Apr 12 (OPTA) &#8211; Scoreboard at close of play of 2nd t20i between South Africa and Pakistan on Monday at Johannesburg, South Africa South Africa win by 6 wickets Pakistan 1st innings Mohammad Rizwan c Aiden Markram b George Linde 0 Sharjeel Khan c Aiden Markram b George Linde 8 Babar Azam b Sisanda Magala 50 Mohammad Hafeez c Heinrich Klaasen b George Linde 32 Haider Ali c George Linde b Tabraiz Shamsi 12 Faheem Ashraf c George Linde b Lizaad Williams 5 Hassan Ali c George Linde b Lizaad Williams 12 Mohammad Nawaz c Heinrich Klaasen b Lizaad Williams 2 Shaheen Afridi Not Out 7 Usman Qadir Run Out Sisanda Magala 4 Extras 0b 1lb 3nb 0pen 4w 8 Total (20.0 overs) 140-9 Fall of Wickets : 1-0 Rizwan, 2-10 Khan, 3-68 Hafeez, 4-92 Ali, 5-111 Ashraf, 6-124 Ali, 7-128 Azam, 8-128 Nawaz, 9-139 Qadir Did Not Bat : Hasnain Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex George Linde 4 0 23 3 5.75 1w Beuran Hendricks 4 0 27 0 6.75 Tabraiz Shamsi 4 0 22 1 5.50 Lizaad Williams 4 0 35 3 8.75 Sisanda Magala 4 0 32 1 8.00 3w 3nb &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;.. South Africa 1st innings Janneman Malan c Shaheen Afridi b Hassan Ali 15 Aiden Markram c Faheem Ashraf b Usman Qadir 54 Wihan Lubbe c Babar Azam b Muhammad Hasnain 12 Heinrich Klaasen Not Out 36 Pite van Biljon c Mohammad Rizwan b Usman Qadir 2 George Linde Not Out 20 Extras 0b 1lb 0nb 0pen 1w 2 Total (14.0 overs) 141-4 Fall of Wickets : 1-44 Malan, 2-58 Lubbe, 3-88 Markram, 4-92 van Biljon Did Not Bat : Phehlukwayo, Magala, Hendricks, Williams, Shamsi Bowling Ov Md Rn Wk Econ Ex Shaheen Afridi 3 0 30 0 10.00 Mohammad Nawaz 3 0 29 0 9.67 Muhammad Hasnain 2 0 25 1 12.50 Hassan Ali 2 0 16 1 8.00 1w Usman Qadir 3 0 26 2 8.67 Faheem Ashraf 1 0 14 0 14.00 &#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;. Umpire Adrian Holdstock Umpire Bongani Jele Video Shaun George Match Referee Andrew Pycroft 
(c) Copyright Opta Sports Data 2021. All Rights Reserved
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Pakistan in South Africa 2021 Scoreboard

April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; CMMB Vision Holdings Ltd:
* SILKWAVE HOLDINGS LIMITED ENTERED FINAL TERMS OF AGREEMENT FOR A JV CO WITH A SAUDI PARTY
* JV CO EXPECTED TO HAVE NO LESS THAN US$100 MILLION FOR INITIAL CAPITALIZATION
* JV CO TO DEVELOP &amp; OPERATE L-BAND SATELLITE CONNECTED-CAR MULTIMEDIA PLATFORM SERVICING MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* SILKWAVE TO CONTRIBUTE IN-KIND CAPITAL WITH ITS SATELLITE SPECTRUM AND ORBITAL ASSETS, &amp; SAUDI PARTY TO CONTRIBUTE CAPITAL Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
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BRIEF-CMMB Vision Says Silkwave Holdings Entered Final Terms Of Agreement For JV Co With Saudi Party

MOGADISHU, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Somalia&#8217;s lower house of parliament voted on Monday to extend the president&#8217;s term for another two years to let the Horn of Africa nation prepare for direct elections, the parliamentary speaker said.
Mohamed Mursal Sheikh, the speaker of parliament, said 149 lawmakers voted for the proposal, one rejected it and three abstained. (Reporting by Abdi Sheikh, Writing by Duncan Miriri, Editing by Katharine Houreld and Alison Williams)
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Somali parliament votes to extend presidential term for two years

