<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5825784649001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
South Africa’s land expropriation without compensation intentions and farm murders has caught the attention of United States President Donald Trump. He tweeted this morning that he has asked his state secretary to study South Africa&#8217;s proposed land reforms. Trump’s comments sent the rand 1.9 per cent weaker to the dollar in early morning trade to 14.42 but it has since recovered some of the losses. President Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Khusela Diko joins CNBC Africa for more.

Trump’s comments knock rand

Holly Ellyatt
Source: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/23/now-trump-is-having-a-twitter-spat-with-south-africa-over-land-reforms.html">Trump hypes fringe talking point about South African government &#8216;seizing land from white farmers&#8217;</a>
<ul>
<li>President Trump says he has instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to &#8220;closely study the South Africa land and farm seizure and large scale killing of farmers.&#8221; </li>
<li>In a tweet, he hypes a fringe talking point about Pretoria &#8220;seizing land from white farmers.&#8221;</li>
<li>His late night tweet about South African land reform prompts a sharp response from the government.</li>
</ul>
President Donald Trump says he has instructed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to &#8220;closely study the South Africa land and farm seizure and large scale killing of farmers,&#8221; hyping a fringe talking point about Pretoria &#8220;seizing land from white farmers.&#8221;
His tweet late Wednesday ET about South Africa land reform prompted a sharp response from the government.
He included the handle of Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson in his tweet. Carlson had discussed the issue on his show Wednesday, introducing the segment by saying, &#8221; 
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa 
 has just begun the process of seizing land from his own citizens, without compensation, because they&#8217;re the wrong skin color. That is literally the definition of racism.&#8221;
Carlson then went on to criticize &#8220;elites&#8221; that criticize Trump for racism while &#8220;paying no attention&#8221; to the &#8220;racist government of South Africa.&#8221; The segment seems to have prompted Trump to instruct Pompeo to look into the matter.
Tweet I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers. &#8220;South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.&#8221; @TuckerCarlson @FoxNews
Trump&#8217;s comment on South Africa is the first time he has used the word &#8220;Africa&#8221; on the social media platform since becoming president.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://d16akly8855cs7.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/04200241/105373625-1533274925072gettyimages-898614786.1910x1000.jpg" alt="" height="1000" width="1910" data-licensor-name="Gulshan Khan | AFP | Getty Images"/>
The South African government was quick to respond Thursday. &#8220;South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past,&#8221; the government said.
Tweet South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our colonial past. #landexpropriation @realDonaldTrump @PresidencyZA
 
In a second tweet also directed at Trump, Pretoria said it would &#8220;speed up the pace of land reform in a careful and inclusive manner that does not divide our nation.&#8221;
Later Thursday, South Africa Foreign Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said it was regrettable that Trump&#8217;s tweet was &#8220;based on false information,&#8221; Reuters reported. Sisulu said she had instructed officials in her department to meet with the U.S. embassy in Pretoria to seek clarification on the matter, the news agency added.
&#8216;Black people want their land back&#8217;
Land reforms in South Africa are high on the government&#8217;s agenda and have stirred controversy.
At the start of August, Ramaphosa announced plans by the ruling African National Congress to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation.
The government sees these changes as a way to boost the country&#8217;s agricultural sector and economy. Opponents say it is a threat to food security and the economy.
The bulk of South Africa&#8217;s land 
is owned by its minority white population, a vestige of its colonial past, 
 thus they are likely to be most affected by the changes.
Despite the end of apartheid, South Africa&#8217;s institutionalized segregation of races, in the early 1990s and the first black president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, being elected in 1994, racial and economic divisions remain entrenched in the country a quarter of a century later.
Announcing the land reforms, Ramaphosa said the changes would &#8220;promote redress, advance economic development, increase agricultural production and food security.&#8221; The move alarmed investors and the rand fell to a one-week low against the dollar.
On Monday night, Ramaphosa went further, saying in a speech on land reforms that these were the only way to let a &#8220;festering wound&#8221; heal and that &#8220;black people want their land back,&#8221; national newspaper Business Day reported.
The notion that 
white farmers are persecuted in South Africa largely stems from a fringe group called AfriForum 
. Some far-right commentators and pundits have picked up on the idea, suggesting that there could be a &#8220;genocide&#8221; of white people in the country.
Trump&#8217;s wife, Melania, is planning to visit several African countries in October, without her husband, who has referred to immigrants from some African countries in 
disparaging language 
.

Trump hypes fringe talking point about South African government ‘seizing land from white farmers’

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand firmed more than one percent in early trade on Tuesday, matching gains by its emerging market peers as criticism of Federal Reserve rate hikes by U.S. President Donald Trump hurt the dollar and revived demand for some risk assets.
At 0630 GMT the rand was 1.1 percent firmer at 14.3700 per dollar, its firmest since Thursday, in what traders said was the beginning of a consolidation pattern with momentum indicators showing the unit was oversold.
The rand’s 3-day Relative Strength Index (RSI), used to identify oversold or overbought signals by comparing the current price to previous periods, dipped below the 70-mark overnight indicating a reversal of the recent bear trend.
The rand crashed to a two-year low last week as the financial crisis in Turkey rattled sentiment towards emerging markets broadly, adding to concerns about the impact of the U.S.-China trade spat on global economic growth.
But with Turkish markets closed for a religious holiday and anticipated talks between the United States and China seen lowering the temperature of the dispute, Trump’s central bank comments were the main catalyst.
In an interview with Reuters Trump said he was “not thrilled” with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for raising interest rates, causing the greenback to slide to its lowest level since Aug. 9.
Bonds also firmed, with the yield on the benchmark 2026 paper down 3.5 basis points to 9 percent.
Stocks were set to open a touch lower at 0700 GMT, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s Top-40 futures index down 0.1 percent.
Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Ed Stoddard

