MAPUTO (Reuters) &#8211; Mozambique will continue to negotiate debt restructuring with creditors, despite a court ruling that a government-guaranteed $850 million Eurobond issued by the state fishing company Ematum SA in 2013 was illegal, the finance minister said on Wednesday.



Finance Minister Adriano Maleiane told a business conference in Maputo that the debt restructuring talks were not in violation of the June ruling by Mozambique’s top court.



The $850 million Eurobond was dubbed the “tuna bond” as it was supposed to finance a tuna fishing fleet and had been presented to investors as funding for fishing infrastructure, although much of the cash was later designated for maritime security and reallocated to the defence budget.



In 2016, Mozambican officials agreed to swap the tuna bond’s outstanding $697 million for a sovereign Eurobond.



“The government respects the deliberations of our institutions,” Maleiane said. “The decision of the Constitutional Council is a decision that cannot be overturned. It has to be respected and we are respecting it.”



Maleiane said that the restructuring was meant to only repay lenders who acted in good faith.



“The government cannot tell bona fide creditors that ‘I will not pay back.’ I can’t tell the creditors that I am awaiting the payment of the money taken by those who contracted the loans,” Maleiane said.



“The Attorney General Office has the task of pursuing the $850 million on those who acted in bad faith,” he added.



On Monday the government said creditors holding 99.5% of Mozambique’s $726.5 million Eurobond support its debt restructuring proposal, paving the way for an overhaul of part of its heavy debt burden.



Reporting by Manuel Mucari; Editing by Lisa Shumaker

This African country will continue debt restructuring talks despite ‘tuna bond’ court ruling

In conversation with the founding father of Computicket Percy Tucker

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; MTN Group Ltd said on Tuesday the chief executive officers of its Zambian and Cote d’Ivoire units would step down at the end of the month.



Africa’s largest mobile phone operator said Zambia’s Philip van Dalsen, who joined MTN in 2012 as CEO of MTN Cyprus, would be replaced by MTN Rwanda CEO Bart Hofker, in October.



Mitwa Kaemba Ng’ambi has been appointed as the new CEO of MTN Rwanda.



The firm said Freddy Tchala, its Cote d’Ivoire CEO, who had a 17-year stint at the firm, would also be leaving at the end of September with his replacement still to be announced.



Spokeswoman Karen Byamugisha said van Dalsen and Tchala are both stepping down due to personal reasons.



MTN has a presence in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East.



Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; editing by Jason Neely

CEOs of MTN’s Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire units are stepping down

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; A plane has left Zimbabwe for Singapore carrying government officials and relatives to bring home the body of Robert Mugabe, but it was still not clear where the former leader would be buried, a family spokesman said on Monday.



Mugabe’s family is pushing back against the government’s plan to bury him at the National Heroes Acre monument in Harare and wants him to be interred in his home village, relatives have told Reuters.



Leo Mugabe, the late president’s nephew and family spokesman, said a charter plane left Harare for Singapore just after 9 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Monday.



Mugabe’s body was expected to arrive in Zimbabwe on Wednesday at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT), Leo Mugabe told Reuters.



But when pressed on where Mugabe would be buried, Leo Mugabe was non-committal.



“Mugabe was a chief and he will be buried in accordance with tradition. The chiefs have not told us where he will be buried, so it is not clear yet. I also don’t know,” he said.



In some parts of Zimbabwe, burials of chiefs are a secret affair and people are only told the resting place afterwards.



Mugabe died on Friday aged 95 in Singapore, where he had long received medical treatment. He had dominated Zimbabwean politics for almost four decades from independence in 1980 until he was removed by his own army in a November 2017 coup.



Revered by many as a liberator who freed his people from white minority rule, Mugabe was vilified by others for wrecking one of Africa’s most promising economies and ruthlessly crushing his opponents.



Mugabe’s resting place has been a topic of discussion since the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper reported last month that Mugabe would snub the offer of a burial at National Heroes Acre &#8211; a site reserved for the country’s heroes &#8211; because he felt bitter about the way he was removed from power.



The Zimbabwean government said in a memo sent to embassies that it planned to hold a state funeral for Mugabe in the National Sports Stadium on Saturday, with a burial ceremony on Sunday, but it did not say where the burial would be.



