NAIROBI, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; The African Union has dropped plans to buy Covid-19 vaccines from the Serum Institute of India and is exploring options with Johnson &amp; Johnson, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters on Thursday.
The institute will still supply the AstraZeneca vaccine to Africa through the COVAX vaccine-sharing facility, said Dr John Nkengasong, but the African Union would seek additional supplies from Johnson &amp; Johnson. (Reporting by Maggie Fick; Writing by Katharine Houreld; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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African Union drops plans to buy Covid-19 vaccines from SSI, pivots to J&J

Singapore, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; India, South Korea and Thailand faced mounting coronavirus infections on Thursday, undermining cautious hopes that Asia might be emerging from the worst of the pandemic as worries about safety threatened to delay vaccination drives.
India reported a record 126,789 new cases, the third day this week tallies have surged to more than 100,000, catching by surprise authorities who have blamed crowding and a reluctance to wear masks as shops and offices reopen.
More infectious variants of the virus may have played a role in India&#8217;s surge, some epidemiologists say, with hundreds of cases found of variants first detected in Britain, South Africa and Brazil.
The alarming numbers have led to New Zealand putting a temporary ban on anyone arriving from India, even for the first time blocking New Zealand citizens from coming home, for about two weeks.
&#8220;We are temporarily suspending entry into New Zealand for travellers from India,&#8221; Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a news conference in Auckland.
New Zealand, which has virtually eliminated the virus within its borders, recorded 23 new cases at its border on Thursday, 17 from India.
Two other countries that managed to largely keep the coronavirus under control during the first year of the pandemic were also grappling with new waves, though smaller than India&#8217;s.
South Korea reported 700 new cases on Thursday, its highest daily figure since early January, and the prime minister warned that new social distancing rules would likely be needed.
Thailand, which has been planning a cautious re-opening of its tourist industry, reported a rise in new daily infections to 405 on Thursday, taking its total number of infections to 30,310, with 95 deaths.
Adding to Thai worries, it has detected 24 cases of a highly contagious virus variant first detected in Britain, its first reported domestic transmission of the variant.
Cases are also rising in parts of Europe but South America is the most worrying region of the world for infections, with cases mounting in nearly every country, the director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said on Wednesday.

SUSPENDING SHOTS
Asia&#8217;s increasing cases comes as worries are growing over the safety of one of the most prominent vaccines aginst the virus.
The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday said it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients of AstraZeneca Plc&#8217;s COVID-19 vaccine, although it said the vaccine&#8217;s advantages still outweighed the risks.
Both South Korea and the Philippines have suspended use of the vaccine for people under 60 because of possible links to blood clots, while Australia and Taiwan said they would continue to use it.
Worry about the vaccine could delay immunisation drives in Asia, some of which are already dogged by supply problems. Campaigns in most parts of Asia lag those in places like Britain and the United States.
Australia&#8217;s programme to vaccinate its near 26 million people is more than 80% behind its original schedule.
Authorities there had pledged to administer at least 4 million first doses by the end of March but could only deliver 670,000. The government blamed supply issues from Europe.
While India&#8217;s cases mount, vaccine centres in several parts of the country, including hardest-hit Maharashtra state, have been running out of supplies.
China, where the novel coronavirus emerged in late 2019, is driving ahead with its vaccination campaign, administering about 3.68 million doses on Wednesday, taking its total number of doses given to 149.07 million, authorities said.
Japan&#8217;s vaccinations are far behind those in most major economies, with only one vaccine approved and about 1 million people having received a first dose since February, even as it struggles with new cases.
Infections in Tokyo spiked by 545 cases on Thursday, adding to worries about the Olympics and Paralympics, delayed from last year and now due to start at the end of July.
The government scrambled to calm a social media furore saying it was not looking to prioritise vaccines for its Olympic athletes, dismissing a media report that it was considering doing so.
Japan is not insisting that arriving athletes be vaccinated but there will be frequent tests while they are in Japan. There will be no foreign spectators and a decision on domestic ones has yet to be made.
(Reporting by Reuters staff Writing by Robert Birsel; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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WRAPUP 1-Asia’s rising coronavirus cases a worry as vaccine doubts cloud campaigns