JOHANNESBURG, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa has extended by a further three months the deadline of a loan scheme that is central to efforts to counter the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Treasury said on Monday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the bank loan scheme for businesses, worth up to 200 billion rand ($13.72 billion) in total and partly guaranteed by the government, in April 2020.
The availability of the loans in the scheme has been extended to July 11, from an earlier deadline of April 11, the Treasury said in a statement issued jointly with the South African Reserve Bank and the country&#8217;s banking association.
The extension is to enable an orderly winding down of the scheme and to assess the applications already received, the statement said.
The scheme&#8217;s main aim was to encourage banks to lend more, and on more favourable terms, to businesses affected by the coronavirus crisis, which last year pushed South Africa&#8217;s economy into its largest annual contraction in a century.
But the uptake has been low, with just 18.16 billion paid out as of March 27.
&#8220;The (scheme) has not been as effective as originally envisaged, as many distressed companies have been reluctant to assume more liabilities with little certainty of the length and severity of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic,&#8221; the statement said.
The Banking Association South Africa previously cited flawed design features, risk aversion by businesses, and a preference for other relief measure as contributing to the low uptake.
($1 = 14.5807 rand) (Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Gareth Jones)
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South Africa extends COVID-19 loan scheme deadline by three months

April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Ellies Holdings Ltd:
* ELLIES HOLDINGS &#8211; AN ORDER FOR FINAL LIQUIDATION OF ELLIES INDUSTRIES HAS BEEN GRANTED TODAY, 12 APRIL 2021, BY HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
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BRIEF-Ellies Holdings Says SA High Court Grants Order For Final Liquidation Of Ellies Industries

* EMEA FX muted amid U.S. inflation jitters
* Turkish inflation concerns rise ahead of rate decision
* MSCI EM stocks index tumbles
* Alibaba surges after shrugging off regulatory woes (Adds details, updates prices)
By Ambar Warrick
April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Currencies in emerging markets recovered from initial losses, but traded flat on Monday as focus turned to U.S. inflation data due later in the week, while investors pulled out of equities ahead of the corporate earnings season.
The MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market currencies was muted after falling as much as 0.2%, with the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields retreating as investors awaited inflation data due on Tuesday.
Investors feared that a bigger-than-expected spike in inflation could spark another rally in the greenback.
But dollar bulls were also on the fence, given that any signs of a pullback in inflation could hurt hopes of early tapering by the Federal Reserve, and make the greenback less attractive.
Most EM currencies are trading lower this year amid growing bets on early policy tightening by the Fed, with inflation being one of the key factors to watch. Retail sales data is also due this week.
The lira traded flat after leading early losses across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Data showed a higher-than-expected Turkish current account deficit in February, while the unemployment rate also rose.
Inflation expectations for the country have jumped in recent weeks on doubts over whether the central bank will keep policy tight, amid constant pressure from the government to reduce interest rates.
The lira has been trading consistently lower after the ouster of four central bank heads in two years cast doubts over its credibility.
&#8220;It does not really matter whether the base rate is cut immediately, a few months later, or not at all,&#8221; analysts at Commerzbank said.
&#8220;As long as there is no credible prospect of the Central Bank of Turkey fully and freely hiking interest rates in order to bring inflation rapidly back towards target, the outlook for the lira remains the same.&#8221;
Morgan Stanley expects the lira to lose 15% to 20% of its value if the central bank cuts rates at a meeting this week.
The MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market stocks tumbled 0.9% on Monday amid uncertainty ahead of the first-quarter earnings season.
But shares of Alibaba surged after the Chinese e-commerce behemoth said it does not expect any material impact from the antitrust crackdown in China. Regulators fined the firm $2.75 billion for abusing market dominance.
In Latin America, Ecuador&#8217;s government bonds were expected to react &#8220;very positively&#8221; after banker Guillermo Lasso defied the polls and won a presidential election on promises to revive the economy.

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 Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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EMERGING MARKETS-Currencies muted as U.S. inflation takes centrestage

MONTERREY, Mexico, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Mexican cement giant Cemex said on Monday that it has acquired certain assets from French building material supplier Eqiom Granulats, including two quarries and a rail-enabled platform in France.
Sergio Menéndez, head of Cemex&#8217;s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia region, said the acquisition was &#8220;directly aimed at the rapidly growing needs of the North Paris Metropolitan area.&#8221; (Reporting by Raul Cortes, writing by Laura Gottesdiener; editing by Jason Neely)
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Cement giant Cemex acquires 2 quarries and rail platform in France

