle East. The IMF said on Sunday that countries in the Middle East and Central Asia need to curb their financing requirements, as a surge in government debt, exacerbated by the pandemic, threatens recovery prospects. Lower demand and a slump in commodity prices eroded state finances last year. In the Middle East and North Africa, fiscal deficits widened to 10.1% of GDP in 2020 from 3.8% of GDP in 2019. Saudi Arabia&#8217;s benchmark index dropped 0.7%, weighed down by a 1% decline in Al Rajhi Bank and a 1.7% decrease in Saudi National Bank. In Dubai, the main share index finished 0.8% lower, with its top lender Emirates NBD and Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) losing 1.7% each. DIB, the largest Islamic lender in the United Arab Emirates, has hired banks to arrange a planned benchmark issuance of U.S. dollar-denominated Additional Tier 1 sukuk, a document showed on Monday. The Abu Dhabi index declined 1.2%, dragged down by a 2.2% fall in First Abu Dhabi Bank, the country&#8217;s largest lender, and a 5% slide in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank as the stock went ex-dividend. In Qatar, the index eased 0.2%, hit by a 1.5% fall in Qatar Islamic Bank. Outside the Gulf, Egypt&#8217;s blue-chip index retreated 1.4%, as most of the stocks on the index were in negative territory including market heavyweight Commercial International Bank, which was down 2.2%. Egypt&#8217;s current account deficit widened to $4.8 billion in October-December from $3.2 billion in the same period in 2019, according to central bank figures released on Monday. SAUDI ARABIA rose 0.7% to 9,838 ABU DHABI dropped 1.2% to 6,019 DUBAI down 0.8% to 2,566 QATAR lost 0.2% to 10,481 EGYPT down 1.4% to 10,306 BAHRAIN added 0.4% to 1,468 OMAN fell 0.2% to 3,718 KUWAIT declined 0.7% to 6,498 (Reporting by Ateeq Shariff in Bengaluru; editing by Jonathan Oatis) 
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MIDEAST STOCKS-Financials drag major Gulf markets lower

TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; A ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week in March has not been given clearance to leave the waterway as discussions continue over a compensation claim made to the vessel&#8217;s owner Shoei Kisen, an official from the Japanese company said on Tuesday.
The Ever Given has been in a lake separating two sections of the canal since it was dislodged on March 29, as the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) conducts investigations.
Yumi Shinohara, deputy manager with owner Shoei Kisen&#8217;s fleet management department, confirmed the canal had made a compensation claim but gave no further details.
A source with the Suez Canal Authority, who declined to be named, told Reuters a court order had been issued for the ship to be held, adding that negotiations were still taking place.
Results of the SCA&#8217;s investigation were expected to be announced by the end of the week, two canal sources added.
SCA Chairman Osama Rabie said on Egyptian TV last week that the Ever Given would not leave until the investigation was finished and compensation paid. He also said the canal had borne &#8220;great moral damage&#8221; as well as shipping fee losses and salvage operation costs. He has also said he hoped to settle matters amicably.
International supply chains were thrown into disarray when the 400 metre (430 yard) Ever Given ran aground in the canal on March 23.
Specialist rescue teams took six days to free the vessel, delaying the passage of more than 400 ships and causing others to divert around Africa.
Industry sources told Reuters last week that reinsurers were set to foot most of the bill for the ship&#8217;s grounding, with payouts expected to run into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Ships typically have protection &amp; indemnity (P&amp;I) insurance, which covers third party liability claims including environmental damage and injury. Separate hull and machinery policies cover vessels against physical damage.
Shoei Kisen&#8217;s Shinohara said the vessel&#8217;s P&amp;I insurer UK Club had received compensation claims for the delays. The UK Club told Reuters &#8220;a handful of claims&#8221; had been received, declining further comment. (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi in Tokyo, Yusry Mohamed in Ismailia and Jonathan Saul in London. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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Dislodged ship held in Suez Canal as compensation talks continue

