<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="485" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M6UYCY64RVKGVPNCBH32OCE4KE-820x485.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427081" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M6UYCY64RVKGVPNCBH32OCE4KE-820x485.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M6UYCY64RVKGVPNCBH32OCE4KE-300x177.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M6UYCY64RVKGVPNCBH32OCE4KE-152x90.jpg 152w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M6UYCY64RVKGVPNCBH32OCE4KE-768x454.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M6UYCY64RVKGVPNCBH32OCE4KE-1536x908.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/M6UYCY64RVKGVPNCBH32OCE4KE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A Bharti Airtel advertisement board is installed against the backdrop of company&#8217;s telecommunication tower in the southern Indian city of Kochi November 30, 2012. REUTERS/Sivaram V</figcaption></figure>



KAMPALA, Aug 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Airtel Uganda aims to raise 800 billion Ugandan shillings ($216 million) by selling a 20% stake to drive its expansion plans, the telecommunications firm said on Tuesday, as it announced details of its initial public offering (IPO).



When the listing completes, Airtel Uganda will be the second listed telecoms company on Uganda&#8217;s stock exchange after MTN Uganda&nbsp;MTNU.UG, majority owned by South Africa&#8217;s MTN Group&nbsp;MTNJ.J, which listed in December 2021.



Airtel Uganda is a unit of India&#8217;s Bharti Airtel&nbsp;BRTI.NS.



Airtel Uganda Managing Director Manoj Murali told a news conference that the offer of 8 billion shares would start immediately and close on Oct. 13.



The results of the IPO will be announced on Oct. 30, and the shares listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange on Oct. 31, according to a prospectus.



The IPO&#8217;s objective is &#8220;establish a source of future capital to support its (Airtel Uganda&#8217;s) extensive growth strategy,&#8221; the prospectus said.



Airtel Uganda expects to pay dividends of 500 billion Ugandan shillings in 2023 and will target a dividend payout ratio of 95% of retained earnings or net profit after tax, whichever is higher.



The company made a pretax profit of 474 billion Ugandan shillings in calendar year 2022, down from 565 billion Ugandan shillings the previous year. It said its revenue is forecast to grow 16.6% year on year in 2023.



($1 = 3,705.0000 Ugandan shillings)



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by George Obulutsa and Hereward Holland; Editing by Alexander Winning and Mark Potter)

FILE PHOTO: A Bharti Airtel advertisement board is installed against the backdrop of company’s telecommunication tower in Kochi

Airtel Uganda seeks over $200 mln in IPO to drive growth

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="728" height="444" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UXGWX6XZO5LIROPXQDLPV6SPGA.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-422268" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UXGWX6XZO5LIROPXQDLPV6SPGA.jpg 728w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UXGWX6XZO5LIROPXQDLPV6SPGA-300x183.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UXGWX6XZO5LIROPXQDLPV6SPGA-148x90.jpg 148w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 728px) 100vw, 728px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South African Rand coins are seen in this illustration picture taken October 28, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The South African rand gained on Tuesday ahead of a raft of domestic and international data releases due later this week.



At 1020 GMT, the rand traded at 18.5100 against the dollar&nbsp;ZAR=D3, 0.4% stronger than its previous close.



Analysts struggled to pick out a local driver, saying one factor helping the risk-sensitive rand was a decline in U.S. Treasury yields from the previous week&#8217;s highs.



&#8220;Whether this positive market sentiment can be sustained remains to be seen and will likely depend on U.S. labour market data scheduled for release in the coming days&#8221; that could influence the Federal Reserve&#8217;s interest rate plans, said Danny Greeff of ETM Analytics.



&#8220;This will give U.S. Treasuries and the (dollar) something trade on, with the (rand) still a passenger to their movements at the moment,&#8221; he added.



South African data releases this week include July money supply&nbsp;ZAM3=ECI, private sector credit&nbsp;ZACRED=ECI&nbsp;and budget&nbsp;ZABUDM=ECI&nbsp;numbers on Wednesday, and July producer inflation&nbsp;ZAPPIY=ECI&nbsp;and trade&nbsp;ZATBAL=ECI&nbsp;figures on Thursday.



Those data points will shed light on how Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy was performing early in the third quarter.



On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the blue-chip Top-40 index&nbsp;.JTOPI&nbsp;last traded about 0.2% weaker. South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2030 government bond&nbsp;ZAR2030=&nbsp;also fell, with the yield up 4.5 basis points to 10.205%.



(Reporting by Tannur Anders; Editing by Alexander Winning and Mark Potter)

South African Rand coins are seen in this illustration picture

South African rand gains before data-heavy end to the week

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427043" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Elect Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks to the media at State House in Harare, August 27, 2023. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa and the U.S. separately on Monday noted observers&#8217; concerns with last week&#8217;s presidential and parliamentary&nbsp;elections in Zimbabwe&nbsp;and called for peace, after the opposition&nbsp;called the vote a fraud.



The elections commission declared incumbent President&nbsp;Emmerson Mnangagwa, 80, the winner late on Saturday, but analysts have widely questioned the credibility of the result.



Mnangagwa&#8217;s main challenger,&nbsp;Nelson Chamisa&nbsp;of the opposition Citizens&#8217; Coalition for Change party, indicated on Sunday that he was counting on the international community to apply pressure over the way the elections were conducted.



South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his country had &#8220;taken note of the preliminary pronouncements by &#8230; the African Union (AU) and the South African Development Community (SADC) &#8230; Observer Missions,&#8221; urging all parties in Zimbabwe to work together.



SADC&#8217;s mission flagged voting delays, the banning of opposition rallies and biased state media coverage as concerns, while the head of the European Union&#8217;s observer mission said on Friday the elections took place in a &#8220;climate of fear&#8221;.



Ramaphosa&#8217;s statement showed his government was ready to help resolve the impasse between the Zimbabwean government and the opposition, foreign policy analyst Lwazi Somya said.



Somya, a senior researcher at think-tank the Southern Africa Liaison Office, said South Africa would likely try to deal with the aftermath of the elections in a multilateral format such as regional bloc SADC.