JOHANNESBURG, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Africa must expand its medical manufacturing capacity and forge partnerships to boost expertise and investment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic and future health emergencies, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday.
The continent has struggled to acquire vaccines to fight COVID-19 and imports the vast majority of its medicines and medical equipment, leaving it at the mercy of overseas supplies.
Africa&#8217;s mainly poor nations are falling behind in the global vaccination race with under 13 million doses administered so far to the continent&#8217;s 1.3 billion people, according to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Ramaphosa, the African Union&#8217;s COVID-19 champion and leader of the African country hardest hit by the virus, said there were lessons to learn from the pandemic.
&#8220;In ensuring an effective response to the current pandemic, we must strengthen our ability to both respond to future health emergencies and to achieve health security for the people of our continent,&#8221; he told continental leaders during a webinar.
Ramaphosa said the medium-term strategy should be to expand existing manufacturing facilities into regional hubs that could serve Africa&#8217;s health needs.
&#8220;We also need to forge sustainable partnerships with entities in both the developed world as well as the developing world,&#8221; he said.
African countries could seek guidance from countries such as India and Brazil on how they developed their generic pharmaceutical industries, he said, and collaboration between the public and private sectors would be essential.
&#8220;The vision of a strong African medical supply and vaccine manufacturing capability that responds effectively to the health needs of the African people is bold and also ambitious, but it is achievable,&#8221; Ramaphosa said. (Reporting by Alexander Winning; Editing by Joe Bavier and David Clarke)
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Africa must expand medical manufacturing capacity – South Africa’s president

By Nita Bhalla
NAIROBI, April 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) &#8211; Mali&#8217;s failure to outlaw female genital mutilation (FGM) is being challenged in West Africa&#8217;s highest court by rights groups, who accused the country on Monday of failing to protect girls and women from &#8220;a grave and systematic violation&#8221;.
Nine out of 10 women and girls in Mali have undergone the ancient ritual, which usually involves the partial or total removal of the external female genitalia and can cause serious health problems, according to the United Nations.
Women&#8217;s rights NGO Equality Now said it had jointly filed a case with two partner organisations at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice after years of campaigning unsuccessfully for an anti-FGM law.
&#8220;We have made several calls to Mali for the past 18 years urging it to honour its national, regional and international obligations to protect girls and women from this harmful practice,&#8221; said Faiza Mohamed, Equality Now&#8217;s Africa director.
&#8220;However, this remains to be done and we can no longer sit still as thousands of girls and women in Mali continue being subjected to FGM,&#8221; she added in a statement.
Malian government officials could not immediately be reached to comment on the filing.
An estimated 200 million girls and women globally have been cut &#8211; and about four million girls are at risk of being forced to undergo the rite every year.
Practiced in at least 27 African countries and parts of Asia and the Middle East, FGM is often seen as necessary for social acceptance and improving a woman&#8217;s marriage prospects.
But health experts say girls can bleed to death or die from infections caused by FGM, and it can cause fatal childbirth complications later in life.
The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) said in June 2020 that the failure to criminalise FGM was putting the lives of girls and women in Mali, as well as from neighbouring states, at risk.
It voiced concerns over the transnational nature of the practice, with reports of girls from countries such as Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea and Togo that prohibit FGM being taken to Mali to undergo the cut in order to avoid prosecution at home.
Attempts by the Malian government to criminalise FGM in 2002 and again in 2009 failed due to opposition from religious leaders, CEDAW added in its latest report.
The women&#8217;s rights groups said in a statement that Mali had ratified international and regional agreements on women&#8217;s rights such as the CEDAW and The Maputo Protocol &#8211; and was therefore obliged to take action to curb FGM.
The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA), one of three groups that filed suit with the Abuja-based court, said the case had the potential to establish a landmark in women and girls&#8217; rights jurisprudence in Africa.
&#8220;This case would not only prompt the ECOWAS court to make binding pronouncement on the situation of FGM in Mali, but would also establish legal precedent and standard applicable not only in Mali and West Africa, but across Africa as a whole,&#8221; said Gaye Sowe, IHRDA&#8217;s executive director.
Most countries in West Africa, including Benin, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo, have adopted laws prohibiting FGM.
In March 2020, Sierra Leone overturned a ban on pregnant girls attending school after Equality Now and its partners challenged the rule in the ECOWAS court and won. (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla; Editing by Helen Popper. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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Mali’s failure to ban FGM challenged in West Africa’s top court