By Amlan Chakraborty
NEW DELHI, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Mumbai Indians have assembled a side that looks even stronger than their back-to-back title-winning teams, with only Delhi Daredevils and Sunrisers Hyderabad appearing capable of denying them a third straight Indian Premier League (IPL) crown.
Mumbai get the money-spinning tournament rolling in Chennai on Friday, just four months after claiming their second successive title, with a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, led by India captain Virat Kohli.
Captain Rohit Sharma headlines a Mumbai batting lineup teeming with explosive hitters including Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav, who made impressive India debut in the recent Twenty20 series against England.
Power-hitters Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya are adept at launching a late assault, while Trent Boult&#8217;s powerplay skills and Jasprit Bumrah&#8217;s death-overs mastery mean they have no real bowling woes either.
So dominant are Mumbai that they have won five of the last eight titles and former England captain Michael Vaughan has said this side might be even better than India&#8217;s Twenty20 team.
South Africa quick Dale Steyn was in no doubt Mumbai were the favourites again.
&#8220;I have got them as number one,&#8221; he told www.espncricinfo.com this week. &#8220;I&#8217;m going with them winning it again.&#8221;
David Warner led Hyderabad to their maiden IPL title in 2016 but the Australian&#8217;s nagging groin injury remains a concern.
Hyderabad also lack firepower in their lower order, though they have a potent bowling attack that includes swing bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Afghan spin spearhead Rashid Khan.
Delhi had to change their captain after Shreyas Iyer, who led them to their maiden final last year, was ruled out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
At 23, Rishabh Pant will be the IPL&#8217;s youngest skipper this year but Delhi head coach Ricky Ponting has high hopes for the stumper-batsman.
&#8220;I think extra responsibility is going to sit really well with him,&#8221; the former Australia captain said.
&#8220;We&#8217;ll help him through, but honestly, I don&#8217;t think he&#8217;s going to need much help at all.&#8221;
Bangalore, the tournament&#8217;s perennial underachievers, have added Australian Glenn Maxwell to the batting order but their death-overs bowling remains a worry.
England captain Eoin Morgan will lead Kolkata Knight Riders&#8217; quest for a third title but Chennai Super Kings, who finished second from bottom last year, may struggle again.
The three-time champions failed to make the playoff for the first time last year and their core of ageing players, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, had little game time heading into this year&#8217;s tournament. (Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Peter Rutherford)
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Cricket-Mumbai go from strength to strength as IPL hat-trick beckons

ROME, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; World food prices rose for a 10th consecutive month in March, hitting their highest level since June 2014, led by jumps in vegetable oils, meat and dairy indices, the United Nations food agency said on Thursday.
The Food and Agriculture Organization&#8217;s food price index, which measures monthly changes for a basket of cereals, oilseeds, dairy products, meat and sugar, averaged 118.5 points last month versus a slightly revised 116.1 in February.
The February figure was previously given as 116.0.
The Rome-based FAO also said in a statement that worldwide cereal harvests remained on course to hit an annual record in 2020, adding that early indications pointed to a further increase in production this year.
FAO&#8217;s cereal price index fell 1.7% month on month in March, ending eight months of consecutive gains, but still 26.5% higher than the same period last month.
Among major cereals, wheat export prices dropped the most, declining 2.4% on the month, reflecting good supplies and encouraging production prospects for the 2021 crops, FAO said.
FAO&#8217;s vegetable oil price index surged 8.0% on the month to reach its highest level since June 2011, lifted by higher prices for palm, soy, rape and sunflower oils.
Dairy prices rose for a 10th month running, registering a 3.9% increase. FAO said one of the drivers in the sector was milk powder, which was boosted by a surge in imports in Asia, especially China, due to concerns over short-term supplies.
The meat index climbed 2.3%, but unlike all the other indices, it was still slightly down on a year-on-year basis. FAO said poultry and pig meat quotations increased, underpinned by a fast pace of imports by Asian countries, mainly China.
Sugar prices dropped 4.0% month on month, but was still up 30% on the year. March&#8217;s decline was fuelled by prospects of large exports from India, FAO said.
FAO raised its forecast for the 2020 cereal season to 2.765 billion tonnes from a previous estimate of 2.761 billion, pointing to a 2.0% increase year on year.
Looking ahead, FAO said it expected global cereal production to increase for a third consecutive year in 2021.
Global wheat production was seen hitting a new high of 785 million tonnes this year, up 1.4% from 2020 levels, driven by an anticipated sharp rebound across most of Europe and expectations of a record harvest in India, FAO said.
Above-average outputs were also expected for maize, with a record harvest forecast for Brazil and a multi-year high predicted for South Africa.
For the current 2020/21 marketing season, global cereal utilisation was forecast at 2.777 billion tonnes, 2.4% up on the previous year, driven largely by higher estimates of feed use of wheat and barley in China, where the livestock sector is recovering from African swine fever.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer)
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World food price index rises in March for 10th month running -FAO