South African rand firmer as Trump comments hurt dollar, what you need to know…

By Kyle Hulett, Sygnia’s Head of Asset Allocation
Over the past few days, the rand has weakened by 10%, the Russian rouble by 9% and the Turkish lira by a massive 26% relative to the US dollar. On a year to date basis the rand is down almost 11%. This broad emerging market contagion has affected equities as well, with the MSCI Emerging Market Index down 17% from its January peak. China’s Shanghai Composite Index entered a bear market in July, having fallen more than 20% from the January peak, a technical definition of a bear market, while Turkey has been in a bear market territory since May.
In US dollar terms equity markets in Brazil, Russia, South Africa and Nigeria markets followed the others on Friday. The rand has also broken through the psychologically important R14/US$ level.
The three main catalysts for the sudden acceleration of the sell-off in emerging markets have been US President Donald Trump’s tweet attacks on both Turkey and Russia, higher than expected US inflation numbers, as well as additional trade tariffs on China.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
I have just authorized a doubling of Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum with respect to Turkey as their currency, the Turkish Lira, slides rapidly downward against our very strong Dollar! Aluminum will now be 20% and Steel 50%. Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1027899286586109955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> 
The lira fell as Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish imports of aluminium to 20% and steel to 50%.
The breakdown occurred after Turkey refused to release a detained US pastor, Andrew Brunson, who is on trial in Turkey on terrorism charges. Another explanation has to do with the fact that a prior fall in the lira has offset some of the effects of initial sanction levels. Turkish President Recep Erdogan further unnerved investors by claiming that a shadowy “interest rate lobby” and Western credit ratings agencies are attempting to bring down Turkey’s economy.
European banks’ exposure to Turkey’s foreign debt and local operations are raising concerns of contagion risk.
The rouble tumbled to two-year lows after the US State Department indicated that it would impose new sanctions on Russia after determining that Moscow had used a nerve agent against a former Russian double agent, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, in Britain. The sanctions come into effect in three months if Moscow fails to allow on-site inspections and will include downgrading of diplomatic relations, suspending the state airline’s approval to fly to the US and cutting off nearly all exports and imports. Separate draft US legislation introduced last week proposes curbs on the operations of several state-owned Russian banks in the US and restrictions on their use of the US dollar. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that these steps would be considered a declaration of economic war.
At the same time US core inflation rose at the fastest pace in 10 years in July, which means that the US Federal Reserve is likely to increase interest rates at a more rapid pace.
However, the negative economic impact of a sell-off of South African assets cannot be underestimated. A weaker rand makes imports more expensive, which means higher prices, including petrol prices, and higher inflation, always a negative for consumer spending. If inflation rises too high it is likely that we will see the return of higher interest rates as well.

This is what you need to know about the sell-off of emerging market currencies

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand slipped to six-week lows early on Friday and government bonds weakened sharply, as slides in the Russian rouble and Turkish lira combined with escalating global trade tensions to knock sentiment towards emerging market assets.
At 0637 GMT, the rand traded at 13.8125 per dollar, 0.86 percent weaker than its close on Thursday.
The currency had earlier in the session lost nearly 2 percent to 13.9500, it weakest since June 28, according to Thomson Reuters data.
At 16h31 CAT it was trading at 14.0951, weakening 2.92 per cent.
“The rand and other EM currencies on the back foot as sentiment sours,” Rand Merchant Bank analysts said in a note, adding that this was due to “geopolitical concerns and the negative impact of the U.S.-China trade spat on global growth.”
Analysts said Turkey’s lira and the Russian rouble were hit hardest in the sell-off.
Turkey’s lira hit a new record low against the U.S. dollar in early trade on Friday, as concerns over a widening rift with the United States persisted after a Turkish delegation returned from talks in Washington with no apparent solutions to the crisis. [EMRG/FRX]
U.S. President Donald Trump later on Friday said he had authorized higher tariffs on imports from Turkey, imposing a 20 percent duty on aluminium and 50 percent one on steel, as tensions mount between the two NATO allies over Ankara’s detention of an evangelical pastor and other diplomatic issues.
The rouble slid to two-year lows after Washington said it would impose fresh sanctions on Moscow.
In fixed income, the yield for South Africa’s benchmark 2026 bond was up 12 basis points to 8.805 percent.
Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by Catherine Evans

Rand weakens over 2 per cent, breaches 14/dollar as emerging markets rattled

Kellie Ell
Source: <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/21/steel-company-jsw-usa-to-add-1000-new-jobs-ceo.html">Steel company JSW USA to add 1,000 new jobs: CEO</a>
<ul>
<li>The steel company will invest $1 billion in Ohio and Texas facilities, it says. </li>
<li>President and CEO John Hritz says the company will add &#8220;many, many high-tech jobs.&#8221; </li>
</ul>
JSW Steel USA is investing $1 billion in facilities in Mingo Junction, Ohio, and Baytown, Texas, President and CEO John Hritz told CNBC. 
&#8220;We are going to be hiring over 1,000 people,&#8221; Hritz said on &#8221; 
Closing Bell 
&#8221; on Thursday. 
The U.S. steel mill, headquartered outside Houston, produces hot-rolled plates and pipes. The capital expansion projects will introduce new manufacturing technology and create &#8220;many, many high-tech jobs,&#8221; Hritz said. 
He credits President Donald Trump&#8217;s steel tariffs for enabling his company to expand. 