By Dave Sherwood
SANTIAGO, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; A resurgence of COVID-19 in Chile should not dampen output at Anglo American´s sprawling copper mines in the Andean nation this year, nor is it likely to pose near-term supply chain problems, the company&#8217;s top executive in Chile told Reuters.
Aaron Puna, who took over as CEO of Anglo American in Chile in 2019, said its Chilean operations had weathered the pandemic in top shape, and said they were well-prepared to confront the latest surge in cases and restrictions.
&#8220;No concerns at this point,&#8221; Puna said in an interview. &#8220;We&#8217;re expecting&#8230;we&#8217;ll deliver exactly as budgeted.&#8221;
Chile cases spiked this week to pandemic highs, bringing hospitals to near collapse and prompting authorities to lock down Santiago, the capital, and close the South American nation&#8217;s borders.
Puna said he didn&#8217;t anticipate near-term issues with output, shipping or supply chain despite the latest round of restrictions. &#8220;We haven&#8217;t got any red flags or concerns around what we see in&#8230;the next eight weeks or so,&#8221; he said.
Anglo was the worst hit among its peers by coronavirus lockdowns in 2020, including in countries such as South Africa and Botswana, though its Chile operations emerged largely unscathed.
Collahuasi, a partnership between Anglo, Glencore and Japan&#8217;s Mitsui &amp; Co, boosted its production in 2020 by 11% year-on-year, according to Chile copper agency figures, while the Anglo American Sur division, which includes Los Bronces, saw output slip just 5%.
Anglo American also remained on track, Puna said, for decisions from Chilean environmental regulators on permits for high-profile operational continuity projects at its Los Bronces mine near Santiago and at Collahuasi.
Puna said the company was preparing to submit additional data to regulators in April to ensure &#8220;transparency&#8221; around the miner&#8217;s claims that its Los Bronces continuity project would not impact glaciers or the water supply of nearby Santiago, key concerns of local communities and activists.
&#8220;Fresh water should be for human consumption,&#8221; Puna told Reuters. He said the company would put finishing touches this year on a plan to &#8220;transition in the middle of this decade to non-freshwater sources for Los Bronces.&#8221;
&#8220;We don&#8217;t see that we&#8217;ll be using fresh water beyond basically 2027,&#8221; he said. (Reporting by Dave Sherwood and Fabian Cambero; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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CRU-CESCO-Anglo American says output on track at Chilean mines despite virus surge

GENEVA, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Some 14.1 million doses of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine have been allocated to 47 countries and economies for delivery in the second quarter of this year, the GAVI vaccine alliance said on Monday.
Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, and Ukraine are set to be among the main recipients of the Pfizer vaccine between April and June, according to GAVI&#8217;s table &#8220;based on current knowledge of COVID-19 vaccine supply availability&#8221;.
Deliveries of the AstraZeneca vaccine to 142 participants under a previously announced round were underway, &#8220;with some delays&#8221; that may extend deliveries past May, it said. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Jon Boyle)
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Brazil, Mexico, Philippines among those due to get Pfizer shots from COVAX in Q2 – statement

DIARY – Italy to May 31

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
By Ed Cropley
LONDON, April 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) &#8211; After months of feuding, Veolia is buying the 70% of rival Suez it doesn’t own for 20.5 euros a share. Target boss Bertrand Camus has squeezed a few extra euros from his suitor. Meanwhile Veolia gets to keep its big prize: 500 mln euros of cost savings in North and South America.
Full view will be published shortly.
On Twitter https://twitter.com/edwardcropley

CONTEXT NEWS
&#8211; French water and waste management utilities Veolia and Suez said on April 12 that they had agreed a deal worth nearly 13 billion euros, ending months of wrangling over the terms.
&#8211; Under the agreement, Veolia will pay 20.50 euros per share in cash for the 70.1% of Suez that it does not already own.
&#8211; Suez’s French water and sewage operations, along with its operations in Italy, the Czech Republic, Africa, Central Asia, India, China and Australia, will be split off into a “New Suez” which will be owned by shareholders including French investors Meridiam and Caisse des Depots.
&#8211; Suez shares were up 7.9% at 19.90 euros by 0820 GMT on April 12. Veolia shares climbed 6.8% to 24.11 euros.
&#8211; For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on
(SIGN UP FOR BREAKINGVIEWS EMAIL ALERTS http://bit.ly/BVsubscribe | Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and Oliver Taslic)
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BREAKINGVIEWS-French water fight ends in honourable $15 bln draw