A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Monday that the U.S. noted &#8220;systemic bias&#8221; against Zimbabwe&#8217;s opposition in the pre-election period and strongly condemned the &#8220;intimidation and disruption of lawful election observers throughout the electoral period&#8221;.



The U.S. was engaging with regional leaders to share its concerns, spokesperson Matthew Miller said.



Analysts said before the vote that the electoral playing field was heavily skewed in favour of Mnangagwa and the ruling ZANU-PF party, which has been in power for more than four decades.



ZANU-PF denies it had an unfair advantage, and Mnangagwa has encouraged those with complaints about the results to go to court.



(Reporting by Carien du Plessis and Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning and Josie Kao)

Zimbabwe election results announced

South Africa and US note observer concerns on Zimbabwe elections

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/43GMCITWJZNTBIAG7XSBZ6SEHU-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427062" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/43GMCITWJZNTBIAG7XSBZ6SEHU-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/43GMCITWJZNTBIAG7XSBZ6SEHU-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/43GMCITWJZNTBIAG7XSBZ6SEHU-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/43GMCITWJZNTBIAG7XSBZ6SEHU-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/43GMCITWJZNTBIAG7XSBZ6SEHU-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/43GMCITWJZNTBIAG7XSBZ6SEHU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A man wearing face mask walks on the street during a day with polluted air in Beijing, China February 13, 2021. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



SINGAPORE, Aug 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Despite improvements in China, air pollution across the globe continues to pose the greatest external risk to human health, with countries in Asia and Africa suffering most of the impact, new research showed on Tuesday.



Around three quarters of the adverse health effects of air pollution is concentrated in just six countries &#8211; Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China, Nigeria and Indonesia, the University of Chicago&#8217;s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) said in its annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report.



If hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 were brought down to levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), average life expectancy would rise by 2.3 years worldwide, saving a combined 17.8 billion life years, the report estimated.



While average world pollution levels have fallen slightly over the past decade, almost all of the improvement has been driven by China, where a 10-year &#8220;war on pollution&#8221; has seen PM2.5 fall by more than 40% since 2013.



&#8220;While China has had remarkable success in its war against air pollution, the trend in other parts of the world is going in the opposite direction,&#8221; said Christa Hasenkopf, AQLI&#8217;s director.



PM2.5 in South Asia has risen by nearly 10% since 2013, she said, cutting average life expectancy in the region by around five years. Growing energy consumption in central and western Africa was also turning particulate pollution into a growing health threat on par with HIV/AIDS and malaria.



Virtually all of Southeast Asia is also now considered to have &#8220;unsafe levels of pollution&#8221;, with average life expectancy cut by 2-3 years.



China&#8217;s average PM2.5 concentrations stood at 29 micrograms per cubic metre in 2022, but it still remains significantly higher than the WHO recommendation of 5 micrograms.



While improvements in China have helped raise average life expectancy by 2.2 years since 2013, it could rise by another 2.5 years if the country were to meet the WHO standard.



&#8220;We haven&#8217;t turned the corner on air pollution yet, though China&#8217;s example shows us that the issue is a tractable one,&#8221; Hasenkopf said.



(Reporting by David Stanway; Editing by Stephen Coates)

FILE PHOTO: Polluted day in Beijing

Asia, Africa bear brunt of pollution health burden – research

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="541" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-820x541.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426985" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-820x541.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-137x90.jpg 137w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a plenary session of the BRICS summit via a video link in Moscow, Russia, August 23, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



Aug 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed bilateral ties including&nbsp;trade, energy and space&nbsp;cooperation&nbsp;with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi by phone, the Kremlin said on Monday.



The two leaders also discussed the planned expansion of the BRICS group of emerging economies &#8211; comprising India, Russia, China, Brazil and South Africa &#8211; as well as a summit of the G20 club of major economies that New Delhi will host next month.



Russia has sought to further strengthen already warm ties with India after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered sweeping Western sanctions on Moscow. India is a major buyer of Russian oil.



&#8220;Topical issues of Russian-Indian relations, which are progressively developing in the spirit of a particularly privileged strategic partnership, were considered (in the call),&#8221; the Kremlin said in a statement.



&#8220;The positive dynamics of trade and economic cooperation was affirmed,&#8221; it added.



Last week Modi and Putin both took part in the BRICS summit in South Africa, though the Russian leader attended only via video link because of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.



The Kremlin, which strongly denies the ICC allegations, has said Putin will also not attend the G20 gathering in India.



Both Russia and India launched lunar probes this month, but only the Indian one landed successfully on the moon while the Russian craft crashed.



(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Russian President Putin attends BRICS summit via video link from Moscow

Russia’s Putin discusses bilateral ties, BRICS with India’s Modi in phone call

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TP5R6HBNPZIGTOANNA35PFUUUM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-421437" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TP5R6HBNPZIGTOANNA35PFUUUM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TP5R6HBNPZIGTOANNA35PFUUUM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TP5R6HBNPZIGTOANNA35PFUUUM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TP5R6HBNPZIGTOANNA35PFUUUM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TP5R6HBNPZIGTOANNA35PFUUUM.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yves Herman</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, Aug 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The European Union is scouting Africa to back clean jet fuel projects under its Global Gateway infrastructure fund, an EU official said, ahead of an anticipated boom in demand for environmentally sustainable air travel.



The EU has pledged to dedicate half of its 300 billion euro ($324 billion) infrastructure plan, seen as a rival to China&#8217;s Belt and Road Initiative, to Africa.



The fund has already backed renewable plants, green hydrogen initiatives, vaccines and education projects in Africa, and the official said it was now looking into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).



&#8220;In the context of the Global Gateway, the Commission is currently looking into possible co-financing mechanisms and guarantee instruments,&#8221; said Stefan De Keersmaecker, a European Commission spokesperson.



&#8220;SAF production in the African continent has great potential.&#8221;



SAFs are low-carbon fuel alternatives for the aviation industry and can be made from various crops among other feedstock sources.