If Mugabe is buried in Kutama village, 85 km (50 miles) from Harare, it would be a major rebuke for his successor, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, and the ruling ZANU-PF party that Mugabe helped to found.



Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Giles Elgood

Plane leaves Zimbabwe for Singapore to bring home the body of former president Robert Mugabe

By <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tapiwa-chagonda-554954">Tapiwa Chagonda</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a>

Zimbabwe is going through its worst socio-economic and political crisis in two decades. Crippling daily power outages of <a href="https://www.biznews.com/africa/2019/08/05/zimbabwe-tipping-point-economic-crisis">up to 18 hours</a> and erratic supply of clean water are just some of the most obvious signs. Meanwhile, an inflation rate of over 500% has put the prices of basic goods beyond the reach of most people.

Hopes that the end of President Robert Mugabe’s ruinous rule in November 2017 would help put the country on a new path of peace and prosperity have long <a href="https://theconversation.com/fantasy-that-mnangagwa-would-fix-zimbabwe-now-fully-exposed-110197">dissipated</a>. Efforts by his successor President Emmerson Mnangagwa to <a href="https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/zimbabwe-is-open-for-business-says-mnangagwa-12913367">attract foreign investors</a>, who are critical in reviving Zimbabwe’s ailing economy, have also largely failed.

The situation has not been helped by the rejection of the 2018 presidential election results by the main opposition party. The Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC-A) claims the governing Zanu-PF stole the elections even though the results were <a href="https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/africa/Regional-observers-Zimbabwe-election-free-and-fair/4552902-4692254-e75fje/index.html">endorsed</a> as free and fair by the African Union and Southern African Development Community (SADC). Only the European Union observers were somewhat circumspect <a href="https://www.news24.com/Africa/Zimbabwe/eu-observers-say-zimbabwe-election-fell-short-on-fairness-20181010">in their assessment</a>. 

<hr>

 
 
 Read more:
 <a href="http://theconversation.com/fantasy-that-mnangagwa-would-fix-zimbabwe-now-fully-exposed-110197">Fantasy that Mnangagwa would fix Zimbabwe now fully exposed</a>
 
 

<hr>


The opposition alliance has been calling for Mnangagwa’s government to relinquish power, and a <a href="https://www.openparly.co.zw/chamisa-calls-for-national-trasitional-authority/">national transitional authority</a> appointed to run the country for at least two years, or until the 2023 general elections.

How individuals who will sit on the national transitional authority will be chosen and by whom, is not clear. But the party and <a href="https://www.theindependent.co.zw/2019/03/01/towards-the-national-transitional-authority/">some academics</a> believe such a transitional authority would normalise Zimbabwe’s highly polarised political situation and help it revive its relations with the West.

The opposition may have a point on re-engagement with the West. This is key to helping end the investment drought that started in earnest <a href="http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.908.3003&amp;rep=rep1&amp;type=pdf">between 2000 and 2003</a> under sanctions imposed by Western countries for human rights violations linked to Zanu-PF’s violent land reform seizures and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2000/jun/03/zimbabwe.andrewmeldrum">election rigging</a>.

But the transitional authority idea is doomed to fail because of lack of buy-in by Zanu-PF. So, it’s time to consider a more viable alternative path to peace for Zimbabwe.

<h2>Clamping down</h2>

For now, the government has dismissed talk of a transitional authority as unconstitutional. Instead, in May it launched its own platform, called the <a href="https://www.panafricanvisions.com/2019/zimbabwe-mnangagwa-launches-the-political-actors-dialogue-to-address-long-term-economic-challenges/">Political Actors Dialogue</a>. The forum comprises 17 small political parties that participated in the 2018 elections. 

The main opposition party is boycotting the process on grounds that Mnangagwa is an illegitimate president. Recently, it attempted to <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=5&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwi-gdPunLfkAhXfSBUIHdWZCeIQFjAEegQIBBAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fworld-africa-49366224&amp;usg=AOvVaw0fkr2f1y4BV0-4W2SlJHGY">embark on public protests</a> in the hope of bringing the government to its knees. The protests fell flat after being blocked by the courts and the police.