By Allegresse Sasse
COTONOU, Benin, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Benin&#8217;s President Patrice Talon, who previously vowed to serve only one term, enters Sunday&#8217;s election a heavy favourite to win five more years in office amid criticism he has tarnished the country&#8217;s reputation as one of West Africa&#8217;s model democracies.
Talon, a multi-millionaire cotton magnate, faces two challengers, but analysts say he has prevented his strongest rivals from running by driving them into exile under the threat of criminal charges.
His U-turn about a second term, which he pledged as a candidate in 2016 to forgo in order to avoid &#8220;complacency&#8221;, has led to protests in the country of 12 million. Hundreds marched and burned tyres on Tuesday in several cities.
Talon says he needs another term to consolidate the gains of his first. He has defended the legal charges brought against his rivals as justified by their acts.
&#8220;I will be a candidate to strengthen this good governance that we have just acquired, and which allows us to start building up our country,&#8221; he said recently during a tour of southern Benin.
A business-minded reformer who pushed to digitise government services, Talon has campaigned on his economic record.
Benin became West Africa&#8217;s top cotton exporter in 2018 and recorded average gross domestic product growth of over 5% before the global economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
But his critics accuse him of undermining democratic progress after his predecessor Thomas Boni Yayi stepped down when his two terms ended in 2016, distinguishing Benin from other African presidents who revised constitutions to stay in power.
In 2018, Talon pushed through electoral reforms that disqualified all opposition parties from running the following year. As a result his supporters control all 83 seats in the national assembly.
Several prominent opposition leaders have been detained this year on terrorism-related charges, including at least one whose presidential candidacy was rejected by the electoral commission, Amnesty International said.
The two opposition candidates on the ballot are Alassane Soumanou, who was a minister under Boni Yayi, and Corentin Kohoue, a veteran politician.
&#8220;Everybody knows that there&#8217;s no real choice in this election because the president chose the opposition candidates who can run against him,&#8221; said Mathias Hounkpe from the Open Society Initiative for West Africa.
Neil Thompson, an analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit, said that under Talon&#8217;s leadership Benin &#8220;appears to be trading perhaps temporary economic growth for a growing political instability, one that may in the end undermine the very development Mr. Talon is using to justify his power&#8221;.
Charles, a 25-year-old student in the commercial capital of Cotonou who only gave his first name, said he was very concerned by questions of democracy and freedom.
&#8220;I won&#8217;t abandon my right to free expression for anything in the world,&#8221; he said. &#8220;These questions are going to influence my vote.&#8221;
Other voters were more focused on economic issues.
&#8220;We are not yet developed. We need to continue to improve our education and health systems,&#8221; said Aminatou, a 50-year-old teacher, who also gave only his first name. (Reporting by Allegresse Sasse and Hereward Holland; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Aaron Ross and Karishma Singh)
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Backtracking on one-term pledge, Benin President Talon seeks five more years

(Repeats April 7 story with no change to text)
By Marc Jones
LONDON, April 7 (Reuters) &#8211; Debt experts, charity groups and investors welcomed news on Wednesday that the world&#8217;s poorest countries will get new IMF funds and COVID-19 debt relief, but they also cautioned that for some it would still only be a band-aid solution.
A new $650 billion allocation of the IMF&#8217;s quasi currency known as Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) will provide over $20 billion of funding, while an extended repayment holiday on loans from rich G20 nations will temporarily save another $7 billion.
The $20 billion share of the SDR increase alone is more than all the emergency money the IMF provided in Africa https://www.imf.org/en/Topics/imf-and-covid19/COVID-Lending-Tracker last year and in relative terms, those under the most serious stress will receive the biggest benefit.
Zambia&#8217;s share of the handout &#8211; SDRs are allocated roughly according to the size of economies &#8211; will double its international reserves. It will lift those of Argentina, Ethiopia, Ecuador, Kenya, Ghana and Sri Lanka by at least 10%.
More help might be forthcoming too. Talk has already begun about wealthier countries donating or recycling some of their new SDR either directly or into emergency IMF facilities where they could be put to good use.
That would add significant extra support but some feel that even that might not be enough for those in the deepest funk.
The European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad), comprising 50 non-governmental organisations, estimates the average debt-to-GDP ratio for nearly 70 countries in the G20&#8217;s Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) will rise above 60% this year from 52% pre-pandemic and 46% back in 2015.
In sub-Saharan Africa, interest payments suck up close to 50% of government revenues for Ghana and around 30% for Nigeria and Angola, S&amp;P Global calculates.
Zambia, Mozambique, Republic of Congo and Angola have all seen their debt burdens soar above 100% of GDP, while Morgan Stanley has flagged concerns about Cameroon, Kenya, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Tunisia, Sri Lanka, Laos and the Maldives.
&#8220;This SDR issuance will help the countries that were not in terrible shape coming into this crisis muddle through,&#8221; said S&amp;P sovereign analyst Ravi Bhatia. &#8220;But for others that already had very high debt levels and have big payments to make, this isn&#8217;t going to be enough.&#8221;
Carmen Altenkirch, an emerging market sovereign analyst at Aviva Investors, holds a similar view. She thinks Zambia, Pakistan, Ghana, Argentina and Bahrain will see the biggest benefit from the SDR increase, while Pakistan and Angola will get the most from the DSSI extension.
&#8220;Pakistan is a great example of a country that could have defaulted,&#8221; without the support she said. However, it won&#8217;t solve the underlying problems of those countries with the highest debt burdens and rising interest costs.