The EU will launch a 4 million euro capacity-building project by Dec. 31 to support SAF feasibility studies and certification in 11 African countries and India.



Following feasibility studies, selected projects could draw funds from the Global Gateway, De Keersmaecker said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-saf-scramble">SAF SCRAMBLE</h2>



The aviation industry contributes more than 2% of global energy-related emissions, and the EU is mandating emissions reduction targets that will require airlines to use more SAF.



That will help create annual global demand of 450 billion litres of SAF by 2050, according to the International Air Transport Association, and has made Africa&#8217;s vast swathes of under-utilised agricultural land increasingly attractive.



There is currently no SAF production on the continent. And establishing feedstock supply chains will be a challenge in Africa where poor infrastructure, limited refining capacity and inadequate regulations could delay projects and drive up costs, analysts said.



&#8220;The greatest way to reduce the cost of SAF in the African continent and to have SAF that is produced sustainably is through local manufacturing,&#8221; Allan Kilavuka, chief executive at Kenya Airways&nbsp;KQNA.NR, said.



Companies including Italy&#8217;s Eni&nbsp;ENI.MI, South Africa&#8217;s Sasol&nbsp;SOLJ.J, Linde&nbsp;LIN.DE&nbsp;of Germany and Danish firm Topsoe are nonetheless forging ahead with African SAF and biofuel investments.



Frankline Omondi, environmental manager at the African Civil Aviation Commission, said the body wants SAF production to launch in at least two African countries within a few years, with potential for a third.



South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia are likely candidates, he said.



($1 = 0.9249 euros)



(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Additional reporting by Duncan Miriri in NairobiEditing by Promit Mukherjee, Joe Bavier and Mark Potter)

TP5R6HBNPZIGTOANNA35PFUUUM

EU infrastructure fund eyes African clean jet fuel projects

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427043" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/DDF5MFGBVZOMPF3MGP2DE7HGTM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Zimbabwe&#8217;s President Elect Emmerson Mnangagwa speaks to the media at State House in Harare, August 27, 2023. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Aug 27 (Reuters) &#8211; Zimbabwe&#8217;s re-elected President Emmerson Mnangagwa suggested on Sunday that anyone questioning the results of last week&#8217;s election take their case to court as an opposition leader accused him of &#8220;gigantic fraud&#8221;.



Mnangagwa, 80, won the election with 52.6% of the vote while the opposition Citizens&#8217; Coalition for Change (CCC) leader Nelson Chamisa got 44%, the election commission said on Saturday.



Chamisa said on Sunday the CCC would not accept the results.



He said the opposition would form the new government, without giving details. He did not answer questions on whether his party would challenge the results in court.



“We will not wait for five years. There has to be a change now,” Chamisa told journalists and party officials.



Two observers&#8217; groups said police raided their data centres and arrested staff and volunteers so they could not independently verify the results.



The Election Resource Centre and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network said in a statement that this “cast a shadow over the entire election process&#8221;. The police were not immediately available for comment.



Observers from regional body SADC and from the African Union also criticised the election process.



Analysts and observers said the contest was heavily skewed in favour of the ZANU-PF ruling party, which has been in power for more than four decades. ZANU-PF denies it has an unfair advantage or seeks to influence the outcome of elections through rigging.



Chamisa, speaking on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, said of the election: &#8220;It&#8217;s a blatant and gigantic fraud.&#8221;



He indicated he was counting on diplomatic pressure on the government.



&#8220;Do not leave us, particularly our fellow brothers and sisters in the region and on the continent,” he said. “We count on your solidarity as we seek to resolve this political crisis.”



Mnangagwa&nbsp;first became president&nbsp;when longtime strongman Robert Mugabe was toppled in a 2017 military coup after 37 years in power. Mnangagwa&#8217;s&nbsp;first term was marked by runaway inflation, currency shortages and sky-high unemployment.



Mnangagwa welcomed the result.



&#8220;I competed with them and I am happy that I have won the race,&#8221; he said at State House on Sunday amid heavy police presence in parts of the capital.



&#8220;Those who feel the race was not run properly should know where to go to.&#8221;



This is Mnangagwa’s second and possibly last term as the constitution limits presidential terms to two.



ZANU-PF spokesman Christopher Mutswangwa said the party, which mustered 136 of 209 seats in the parliamentary elections, was shy of a two-thirds majority.



“We will concentrate more on governance than probably trying to amend the constitution,” he told journalists on Sunday.



Term limits are a contentious issue in the southern African country given the length of Mugabe&#8217;s rule.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono, Additional reporting by Nelson Banya, Writing by Carien du Plessis, Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Nick Macfie, Kirsten Donovan)

Zimbabwe president denies poll fraud as opposition rejects his re-election

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/COUQ2IDTUNOELBNXXUCA5G6DWQ-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427024" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/COUQ2IDTUNOELBNXXUCA5G6DWQ-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/COUQ2IDTUNOELBNXXUCA5G6DWQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/COUQ2IDTUNOELBNXXUCA5G6DWQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/COUQ2IDTUNOELBNXXUCA5G6DWQ-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/COUQ2IDTUNOELBNXXUCA5G6DWQ-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/COUQ2IDTUNOELBNXXUCA5G6DWQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A No Parking road sign is seen in front of a shopping complex in an open market, ahead of Nigeria&#8217;s Presidential election in Awka, Anambra state, Nigeria February 23, 2023. REUTERS/Temilade Adelaja</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, Aug 25 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria&#8217;s annual economic growth rate slowed to 2.51% in the second quarter, data showed on Friday, hurt by a fall in oil production amid a series of reforms by new president Bola Tinubu aimed at reviving Africa&#8217;s largest economy.



The data, which marks the 11th consecutive quarter of growth, is the first release since Tinubu embarked on country&#8217;s boldest reforms in decades to try to boost output which has been sluggish for several years.



&#8220;This growth rate is lower than the 3.54% recorded in the second quarter of 2022 and may be attributed to the challenging economic conditions being experienced,&#8221; the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.