April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded-fund (ETF), New York&#8217;s SPDR Gold Trust remained unchanged on Friday from Thursday, 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 (OZ) % chg YTD Abs Change (OZ) GOLD SPDR Gold Trust 32,989,091.8 Apr 09 32,989,091.8 Apr 08 0.0 0.00% -4,651,214.1 COMEX Gold Trust 16,135,533.2 Apr 09 16,166,019.1 Apr 08 -30,485.9 -0.19% -746,118.4 ETF Securities gold (ex-US) 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 9,293,742.4 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Gold ** 5,439,013.1 Apr 01 5,442,921.6 Mar 26 -3,908.6 -0.07% -158,776.4 Sprott Physical Gold Trust 2,606,214.0 Apr 09 2,606,214.0 Apr 08 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 633,320.6 Apr 09 633,325.8 Apr 08 -5.2 0.00% 9,645.2 Total 67,941,817.3 67,976,217.0 -34,399.7 -0.05% -5,758,179.6 SILVER iShares Silver Trust 574,858,999.9 Apr 09 574,858,999.9 Apr 08 0.0 0.00% 16,143,117.5 Sprott Physical Silver 134,445,802.0 Apr 09 134,045,802.0 Apr 08 400,000.0 0.30% 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 95,169,161.3 Apr 01 95,035,446.4 Mar 26 133,714.9 0.14% 1,725,080.4 ETFS Physical Silver Shares 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 22,908,298.3 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; Total 927,772,023.1 927,238,308.2 533,714.9 0.06% 88,032,581.1 PLATINUM ETFS Physical Platinum Shares 738,343.9 Mar 20 738,343.9 Mar 20 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ABSA &#8211; NewPlat ETF 571,608.4 Apr 09 571,613.8 Apr 08 -5.4 0.00% -447,700.2 ETF Securities platinum ex-US 617,330.8 Nov 30 617,330.8 Nov 30 &#8212; &#8212; &#8212; ZKB Physical Platinum 442,230.8 Apr 01 442,230.8 Mar 26 0.0 0.00% 18,976.3 Total 2,369,513.9 2,369,519.3 -5.4 0.00% -406,696.5 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 78,361.8 Apr 01 78,361.8 Mar 26 0.0 0.00% 352.6 ABSA &#8211; NewPalladium ETF **** 27,467.3 Apr 09 27,467.6 Apr 08 -0.3 0.00% -14,400.2 Total 489,324.2 489,324.5 -0.3 0.00% -51,351.5 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 Yousef Saba
DUBAI, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; Emirati food and drinks group Agthia announced on Monday plans to become an industry leader in the Middle East and North Africa by 2025 through tighter efficiency and possibly further acquisitions, after a blitz of recent deals.
The company has identified Egypt and Saudi Arabia, along with Kuwait, Oman and Turkey, as key markets in which it is seeking to expand further, Chief Executive Alan Smith told Reuters in a phone interview.
&#8220;Those markets will be our priorities. Anything beyond that would really depend on how exciting the proposition is, whether there&#8217;s a good reason or belief to win and whether it&#8217;s kind of synergistic with what we have,&#8221; he said.
Pakistan, in which Agthia currently has no operations, is also &#8220;on our radar&#8221;, he added. &#8220;But I think it&#8217;s fair to say our focus is MENA.&#8221;
Agthia has made cost savings of 200 million dirhams ($54.5 million) in the past four years and aims to save the same amount through 2025 via synergies, Smith said.
The group is also planning to expand its capabilities through strategic hiring, having added a number of executives to the payroll recently with experience in large multinationals.
Agthia, whose products include bottled water, frozen foods and baked goods, reported net attributable profit of 34.5 million dirhams last year, down 75% from a year before.
While its $1.3 billion market capitalisation is some way below regional rivals such as Saudi Arabia&#8217;s Almarai and Savola Group, it has recently been expanding through acquisitions.
Last week, Agthia&#8217;s board approved the acquisition of three quarters of Ismailia Agricultural and Industrial Investment, which produces frozen chicken and beef products under four brands in Egypt.
Smith said that deal was mainly financed with bank debt, declining to give details.
Agthia acquired UAE dates company Al Foah in November and Saudi frozen proteins group Nabil Food Industries in January, a deal still subject to regulatory approvals. It has also acquired Kuwait&#8217;s Al Faysal Bakery and Sweets.