TICKING TIME-BOMB
Poorer countries are also lagging well behind with vaccine programmes, meaning the crisis will be prolonged for many. World Bank and IMF research estimates that Africa alone will need about $12 billion for vaccines, roughly what they will have deferred under the DSSI so far.
World Bank President David Malpass said on Monday this week&#8217;s DSSI extension would nevertheless probably be the &#8220;last or final&#8221; one.
It incentivizes countries to move towards the G20&#8217;s so called &#8220;Common Framework&#8221;, under which countries would fully restructure debts rather than just postpone payments for a year or two under the DSSI.
So far only Chad, Ethiopia and Zambia have said they will go down that route. It has become a hot potato for governments as the framework also encourages them to restructure their private sector debt, which would be a default in the eyes of the major credit rating agencies.
That could trigger knock-on effects and make it harder and more costly to borrow from international markets in future.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think this will be sufficient,&#8221; Richard Cooper a partner and debt specialist at law firm Cleary Gottlieb, said about the SDR increase and DSSI extension.
The concern is that with so many emerging market countries having taken on more debt during the COVID pandemic and global interest rates now rising, there will be more restructurings in the next 2-3 years.
&#8220;This is a little like a ticking time-bomb,&#8221; Cooper said.

(Reporting by Marc Jones; editing by David Evans)
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RPT-ANALYSIS-SDRs and debt holidays still just a band-aid for debt-hobbled countries

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* FTSE 100 up 0.4%, FTSE 250 off 0.04%
April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; London&#8217;s FTSE 100 climbed on Wednesday supported by gains in heavyweight mining and banking stocks, while investors awaited March construction industry activity data later in the day.
The blue-chip index rose 0.4% to its highest since February last year, with Johnson Matthey jumping 3.4% after the chemicals maker said it had started a strategic review of its health business.
Mining stocks rose with Anglo American gaining 2.5%, as the company said it would spin off its thermal coal assets in South Africa.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index edged 0.04% lower after scaling a record high in the previous session.
Globally, investor sentiment was upbeat after the Federal Reserve underlined its commitment to keeping policy super loose even as the U.S. economy enjoys a rapid recovery.
Among other stocks, Lookers jumped 15% after the auto retailer forecast 2021 underlying profit before tax to be materially ahead of analysts&#8217; estimates. (Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
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Miners, banks boost FTSE 100 ahead of construction activity data

April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Securities analysts revised their ratings and price targets on several European companies, including Airbus Group, Airtel Africa and Volvo AB, on Thursday. HIGHLIGHTS * Airbus Group : JP Morgan cuts price target to EUR 115 from EUR 120 * Airtel Africa : JP Morgan raises to overweight from neutral * Sage Group : Citigroup raises to buy from neutral * Volvo AB : SocGen raises to buy from hold Following is a summary of research actions on European companies reported by Reuters on Thursday. Stock entries are in alphabetical order. * Airbus Group : JP Morgan cuts price target to EUR 115 from EUR 120 * Airtel Africa : JP Morgan raises price target to 100p from 72p * Airtel Africa : JP Morgan raises to overweight from neutral * Anglo American : Jefferies raises price target to 3800p from 3600p * Beiersdorf AG : Citigroup raises price target to EUR 86 from EUR 83 * Campari : Credit Suisse raises price target to EUR 9 from EUR 8.80 * Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA : Citigroup raises PT to CHF 107 from CHF 100 * Deliveroo Holdings Plc : Berenberg initiates with hold rating and price target 310p * DNB ASA : Citigroup raises price target to NOK 186 from NOK 180 * Enquest Plc : Jefferies raises price target to 21p from 17p * Ericsson : Credit Suisse raises price target to SEK 140 from SEK 125 * Fraport : Berenberg raises target price to EUR 59 from EUR 55 * IAG : Citigroup raises price target to 250p from 195p * Kering : Jefferies raises price target to EUR 700 from EUR 630 * Liberbank SA : Citigroup raises price target to EUR 0.37 from EUR 0.36 * Moncler : Jefferies raises price target to EUR 55 from EUR 54.50 * Neoen SA : JP Morgan raises price target to EUR 37.50 from EUR 30 * Nokia Oyj : Credit Suisse raises price target to EUR 3.65 from EUR 3.40 * Orsted A/S : Credit Suisse raises price target to DKK 550 from DKK 540 * Publicis : JP Morgan raises price target to EUR 58 from EUR 48.59 * Saga Plc : Credit Suisse raises price target to 486p from 397p * Sage Group : Citigroup raises price target to 770p from 619p * Sage Group : Citigroup raises to buy from neutral * Signify NV : Citigroup raises price target to EUR 50 from EUR 46 * Volvo AB : SocGen raises price target to SEK 260 from SEK 210 * Volvo AB : SocGen raises to buy from hold * Worldline SA : Jefferies cuts price target to EUR 107 from EUR 108 (Compiled by Bengaluru Newsroom) 
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EUROPE RESEARCH ROUNDUP-Airbus Group, Airtel Africa, Volvo AB