By Alexander Cornwell
DUBAI, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Dubai&#8217;s DP World, one of the world&#8217;s largest port operators, is seeking $210.2 million in damages from Djibouti&#8217;s government in an ongoing legal battle over port concession rights, documents related to the dispute, seen by Reuters, showed.
DP World and Djibouti have since 2012 been locked in the dispute over DP World&#8217;s concession to operate the Doraleh Container Terminal, which is located in the Horn of Africa along key trade routes at the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Djibouti seized the terminal from state-owned DP World in 2018.
The London Court of International Arbitration has previously ruled that DP World&#8217;s concession to operate the terminal is legal and binding and ordered it be restored.
DP World is now seeking damages for the estimated loss of revenue and management fees from 2018 to March 31 this year through the same court while still seeking to restore the concession, the documents showed.
If the concession is not restored, DP World estimates losses in excess of $1 billion, including future profits, one of the documents showed.
A decision on DP World&#8217;s claim by the London court is expected on June 29.
&#8220;If today DP World wants to again begin other proceedings, they are free to do so, but Dijbouti has already made its position clear and in our view this matter is settled,&#8221; said Alexis Mohamed, chief adviser to President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who won a fifth five-year term in elections held last Friday.
DP World said it remained the legal holder of the concession and alleged that Djibouti had acted illegally in seizing the terminal from the Dubai state-owned company.
(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, additional reporting by Maggie Fick in Nairobi. Editing by Jane Merriman)
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Dubai’s DP World seeks $210.2 mln in damages from Djibouti – documents

JOHANNESBURG, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; An outbreak of avian influenza has been detected on a chicken farm in South Africa&#8217;s central province of Gauteng, the agricultural ministry said on Tuesday.
Around 300 birds died of avian flu at the commercial chicken-layer farm in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, with samples from the farm testing positive for the H5 strain, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development said in a statement.
The birds in the affected house at the farm were destroyed and the farm placed under quarantine while veterinary authorities investigate the extent of the outbreak.
The same farm had also been affected by the 2017 outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N8 strain of avian flu, which saw poultry farmers culling millions of birds and prompted neighbouring countries including Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana to ban poultry imports from South Africa.
The H5N8 strain of avian influenza is highly pathogenic among fowl but poses little risk to human health.
The department warned poultry farmers to be on the lookout for signs of the disease and report any suspicions to the nearest state veterinarian.
(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
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South African commercial poultry farm hit by avian flu outbreak

April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Jowell Global Ltd:
* JOWELL GLOBAL LTD. ENTERS INTO STRATEGIC COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH ZTO EXPRESS TO BOOST GLOBAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
* JOWELL GLOBAL LTD. &#8211; JWEL AND ZTO WILL SEEK IN-DEPTH COLLABORATION IN SMART LOGISTICS AND COMMUNITY NEW RETAIL
* JOWELL GLOBAL LTD. &#8211; ZTO WILL PROVIDE JWEL LOGISTIC SERVICES FOR GOODS SENT BY JWEL FROM CHINA TO AFRICA AND TO REST OF WORLD
* JOWELL GLOBAL LTD. &#8211; JWEL WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO SELL ITS PRODUCTS THROUGH ZTO STORES LOCATED IN CHINA AND OVERSEAS TO EXPAND ITS SALES CHANNEL Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
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BRIEF-Jowell Global Ltd Enters Into Strategic Cooperation Agreement With Zto Express