&#8220;We are completely in lockstep with the president,&#8221; Hritz said. &#8220;Completely in lockstep with the administration.&#8221;
In March, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on steel products and a 10 percent tariff on aluminum. 
&#8220;The whole idea of melt and manufacture, where this country is going, with regard to our ability &#8230; to supply defense, to supply infrastructure with heavy plate, to bring up the Mingo Junction facility, and to [improve] a community that was really decimated &#8230; all of this makes great sense,&#8221; Hritz said. &#8220;We would not have this capital from our parent company if they didn&#8217;t believe it.&#8221;

JSW USA is part of parent company JSW GroupJSWSTEEL-IN, an $11 billion multinational conglomerate based in India, with businesses in South America and Africa in addition to the U.S. The more than 40,000 employees around the globe work in sectors such as steel, energy, infrastructure, cement and sports.
And Hritz isn&#8217;t worried about competition among other U.S. steel manufacturers. 
&#8220;We will be the highest-technology, lowest-cost entity of its kind &#8230; in all of North America,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We&#8217;ll pick the markets we want.&#8221;

Steel company JSW USA to add 1,000 new jobs: CEO

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5799185469001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
South African Reverse Bank deputy governor, Kuben Naidoo spoke to CNBC International on the side-line of the three-day ECB forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal. Here is what the Deputy Governor had to say about the impact of the global trade wars and the effects of the changing monetary policy on emerging markets.

SARB Dep Gov Kuben Naidoo on the impact of global trade war on emerging markets

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a working lunch during their historic Singapore summit meeting.
U.S. delegation members in attendance included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor John Bolton.
U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un participated in a working lunch Tuesday, following their face-to-face meeting at the highly anticipated summit in Singapore.
Who&#8217;s there 
American delegation members at the lunch included U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Advisor John Bolton.
North Koreas in attendance included Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers&#8217; Party of Korea Kim Yong Chol, who determines foreign policy and defense strategy for the country.
Also present was Ri Su Yong, vice chairman of the Central Committee; Ri Yong Ho, minister of foreign affairs, and No Kwang Chol, minister of the People&#8217;s Armed Forces.
What they&#8217;re eating 
On the menu were prawn cocktails with avocado salad, green mango kerabu and fresh octopus and Korean stuffed cucumber (&#8220;Oiseon&#8221;) for starters.
For the main course, the participants had a choice of beef short rib confit, sweet and sour crispy pork and Yangzhou fried rice and soy braised cod fish.
For dessert, diners had the choice of dark chocolate tartlet ganache, vanilla ice cream and tropezienne.
Earlier in the morning, the two leaders shook hands and took a photo side-by-side before moving to another room, where they gave brief statements to the press.
It was the first time that sitting leaders of the two countries have met, and it came after years of bluster and threats from Pyongyang — and from Trump — that have raised fears of war.
— CNBC&#8217;s Everett Rosenfeld and Nyshka Chandran contributed to this report.

Here’s the guest list and menu at historic Trump-Kim summit meeting

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5796491976001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
Oil prices edged up along with global markets in early trading on cautious optimism over the outcome of the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