* President Idriss Deby faces six challengers
* Deby has ruled Chad since 1990 rebellion
* Some opposition leaders call for boycott, withdraw in protest
By Mahamat Ramadane and Joel Kouam
N&#8217;DJAMENA, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Chad&#8217;s President Idriss Deby, an ally of Western nations in the fight against Islamist militants, is poised to extend his three-decade rule in Sunday&#8217;s election despite mounting signs of popular discontent with his leadership.
Opposition leaders have called on their supporters to boycott the polls and make the country &#8220;ungovernable&#8221; after Deby&#8217;s decision to seek a sixth term led to protests and clashes with security forces.
Deby, 68, is one of Africa&#8217;s longest-serving leaders, having seized power in 1990 in an armed rebellion. He pushed through a new constitution in 2018 that could allow him to stay in power until 2033 &#8211; even as it re-instated term limits.
Deby, who took the title of &#8220;Marshal&#8221; last year, will face six candidates after the supreme court barred seven others. The runner-up in the last election in 2016, Saleh Kebzabo, and Ngarledji Yorongar, another prominent opposition leader, withdrew from the race https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN2AU0OD to protest Deby&#8217;s candidacy.
&#8220;Of course we are going to win,&#8221; Deby told supporters at a campaign event on Monday. &#8220;I know in advance that I will win, as I have done for the last 30 years.&#8221;
Chad has one of the region&#8217;s most capable armies, which it has deployed to hot spots in neighbouring countries to battle Boko Haram and other Islamist groups.
But the government is still threatened periodically by rebels in the north. Fighter jets from former colonial ruler France intervened in 2019 to strike a heavily-armed rebel convoy after it crossed from southern Libya.
Opposition leaders criticise Deby for his handling of Chad&#8217;s oil wealth. Low crude prices in recent years have eaten into revenues, forcing cutbacks to government services that have led to public sector strikes.
They have also caused debt levels to rise. International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Tuesday that Chad&#8217;s creditors would meet in the next week to deal with its request for debt relief.
Nevertheless, Deby has drawn on his effective control of state institutions to maintain political power, and his opponents have split over the question of whether to boycott the election.
While former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacké, one of the approved candidates, said a boycott would play into Deby&#8217;s hand, others have rejected the process as illegitimate.
Succès Masra, a 38-year old opposition firebrand whose candidacy was rejected because he did not meet the minimum age of 45, said the election was a masquerade.
&#8220;This election resembles a home game played by the same team that has been split in two,&#8221; Masra told a news conference, where he displayed empty tear gas canisters fired at a recent protest.
Kebzabo, meanwhile, vowed to make the country &#8220;ungovernable&#8221; if Deby wins.
Deby accused opposition leaders of attempting to sabotage the gains made under his government, warning that they have &#8220;signed their political death warrants&#8221;.
(Writing by Cooper Inveen and Bate Felix Editing by Aaron Ross and Grant McCool)
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‘I know in advance that I will win’: Chad’s Deby eyes sixth presidential term

JOHANNESBURG, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo American plc said it would spin off its thermal coal assets in South Africa and relist them on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange under Thungela Resources Limited, as it looks to transition away from the fossil fuel.
The miner said the transaction would be subject to shareholder approval in May.
(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg, Editing by Helen Reid)
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Anglo American to spin off South African thermal coal and list on JSE

JOHANNESBURG, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s rand was firmer against a soft dollar early on Thursday, as investors weighed the U.S. Federal Reserve&#8217;s commitment to keep interest rates low for some time against likely higher inflation.
At 0610 GMT, the rand traded at 14.5150 against the dollar, 0.38% firmer than its previous close.
The dollar traded near more than two-week troughs versus major peers on Thursday, tracking Treasury yields lower.
Fed officials are committed to supporting the economy until its recovery is more secure, minutes of the U.S. central bank&#8217;s most recent policy meeting released on Wednesday showed.
Lower U.S. interest rate expectations boost investors&#8217; appetite for emerging markets assets such as the rand, which offer higher returns but carry more risk.
In fixed income, the yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2030 was down 0.5 basis point to 9.325% in early deals. (Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; editing by John Stonestreet)
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South Africa’s rand firms in early trade as dollar slips

(Repeats without change)
* Sibanye-Stillwater CEO moots merger of S.African gold miners
* Cash-rich miner seeking gold assets
* Aim to create gold champion could face opposition -analysts
By Clara Denina and Tanisha Heiberg
JOHANNESBURG, April 7 (Reuters) &#8211; Precious metals miner Sibanye-Stillwater is at the centre of deal talks in the gold sector but it may see its desire to create a South African gold champion thwarted as peers cut exposure to the country.
Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman, 61, last month floated the idea of a merger with Johannesburg-listed AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields, arguing consolidation is needed for the country&#8217;s gold miners to compete globally.
Speculation has mounted that Sibanye, the world&#8217;s biggest platinum producer, may bid for one or both of its South Africa-listed peers with some assets potentially being hived off to a third party.
Both AngloGold and Gold Fields have shed most of their South African assets to focus on higher returns elsewhere as mining companies struggle with rising costs, volatile labour relations and power disruptions. Gold Fields retains one mine, South Deep.
A Sibanye spokesman said the miner is interested in a mid-tier gold company with more than 1 million ounces in annual output and operations outside South Africa.
He declined to comment on whether it was already in talks with any companies.
With a market value of 195 billion rand ($13.39 billion) Sibanye, which gets less than 20% of its earnings from gold currently, wants to attract a broader shareholder base.
&#8220;You can do 10 small transactions but that&#8217;s probably going to take you 10 years. Or you could do one or two large transactions and significantly increase your size and become relevant,&#8221; Froneman said last month at a mining roundtable.
Sibanye has long wanted to boost its gold exposure outside South Africa, where declining grades and persistent power outages pose challenges.
Soaring platinum, rhodium and palladium prices have boosted its coffers and helped its share price outpace peers