Tinubu has scrapped a popular but costly petrol subsidy and lifted foreign exchange trading restrictions. But the action has worsened inflation currently in double-digits, fuelling anger and frustration for a population grappling with a cost of living crisis.



Tinubu at his inauguration in May vowed to expand the economy by at least 6% a year, lift barriers to investment, create jobs and unify the exchange rate, while also tackling rampant insecurity.



He inherited a struggling economy with record debt, shortages of foreign exchange and fuel, a weak naira currency, inflation at a near two-decade high, skeletal power supplies and falling oil production due to crude theft and underinvestment.



Nigeria, Africa&#8217;s top oil producer, recorded average daily oil output&nbsp;NGOIL=ECI&nbsp;of 1.22 million barrels per day (mbpd) in the second quarter, down from the daily average of 1.43 mbpd registered in the same quarter of 2022.



The dominant oil sector which accounts for the bulk of government revenue and 90% of foreign-exchange reserves, contracted 13.43%.



The NBS said second-quarter growth was driven by the services sector, which grew 4.42% year on year.



(Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Toby Chopra, Kirsten Donovan)

A No Parking road sign is seen in front of a shopping complex in an open market, ahead of Nigeria’s Presidential election in Awka

Nigeria’s GDP growth slows to 2.5% y/y in Q2 as reforms get under way

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="613" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-820x613.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-427016" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-820x613.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-300x224.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-768x574.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-1536x1148.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/RIELM4GLH5MVFJ5WWSKVIFDXJM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">People queue to withdraw money from a local bank in central Harare, Zimbabwe, August 24, 2023. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Aug 25 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Early parliamentary results in Zimbabwe showed the ruling party and the main opposition neck and neck on Friday, after an election in which President Emmerson Mnangagwa&#8217;s ZANU-PF party was widely expected to maintain its 43-year grip on power.



Presidential results have yet to be announced after Wednesday&#8217;s vote, which was extended into Thursday in some neighbourhoods due to late printing of ballot papers.



Mnangagwa, 80, is seeking re-election at a time when the southern African country is grappling with soaring inflation and high unemployment, with many Zimbabweans reliant on dollar remittances from relatives abroad to make ends meet.



His main challenger is 45-year-old lawyer and pastor Nelson Chamisa.



Zimbabwe&#8217;s chances of resolving a debt crisis and obtaining World Bank and International Monetary Fund loans are at stake, as foreign lenders have said a free and fair vote is a pre-condition for any meaningful talks.



The government and the electoral commission have promised a clean election, but some political analysts have said it is likely to be heavily skewed in Mnangagwa&#8217;s favour, based on his party&#8217;s history of using state institutions to manipulate results.



Police sealed off roads around the election results centre on Friday morning, and members of the public were being stopped for questioning, a Reuters reporter in the capital Harare said.



ZANU-PF secretary for finance Patrick Chinamasa told reporters late on Thursday that the ruling party was on course to achieve a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly.



However, results announced so far by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed ZANU-PF winning 38 parliamentary constituencies and the main opposition party Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) winning 32, out of a total of 210 single-member constituencies.



The early results showed ZANU-PF retaining its rural base, while the CCC captured the urban vote, as has been the case in previous elections.



In the highest-profile loss yet for the ruling party, the electoral commission said on Friday that Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube had lost his parliamentary contest to a CCC challenger.



Results from the presidential election are expected within five days of voting.



ZANU-PF&#8217;s Chinamasa said the party was &#8220;on target&#8221; to achieve 60-65% for President Mnangagwa, and dismissed Chamisa&#8217;s claim that he was leading in the polls as &#8220;day-dreaming&#8221;.



Mnangagwa took over from longtime strongman Robert Mugabe after a 2017 coup and won a disputed election in 2018.



(Reporting by Nelson Banya and Nyasha Chingono; Writing by Bhargav Acharya and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Alexander Winning and Devika Syamnath)

People queue to withdraw money from a local bank in central Harare

Zimbabwe braces for close election as early parliamentary results come in

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NZYQIEEYZBO4NPHLOGIRU5XFFY-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426999" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NZYQIEEYZBO4NPHLOGIRU5XFFY-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NZYQIEEYZBO4NPHLOGIRU5XFFY-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NZYQIEEYZBO4NPHLOGIRU5XFFY-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NZYQIEEYZBO4NPHLOGIRU5XFFY-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NZYQIEEYZBO4NPHLOGIRU5XFFY-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/NZYQIEEYZBO4NPHLOGIRU5XFFY-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President of China Xi Jinping attends the plenary session during the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 23, 2023. GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/Pool via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 24 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;China&#8217;s leader Xi Jinping told African leaders at a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit on Thursday that China would launch initiatives to support Africa&#8217;s industrialisation and agricultural modernisation.



&#8220;China will better harness its resources for cooperation with Africa and initiatives of businesses to support Africa in growing its manufacturing sector and realizing industrialisation and economic diversification,&#8221; Xi said without providing details.



Xi&#8217;s pledge was made as the BRICS Summit wrapped up, during a meeting with leaders and ministers from the African Union and 11 African countries including Libya, Nigeria, Senegal and Zambia.



The BRICS members &#8211; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa &#8211; on Thursday agreed to admit six new countries including Egypt and Ethiopia.



China&#8217;s top Africa diplomat Wu Peng said this week that African countries wanted China to shift its focus from building infrastructure on the continent to local industrialisation.



China&#8217;s official Xinhua news agency said the country would expand the scale of African agricultural products exported to China and aim to help Africa achieve food self-sufficiency.



Some analysts noted that China&#8217;s funding for infrastructure had already fallen.



&#8220;If African leaders are lobbying China for less infrastructure project financing, they are pushing on an open door,&#8221; said Brad Parks, head of AidData, a research lab at U.S. university William &amp; Mary that tracks Chinese overseas lending and grants.



&#8220;In 2009, it issued grants and loans worth $88 billion to support infrastructure projects in Africa. However, by 2021, its grant and loan commitments for infrastructure projects in Africa amounted to only $24 billion,&#8221; Parks said.