Oil rises on positive Trump-Kim meeting

KIGALI/ABIDJAN, May 24 (Reuters) &#8211; Early last year, weeks after Donald Trump was sworn in as president, a little known American trade association filed a petition with the U.S. Trade Representative.
That seven-page letter set Africa in the cross-hairs of the new administration’s ‘America First’ trade ideology, pitting the world’s largest economy against tiny Rwanda over an unlikely U.S. export: cast-off clothes.
In March, the USTR warned Rwanda it would lose some benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), America’s flagship trade legislation for Africa, in 60 days after it increased tariffs on second-hand clothes to support its local garment industry.
“The president’s determinations underscore his commitment to enforcing our trade laws and ensuring fairness in our trade relationships,” Deputy U.S. Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney said, announcing the decision.
The 60-day grace period expires on May 28.
But no matter the outcome, the row is further straining Washington’s relations with Africa at a time when it is being aggressively courted by America’s global competitors, not least China.
Beijing has invested tens of billions of dollars in the continent, most recently as part of its huge Belt and Road foreign trade strategy.
Under AGOA, enacted in 2000 with the aim of using trade to boost development, qualifying African countries are granted duty-free access to the U.S. market for 6,500 exported products.
The current dispute, which also initially involved Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, has received none of the attention of Trump’s trade war with China or his haggling with North American neighbours.
Yet critics – including former U.S. trade officials – see in it a worrying indication of how Washington will approach trade relations with Africa.
“It delegitimises so much of what we’ve worked for for so many years,” said Gail Strickler, who served as the top U.S. trade official on textiles until 2015. “I think it’s horrible. I think it’s sad. I think it’s pathetic and I think it’s obscene.”
<h3>MADE IN RWANDA</h3>
Since her husband was murdered in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide, Devotha Mukankusi has relied heavily on the UTEXRWA garment factory in the capital Kigali.
“I survived the genocide together with my kids. But it’s thanks to this job that they have grown up,” she said, her voiced raised above the drone of sewing machines as she supervised a group of women assembling police uniforms.
Some 800,000 people &#8211; 10 percent of Rwanda’s population &#8211; were killed in the genocide. The economy was crushed.
Rwanda has bounced back in the past decade or so. As part of a drive to become a middle-income country by 2020, it is nurturing a garment sector it hopes can create 25,000 jobs.
But domestic demand for locally produced clothes has been stifled, east African governments say, by the ubiquity of cheap, second-hand garments imported from Europe and the United States.
The manager of the factory where Mukankusi works says the facility is only running at 40 percent capacity and second-hand garments, which can sell at well below his production costs, are at least partly to blame.
In response, East African Community (EAC) members Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda increased tariffs on used clothing in July 2016. Rwanda hiked import duties from 20 cents to $2.50 per kilogram.
At Kigali’s Biryogo market, where shoppers pick through bales of used garments, the downside of the increase in duties was immediate.
“Before, even with a little money, you could buy enough second-hand clothes for a child. But some children in my neighbourhood are now naked,” Fillette Umugwaneza, 24, a mother of two told Reuters. “It is a disgrace to our country.”
Rwanda’s government argues such hardships will be short-lived. Opening new factories will create more, better paid jobs, while expanding domestic consumption will cut its external trade deficit, it says.
That will take time, admits Clare Akamanzi, CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, but early results are encouraging.
“Just in the last two or three years &#8230; we’ve seen almost three times growth in production of garments and textiles for the economy,” she said.
The government is also seeking to attract companies targeting the export market, like U.S. designer Kate Spade which assembles high-end handbags in Rwanda. It’s a strategy that has flourished elsewhere in Africa under AGOA, with duty-free exports from the continent to the U.S. market almost quadrupling to over $1 billion since the law was enacted.
The ultimatum from the office of the USTR, however, has thrown up a potential roadblock to further growth.
It acted after receiving a complaint in March last year from the Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (SMART), a U.S.-based organisation which represents companies that collect and resell Americans’ used clothing.
Selling America’s used clothing &#8211; much of it donated to charities and the bulk of it originally made outside the United States &#8211; is a nearly $1 billion industry. Exports typically end up in poor nations. Africa is a key destination.
SMART said the EAC duty increase violated AGOA.
“It basically was a shutdown in the market for my members,” SMART Executive Director Jackie King told Reuters. “When Rwanda particularly wanted the duties increased by 1,100 percent, it just wasn’t possible to do business there.”
The USTR agreed to review the AGOA status of all four countries. That decision shocked some veteran trade officials in Washington.
“AGOA clearly has a criterion that the beneficiary countries must be eliminating barriers to U.S. trade,” said Florie Liser, former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
“That’s kind of always been there, but no one was looking to go after the AGOA countries.”
SELF-RELIANT
The mere prospect of losing AGOA benefits was enough to push Kenya, which in 2017 exported nearly $340 million worth of apparel duty-free to the United States, to back down.
The remaining east African nations initially tried to defend their position at a USTR hearing in July, rejecting SMART’s assertion that the new tariffs had cost 24,000 American jobs in the first nine months. Using U.S. trade data, they pointed out that the decline in exports to the EAC that SMART blamed for the job losses had already begun four years before the 2016 duty increase.
Data compiled by agoa.info, an online information portal about AGOA run by the South Africa-based Trade Law Centre, indicates that U.S. used clothing exports to Rwanda in particular actually increased slightly in 2016.
SMART has not publicly disclosed the survey of its members used to calculate the job losses, saying it contains proprietary information.
The EAC also accused SMART of inflating the importance of the east African market to the industry. Trade data showed the United States shipped around $24 million worth of used clothing to the EAC in 2016.