&#8220;MR FIX-IT&#8221;
Froneman, nicknamed &#8220;Mr Fix-It&#8221; for his successful turnarounds in the 1990s, is a veteran dealmaker but some bankers and analysts said a deal would not hold much value for either AngloGold or Gold Fields.
&#8220;There&#8217;s only South African assets in Sibanye on the gold side and (the two miners) have spent the last 10 years getting out of South Africa,&#8221; said Rene Hochreiter, mining analyst at NOAH Capital Markets.
With an interim CEO since Kelvin Dushnisky stepped down at AngloGold last year and Chris Griffith taking the top spot at Gold Fields only this month, both companies have looked vulnerable to a takeover, as the number of top-tier assets available grows thin.
The resignation last month of Gold Fields board member Rick Menell, who is also an independent non-executive director on Sibanye&#8217;s board, has further stoked speculation of a tie-up between the two companies.
AngloGold said it was focused on its organic growth strategy while Gold Fields declined to comment.
&#8220;Unless he comes in with an all-cash proposal, which is highly unlikely, shareholders at either of the two companies will not be easily convinced by the rationale of being taken over by Sibanye, which is first of all a South African miner,&#8221; a banking source said.
The value of mining sector M&amp;A bounced back in the second half of 2020, driven by higher gold prices, according to S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence.
Higher gold prices in 2020 also helped Sibanye pay down debt after a spate of acquisitions including a 2019 takeover of London-listed Lonmin. Sibanye, which was formed when Gold Fields spun off some of its assets in 2013, typically invests in a counter-cyclical way and is betting that gold prices will continue to retreat from 2020 highs as COVID-19 vaccines boost economic growth, Froneman said in a Kitco News interview last month.
The miner, which also wants to acquire more battery metals assets, was rumoured last year to be in talks to buy Canadian gold miner Kinross Gold Corp.
At the time, Froneman said the high gold price meant any deals would not make commercial sense.
A successful mega-merger would cement his reputation as a savvy dealmaker as he nears retirement.
&#8220;Neal has tried to position himself as the champion of the mining industry in South Africa,&#8221; an industry lawyer said.
&#8220;It&#8217;s an elegant exit for him.&#8221;
($1 = 14.5639 rand)

(Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg and Helen Reid in Johannesburg, Jeff Lewis in Toronto and Clara Denina in London, Writing by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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RPT-DEALTALK-Flush from soaring platinum prices, Sibanye-Stillwater hunts for gold

April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo American PLC:
* ANGLO AMERICAN PLC &#8211; DEMERGER OF SOUTH AFRICA THERMAL COAL OPERATIONS
* ANGLO AMERICAN &#8211; ANNOUNCES DEMERGER OF ITS THERMAL COAL OPERATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA, SUBJECT TO APPROVAL OF ANGLO AMERICAN&#8217;S SHAREHOLDERS ON 5 MAY 2021.
* ANGLO AMERICAN &#8211; SEPARATION WILL BE IMPLEMENTED THROUGH TRANSFER OF ANGLO AMERICAN&#8217;S THERMAL COAL OPERATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA TO A NEW HOLDING CO
* ANGLO AMERICAN &#8211; SEPARATION WILL BE IMPLEMENTED VIA DEMERGER OF THUNGELA SHARES TO CO&#8217;S SHAREHOLDERS &amp; PRIMARY LISTING OF THUNGELA&#8217;S SHARES ON JSE
* ANGLO AMERICAN &#8211; IN ORDER FOR PROPOSED DEMERGER TO BE IMPLEMENTED, ANGLO AMERICAN SHAREHOLDER APPROVAL WILL BE SOUGHT
* ANGLO AMERICAN &#8211; IF IT IS APPROVED, IT IS EXPECTED THAT DEMERGER WOULD BE EFFECTIVE ON 4 JUNE 2021 Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
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BRIEF-Anglo American Announces Demerger Of South Africa Thermal Coal Operations