David Monyae, director of the University of Johannesburg&#8217;s Centre for China Africa studies, said that with over-capacity in China it made sense for companies to move factories to Africa, adding that many were already doing well in industrial zones in Ethiopia and Kenya.



&#8220;They&#8217;re moving fast, they&#8217;re ready, they have the capital and the skills. They are first movers anyway,&#8221; he said.



(Reporting by Michael Martina and Carien du Plessis, Writing by Rachel Savage, Editing by Jonathan Oatis and David Gregorio)

BRICS Summit in Johannesburg

China’s Xi pledges to support Africa’s industrialisation at BRICS

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="517" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CLAZNYOYZBNXBML7T6HEUKUK3Y-820x517.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426991" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CLAZNYOYZBNXBML7T6HEUKUK3Y-820x517.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CLAZNYOYZBNXBML7T6HEUKUK3Y-300x189.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CLAZNYOYZBNXBML7T6HEUKUK3Y-143x90.jpg 143w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CLAZNYOYZBNXBML7T6HEUKUK3Y-768x484.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CLAZNYOYZBNXBML7T6HEUKUK3Y-1536x969.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/CLAZNYOYZBNXBML7T6HEUKUK3Y-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Brazil&#8217;s President Dilma Rousseff delivers a speech during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, June 24, 2015. REUTERS/Bruno Domingos/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Aug 24 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The New Development Bank created by BRICS countries in 2015 can help finance&nbsp;African countries&#8217; projects to tackle their most urgent challenges, the bank&#8217;s president Dilma Rousseff said on Thursday.



The BRICS countries are &#8220;good partners&#8221; for&nbsp;Africa, former Brazilian President Rousseff said in a speech in Johannesburg, adding the bank would finance physical and digital infrastructure projects in&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;as well as educational ones.



&#8220;The New Development Bank has the potential to be the leader of projects that address the most urgent challenges of&nbsp;African countries,&#8221; she said, pointing out that although&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s share of foreign direct investment (FDI) rose to 8.8% of global FDI in 2021 from just 4.9% in 2010 it &#8220;can and must rise much more&#8221;.



One of the challenges to be overcome &#8220;is the expansion of payment mechanisms, notably local currencies and other financial instruments that may eventually be created in order to build a new, more multilateral and inclusive financial system&#8221;, she added.



Rousseff also pointed to the need for joint infrastructure projects between several countries, noting that&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;has the world&#8217;s greatest untapped hydroelectric potential.



(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by Andrei Khalip and Mark Potter)

FILE PHOTO: Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff delivers a speech during a ceremony at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia

BRICS bank can help African countries tackle urgent challenges

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="572" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HFB7544T2RMOJANSJ4EG23IUAI-820x572.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426975" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HFB7544T2RMOJANSJ4EG23IUAI-820x572.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HFB7544T2RMOJANSJ4EG23IUAI-300x209.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HFB7544T2RMOJANSJ4EG23IUAI-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HFB7544T2RMOJANSJ4EG23IUAI-768x536.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HFB7544T2RMOJANSJ4EG23IUAI-1536x1071.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HFB7544T2RMOJANSJ4EG23IUAI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Locals wait to cast their votes during the Zimbabwe general elections in Kwekwe, outside Harare, Zimbabwe August 23, 2023. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, Aug 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe has extended voting in selected&nbsp;wards&nbsp;by a day after the late distribution of ballot papers delayed polling, according to a presidential decree issued late Wednesday.



Voters in the southern&nbsp;African country waited for hours to vote on Wednesday, saying they were&nbsp;hungry for change&nbsp;from&nbsp;economic chaos, but analysts were sceptical that the ruling ZANU-PF party would allow a credible election or any loosening of its stranglehold on power.



According to Zimbabwean law, voting is supposed to take place within one day.



The presidential notice listed 40 wards it said were affected by the delays. Although the named areas make up less than 1% of the country&#8217;s 12,374 wards, they include 11 wards in the capital Harare, which has the highest number of registered voters.



According a notice&nbsp;from President Emmerson Mnangagwa announcing the extra day, the affected wards are in three of Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces &#8211; opposition stronghold Harare, Mashonaland Central, where the ruling party is traditionally dominant, and Manicaland, which is a key battleground.



Mnangagwa is seeking re-election after a first term during which runaway inflation, currency shortages and sky-high unemployment left many Zimbabweans reliant on dollar remittances from relatives abroad to make ends meet.



Mnangagwa, 80, took over when longtime strongman Robert Mugabe was toppled in a 2017 military coup. He faces 10 other candidates, including his main challenger, lawyer and pastor&nbsp;Nelson Chamisa, 45, of the Citizens Coalition for Change.



&#8220;I am expecting change. We are struggling and hungry,&#8221; said Mabel Fambi, 67, who cares for five of her grandchildren because their parents cannot find jobs. She was waiting to cast her ballot in the Kuwadzana constituency in the capital Harare.



In Harare and the country&#8217;s second biggest city Bulawayo, both opposition strongholds, a significant number of polling stations opened hours late, forcing voters to wait for most of the day.



&#8220;I see this delay as a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise me,&#8221; said Fortune Sikireta, who had been waiting to vote since dawn at Maranatha Christian High School in the middle-income Harare suburb of Tynwald. By late afternoon he had yet to vote but was determined to see it through.



The electoral commission blamed the delays on late printing of ballot papers caused by court challenges, saying in a morning statement that only 23% of Harare&#8217;s polling stations had opened on time.



Few or no delays were reported in other parts of the country.



Analysts said that, as in previous Zimbabwean elections, ZANU-PF, which has been in power for 43 years, had been using state institutions to ensure it would stay in power.



&#8220;The electoral playing field is heavily skewed in favour of the ruling party,&#8221; said private firm&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;Risk Consulting.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-little-change-since-mugabe-era">LITTLE CHANGE SINCE MUGABE ERA</h2>



Zimbabwe&#8217;s chances of resolving a debt crisis and obtaining World Bank and International Monetary Fund loans are at stake, as foreign lenders have said a free and fair election is a pre-condition for any meaningful talks.



