Poland's Zloty Posts Weekly Gain as Investors' Appetite for Risk Returns

(Bloomberg) -- The Polish zloty posted a weekly gain,
advancing to an eight-day high against the euro, as investors
regained their appetite for emerging-market assets.

Investors resumed buying stocks and higher-yielding
currencies such as the zloty, the Turkish lira and the South
African rand as concern abated that losses on U.S. subprime
mortgages would slow global economic growth. The risk of holding
European corporate debt fell for the first week in seven.


Read more at Bloomberg Currencies News

S.Africa 3-mth T-bill discount rate down at 8.84 pct

(Reuters) - The average discount rate for South African three-month Treasury Bills decreased to 8.84 percent on Friday from 8.86 percent last week, the Reserve Bank said.

The average yield was also down at 9.04 percent from 9.06 percent and applications for the 2.3 billion rand of bills on offer totalled 5.02 billion rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa biofuel subsidy unlikely, says minister

(Reuters) - South Africa is unlikely to introduce subsidies to support a biofuels programme that has been billed as a lifeline for the struggling farming sector, a cabinet minister said on Monday.

The Southern African Biofuels Association says it needs between 2 billion rand and five billion rand a year from the government to get a capital intensive industry off the ground.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Tongaat-Hulett says H1 headline loss R155 mln

(Reuters) - South African sugar group Tongaat Hullet posted a first-half headline loss of 145.1 cents per share, the firm said on Monday.

The group, which said on July 27 it expected the headline loss, said profit from operations was 308 million rand compared to 307 million rand in the year-ago period.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa 3-month T-bill discount rate down at 8.86 pct

(Reuters) - The average discount rate for South African three-month Treasury Bills decreased to 8.86 percent on Friday, the Reserve Bank said.

The average yield was also down at 9.06 percent from 9.21 percent and applications for the 2.3 billion rand of bills on offer totalled 4.893 billion rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Econet says gets green light to build Kenya network

(Reuters) - Kenya has given South Africa-based Econet Wireless the green light to start building the East African country's third mobile phone network, Econet said on Thursday.

Unlisted Econet said in a statement Kenya had reinstated the company's licence, which was revoked in 2003 amid shareholder wrangling. No one at Kenya's Ministry of Communications could immediately be reached for comment.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Lower food prices help ease Malawi inflation

(Reuters) - Good maize harvests continue to help drive down inflation in Malawi, with the headline number easing to 7.7 percent year-on-year in June from 7.9 percent in May, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said on Thursday.

It said food inflation, which accounts for 58.1 percent of the impoverished southern African country's Consumer Price Index (CPI), dipped to 6.8 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Datatec unit buys US ReView Video for $25 mln

(Reuters) - South African IT firm Datatec has acquired a U.S. video-conferencing and Voice over Internet distributor for $25 million to help boost its voice technology business, it said on Wednesday.

Datatec Ltd, which is listed in London and Johannesburg, said in a statement its unit Westcon would pay for the acquisition of ReView Video's assets with cash, and said the deal would enhance earnings in this financial year.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Murray & Roberts shares surge on profit outlook

(Reuters) - Shares in South African construction group Murray & Roberts (M&R) leapt to a year-high of 79 rands per share on Friday on the back of a bullish earnings statement and robust order book.

The stock traded more than 5 percent higher, but pared its gains to add 3.33 percent at 77.50 rand by 1258 GMT, the biggest climber on the Top-40 blue chip index, which added 0.52 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Didata sells Britehouse stake to black investors

(Reuters) - South African technology firm Dimension Data has agreed to sell 60 percent of its Britehouse Group IT consulting and services business to black investors to help it expand in Africa.

Didata, which is listed in London and Johannesburg, said on Thursday it had won approval to sell the stake to a consortium comprising black empowerment groups Convergence Partners Investments and Safika Holdings, and investment firm VenFin.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.African unions declare dispute against Angloplat

(Reuters) - South African trade unions declared a dispute against the world's biggest platinum producer, Angloplat, on Wednesday after it refused to increase its wage offer, union officials said.