It boggles the mind why the MDC-A, led by Nelson Chamisa, insists on marches when previous attempts were crushed with brute force. These led to deaths in <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=21&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwingbiQ87TkAhVsZhUIHWexAsIQFjAUegQICBAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news24.com%2FAfrica%2FZimbabwe%2Fzimbabwean-generals-deny-troops-shot-and-killed-6-protesters-20181113&amp;usg=AOvVaw02nyk1uLwat64nJso2EImF">August 2018</a> and <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwicyIfl87TkAhV9SBUIHXzrAC4QFjAAegQIAhAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fmg.co.za%2Farticle%2F2019-01-30-zim-army-responsible-for-murders-rapes-report&amp;usg=AOvVaw1fiTJ2kraC9xNiMyQ4TBM6">January 2019</a>. 

The Zanu-PF regime has always clamped down heavily on perceived threats to its rule since 1980. Why then does the MDC-A continue to endanger people’s lives through this deadly route as a way of resolving Zimbabwe’s socio-economic and political crises?

I firmly believe that the opposition needs to change tack and focus on entering into dialogue with the government. 

<h2>Dialogue and unity government</h2>

Zimbabwe’s ongoing crisis requires the two leading political protagonists &#8211; Mnangagwa and Chamisa &#8211; to enter into serious dialogue. Both leaders need to soften their hard-line stances towards each other and put the people of Zimbabwe first.

There’s a precedent for this. Ten years ago, then South African President Thabo Mbeki managed to bring then President Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to the <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=11&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiMheeVnrfkAhVXShUIHeBIDw04ChAWMAB6BAgAEAE&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.france24.com%2Fen%2F20080721-mbeki-harare-mediate-talks-zimbabwe-political-crisis&amp;usg=AOvVaw2pLPeTVwBEVrH2TSAcW5e3">negotiation table</a>. 

The talks culminated in the formation of the government of national unity that ran Zimbabwe from February 2009 to July 2013, with Mugabe as the President and Tsvangirai as the Prime Minister. The unity government was fairly successful and managed to <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=10&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiv9PjanrfkAhUUTBUIHQR0D0cQFjAJegQIABAB&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theindependent.co.zw%2F2013%2F07%2F11%2Freflecting-on-positive-zimbabwe-gnu-moments%2F&amp;usg=AOvVaw25plQQHFWt-5PTjI9_Fi6J">stabilise the economy</a>.

Two decades of suffering have shown that it is not the threat of protests or sanctions from the West that can move Zanu-PF to change, but neighbouring countries under the aegis of <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=11&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=2ahUKEwia1fucj7HkAhWnRhUIHcY8Dvc4ChAWMAB6BAgAEAI&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Flibrary.fes.de%2Fpdf-files%2Fbueros%2Fmosambik%2F07874.pdf&amp;usg=AOvVaw2PSzn2eTrgI53Cnw2yrI2t">SADC</a>. South Africa is pivotal in this regard as the region’s strongest economic and military power. 

It’s time to experiment with a second government of national unity for Zimbabwe. But for this to happen, SADC and South Africa must have the appetite to intervene in Zimbabwe. This is currently lacking. 

<h2>Dialogue in Zimbabwe’s history</h2>

Historically, dialogue has moved Zimbabwe forward as a nation during its darkest hours. 

<ul>
<li>A year before independence in 1980, battle-hardened guerrilla commanders agreed to talk to the then Rhodesian Prime Minister, Ian Smith, to end Zimbabwe’s liberation war even though they were convinced that they were winning. </li>
<li>In 1987 Joshua Nkomo, who was the leader of the main opposition party, the Zimbabwean African People’s Union, agreed to talk to his political nemesis, then Prime Minister Mugabe. Yet before this, he had been hounded out of the country by Mugabe in the mid-80s, and <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=zi-tWekXbD8C&amp;pg=PA19&amp;lpg=PA19&amp;dq=%22the+early+rain+which+washes+away+the+chaff+before+the+spring+rains%22&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=dWX2SIUj7r&amp;sig=0aDLpmmQfN93e_RNJuKcBmGGEYI&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwioi-joj6LWAhWE7hoKHRF_C7wQ6AEIOTAD#v=onepage&amp;q=%22the%20early%20rain%20which%20washes%20away%20the%20chaff%20before%20the%20spring%20rains%22&amp;f=false">thousands of his supporters killed</a>. </li>
<li>More recently in 2009, Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to enter into a unity government with Mugabe, despite winning the first round of the <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2012-08-10-00-zim-2008-election-taken-by-a-gun-not-a-pen">2008 elections</a>. The unity government briefly resuscitated and stabilised Zimbabwe’s fragile economy. Hyperinflation was tamed, basic commodities became available again and people regained purchasing power.</li>
</ul>