&#8220;We want change. We want a younger president,&#8221; said shoe mender Jonathan Darare, 47, who came out early to vote in Kuwadzana.



Polls had been scheduled to open at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 7 p.m., with some 6.6 million people registered to vote in the nation of about 15 million. Parliamentary results are expected to trickle in on Thursday morning. The presidential result is expected later, though well ahead of a five-day deadline.



Chamisa was mobbed by supporters chanting his name as he arrived to vote in Kuwadzana. He predicted he would win but said the ruling party and the electoral commission would seek to deny him his victory.



&#8220;Funny games or no funny games, our victory is certain. We are going to continue to insist on a credible election and making sure we have a legitimate result out of this election,&#8221; he said.



The government and the electoral commission have said the election would be free and fair.



Mnangagwa voted at Sherwood Primary School in the city of Kwekwe.



The Zimbabwe dollar has fallen by about 85% since the start of 2023 and inflation has reached triple digits, pushing people deeper into poverty in a nation where only 30% hold formal jobs.



&#8220;Five years into Mnangagwa&#8217;s rule, conditions have not changed much from the Mugabe era,&#8221; said&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;Risk Consulting.



The Economist Intelligence Unit predicted Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF would win by a narrower margin and not by fair means, raising the risk of disputes over the results and public protests.



To win the presidency, a candidate must get more than 50% of the vote. If there is no outright winner, a run-off between the top two candidates will be held on Oct. 2.



Parliamentary and local council candidates only need a simple majority of votes cast.



(Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo, Giles Elgood, Tomasz Janowski, William Maclean and Jonathan Oatis)

Zimbabwe general elections

Zimbabwe sets extra day of voting in selected wards after delays

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="541" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-820x541.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426985" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-820x541.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-137x90.jpg 137w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-768x506.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-1536x1013.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/HC4HTARYCNKDXDWVB6A4ZKHGDU-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a plenary session of the BRICS summit via a video link in Moscow, Russia, August 23, 2023. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



MOSCOW, Aug 24 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Russian President Vladimir Putin told the BRICS summit in South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;on Thursday that Moscow intends to deepen ties with&nbsp;African countries, and that it would remain a reliable partner for food and fuel supplies.



In&nbsp;a video link&nbsp;address,Putin&nbsp;said&nbsp;Russia was interested in developing &#8220;multi-faceted ties&#8221; with&nbsp;Africa, which has been roiled by fuel and food price rises resulting from the conflict in Ukraine.



Russia&#8217;s July exit from the Black Sea grain deal has seen grain prices soar, hitting many&nbsp;African countries very hard. Russia and Ukraine are among the world&#8217;s biggest grain exporters.



In his remarks, Putin also said Russia&nbsp;had more than 30 energy projects in&nbsp;African countries, adding that Russian fuel supplies would help&nbsp;African governments to contain price rises.



&#8220;Over the past two years, exports to&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;of Russian crude oil, petroleum products and liquefied natural gas have increased by 2.6 times,&#8221; he said.



Putin added that the global transition to a greener, low carbon emissions economy would have to be &#8220;gradual, balanced, carefully calibrated&#8221;, given projections for further growth in the world&#8217;s population and energy demand.



Russia is keen to build up the BRICS group &#8211; which currently comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;&#8211; into a more influential bloc able to challenge Western domination of the global economy.



At its three-day summit in Johannesburg this week, the BRICS leaders agreed to invite six more countries &#8211; Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates &#8211; to join the bloc.



In his remarks on Thursday, Putin took aim at former colonial Western powers and their espousal of what he called &#8220;neo-liberalism&#8221;, which he said posed a threat to both traditional values in developing countries and to the emergence of a multi-polar world where no one country or bloc dominated.



(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Gareth Jones)

Putin to BRICS: Russia is ‘reliable partner’ for Africa on food, fuel supplies

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/XBZDXHNKFBPULJS2ZNZW3KMJLU-1-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426971" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/XBZDXHNKFBPULJS2ZNZW3KMJLU-1-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/XBZDXHNKFBPULJS2ZNZW3KMJLU-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/XBZDXHNKFBPULJS2ZNZW3KMJLU-1-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/XBZDXHNKFBPULJS2ZNZW3KMJLU-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/XBZDXHNKFBPULJS2ZNZW3KMJLU-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/XBZDXHNKFBPULJS2ZNZW3KMJLU-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: A person walks past the Sandton Convention Centre, which will host the upcoming BRICS Summit, in Johannesburg, South Africa August 19, 2023. REUTERS/James Oatway/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 24 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Leaders of the BRICS group of developing nations have invited Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates to join, in a move aimed at growing the clout of a bloc that has pledged to champion the &#8220;Global South&#8221;.



Expansion could also pave the way for dozens of interested countries to seek admission to BRICS &#8211; currently Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa &#8211; at a time when geopolitical polarisation is spurring efforts by Beijing and Moscow to forge it into a viable counterweight to the West.



The new candidate members were announced by South&nbsp;African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is hosting a summit of BRICS leaders.



&#8220;BRICS has embarked on a new chapter in its effort to build a world that is fair, a world that is just, a world that is also inclusive and prosperous,&#8221; he said.



The new candidates will be formally admitted as members on Jan. 1, 2024. Ramaphosa and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva left the door open to the possibility of admitting other new members in future.



&#8220;We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process and other phases will follow,&#8221; Ramaphosa said at a media briefing.



Lula said globalisation&#8217;s promises had failed, adding that it was time to revitalise cooperation with developing countries as &#8220;there is a risk of nuclear war&#8221;, an apparent allusion to growing tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine conflict.



United Arab Emirates&#8217; President Mohammed bin Zayed, whose country is already a member of the bloc&#8217;s New Development Bank (NDB), said he appreciated the inclusion of his country as a new member.