SMART, however, added another $100 million in exports it said were shipped to third countries for processing before being re-exported. By its calculation the EAC represented over a fifth of the U.S. industry’s global market.
After the July 2017 hearing, Uganda and Tanzania followed Kenya’s example and capitulated, agreeing to roll back tariffs to pre-2016 levels.
Rwanda has held out. If it does not concede by the end of this month it faces losing duty-free access for its garment exports.
“The United States has been explicit about what Rwanda must do to adhere to the AGOA eligibility criteria,” a U.S. official told Reuters. “It is up to Rwanda to make a decision.”
The dispute has provoked dismay in Washington and Africa.
“(Africans) are watching. They’re shocked and they’re livid,” said Rosa Whitaker, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton as the United States’ first Assistant Trade Representative for Africa and helped draft the original AGOA legislation.
She called the Trump administration’s actions bullying and predicted they would backfire.
“African countries, from what they’re telling me, are feeling abandoned. We’ve just ceded it to China.”
Devotha Mukankusi is more matter of fact about the trade tiff. She’s survived genocide and the Trump administration doesn’t worry her, she said.
<div>
<div class="container_2dHIN dp-slot-inline_eUPBt"> “My message for Trump is that it won’t affect us. We are determined to be self-reliant. We’ll make our own clothes.” (Writing by Joe Bavier Editing by Giles Elgood)</div>
</div>

Why second-hand clothing is causing a trade battle between Rwanda and the US

By Jameel Ahmad, Global Head of Currency Strategy &amp; Market Research at FXTM
Apart from the eagerly anticipated announcement from President Trump on whether the United States will pull out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, one of the most highly awaited events in the economic calendar this week will be the latest interest rate decision from the Bank of England (BoE). After sinking 5.5% since 17 April and the GBPUSD nose diving from around 1.44 to 1.35 during this period, it does appear that the financial markets are now heavily under-pricing the chances of an upbeat BoE statement later in the week.
The major catalyst behind the aggressive Pound selling from investors has been another reversal in stance from BoE Governor Mark Carney when it comes to his views on UK monetary policy. Carney has been known to backtrack on his monetary policy stance more than once in the past, but his latest change in tone has led to the financial markets completely dismissing any chance of a UK interest rate rise this month.
I would be aware that the Pound is looking heavily oversold heading into the BoE meeting, with investors expecting no action from the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Headlines from other voters within the MPC that their ambition remains to see higher UK interest rates should provide the Pound with an opportunity for a revival after a crushing couple of weeks.
Emerging markets hoping for reprieve from stronger Dollar 
Signals that the stunning turnaround in fortunes for the US Dollar might pause is going to lead to optimism that the recent pain for emerging market currencies will also take a break.
The emerging market currencies have been guilty of playing catch up with the US Dollar’s strength, after the Greenback powered ahead of developed currencies like the Pound, Euro and Yen in recent weeks, with most emerging market currencies broadly lower against the USD over the past couple of days.
The unprecedented turnaround of fortunes for the US Dollar is has left a lasting impression on the FX markets. It has also been the major contributor behind the Rand giving back a significant proportion of its previous 2018 gains. While there will be concerns that the extended run of Dollar-buying momentum risks spelling pain for the emerging markets in ways not seen since the Federal Reserve began raising US interest rates back in 2015, emerging market investors should not panic. It must not be forgotten that we are encountering an unexpected global theme where the Dollar has become unexpectedly stronger than the overwhelming majority of its counterparts. The British Pound has nosedived 5.5% since April 17th, while the Euro has lost 3.7% during the same period.
Where the Dollar goes from here could depend on how the markets react to President Trump’s announcement on the Iran nuclear deal later today. President Trump has now announced that he will be informing whether the United States will pull out of the 2015 deal today, after it was previously suggested that the deadline to make a decision would be at the end of the week.
If the announcement does lead to a new round of geopolitical risk being priced into the financial markets, there will be concerns over what impact this will have on risk appetite.
There have been persistent fears for a long time that Trump will pull out of the 2015 nuclear deal and confirmation of this will present a threat to global stocks. Emerging market currencies could also feel the pinch from reduced risk appetite, while the Japanese Yen and Gold would likely benefit from market uncertainty.
Euro hits new 2018 low
The EURUSD has resumed its recent downward spiral this week, by falling below 1.19 for the first time since late 2017.
A new round of weak economic data has exposed further fears that the Euro area is at risk of entering another downturn. I personally feel that this view is a little unfair, considering that the Eurozone outperformed all expectations throughout the previous year. The latest EU data will however provide the ECB with more reason to remain hesitant on raising interest rates, meaning that increasing interest rate differentials between the United States and Europe risk exposing the EURUSD further to the downside.
Ringgit weakens ahead of General Election 
 Ahead of an extremely busy week for the Malaysian calendar, the Ringgit is showing signs of weakness against the USD.
The intense buying momentum in the USD has probably been the main contributor to the Ringgit fluctuations, but the general election this week will still be seen as a potential event risk. If there is unexpected uncertainty with the election in Malaysia, it can’t be ruled out that the Ringgit could find itself at risk of further selling pressure.
Rupiah weakens as Indonesia GDP disappoints
The Indonesian Rupiah tumbled to its lowest levels since December 2015 at 14,000, after GDP growth in Indonesia showed signs of weakness in the first quarter of 2018. The headline GDP miss has been attributed to weak consumption, and the news failed to help the Rupiah pull away from its recent rut that has seen the currency take the position of the second-worst Asian performer over the past three months.
The slower pace of economic growth is going to make it difficult for Bank Indonesia to raise interest rates, despite calls for the central bank to take action in an effort to prevent the local currency from further weakness.

