South Africa’s Biggest Cement Maker Postpones $640 mln Rights Issue

PPC Ltd., South Africa’s biggest cement maker, has postponed planned rights issue of about 750 million rand ($640 million) following a sales boost and advancing talks on the disposal of its lime business. The Johannesburg-based company negotiated with lenders to postpone a share sale for at least six months, Chief Executive Officer Roland Van... Read More

MTN to partake in lucrative S/Africa $335 mln telecoms contract

South Africa opened up a telecommunications contract to supply 1.2 million government employees, allowing arch-rivals MTN Group Ltd. and Vodacom Group Ltd. to share in the state business. MTN was added to the agreement previously awarded exclusively to Vodacom in 2016, according to a statement on Tuesday. READ THIS ALSO: Top Nigeria security officials, others stash away $400... Read More

Access Bank acquires S/Africa’s Grobank for $60 mln ~CEO

Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc has paid $60 million to acquire a stake in South Africa’s Grobank, its chief executive said on Tuesday, to become the first Nigerian lender to venture into South Africa’s financial market. Access Bank invested both equity and debt in the South African bank, part of a regional expansion to tap... Read More

MTN Group drags South Africa’s telecoms regulator to court over 5G spectrum auction

MTN Group Ltd has taken legal action against the terms of a highly anticipated auction of new broadband spectrum in South Africa, saying the company is being shut out of bidding for new 5G bandwidth. MTN Group has asked the High Court in Johannesburg to correct or set aside elements of the process set to... Read More

IMF asks South Africa to reform state owned firms to ‘reignite growth and job creation’

By Oludare Mayowa   The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked South Africa’s government to advance reforms that address Eskom and other State Owned Enterprises’ (SOE) difficulties in a bid to reignite growth and job creation. In a statement after its Virtual Staff Visit to South Africa, the IMF on Wednesday said the country... Read More

Nigeria plans to double export to $50 bln by 2030 under AfCFTA

* Africa Trade Deal to fetch $84 billion in untapped intra-African exports * South Africa to gain more from AfCFTA * Ecobank chief wants a unified means of payment Nigeria on Tuesday said it plans to double its export trade to $50 billion by 2030, especially with the implementations of the African Continental Free-Trade... Read More

South Africa out of recession as economy rebounds in Q3

* S/Africa GDP Far From Pre-Covid Levels Even as Recession Ends * GDP expands 66.1% in Q3 South African Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded an annualized 66.1 percent in the three months through September recovered from the previous quarter following a 51.7 percent decline in the second quarter, Statistics South Africa said Tuesday. The... Read More

South Africa’s cities seek alternative power supply to end state monopoly

South Africa’s biggest cities are preparing to source their own power after the energy ministry this month approved letting them wean themselves off the state utility that’s subjected cities to outages for the past 13 years. Johannesburg and Cape Town, which have a combined population of about 10 million people, plan to diversify away... Read More

Nigeria’s Air Peace plans flight operation to South Africa’s Johannesburg

Nigeria’s Air Peace on Monday said it plans to commence regular commercial flight operations from its Lagos hub into the city of Johannesburg, South Africa, soon, in keeping with its vision to provide seamless connectivity across the continent. In a statement by its Senior Communication Executive, Stanley Olisa, the airline said it has made... Read More

South Africa may tax the rich as option to bail country out of recession

South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni is set to present the government’s revised spending framework for the next three years on Wednesday, four months after a supplementary budget that was unveiled to reallocate funds to help pay for a $31 billion) stimulus package announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Anaylsts said the finance minister will... Read More