&#8220;We look forward to a continued commitment of cooperation for the prosperity, dignity and benefit of all nations and people around the world,&#8221; he posted on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-pledge-to-rebalance-world-order">PLEDGE TO REBALANCE WORLD ORDER</h2>



The debate over enlargement has topped the agenda at the three-day summit taking place in Johannesburg. And while all BRICS members publicly expressed support for growing the bloc, there were divisions among the leaders over how much and how quickly.



Though home to about 40% of the world&#8217;s population and a quarter of global gross domestic product, BRICS members&#8217; failure to settle on a coherent vision for the bloc has long left it punching below its weight as a global political and economic player.



&#8220;This membership expansion is historic,&#8221; China&#8217;s President Xi Jinping said in remarks following the announcement on enlargement. &#8220;It shows the determination of BRICS countries for unity and cooperation with the broader developing countries.&#8221;



More than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, say South African officials, and 22 have formally asked to be admitted.



They represent a disparate pool of potential candidates motivated largely by a desire to level a global playing field many consider rigged against them.



They are attracted by BRICS&#8217; promise to rebalance world bodies dominated by the United States and other wealthy Western states.



Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the bloc&#8217;s expansion should be an example to other global institutions founded in the 20th century that have become outdated.



&#8220;The expansion and modernization of BRICS is a message that all institutions in the world need to mould themselves according to changing times,&#8221; he said.



(Reporting by Carien du PlessisWriting by Joe Bavier; Editing by Toby Chopra and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

FILE PHOTO: South Africa prepares to host the BRICS Summit 2023, in Johannesburg

BRICS invites Saudi, Iran and others to join developing world bloc

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/107290995-1692818566260-isro-1694376945340080398-img1-820x462.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426967" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/107290995-1692818566260-isro-1694376945340080398-img1-820x462.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/107290995-1692818566260-isro-1694376945340080398-img1-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/107290995-1692818566260-isro-1694376945340080398-img1-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/107290995-1692818566260-isro-1694376945340080398-img1-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/107290995-1692818566260-isro-1694376945340080398-img1.jpg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The shadow of the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft is seen on the moon’s surface. ISRO</figcaption></figure>



The list is grim reading: Stuck, failed, missed, failed, failed, stuck, failed, crashed, missed, crashed, crashed.



Those were the fate of the Soviet Union’s first 11 attempts before successfully landing a spacecraft on the moon, according to a database compiled by Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who catalogs space missions.



Even in the modern era — with nine lunar landing attempts since 2013 — the track record is still shaky. Before India’s success Wednesday, missions by China, India, Israel, Japan and Russia were three for eight in the past decade.



McDowell’s database showcases the monumental challenge undertaken by the 50 attempts to land on the moon, with a cheeky scoreboard that reads: Earthlings 23, Gravity 27.



India chocked up its first W against Gravity on Wednesday, after the country’s Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft safely landed on the lunar surface. The feat makes India the fourth country to successfully land on the moon, and the first to touch down near the lunar south pole.



“They should feel very proud of this accomplishment,” Jim Bridenstine, who led NASA as administrator from 2018 to 2021, told CNBC.



Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of India’s moon landing is the shoestring budget — by government standards — with which the country achieved the mission. In 2020, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) estimated the Chandrayaan-3 mission would cost about $75 million. The launch was delayed two years, which likely increased the overall mission’s cost. ISRO has not responded to CNBC’s request for an updated cost figure.



But that rivals the lowest-cost lunar lander missions in development in the U.S. NASA in recent years turned to having companies compete for fixed-price contracts to build moon landers, under a program it calls Commercial Lunar Payload Services. The CLPS program has a maximum budget of $2.6 billion over 10 years, with 14 companies vying for mission contracts typically worth upwards of $70 million each.



Overall, NASA’s annual budget dwarfs that of its Indian counterpart. In 2023, the U.S. agency received $25.4 billion in funding, compared to the ISRO’s budget of about $1.6 billion. Bridenstine stressed that NASA’s much larger budget is a reflection of the “different level of capability” that the U.S. agency offers, with everything from a continuous astronaut presence in orbit to missions targeting planets, asteroids and more.



As a percentage of gross domestic product, the U.S. spends the most on space — although it still amounts to just 0.28% of GDP.&nbsp; That ranks well ahead of India’s 0.04% of GDP, according to a July report on the global space economy by the Space Foundation.



“India should have in its ambitions the desire to invest more and more and develop the capabilities that are more on par with the United States,” Bridenstine said.



India is increasingly seen as a top player in space geopolitically. While China has succeeded Russia as the most significant rival to U.S. influence and capabilities in space, India may yet take that third spot in the space superpower hierarchy.



“I would hope that they use [Chandrayaan-3] as an opportunity to capitalize on the success,” Bridenstine said. “They’ve got a big economy and they’re going to be able to put money into space exploration.”



“Costs are going to continue to go down, which is a very positive development for everybody who’s interested in space exploration,” he added. “And costs to get to the moon are going to go down, especially as we have more and more companies doing more and more missions.”

107290995-1692818566260-isro-1694376945340080398-img1

India’s moon landing made history at a low cost

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="541" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIL5KIWV4BI3VCAGLNOPUC4SFY-820x541.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426954" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIL5KIWV4BI3VCAGLNOPUC4SFY-820x541.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIL5KIWV4BI3VCAGLNOPUC4SFY-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIL5KIWV4BI3VCAGLNOPUC4SFY-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIL5KIWV4BI3VCAGLNOPUC4SFY-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIL5KIWV4BI3VCAGLNOPUC4SFY-1536x1014.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/FIL5KIWV4BI3VCAGLNOPUC4SFY-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, President of China Xi Jinping, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and Russia&#8217;s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pose for a BRICS family photo during the 2023 BRICS Summit at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, on August 23, 2023. GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/Pool via REUTERS</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, Aug 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;China&#8217;s President Xi Jinping called for unity among his BRICS counterparts at a summit in South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;on Wednesday as he pushed the case for expanding the grouping to face a global &#8220;period of turbulence and transformation&#8221;.



Leaders of the bloc of leading developing nations Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are meeting in Johannesburg with discussions around establishing a framework and criteria for admitting new members topping the agenda.