<h2>The way forward</h2>

Given the MDC-A’s positive contribution during its brief stint in the 2009-2013 unity government, the party should be expending its energies on dialogue. The main opposition party can enter into a second government of national unity, but continue building and strengthening its own support.

In the same vein, Zanu-PF also needs to realise that without the involvement of the MDC-A, its attempts to revive the economy and end the strife in the country, on its own terms, are destined to fail.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122726/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" />

<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/tapiwa-chagonda-554954">Tapiwa Chagonda</a>, Associate Professor of Sociology, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-johannesburg-1275">University of Johannesburg</a>

This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/zimbabwes-deepening-crisis-time-for-second-government-of-national-unity-122726">original article</a>.

Zimbabwe’s deepening crisis: Here’s why it’s time for a second government of national unity

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand strengthened against the dollar on Monday, with momentum reignited by upbeat remarks from the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman and a Chinese economic stimulus package.



At 0734 GMT the rand was 0.34% firmer at 14.7700 per dollar from an overnight close of 14.8200.



Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday in Zurich the central bank will continue to act “as appropriate” to sustain the economic expansion in the world’s biggest economy, sticking to a phrase that financial markets have read as signalling further interest-rate reductions ahead.



Powell’s remarks came as the Chinese central bank moved on Friday to cut how much cash banks must hold in reserve, releasing liquidity to shore up an economy hit by the Sino-U.S. trade conflict.



Easing policy is also expected in the Eurozone later this week when the European Central Bank (ECB) governing council meets.



“Risk-on trading patterns stemming from this move will be positive for emerging market assets this week,” Rand Merchant Bank’s Siobhan Redford said in a note.



Locally, investors will this week set their eyes on manufacturing and mining production data, which will provide an indication of the activity in the primary and secondary sectors of the economy.



“We expect the rand to trade sideways today and drift around the 14.80 level, but “risk-on” is still evident in the market thus we have a slight bias toward the rand drifting stronger,” Andre Botha, Senior Dealer at TreasuryONE said in a note.



In equities, the broader All-Share index inched up 0.04% to 55,615 points, while in fixed income the yield on the benchmark government bond due in 2026 stood at 8.15%.



Reporting by Nqobile Dludla, editing by Ed Osmond

South Africa’s rand strengthens, reignited by upbeat remarks from U.S. Federal reserve chairman

By Fifi Peters and Monique Vanek



Old Mutual could have avoided its costly legal battle with sacked CEO Peter
Moyo if it had explored more options to manage the conflict of interest with Moyo
and his company NMT Capital – the issue at the heart of the dismissal. Court
papers claim Old Mutual could have taken advantage of its preference share
subscription (PSS) agreement with the investment company, formerly known as
Amabubesi, which could have circumnavigated the dispute. 



Preference share
subscription agreement &nbsp;



The means were there according to court papers. In 2004/2005 when Old
Mutual, as part of its <a href="https://www.oldmutual.com/docs/default-source/investor-relations-files/plc/reports/2004/2004-old-mutual-annual-report.pdf?sfvrsn=dc1cf217_6">black
economic empowerment objectives</a>, became a 20 per cent
shareholder in NMT Capital it ensured that it contractually protected itself over
its R46 million preference share capital funding to the investment company.



Court documents show that under this preference share subscription (PSS)
agreement, no dividends were allowed to be paid on ordinary shares if the
preference share debt had not been settled. This issue was at the centre of the
conflict of interest argument. 



The PSS agreement also provided Old Mutual with the option to convert
the preference shares into fully paid ordinary shares of equivalent value if
NMT Capital failed to repay the preference share funding by the redemption
date.&nbsp; 



Another option was that the PSS agreement allowed South Africa’s second largest insurer to receive interest on all amounts owing, if the preference dividend was not paid, once the company had redeemed the preference shares. 