($1 = 3.6728 UAE dirham) (Reporting by Yousef Saba; Editing by Jan Harvey)
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UAE’s Agthia eyes further acquisitions to drive growth across Middle East by 2025

STOCKHOLM, April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; For Tusse, Sweden&#8217;s 2021 Eurovision Song Contest contender, it felt like entering a new world coming to the Nordic country at the age of eight from a Ugandan refugee camp.
The 19-year-old Tusse, short for Tousin Chiza, will represent Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands in May with the song &#8220;Voices&#8221;.
Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo and separated from his parents at the age of five during an attempted escape from the civil war-torn African country, he spent three years in a refugee camp with an aunt before being granted asylum in Sweden.
&#8220;It was a whole different world,&#8221; Tusse told Reuters.
&#8220;It&#8217;s a life that I don&#8217;t wish for anybody because it&#8217;s messy and every day you worry a lot. It&#8217;s all you do, you just worry. Will I get food tonight? Will we find water, will we be alive tomorrow?,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s that kind of worrying that here in Sweden we don&#8217;t have which is great.&#8221;
Having sung throughout his childhood in Africa, mainly in church choirs where he wished he was the minister so he could perform solos to the congregation, Tusse kept singing in Sweden &#8211; in choirs and eventually in talent contests such as Swedish Idol which he won in 2019.
&#8220;I was like &#8216;I&#8217;m tired of just responding, I want to be in the front&#8217; so when I came to Sweden I kept singing in school and in church,&#8221; he said.

PARENTS ALIVE
Tusse found out a few years ago that his biological parents were still alive, although his mother has since died.
&#8220;I grew up thinking my parents were gone and ultimately thinking that they were dead, so to actually find out that they were alive and well and they got in touch with me for the first time, it was huge. So much joy and just happiness because there was something always missing in my heart.&#8221;
Tusse said his father had been cheering him on during the Swedish Eurovision qualifier contests.
&#8220;He would call and be like &#8220;My son. Can I vote from Congo?&#8221; and I&#8217;m like &#8216;No, you can&#8217;t, it&#8217; doesn&#8217;t work like that&#8217; and he&#8217;s like &#8216;well, fix it. I can get everybody in Congo to vote&#8217;,&#8221; Tusse said.
Plans to travel to meet his father have been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
This year&#8217;s Eurovision Song Contest, one of the world&#8217;s biggest annual television events, will take place in Rotterdam from May 18-22 following the Netherlands&#8217; victory in 2019 with the song &#8220;Arcade&#8221;. The event will have a limited live audience after the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Reporting by Ilze Filks, writing by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Ed Osmond)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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Tusse – from child refugee to Sweden’s Eurovision Song Contest contender

* EMEA, Asia FX fall amid U.S. inflation jitters
* Turkish inflation concerns rise ahead of rate decision
* MSCI EM stocks index set for worst day since late-March
By Ambar Warrick
April 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The Turkish lira weakened on Monday as investor concerns grew over deteriorating economic conditions in the country, while stocks in emerging market suffered their worst drop in nearly three weeks as the corporate earnings season loomed.
The lira weakened about 0.7%, leading losses across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) after data showed a higher-than-expected Turkish current account deficit in February, while the unemployment rate also rose.
Inflation expectations for the country have jumped in recent weeks on doubts over whether the central bank will keep policy tight, amid constant pressure from the government to reduce interest rates.
The central bank is expected to make a decision on interest rates later this week, with the lira trading consistently lower after the ouster of four central bank heads in two years cast doubts over its credibility.
&#8220;It does not really matter whether the base rate is cut immediately, a few months later, or not at all,&#8221; analysts at Commerzbank said.
&#8220;As long as there is no credible prospect of the Central Bank of Turkey fully and freely hiking interest rates in order to bring inflation rapidly back towards target, the outlook for the lira remains the same.&#8221;
Other emerging market currencies retreated as the focus turned to U.S. inflation data due on Tuesday. While EM currencies had marked small gains last week due to weakness in the dollar and Treasury yields, investors feared that a bigger-than-expected spike in inflation could spark another rally in the greenback.
In EMEA, South Africa&#8217;s rand weakened 0.4%, while Russia&#8217;s rouble was down 0.5%. Central European currencies also fell to the dollar and the euro, after marking strong gains last week.
Most EM currencies are trading lower this year amid growing bets that U.S. economic growth will ramp up quickly and spur policy tightening by the Federal Reserve, with inflation being one of the key factors to watch.
The MSCI&#8217;s index of emerging market stocks tumbled 1.2% on Monday ahead of the first-quarter earnings season, which is expected to shed light on whether corporates have been able to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Latin America, Ecuadorean banker Guillermo Lasso pulled off a surprise win in Sunday&#8217;s presidential runoff against socialist economist Andres Arauz, putting the country on track to maintain open market policies.

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 Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions &#8211; https://agency.reuters.com/en/copyright.html
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