Pound heavily underpriced heading into BoE; EM currencies hoping for reprieve from stronger dollar      

<figure><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-onyeiwu-170137">By Stephen Onyeiwu</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/allegheny-college-2041">Allegheny College</a>
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the Obama White House <a href="https://www.npr.org/2015/07/20/424722402/nigerian-president-muhammadu-buhari-makes-first-u-s-visit">three years ago</a> was ecstatic. By contrast, his visit this week to the Trump White House will be awkward. This time around, his host is a president who has referred to African states as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/12/unkind-divisive-elitist-international-outcry-over-trumps-shithole-countries-remark">“shithole countries”</a> and remarked that Nigerians would never want to leave the US to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/us/politics/trump-immigration.html">“go back to their huts”</a>.
Given Trump’s unpalatable statements about Africans in general, and Nigerians in particular, it’s fair to wonder why Trump invited the leader of a country he despises so much for a state visit. And also why Buhari accepted the invitation.
One answer is that the meeting offers both leaders a platform to promote their various political goals. Trump could use the occasion to showcase his credentials as an indefatigable fighter against terrorism. And he could pledge to help Buhari defeat Boko Haram in northern Nigeria, much as he has done with ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
For his part, Buhari is headed for a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-politics/nigerian-president-buhari-to-seek-re-election-in-2019-idUSKBN1HG1MN">tough re-election bid a year from now</a> and may believe that a visit to the White House could boost his international profile. His prolonged absence from office last year due to illness led some observers to believe that Nigeria had abandoned its role as a leading voice for Africa.
It’s not inconceivable that Buhari’s visit to the White House has little to do with economic relations, but more about the political gains both leaders can make. Buhari’s US visit comes on the heels of a recent <a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/04/videos-buhari-visits-theresa-may-london/">visit to Downing Street</a>, and will soon be followed by another visit to the Elysee Palace.
What must not be forgotten is that US dependence on Nigerian oil has increased dramatically with imports jumping threefold in 2016 driven by uncertainties in Iran and Venezuela. This suggests that both countries have a common interest in maintaining a close relationship.
<h2>What will be on offer</h2>
One deal that’s likely to be consummated during the meeting is the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nigeria-usa/nigeria-says-u-s-agrees-delayed-593-million-fighter-plane-sale-idUSKBN1EL1EN">planned sale</a> of up to 12 Embraer A-29 Super Tucano attack planes to the Nigerian Air force for about USD$600 million to help fight Boko Haram. Trump is also likely to announce the deployment of more military advisers to assist Nigeria in fighting Boko Haram.
But fighting Boko Haram requires much more. As the commander of the US Africa Command, General Thomas D. Waldhauser, <a href="http://www.africom.mil/about-the-command/2018-posture-statement-to-congress">recently observed,</a>
<blockquote>Unrest within West Africa is driven by local grievances, corruption and weak governance, human rights violations, and imported religious ideology.</blockquote>
Buhari could also do with substantial non-military assistance. In particular, he needs help to address two huge social problems in Nigeria: the fact that<a href="https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/01/67-nigerians-live-poverty-line-presidential-aide/"> 70% </a>of Nigerians live in abject poverty, and that <a href="http://www.pulse.ng/bi/politics/youth-unemployment-61-6-of-nigerian-youth-are-unemployed-nbs-says-id6790731.html">more than 50%</a> of the country’s young people are jobless.
But Buhari should not count on Trump to increase aid for the kind of economic transformation the country needs. In the 2017 financial year, the US budgeted a mere USD$608 million in <a href="https://agoa.info/news/article/14943-trump-effect-on-africa.html">foreign assistance to Nigeria</a>, a number which eerily echoes the price tag for the 12 fighter jets Nigeria wants to buy.
US assistance is unlikely to increase for two main reasons. First, Trump is pursuing his <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42835934">“America First” philosophy</a> and has vowed to slash its foreign aid budget. In 2017, the budget was USD$34 billion, or 0.2 percent of US budget, out of which Africa received 21%.
The other reason the aid taps are unlikely to be opened is that Trump has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/dec/20/donald-trump-threat-cut-aid-un-jerusalem-vote">threatened to withhold aid</a> to countries that supported the UN resolution condemning his administration’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Nigeria is one of the several African countries that voted for the resolution.
<h2>Trade</h2>
Nigeria is America’s <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/west-africa/nigeria">56th largest goods trading partner</a>. The US exported goods worth USD$1.9 billion in 2016, and imported goods worth USD$4.2 billion that year, leaving the US with a trade deficit of USD$2.3 billion with Nigeria. But these numbers are deceptive because US imports are made up mainly of crude oil. Stripping out the oil, the US would have had a trade surplus of USD$1.7 billion in 2016.
To alleviate poverty and create jobs Nigeria needs to export more non-oil products to the US. At the very least, Buhari should press Trump to strengthen the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) enacted in 2000 to facilitate the access of African exporters to the US market. Nigeria was the leading AGOA exporter in 2016, with over USD$2 billion worth of exports under the Act.
There are <a href="http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/Agoa-treaty-repeal-Trump/2560-3784086-i5xqqqz/index.html">fears</a> that Trump might jettison the Act, or weaken some of its provisions that he deems inimical to his “America First” philosophy. Buhari should defend it unequivocally.
And he should tell Trump that Nigeria needs more US foreign direct investment. In 2016 <a href="https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/west-africa/nigeria">the number was </a> USD$3.8 billion in 2016, far less than the USD$13 billion the <a href="https://www.thecable.ng/chinas-investments-nigeria-exceed-13-billion">Chinese invested in Nigeria in the same year</a>.
<h2>Business as usual</h2>
The US-Nigeria relationship has historically been driven less by economics, but more by convenience and indifference. While Nigerian presidents covet a visit to the White House, US presidents tend to be indifferent, and sometimes passive, about Nigerian affairs.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/95594/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />An example is the blind eye various US administrations turned as successive military dictators presided over Nigeria for three decades. Some of those dictators managed to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-nigeria-assets/u-s-takes-control-of-480-mln-stolen-by-nigerian-dictator-abacha-idUSL2N0QD23D20140807">stash their ill-gotten wealth in US financial institutions</a>. I suspect that Buhari will be asking Trump to help repatriate some of those illicit funds. Whether Buhari also gets to ask Trump to commit to trade and investment, and not fighter jets, remains to be seen.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/stephen-onyeiwu-170137">Stephen Onyeiwu</a>, Professor and Chair of the Economics Department, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/allegheny-college-2041">Allegheny College</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-buhari-and-trump-stand-to-gain-from-state-visit-95594">original article</a>.