Instead, Old Mutual agreed to redemption extensions in 2010, 2013 and 2017. In 2018 the company requested another extension. According to a <a href="https://www.nmtcapital.co.za/index.php/newsroom/clarification-sens-statement-dated-18-june-2019-issued-old-mutual">statement from NMT Capital</a> it entered into talks with Old Mutual over the redemption extension with little success. 



In the statement the majority black owned investment company claims:



“NMT Capital had started discussions with Old Mutual aimed at extending
the redemption date of the preference shares. There was also a proposal sent to
that effect. These discussions were ongoing and Old Mutual was aware at that
stage that NMT Capital did not intend to redeem the preference shares but
preferred an extension of the redemption date.



“For its part, NMT Capital has on several occasions made attempts to
meet with Old Mutual representatives to iron out these issues towards finding
common ground. This includes a meeting with the Chairman of Old Mutual, Mr.
Trevor Manuel, which took place on the 30th of May 2018.”



The background to all of this tells its own story. Instead of Old Mutual
taking up the options made available to it, through the PSS agreement, it fired
Moyo in June 2019, mainly, for his role in chairing an NMT Capital annual
meeting on June 4 2018.At this meeting the black economic empowerment group
approved the payment of ordinary dividends ahead of settling its preference
share debt payments. 



Old Mutual said it held three sub-committee meetings to discuss the NMT
matters prior to firing Moyo. 



Moyo claims the board was driven by improper motives when firing him and
that his dismissal followed protective disclosures he made about Manuel. The High
Court ruled in favour of Moyo’s version of events on July 30. He is expected
back at work for the second time since the sacking this morning after winning
yet another court battle last week. 



In his founding judgement, presiding Judge Brian Mashile said:



&nbsp;“The Respondents (Old Mutual)
would let this court believe that the issue concerning the Applicant’s (Moyo)
conflict of interest arose well before he made the disclosures. In short this
is factually misguided. The Respondents might have been holding meetings as
early as January 2019 but it was not until retrieval of certain documents from
archives of NMT during or at the end of April that they learned of the alleged
conflict. The discovery of the alleged conflict therefore came after the disclosures.
For this reason, the connection is apparent – disclosure followed by alleged
conflict and then occupational detriment.”



Old Mutual did not respond to questions about why it approved NMT’s
redemption extensions several times. Also, questions as to why it did not take
up its options to convert the then outstanding preference debt from NMT into
ordinary dividends. Nor did it respond to questions on why the May 2018 talks
failed to reach a settlement and whether Moyo knew this.



Conflict of interest
options 



Aside from the PSS agreement, Old Mutual had other options to deal with
Moyo’s conflict of interest, according to court papers.



They include: an independent disciplinary hearing; asking Moyo to resign
as a director from the NMT Group; divesting his interests in the company into a
blind trust, or as a last resort, arbitration.



The job of managing any conflict appears to be at Manuel’s door.



“Any conflict of interest resulting from the executive’s position as
non-executive director of NMT will be dealt with by the chairperson of the
company and/or in terms of clause 25.2 of the executive’s employment contract,”
the contract says. 



Section 25.2 suggests arbitration by a private firm to resolve an
impasse that would normally be handled by The Commission for Conciliation,
Mediation and Arbitration. 



When asked why Manuel did not use all the options available to him to
manage Moyo’s conflict, Old Mutual did not comment. In response to a question
about why it invested in NMT Capital and the Group to start with, Old Mutual’s
chief of communications, Tabby Tsengiwe said:



“The history of
Old Mutual’s NMT investment is not relevant.&nbsp; Old Mutual’s concerns relate
to subsequent management by Mr Moyo of his conflict of interest with NMT and
among others, that ordinary dividends were paid out while OM&nbsp;[Old Mutual] should
have been paid first as a preferential shareholder.”



Following the litigation and hullabaloo over the payment of the
preference share debt NMT Capital has settled the preference share loan it
received. Asked how much the holding company NMT Group still owes, <a href="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/03/old-mutual-on-results-zimbabwe-litigation/">Old
Mutual acting CEO, Iain Williamson</a> said the insurer’s
exposure was around R290m.Old Mutual has said it is negotiating to exit this
investment.