The following company announcements, scheduled economic indicators, debt and currency market moves and political events may affect African markets on Thursday. &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; GLOBAL MARKETS Asian share markets lagged on Thursday as U.S. stock futures nudged to another record high after the Federal Reserve underlined its commitment to keeping policy super loose even as the economy enjoys a rapid recovery. WORLD OIL PRICES EMERGING MARKETS For the top emerging markets news, double click on AFRICA STOCKS For the latest news on African stocks, click on SOUTH AFRICA MARKETS South Africa&#8217;s rand edged lower on Wednesday in cautious trade as investors awaited local and international signals with little to drive a move in either direction. NIGERIA OIL Nigeria&#8217;s oil and gas regulator has revoked four licences held by Addax Petroleum, it said in a statement on Wednesday, a highly unusual move for licences with producing assets. NIGERIA EUROBONDS Nigeria is working on issuing eurobonds and plans to pick advisers through an open bid process, the head of the debt office told Reuters on Wednesday. NIGERIA CORONAVIRUS Nigeria has directed its 36 states and federal capital territory to stop giving first doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines once they use half their current stock in order to safeguard supply for the second dose, its health minister said. KENYA MARKETS Kenya&#8217;s shilling strengthened further on Wednesday helped by subdued importer demand, remittances and commercial banks offloaded long dollar positions, traders said. TANZANIA PRESS Tanzania revised a decision to lift a ban on all media in the country, clarifying that only online television would benefit from the measure, a government spokesman said in a tweet on Wednesday. UGANDA MARKETS The Ugandan shilling trader stronger on Wednesday on the back of flat importer appetite for hard currency and inflows from exporters of commodities like coffee, tea and others. MOZAMBIQUE INSURGENCY Mozambique has told the international community what support it needs to deal with an Islamic State-linked insurgency, but for reasons of sovereignty it will tackle some aspects of the problem unassisted, its president said on Wednesday. RWANDA FRANCE France will open the Rwanda archives of former French president Francois Mitterrand, as part of an effort to better understand the nation&#8217;s role in the African country during its 1990s genocide, President Emmanuel Macron&#8217;s office said on Wednesday. ANGOLA ENI Italian energy group Eni plans to spend around $7 billion in Angola over the next four years along with its partners in a country it sees as key to its future growth strategy. IVORY COAST POLITICS Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and one of his close allies have permission to return home following their acquittal on charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, President Alassane Ouattara said on Wednesday. ZIMBABWE TOBACCO Zimbabwe expects sales of tobacco, its biggest agricultural export, to increase by 8.7% this year after the southern African country received its highest rainfall in three years, the industry regulator said on Wednesday. For the latest precious metals report click on For the latest base metals report click on For the latest crude oil report click on 
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African Markets – Factors to watch on April 8

JOHANNESBURG, April 8 (Reuters) &#8211; The following scheduled economic events, company announcements, equity and currency market moves may affect South African markets on Thursday.

ECONOMIC EVENTS
&#8211; South Africa&#8217;s manufacturing production month-on-month and year-on-year

SOUTH AFRICAN MARKETS
South Africa&#8217;s rand edged lower on Wednesday to 14.5225 per dollar in cautious trade as investors awaited local and international signals with little to drive a move in either direction.
Stocks fell, led by market heavyweight Naspers and technology investment company Prosus NV after it said it will sell a 2% stake in software group Tencent, worth about $15 billion at current prices, in what could potentially be the biggest block trade on record.

GLOBAL MARKETS
Asian share markets lagged on Thursday as U.S. stock futures nudged to another record high after the Federal Reserve underlined its commitment to keeping policy super loose even as the economy enjoys a rapid recovery.

WALL STREET
Major averages hovered near unchanged on Wednesday, with the S&amp;P 500 closing up slightly after the Federal Reserve released minutes from its most recent meeting that reinforced the U.S. central bank&#8217;s position to remain patient before raising rates.

GOLD
Gold prices slipped on Thursday as investors turned to riskier assets after the U.S. Federal Reserve&#8217;s latest meeting minutes indicated continued policy support and cemented hopes of a quick economic turnaround.

EMERGING MARKETS
For the top emerging markets news, double click on
&#8211; &#8211; &#8211; &#8211; (Compiled by Promit Mukherjee)
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South African Markets – Factors to watch on April 8

By Will Dunham
April 7 (Reuters) &#8211; DNA extracted from remains found in a Bulgarian cave of three people who lived roughly 45,000 years ago is revealing surprises about some of the first Homo sapiens populations to venture into Europe, including extensive interbreeding with Neanderthals and genetic links to present-day East Asians.
Scientists said on Wednesday they sequenced the genomes of these three individuals &#8211; all males &#8211; using DNA obtained from a molar and bone fragments discovered in Bacho Kiro Cave near the town of Dryanovo, as well as one female who lived roughly 35,000 years ago at the same site.
Our species first appeared in Africa approximately 300,000 years ago and later trekked to other parts of the world, sometimes encountering Neanderthals &#8211; our close cousins &#8211; already inhabiting parts of Eurasia. The three Bacho Kiro Cave males represent the oldest securely dated Homo sapiens individuals from Europe.
They had 3% to 3.8% Neanderthal DNA, and had Neanderthal ancestors about five to seven generations back in their family histories, evidence of interbreeding, said geneticist Mateja Hajdinjak of the Francis Crick Institute in London, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
Interbreeding, known as admixture, between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals before the extinction of Neanderthals sometime after 40,000 years ago has been previously shown, with present-day human populations outside Africa bearing a small percentage of Neanderthal DNA.
The prevalence of this interbreeding and the relationship and power dynamics between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals has been harder to understand &#8211; including any role our species played in the demise of the Neanderthals. The new study suggests interbreeding was more common than previously known for the first Homo sapiens in Europe.
It is an &#8220;amazing observation&#8221; that all three individuals had Neanderthal ancestors in their recent family history, said geneticist and study co-author Svante Pääbo, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany.
&#8220;This makes it likely that the earliest modern humans frequently mixed with Neanderthals when they met. It may even be the case that part of the reason Neanderthals disappeared is that they were simply absorbed into larger modern human groups. It may be just part of the reason they disappeared but the data supports such a scenario,&#8221; Pääbo said.
The researchers detected a genetic contribution among present-day people from the group that included these three, but unexpectedly it was found particularly in East Asia, including China, rather than Europe. This suggested that some people from this group eventually headed east.
&#8220;This study shifted our previous understanding of early human migrations into Europe in a way that it showed how even the earliest history of modern humans in Europe may have been tumultuous and involved population replacements,&#8221; Hajdinjak said.
The notion of population replacement was illustrated by the fact that the 35,000-year-old individual from Bacho Kiro Cave belonged to a group genetically unrelated to the site&#8217;s earlier inhabitants.
Another study published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution shed more light on Europe&#8217;s early Homo sapiens populations.
Scientists sequenced the genome of a Homo sapiens female using DNA extracted from a skull found at a site southwest of Prague in the Czech Republic. She is believed to have lived more than 45,000 years ago, though radiocarbon dating efforts to determine a firm date were unsuccessful.
This woman carried 3% Neanderthal ancestry and bore genetic traits suggesting she had dark skin and dark eyes, said geneticist Kay Prüfer of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the study&#8217;s lead author.
&#8220;Her skull shows evidence of gnawing by a predator, possibly a hyena,&#8221; Prüfer said.
Her group, distinct from the one in Bulgaria, appears to have died out without leaving genetic ancestry among modern-day people.
(Reporting by Will Dunham in Washington, Editing by Rosalba O&#8217;Brien)
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Bulgarian cave remains reveal surprises about earliest Homo sapiens in Europe