The country's biggest mining union, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), and union Solidarity both declared disputes, the first legal step towards a strike, when negotiations on Wednesday hit a deadlock.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Benin threatens to silence MTN and other mobile operators

(Reuters) - Benin suspended two of its four mobile phone operators on Monday and threatened to silence their networks from Thursday if they did not sign new contracts that include a $50 million, 500 percent rise in the operator fee.

The West African country's Telecommunications Regulation Authority issued a statement on Friday suspending the operating contracts of South Africa-listed MTN and Atlantique Telecom's "Moov" service with effect from Monday, saying both companies had changed their names without its permission.


Read more at Reuters Africa

High returns, liquidity hurdles in Africa - bank

(Reuters) - Funds which have invested in Russia and eastern Europe are eyeing African markets for richer pickings, but size and liquidity can be a stumbling block, a senior official at a new Africa-focused bank says.

London-based Medicapital received Financial Services Authority authorisation in mid-May.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Mozambique eyes World Cup tourism windfall

(Reuters) - Mozambique plans to spend $600 million on new hotels, casinos and other leisure facilities as part of an effort to capitalise on a tourism boom expected when neighbouring South Africa hosts the 2010 soccer World Cup.

In an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, Albino Mahumana, Mozambique's national tourism director, said the southern African nation was hoping to lure a large number of visiting soccer fans to its famous beaches and colonial cities.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Mondi Expands and Modernizes Its Russian, Polish Plants for $1.19 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Mondi Plc, the South African paper
and packaging company spun off by Anglo American Plc, will spend
875 million euros ($1.19 billion) on expanding and modernizing
plants in Russia and Poland over the next two years.

Boosting output and the efficiency of a Russian mill will
require 525 million euros, with the remainder to be spent on
adding a paper machine in Poland, Chief Executive Officer David
Hathorn said in a presentation at the Johannesburg stock market,
where Mondi shares officially began trading today.


Read more at Bloomberg Emerging Markets News

S.Africa vehicle sales down 12.1 pct yr/yr in June

(Reuters) - South African new vehicle sales declined by 12.1 percent to 50,056 units in June compared to the same month last year, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (NAAMSA) said on Tuesday.

A number of recent negative economic developments have clouded the short term outlook for the new vehicle market, including higher interest rates and increasing car prices.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa government bonds firmer on stronger rand

(Reuters) - South African government bonds strengthened on Monday as the rand currency maintained a firm bias against the dollar.

Yields on the most-active 2010 bond fell 14 basis points from Friday's closing levels to 8.955 percent, while those on the benchmark issue due in 2015 went down by 14.5 basis points to 8.355 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Higher Lake Victoria boosts Uganda's electricity

(Reuters) - Rains have rescued Lake Victoria from its lowest water levels since 1923, enabling Uganda to boost hydroelectric power, but blackouts are likely to continue, the minister of state for energy said on Tuesday.

The east African country of 27 million people has suffered power shortages over the last three years as two dams near the Nile's source at the lake struggled to keep pace with demand rising by 8 percent a year.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Transnet FY operating profit up 30 pct to R6.3 bln

(Reuters) - South African state-owned rail and logistics group Transnet lifted operating profit from continuing operations by 30 percent to 6.3 billion rand, the state-owned group said on Tuesday.

Transnet said annual revenue for the year to end-March rose 8.3 percent to 28.2 billion rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa maize falls sharply with Chicago

(Reuters) - South African maize futures dived sharply on Friday, shadowing moves in the United States and ahead of a close-out of the most-active contract.

July white maize closed at 1,724 rand a tonne, shedding 2.38 percent and almost down by the daily limit of 45 rand, in anticipation of its expiry on Monday, dealers said.


Read more at Reuters Africa