How Old Mutual could have avoided a costly legal battle with Peter Moyo

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; Shares of MTN Nigeria hit a three-month high on Friday after the telecoms company’s offices partially reopened following a shutdown due to anti-South African attacks in the West African country.



The local units of South Africa’s MTN Group and supermarket chain Shoprite, closed all stores and service centres in Nigeria after their premises were attacked following days of riots in their home country chiefly targeting foreign-owned, including Nigerian, businesses.



The violence in South Africa has strained relations between Africa’s two biggest economies, with Nigeria saying on Thursday it would recall its top diplomat to Pretoria.



MTN Nigeria said its stores remained closed on Friday but skeletal office operations were resuming, its spokesman said, adding that staff were asked to stay at home for safety reasons.



Shoprite stores remained shut except for one in an upmarket area of the capital Abuja, a manager there said.



Shares in MTN, Nigeria’s second-biggest listed firm, rose 5.03% to 139.80 naira each, a level last seen in June. Johannesburg-listed Shoprite shares were up 1.8%.



Prior to the shutdown, the telecoms firm last week launched a mobile money transfer service, targeting Nigerians without bank accounts, and said it planned to become a payment services bank once it obtains approval from the central bank.



Reporting by Chijioke Ohuocha; editing by Jason Neely and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

MTN Nigeria shares hit 3-month high after the telecoms company partially reopens

#WEFA19: Africa’s Economic Update

HARARE (Reuters) &#8211; Following are key milestones in the life of Zimbabwe’s former leader Robert Mugabe.



1924 &#8211; Mugabe is born on Feb. 21 in what was then British-ruled Southern Rhodesia.



1940s-1950s &#8211; He is educated at Catholic schools and attends South Africa’s University of Fort Hare. He teaches in Zambia and Ghana, where he is influenced by African independence movement leaders.



1960s &#8211; Mugabe campaigns for Zimbabwe’s independence and is imprisoned in 1964 for political agitation. While incarcerated, he earns two law degrees from the University of London External Programme.



1974 &#8211; Released from prison, he escapes to Mozambique were Zimbabwe African National Union guerrilla fighters elect him to lead their struggle against white minority rule. A number of rivals die in suspicious circumstances, rights groups say.



1980 &#8211; Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party wins independent Zimbabwe’s first election. He takes office as prime minister on April 18.



1982 &#8211; Mugabe deploys North Korean-trained troops to crush an insurgency by former guerrillas loyal to his liberation war rival Joshua Nkomo. Government forces are accused of involvement in the killing of 20,000 civilians, which Mugabe denies.



1987 &#8211; He becomes president with sweeping executive powers after changes to the constitution and signs a unity pact with Nkomo, who becomes one of his two deputies.



1990 &#8211; ZANU-PF and Mugabe win parliamentary and presidential elections.



1998 &#8211; An economic crisis marked by high interest rates and inflation sparks riots.



2000 &#8211; Zimbabweans reject a new constitution in a referendum, Mugabe’s first defeat at the ballot box.



&#8211; Thousands of independence war veterans and their allies, backed by the government, seize white-owned farms, saying the land was illegally appropriated by white settlers.



2001 &#8211; The United States puts a financial freeze on Mugabe’s government in response to land seizures, beginning a wave of Western sanctions. Mugabe’s relationship with the West, especially the U.S. and Britain, never recovers.



2002 &#8211; Mugabe wins a disputed presidential vote, which observers condemn as flawed.



&#8211; Zimbabwe is suspended from the British Commonwealth over accusations of human rights abuses and economic mismanagement. Mugabe pulls his country from the grouping the following year.



2008 &#8211; Hyperinflation reaches 500 billion percent, the nadir of an economic implosion that forces millions of people to leave the country, many to neighbouring South Africa.



&#8211; Mugabe loses a presidential vote but wins the run-off after opponent Morgan Tsvangirai withdraws citing violence against his supporters by security forces and war veterans. A power-sharing agreement is signed.



2010 &#8211; Media reports say Mugabe is seriously ill with cancer, speculation that continues in following years.



2013 &#8211; Mugabe wins another disputed presidential vote. Western observers site multiple accounts of electoral fraud.



2016 &#8211; Protesters led by a pastor stage the biggest show of defiance against Mugabe in a decade, prompting speculation about life after the veteran leader.