April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), New York&#8217;s SPDR Gold Trust remained unchanged on Monday from Friday, while holdings of the largest silver-backed ETF, New York&#8217;s iShares Silver Trust also remained unchanged during the same period. Exchange-traded funds, the most widely recognized type of ETP, back each security issued with physical stocks of a given commodity, creating a product they say is free from counterparty risk. Name New Holdings (OZ) Date Prev Holdings (OZ) Prev Abs Change % chg YTD Abs Change (OZ) (OZ) GOLD SPDR Gold Trust 32,989,091.8 Apr 12 32,989,091.8 Apr 09 0.0 0.00% -4,651,214.1 COMEX Gold Trust 16,117,432.3 Apr 12 16,135,533.2 Apr 09 -18,100.9 -0.11% -764,219.3 ETF Securities gold (ex-US) 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Gold ** 5,449,682.8 Apr 09 5,439,013.1 Apr 01 10,669.7 0.20% -148,106.7 Sprott Physical Gold Trust 2,606,214.0 Apr 12 2,606,214.0 Apr 09 0.0 0.00% 30,994.0 ETFS Physical Swiss Gold 844,902.3 Jan 24 844,902.3 Jan 24 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ABSA &#8211; NewGold ETF 633,304.9 Apr 12 633,320.6 Apr 09 -15.6 0.00% 9,629.5 Total 67,934,370.5 67,941,817.3 -7,446.8 -0.01% -5,765,626.4 SILVER iShares Silver Trust 574,858,999.9 Apr 12 574,858,999.9 Apr 09 0.0 0.00% 16,143,117.5 Sprott Physical Silver 134,445,802.0 Apr 12 134,445,802.0 Apr 09 0.0 0.00% 43,337,147.0 ETF Securities silver ex-US 100,389,761.6 Nov 30 100,389,761.6 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Silver 95,896,186.2 Apr 09 95,169,161.3 Apr 01 727,024.8 0.76% 2,452,105.3 ETFS Physical Silver Shares 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; Total 928,499,048.0 927,772,023.1 727,024.8 0.08% 88,759,606.0 PLATINUM ETFS Physical Platinum Shares 738,343.9 Mar 20 738,343.9 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ABSA &#8211; NewPlat ETF 571,592.1 Apr 12 571,608.4 Apr 09 -16.2 0.00% -447,716.5 ETF Securities platinum ex-US 617,330.8 Nov 30 617,330.8 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Platinum 446,532.6 Apr 09 442,230.8 Apr 01 4,301.8 0.97% 23,278.1 Total 2,373,799.4 2,369,513.9 4,285.5 0.18% -402,411.0 PALLADIUM InvestPalladium ETF # 142,113.5 Mar 25 142,113.5 Mar 25 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ETFS Physical Palladium Shares 129,466.6 Mar 20 129,466.6 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ETF Securities palladium ex-US 111,915.0 Nov 30 111,915.0 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Palladium 78,329.7 Apr 09 78,361.8 Apr 01 -32.1 -0.04% 320.5 ABSA &#8211; NewPalladium ETF **** 27,466.5 Apr 12 27,467.3 Apr 09 -0.8 0.00% -14,401.0 Total 489,291.3 489,324.2 -32.9 -0.01% -51,384.4 The figures above are those reported to Reuters by the organizations involved by telephone or email on the date shown, or those that are publicly available on their websites. ** ZKB physical gold, silver, platinum and palladium funds are fully backed by physical precious metal and investors are entitled to physical delivery of them. *** Shareholders in the GAM Gold fund can elect to hold &#8220;A class&#8221; shares, which are fully backed by physical gold. Investors in that class are entitled to physical delivery of the precious metal. Investors may also elect to hold &#8220;AX&#8221; class shares, which are fully backed by physical gold. Investors in that class are not entitled to physical delivery of the precious metal. **** Absa Capital&#8217;s NewPalladium Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) was listed on March 27, 2014 and is fully backed with South African palladium. # Standard Bank&#8217;s AfricaPalladium ETF, South Africa&#8217;s first listed palladium exchange traded fund, debuted on March 24, 2014. 
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TABLE-Holdings of SPDR Gold, iShares Silver unchanged