What Nigeria’s Buhari and US’s Trump stand to gain from state visit

Dr. Michael Ivanovitch
Source: <a href="http://https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/23/the-us-is-losing-an-unassailable-600-billion-trade-case--commentary.html">The US is losing an unassailable $600 billion trade case</a>
<ul>
<li>With their growing surpluses on American trades, China, Japan and the European Union are defying U.S. trade policies — and getting away with it.</li>
<li>China says it is &#8220;locked and loaded&#8221; to &#8220;fight to the end&#8221; on its trade issues with the U.S.</li>
<li>German Chancellor Angela Merkel&#8217;s upcoming visit to Washington should be used to make an example-setting deal for a new architecture of fair and reciprocal trade.</li>
</ul>
Before coming to Florida last week to talk trade, plan out East Asian security and play a round of golf, Japan&#8217;s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe kicked off in Tokyo a series of meetings with China visiting State Councillor Wang Yi.
The meetings were set to strengthen the Sino-Japanese &#8220;strategic relationship of mutual benefit,&#8221; to expand a $300 billion bilateral trade and to increase further the flow of 7.3 million Chinese visitors to Japan.
Abe also welcomed the impending visit to Japan of China&#8217;s Premier Li Keqiang to (a) set up a trilateral free trade area with China and South Korea, (b) conclude the agreement on an East Asian Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, (c) join China&#8217;s erstwhile shunned <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/104958552?__source=cnbcafrica|inline|story|&amp;par=cnbcafrica &amp;doc="> 
Belt and Road 
</a> infrastructure projects, (d) promote multilateral trade and (e) fight trade protectionism.
Clear messages, aren&#8217;t they?
And then, while in Florida, Abe insisted on keeping the U.S.-Japan trade in a broad multilateral framework, fearing that President Donald Trump preference for a bilateral deal would make a big dent in Japan&#8217;s $68.8 billion trade surplus on American trades.
<h4>China should golf instead of spoiling for a fight</h4>
Promising to Trump an &#8220;honest trade relationship,&#8221; Abe asked him to include Pyongyang&#8217;s short- and medium-range missiles in the forthcoming disarmament negotiations, and to get back to Japan the people North Koreans allegedly abducted.
I wonder whether he also told Trump that Japan&#8217;s high-ranking officials from foreign, defense and other government agencies were conducting consultations in Sendai, Japan last Thursday and Friday with their Chinese counterparts on contested maritime borders in the South China Sea. That comes close on the heels of a similar meeting in Shanghai last December, showing that a Sino-Japanese &#8220;strategic relationship of mutual benefit&#8221; may be heating up while Tokyo feels secure under the U.S. defense umbrella and enjoys full access to American markets.
China is not interested in the bourgeois game of golfing. No, Beijing says it is &#8220;locked and loaded&#8221; to retaliate and &#8220;fight to the end&#8221; in what it sees as an unfolding &#8220;trade war&#8221; with America.
That is an interesting negotiating posture for a country that ran a $375 billion trade surplus with the U.S. last year. And this year could be much worse. The American trade deficit with China in January and February was running at an annual rate of $391.2 billion — a 20 percent increase over the same period of 2017.
In spite of that, there is nothing in China&#8217;s official statements to indicate that Beijing intends to bring those surpluses down. One can only see a belligerent defiance, promises to open up, to cling to multilateral trade and to pursue a &#8220;win-win cooperation.&#8221;
Will Washington settle for that? Or is Trump ready to make good on his promise to give China a pass on trade for help with North Korea nukes?
<h4>Merkel for a Mar-a-Lago weekend</h4>
If true, that would be a huge mistake. There are no trade offs here. Beijing will not sell North Korea down the river in exchange for Trump&#8217;s leniency on large, and growing, trade deficits with China. And neither will China suffocate Pyongyang for Washington&#8217;s favors, whatever those might be.
Pyongyang said it is suspending nuclear and ballistic missile tests on a site that had reportedly become unusable. It also claims that no further tests are necessary — presumably for now. What will follow — if all goes well — is a long negotiating process where China will support North Korea&#8217;s demands for iron-clad security guarantees and the dismantling of the sanctions regime in exchange for gradual measures of nuclear disarmament.
There are no ultimatums for quick fixes here. There is only a devilishly difficult, long and uncertain high-stakes bargaining among actors deeply suspicious of each other&#8217;s sincerity and intentions.
But let&#8217;s get back to the trade issue. Even on a heroic assumption that the expected U.S.-North Korean summit, midwifed by China, is a resounding success, Washington still could not ignore the size and the pace of increase of its trade deficit with Beijing.
The European Union, for its part, is also threatening retaliations in spite of a $151.4 billion trade surplus with the U.S. last year.
The silver lining is that German Chancellor Angela Merkel knows better. She dispatched her vice chancellor to Washington last week to talk trade and prepare the ground for her one-day visit to the White House on Friday, April 27.
Trump would do well to show more understanding for EU trades and more warmth for Merkel. About one-fifth of American exports go to the EU. In January and February, the U.S. sales to the EU were growing at an annual rate of 9 percent — while falling 1.5 percent to China. Over the same period, American exports to Germany soared 12 percent.
Germany may not oblige its estranged cousin Trump with Chevys on its autobahns, but show more courtesy and extend Merkel&#8217;s Friday visit for a Mar-a-Lago weekend, and you might see a flood of sun-starved Germans to Florida. Also, keep in mind that Germans believe &#8220;alte Liebe rostet nicht&#8221; – old love does not rust.
<h4>Investment thoughts</h4>
China, Japan and the EU are defying Trump&#8217;s trade policies — and are getting away with it. Last year, on Trump&#8217;s watch, they ran a combined $595.4 billion surplus on their American trades — a 5.8 percent increase from 2016.
And things are now getting worse. With the U.S. domestic demand revving up a bit, America&#8217;s trade gap this year could be much wider. In January and February, the U.S. trade deficit with those three large economic systems, accounting for about 40 percent of world&#8217;s demand and output, was running at an annual rate of $612.3 billion, a 3 percent increase from the same period of 2017.
What can Washington do?
First, stop threatening. But do make sure that everybody understands the U.S. won&#8217;t be the dumping ground of the world, with systematic losses of wealth, jobs and proprietary technology.
Second, make a deal with Germany to cut U.S. trade deficits by boosting American exports to the EU while replacing a significant part of imports with products generated by European companies in their U.S. production facilities.
Japan would follow suit by stepping up supplies from its U.S.-based manufacturing outlets. But whether Tokyo will open up its markets to American goods and services will depend on Washington&#8217;s implementation of rules of reciprocity.
Third, watching all this, China would understand that it has to cooperate, provided Washington stops linking strategic security issues with what Beijing should normally do as a responsible world trader.
Remember, the Chinese realize that no trade concession on their part can wish away acute U.S.-China questions, such as Taiwan, contested maritime borders in the South China Sea, the sequels to the Korean War and &#8220;strategically competitive&#8221; issues in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.
Talk reciprocal nickels and dimes with Beijing, and make sure that the people we call our friends and allies are following the same approach. The U.S. can&#8217;t have monumental trade issues with China while its closest allies are flocking to Beijing for lucrative &#8220;golden era&#8221; relationships. If that continues, Washington will be left holding the bag.
The Chinese are in an untenable situation where they live off their main trade partners while advocating globalization, multilateralism and the empty shell of &#8220;win-win cooperation.&#8221; If they continue on that path, they will discredit China&#8217;s remarkable achievements accomplished over decades of hard and smart work to save, produce and sell to willing buyers around the world.

Commentary by Michael Ivanovitch, an independent analyst focusing on world economy, geopolitics and investment strategy. He served as a senior economist at the OECD in Paris, international economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and taught economics at Columbia Business School.

The US is losing an unassailable $600 billion trade case

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is to meet U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on April 30, the White House said on Sunday.
The meeting comes weeks after Rex Tillerson, then U.S. secretary of state, visited Nigeria and other African countries in March only to be fired after his return to Washington.
Tillerson’s trip was part of attempts to smooth relations after Trump reportedly dismissed some African nations as “shithole countries” in January. Trump later denied making the comment.
“President Trump looks forward to discussing ways to enhance our strategic partnership and advance our shared priorities,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
The priorities include “promoting economic growth and reforms, fighting terrorism and other threats to peace and security, and building on Nigeria’s role as a democratic leader in the region”, she said.
Buhari, a 75-year-old former military ruler who took office in 2015, last week announced that he will seek a second term in elections next year. He flew to Britain for talks with Prime Minister Theresa May shortly after the announcement.
<div class="container_28wm1">
<div class="attribution_o4ojT">
Reporting by Jeff Mason; Writing by Alexis Akwagyiram; Editing by Sandra Maler
</div>
</div>

Nigeria’s President Buhari to meet Trump

<div style="display: block; position: relative; max-width: 730px;">
<div style="padding-top: 56.25%;"><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0px; bottom: 0px; right: 0px; left: 0px;" src="//players.brightcove.net/1571595826001/default_default/index.html?videoId=5768805759001" allowfullscreen="" border=0 frameborder=0></iframe></div>
</div>
China has filed a WTO complaint challenging U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariff hike on imported steel and aluminium and South Africa has requested an exclusion from US duties on steel and aluminium products but will Trump budge?