April 7 (Reuters) &#8211; The following tables summarize trade expectations for the U.S. Department of Agriculture&#8217;s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which is scheduled for release at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT) on Friday, April 9. U.S. ending stocks figures are quoted in billions of bushels, while world ending stocks and production figures are quoted in millions of tonnes. USDA 2020-21 U.S. grain and soybean ending stocks USDA April Average of Range of USDA March 2020-21 analysts&#8217; analysts&#8217; 2020-21 end-stocks estimates estimates end-stocks estimates estimates Wheat _______ 0.847 0.827-0.872 0.836 Corn _______ 1.396 1.200-1.502 1.502 Soybeans _______ 0.119 0.110-0.135 0.120 USDA 2020-21 world grain and soybean ending stocks USDA April Average of Range of USDA March 2020-21 analysts&#8217; analysts&#8217; 2020-21 end-stocks estimates estimates end-stocks estimates estimates Wheat ________ 301.59 297.77-303.00 301.19 Corn ________ 284.82 282.41-287.00 287.67 Soybeans ________ 83.52 82.50-85.00 83.74 USDA 2020-21 South American corn and soy production USDA April Average of Range of USDA March 2020-21 analysts&#8217; analysts&#8217; 2020-21 estimate estimates estimates estimate ARGENTINA Corn ________ 46.63 45.00-47.50 47.50 Soybeans ________ 46.63 44.50-47.50 47.50 BRAZIL Corn ________ 108.29 105.06-110.00 109.00 Soybeans ________ 134.03 132.00-137.00 134.00 USDA world production April USDA March USDA April USDA March USDA 2019-20 2019-20 2020-21 2020-21 estimate estimate estimate estimate Argentina wheat _____ 19.78 _____ 17.20 Australia wheat _____ 15.20 _____ 33.00 Canada wheat _____ 32.67 _____ 35.18 Russia wheat _____ 73.61 _____ 85.35 Argentina corn _____ 51.00 _____ 47.50 Brazil corn _____ 102.00 _____ 109.00 South Africa corn _____ 15.84 ____ 17.00 Ukraine corn ______ 35.89 ______ 29.50 China corn _____ 260.78 _____ 260.67 Argentina soy _____ 48.80 _____ 47.50 Brazil soy ______ 128.50 ______ 134.00 (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Peter Cooney) 
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South African Markets – Factors to watch on April 8

Bulgarian cave remains reveal surprises about earliest Homo sapiens in Europe

TABLE-USDA April crop supply/demand report estimates

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African Union drops plans to buy Covid-19 vaccines from SSI, pivots to J&J

WRAPUP 1-Asia’s rising coronavirus cases a worry as vaccine doubts cloud campaigns

Cricket-Mumbai go from strength to strength as IPL hat-trick beckons

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Backtracking on one-term pledge, Benin President Talon seeks five more years

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‘I know in advance that I will win’: Chad’s Deby eyes sixth presidential term

Anglo American to spin off South African thermal coal and list on JSE

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RPT-DEALTALK-Flush from soaring platinum prices, Sibanye-Stillwater hunts for gold

BRIEF-Anglo American Announces Demerger Of South Africa Thermal Coal Operations

African Markets – Factors to watch on April 8

South African Markets – Factors to watch on April 8

Bulgarian cave remains reveal surprises about earliest Homo sapiens in Europe

TABLE-USDA April crop supply/demand report estimates

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