By Carl O&#8217;Donnell
April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Novavax Inc has pushed back the timeline for hitting its production target of 150 million COVID-19 vaccine doses per month until the third quarter due to supply shortages including bags used to grow cells, a company spokeswoman told Reuters.
Novavax executives had previously said full-scale vaccine production could be achieved by mid-year. The company told Reuters in January it expected to reach full production capacity by May or June.
&#8220;We said during our earnings call that we expect all capacity being online by around mid-year. We’re continuing to refine that timing as we get closer, which now leads us to think we’re online/at full capacity by Q3,&#8221; Novavax communications director Amy Speak said by email on Monday.
&#8220;There are some supply shortages that come and go that have contributed to the revision in timing,&#8221; she added. &#8220;These have included things like the bioreactor bags and filters.&#8221;
Novavax could receive UK regulatory authorization for its vaccine as early as this month after releasing impressive UK trial data. It anticipates clearance in the United States could come as early as May after soon-to-be released data from its U.S. vaccine trial are reviewed by regulators.
The Maryland-based company is one of several COVID-19 vaccine makers that have had to push back production timelines due to industrywide shortages of raw materials and difficulties getting plants up and running.
Reuters reported last month that Novavax had delayed a planned deal to ship at least 100 million doses of its two-shot vaccine to the European Union, in part because of supply challenges.
In a Saturday interview with the Guardian, Novavax Chief Executive Stan Erck said the company has faced difficulties sourcing key production materials including single-use bags used to grow vaccine cells.
&#8220;Single-use bags are facing critical shortages and delays,&#8221; said Mark Womack, chief business officer of AGC Biologics, a contract manufacturer that is producing materials used in Novavax&#8217;s vaccine.
Data released in March from the UK trial showed the vaccine to be highly effective against the original strain of the novel coronavirus as well as the more contagious and deadly variant first discovered in Britain and now rampant in Europe and the United States. The data also suggests the shot provides some protection against a highly concerning variant that emerged in South Africa, which some drugmakers have said may require a booster shot to address.

(Reporting by Carl O&#8217;Donnell; Editing by Peter Henderson and Bill Berkrot)
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Novavax says supply shortages delaying full-speed production of its COVID-19 vaccine

JOHANNESBURG, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s government sold a total of 4.8 billion rand ($330 million) of its 2031 , 2037, and 2044 bonds on Tuesday. Yields fell compared with the previous auctions. R213 BOND: Feb 28, 2031 &#8211; 7% coupon Auction date 13/04/21 23/03/21 Best bid % 9.685 9.700 Worst bid % 10.100 10.140 Clearing yield % 9.790 9.990 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 4.315 3.565 Allocated (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 2.200 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.7 1.6 R2037 BOND: Jan 31, 2037 &#8211; 8.5% coupon Auction date: 13/04/21 30/03/21 Best bid % 10.800 11.250 Worst bid % 11.225 11.700 Clearing yield % 10.910 11.330 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 3.720 4.335 Allotted (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 1.600 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.3 2.7 R2044 BOND: Jan 31, 2044 &#8211; 8.75% coupon Auction date: 13/04/21 30/03/21 Best bid % 10.995 11.335 Worst bid % 11.380 11.950 Clearing yield % 11.070 11.545 Total bids (R&#8217;bln) 3.185 3.940 Allotted (R&#8217;bln) 1.600 1.600 Bid-to-cover-ratio 2.0 2.5 ($1 = 14.5570 rand) (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana Editing by Promit Mukherjee) 
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TABLE-Yields lower in weekly South African government bond auction

NAIROBI, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; The Kenyan shilling strengthened against the dollar on Tuesday due to a sharp slowdown in demand for hard currency. At 0930 GMT, commercial banks posted the shilling at 106.80/107.00, slightly up from Monday&#8217;s close of 107.00/20. The currency of East Africa&#8217;s richest economy has been gaining over the past fortnight, thanks to positive sentiments created by the approval of a new financing line for the government by the IMF, amid higher dollar inflows. &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;Shilling spot rates &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;Shilling forward rates &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..Cross rates &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.Local contributors &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..Central Bank of Kenya Index &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;Kenyan Bonds contributor pages &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;Treasury bill yields &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;Central bank open market operations &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.Horizontal repo transactions , &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.Daily interbank lending rate &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..Kenya Bond pricing &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;NSE-20 Share Index &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;NSE-25 Share Index &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;NSE All Share Index &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;FT NSE Kenya 15 Index &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.. FT NSE Kenya 25 Index SPEED GUIDES: (Reporting by Duncan Miriri) 
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Kenyan shilling edges up on lacklustre demand for dollars

JOHANNESBURG, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s total mining output ticked up 0.8% year-on-year in February compared to a revised contraction of 8.4% in January, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday. Below is the breakdown of the main minerals. Year-on-year output percentage changes: February January Gold -8.7 -14.3 (revised) PGMs -0.9 -16.1 (revised) Total Mining 0.8 -8.4 (revised) (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg Editing by Promit Mukherjee) 
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TABLE-South Africa’s mining output up 0.8% year on year in February