Minister Rob Davies reacts to Trump’s tariff hike on aluminium & steel imports

As US President Donald Trump flew into Zurich , in  Switzerland, the man likely to be South Africa&#8217;s next president flew out from the World Economic Forum in Davos. It was not the intention to miss Trump, Ramaphosa stressed during his visit to Davos, but it just so happened they missed each other.
Other African delegates to WEF said they were going to boycott Friday&#8217;s speech by Trump, but you could argue Ramaphosa had bigger matters on his mind &#8211; like the survival of the economy of the country of his birth.
Ramaphosa has every reason to be pleased with himself after a whirlwind week of meetings, with foreign investors, at the biggest economic gathering on earth. It went well according to the man himself and his Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba who claim hundreds of billions of dollars in investment &#8211; that was being held back by investors wary of corruption and political uncertainty &#8211; was now going to come flooding into South Africa.
&#8220;We are going home very happy with a bag full of millions of dollars worth of  investment commitments,&#8221; says Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa claims he will push his clean up campaign on his return to encourage more investors..
&#8220;Anyone found to have done corruption will find themselves behind the bars of a jail.&#8221; he says..
What a turn around for South Africa at Davos. A year ago many were having to argue the case for people to keep their money in South Africa; this year they have to be very clever with their timetables to fit everyone in who wants to talk investment.
&#8220;Everyone here.says we like what you are doing and keep going,&#8221; says Ramaphosa  with his trademark smile.
Ramaphosa has every reason to smile &#8211; for 25 years he has been a political nearly man &#8211; now on the crest of a wave of investor confidence he is on the cusp of real power.

WEF 2018: US President Trump flies in, SA’s Ramamphosa flies back to Africa- happy

(DAVOS) Senior officials of the United States government say the world shouldn&#8217;t fear its America First policy and as part of this it plans to press on with the Obama baby Power Africa that promises to lift the gloom over the continent &#8211; even if it appears not to be a top priority.
<a href="http://cnbc.africa/category/insights/world-economic-forum/wef-davos-2018/">FOR MORE STORIES ON WEF DAVOS 2018 CLICK HERE</a>
President Donald Trump will fly into the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, with the biggest ever US delegation on Thursday to sell his controversial America First policy to world business leaders. It is the first visit by a US president since Bill Clinton in 2000; it is likely to be more significant and controversial. Clinton&#8217;s visit was seen as part of an international  farewell tour at the end of his term; Trump&#8217;s visit comes at the end of a controversial first year in power and protesters have taken to the streets of Zurich and a handful to the conference at Davos to express their displeasure.
US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross promoted the fruits of Trump&#8217;s first year that ushered in growth and said the world shouldn&#8217;t fear the America First policy as all it meant was US workers first and free and fair trade with the world.
CNBC Africa asked whether the US-backed infrastructure and energy building project would survive under the Trump administration.
&#8220;We have created 400 MW project in Ghana which is only a little over one per cent of what we have promised, but we are planning to go and visit Africa in the second quarter,&#8221; says Ross.
So the Power Africa project survives, but only just if the White House lack of enthusiasm is anything to go by.

Donald Trump

Trump’s comments knock rand

Trump hypes fringe talking point about South African government ‘seizing land from white farmers’

South African rand firmer as Trump comments hurt dollar, what you need to know…

This is what you need to know about the sell-off of emerging market currencies

Rand weakens over 2 per cent, breaches 14/dollar as emerging markets rattled

Steel company JSW USA to add 1,000 new jobs: CEO

SARB Dep Gov Kuben Naidoo on the impact of global trade war on emerging markets

Here’s the guest list and menu at historic Trump-Kim summit meeting

Oil rises on positive Trump-Kim meeting

Why second-hand clothing is causing a trade battle between Rwanda and the US

Pound heavily underpriced heading into BoE; EM currencies hoping for reprieve from stronger dollar

What Nigeria’s Buhari and US’s Trump stand to gain from state visit

The US is losing an unassailable $600 billion trade case

Nigeria’s President Buhari to meet Trump

Minister Rob Davies reacts to Trump’s tariff hike on aluminium & steel imports

WEF 2018: US President Trump flies in, SA’s Ramamphosa flies back to Africa- happy

Why Africa shouldn’t fear America First policy

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Donald Trump

Trump’s comments knock rand

Trump hypes fringe talking point about South African government ‘seizing land from white farmers’

South African rand firmer as Trump comments hurt dollar, what you need to know…

This is what you need to know about the sell-off of emerging market currencies

Rand weakens over 2 per cent, breaches 14/dollar as emerging markets rattled

Steel company JSW USA to add 1,000 new jobs: CEO

SARB Dep Gov Kuben Naidoo on the impact of global trade war on emerging markets

Here’s the guest list and menu at historic Trump-Kim summit meeting

Oil rises on positive Trump-Kim meeting

Why second-hand clothing is causing a trade battle between Rwanda and the US

Pound heavily underpriced heading into BoE; EM currencies hoping for reprieve from stronger dollar

What Nigeria’s Buhari and US’s Trump stand to gain from state visit

The US is losing an unassailable $600 billion trade case

Nigeria’s President Buhari to meet Trump

Minister Rob Davies reacts to Trump’s tariff hike on aluminium & steel imports

WEF 2018: US President Trump flies in, SA’s Ramamphosa flies back to Africa- happy

Why Africa shouldn’t fear America First policy

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Newsletters