While all BRICS members have publicly expressed support for growing the bloc, divisions remain over how much and how quickly.



Bloc heavyweight China has long pushed for expansion and views its deteriorating relations with Washington as well as heightened global tensions resulting from the Ukraine war as adding urgency to the enlargement project.



&#8220;The world is undergoing major shifts, division and regrouping &#8230; it has entered a new period of turbulence and transformation,&#8221; Xi said.



&#8220;We, the BRICS countries, should always bear in mind our founding purpose of strengthening ourselves through unity.&#8221;



BRICS group countries have economies that are vastly different in scale and governments that often seem to have few foreign policy goals in common, complicating decision-making.



The economy of China for example, is more than 40 times larger than South&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s,&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s most developed country.



Russia, isolated by the United States and Europe over its invasion of Ukraine, is also pushing to quickly grow BRICS and forge it into a counterweight to the West.



Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is wanted under an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes, sees BRICS membership as a way of showing the West he still has friends.



He did not travel to South Africa but used a video address to attack Western powers.



&#8220;I want to note that it was the desire to maintain their hegemony in the world, the desire of some countries to maintain this hegemony that led to the severe crisis in Ukraine,&#8221; he said.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-no-tower-of-babel">NO &#8216;TOWER OF BABEL&#8217;</h2>



South&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday that he and Xi had similar positions on BRICS expansion.



But pushback has come from Brazil and India, which have both forged closer ties with the West.



Brazil&#8217;s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday rejected the idea the bloc should seek to rival the United States and Group of Seven wealthy economies.



While he is pushing for neighbour Argentina to join, he said any new members would need to meet certain conditions, so the group does not become a &#8220;Tower of Babel&#8221;.



Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday his country, which is wary of Chinese dominance, fully supported expansion.



However, an Indian official familiar with discussions late on Tuesday between the leaders said Modi indicated &#8220;there have to be ground rules about how it should happen and who can join&#8221;.



India and China periodically clash over their disputed Himalayan border.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">BREAKING DOLLAR-DOMINANCE</h2>



More than 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS, say South African officials, 22 of whom have formally asked to be admitted.



Details of criteria for joining could be included in a joint declaration due to be finalised on Wednesday.



Beyond the enlargement question, boosting the use of member states&#8217; local currencies in trade and financial transactions to lessen dependency of the U.S. dollar is also on the summit agenda.



South African organisers had said there would be no discussions of a common BRICS currency, an idea floated by Brazil as an alternative to dollar-dependence.



At least 15 potential new member countries &#8211; including Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Argentina &#8211; are under consideration to join the bloc&#8217;s New Development Bank (NDB), its chief financial officer said on Wednesday.



The NDB, which has long tapped China&#8217;s capital market for funding, is registering an Indian rupee bond programme worth $2.5 billion over five years, after it issued its first South African rand bond last week.



(Reporting Carien du Plessis in Johannesburg and Krishn Kaushik in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Rachel Savage in Johannesburg; Writing by Joe Bavier; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

China’s Xi calls for BRICS unity as bloc weighs expansion

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423556" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/IQMT7SFA2RNQLAQHUEOA2VEMMQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Illustration photo shows a two-rand coin above a South African flag April 12, 2017. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration</figcaption></figure>



Aug 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Most emerging market currencies were subdued on Wednesday with investors cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve chair&#8217;s speech this week, while South&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s rand rallied after data showed inflation slowed in&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s largest economy.



The MSCI&#8217;s index for EM currencies&nbsp;.MIEM00000CUS&nbsp;was flat at 0900 GMT, while the stocks index&nbsp;.MSCIEF&nbsp;inched 0.1% higher.



The South African randZAR= extended gains to a fifth straight day against the dollar and was last up 0.6%, after headline consumer inflation fell to 4.7% year-on-year in July from 5.4% in June.



&#8220;While Deputy Governor Tshazibana said that it&#8217;s not &#8216;a solid pause&#8217; when the South&nbsp;African Reserve Bank (SARB) left the policy rate unchanged at 8.25% in July, it&#8217;s reasonable to argue that finding a majority for more rate hikes could be even more difficult when the SARB meets on Sept. 21,&#8221; said Piotr Matys, senior FX analyst at In Touch Capital Markets.



South Africa and China also signed deals covering emissions technology, electricity transmission and distribution, and nuclear power on the sidelines of a summit in Johannesburg where leaders of the BRICS nations &#8211; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa &#8211; are meeting.



This is part of the government&#8217;s efforts to end record power cuts, with Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa saying one of the deals would see Chinese companies share technology to help South&nbsp;Africa&#8217;s struggling state utility Eskom cut emissions from its coal-fired power plants.



The Russian roubleRUBUTSTN=MCX weakened against the dollar, ahead of three OFZ treasury bond auctions, while oil major Lukoil&#8217;s sharesLKOH.MM shed 1% after Tuesday&#8217;s sharp gains on a report that it could buy back a chunk of shares at a 50% discount.



The BRICS summit could impact Russian assets, especially as member states look to boost the use of their local currencies.



Also on top of the agenda at this year&#8217;s summit is a potential expansion of the bloc, with some hoping to forge it into a counterweight to Western dominance of global institutions.



The New Development Bank of the BRICS group of nations is registering an Indian rupee bond programme worth $2.5 billion over 5 years, its CFO Leslie Maasdorp said during a panel discussion



China&#8217;s blue-chip CSI 300 Index .CSI300 and the Shanghai Composite Index .SSEC fell more than 1% each as investors stayed cautious amid a deepening crisis in the country&#8217;s real estate sector and as a raft of share buybacks did little to boost confidence.



Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Tuesday at the BRICS summit that China&#8217;s economy was resilient and that the fundamentals for its long-term growth remained unchanged.



Also in focus, Argentine Economy Minister Sergio Massa said he expects the International Monetary Fund (IMF) board to approve the latest reviews of its huge loan program on Wednesday, unlocking $7.5 billion that the embattled country desperately needs.



Investors eyed a rate decision by Zambia&#8217;s central bank later in the day. 



(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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