HARARE, April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe&#8217;s state-controlled iron and steel company ZISCO has invited new investors to help revive operations at the company that has been the target of interest from Indian and Chinese investors in the past, a company document seen by Reuters showed.
Essar Africa Holdings, a unit of India’s Essar Group, agreed to invest up to $4 billion in Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) in 2011 but the deal collapsed.
An agreement by China&#8217;s R&amp;F to invest $2 billion in 2017 also fell apart after Harare authorities sought to renegotiate the deal.
ZISCO acting chairman Martin Manuhwa said in a circular seen by Reuters on Tuesday that the firm was again looking for new investors &#8220;who would be interested in availing funds (equity/debt) to resuscitate&#8221; the company.
Interested investors should submit their expression of interest by April 30. Successful investors would then be invited to participate in the bidding process for the funding.
The successful investor would be expected to contract out at least 35% of engineering, procurement and construction business to locals, Manuhwa said.
ZISCO owns an iron ore mining unit with an installed capacity of 2.16 million tonnes of ore a year as well as a wire products company.
ZISCO is 89% owned by the government. In 2018, Zimbabwe&#8217;s parliament approved a bill that allowed the government to take over about $500 million of debt owed by ZISCO to local and foreign creditors.
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa, under pressure to deliver on his promise of jobs, has anchored a revival of Zimbabwe&#8217;s economy on boosting output from the mining sector. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Susan Fenton)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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Zimbabwe seeks new investors for steel company

* Dollar boost from inflation likely temporary- Analyst
* Hungarian forint, Polish zloty retreat from recent highs
* Russian rouble stays near five-month lows
By Ambar Warrick
April 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Emerging market stocks and currencies were subdued on Tuesday, as investors awaited key U.S. inflation data that could set the stage for more dollar strength and undercut risk-driven assets.
The MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market currencies fell about 0.1%, with most units in Europe, the Middle East and Africa retreating slightly to the dollar.
But investment bank JPMorgan recommended selling emerging market currencies, citing underperformance in comparison to developed markets, as well as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
While emerging market stocks were also largely flat, shares of Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba rose 0.6%, after rallying more than 6% on Monday amid relief that the firm would not be greatly affected by a recent government crackdown on online firms.
Shares of Chinese peer Tencent fell about 1%.
Investors were anticipating U.S. inflation data, due at 1230 GMT, to provide cues on a recovery in the world&#8217;s largest economy. A stronger-than-expected reading could ramp up expectations of early monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve, and boost the dollar and treasury yields.
Earlier this year, emerging market debt and currencies had come under pressure from strength in the dollar, as rising U.S. yields made risk-driven debt appear less attractive.
&#8220;(Inflation data) is likely to prove positive for the U.S. dollar, but we don&#8217;t expect any recovery to last for long&#8230; the Fed has clearly noted that any surge in inflation this year is likely to prove to be temporary and that inflation will rise and stay above 2% for some time,&#8221; Charalambos Pissouros, senior market analyst at JFD Group, said in a note.
In EMEA, Turkey&#8217;s lira fell slightly to the dollar, while South Africa&#8217;s rand and the Russian rouble marked small gains.
Fears of increased COVID-19 curbs in Turkey weighed on the lira, which is already trading near record lows on concerns over the credibility of the country&#8217;s central bank.
In central Europe, the Hungarian forint and Polish zloty both retreated from recent peaks against the euro.
The Czech crown weakened slightly to the euro after March inflation rose lesser than expected. Still, the figure was above central bank targets of 2%.
In Latin America, Ecuador bonds hit seven-month highs overnight after banker Guillermo Lasso pulled off a surprise win in Sunday&#8217;s presidential runoff against socialist economist Andres Arauz.
Sentiment in Asia was slightly helped by positive trade data from China, with strong exports indicating a recovery in global demand from the pandemic.
For GRAPHIC on emerging market FX performance in 2021, see http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh For GRAPHIC on MSCI emerging index performance in 2021, see https://tmsnrt.rs/2OusNdX

For TOP NEWS across emerging markets
For CENTRAL EUROPE market report, see
For TURKISH market report, see
For RUSSIAN market report, see (Reporting by Ambar Warrick in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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