2017 &#8211; Mugabe is forced to resign in November following an army coup and is replaced by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the man he had fired as his deputy two weeks earlier.



2018 &#8211; Mugabe is seen in public for the first time since leaving power. He berates his former ZANU-PF allies and backs opposition leader Nelson Chamisa on the eve of an election.



2019 &#8211; Mugabe travels several times to Singapore to seek medical treatment as pictures of the gaunt, gray-haired former leader circulate on social media.



Compiled by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Joe Brock and Alexandra Zavis; editing by Darren Schuettler

TIMELINE: A look at the life of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe

This is a developing story 



Zimbabwe&#8217;s former president Robert Mugabe has died at the age of 95. The former president died in a Singapore hospital where he was receiving medical treatment. 



In 2017 Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president shortly after parliament began an impeachment process to end his nearly four decades of rule. 



<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Cde Mugabe was an icon of liberation, a pan-Africanist who dedicated his life to the emancipation and empowerment of his people. His contribution to the history of our nation and continent will never be forgotten. May his soul rest in eternal peace (2/2)&mdash; President of Zimbabwe (@edmnangagwa) <a href="https://twitter.com/edmnangagwa/status/1169839311430115329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

#BREAKING: Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe has died

#WEFA19: Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World

#WEFA19: Delivering the Promise of Africa’s Youth

PRETORIA (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s economy grew 3.1% in the second quarter, following a revised 3.1% contraction in the first three months of the year, Statistics South Africa data showed on Tuesday.



Economists polled by Reuters had predicted an expansion of 2.4% quarter-on-quarter.



Year-on year GDP growth was 0.9% compared with zero previously.



Reporting by Mfuneko Toyana, writing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; editing by John Stonestreet

South Africa’s GDP expands by 3.1% in Q2

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Old Mutual Ltd will launch its second share buyback of the year on Sept. 3, South Africa’s second-largest insurer said on Monday after posting a 10% rise in half-year profit.



The company will buy back up to 2.4 billion rand ($157.51 million) worth of shares subject to market conditions.



“The board believes that the share price is trading at a discount to its intrinsic value and is of the view that a share repurchase programme will deliver longer term incremental value to shareholders,” Old Mutual said.



In the past few years, the 173-year-old company has broken up an international conglomerate structure to return to its roots as an African financial services group with its primary listing in Johannesburg.



Shareholders had hoped this homecoming would bolster the value of the group’s stock, but instead it has dropped amid a damaging public dispute with sacked Chief Executive Officer Peter Moyo.



Shares have lost around 18% since the company suspended Moyo in May. Old Mutual fired him in June, but he has been temporarily reinstated by a court &#8211; a decision the insurer is appealing.



The company launched a buyback programme at the end of its last financial year in March, again intended to placate shareholders after a more than one-third drop in its share price since a listing in June 2018.



Adjusted headline earnings per share (HEPS) stood at 109.1 cents in the six months to June 30, compared with 98.9 cents a year earlier, Old Mutual said.



HEPS is the main profit measure in South Africa that strips out certain one-off items.



($1 = 15.2369 rand)



Reporting by Emma Rumney; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu

What you need to know about Old Mutual’s plan to buy back $158 million more shares

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Sibanye-Stillwater is in talks over a potential acquisition of the world’s deepest gold mine, Mponeng, as current owner AngloGold Ashanti plans its South African exit, Sibanye said on Thursday.



A spokesman for the diversified miner confirmed the talks, after AngloGold said in May that it would review divestment options for Mponeng and other South African assets to focus on higher returns elsewhere.



“We have said we are open minded to the opportunity,” Sibanye chief executive Neal Froneman said.



“We are not panting after more deep-level gold mines but there are significant synergies and opportunities between Driefontein and Mponeng.”



He declined to comment further due to a non-disclosure agreement.



Sibanye swung into the red in the first half as a five-month strike at its South African gold operations weighed on profits despite improved financial results from the South African and U.S. platinum group metals (PGMs) operations.



Sibanye on Thursday reported a headline loss for the six months to end June of 54 cents per share, compared with a profit of 4 cents per share a year before.



“We have successfully navigated our way through this challenging period and I am confident that we have emerged in a stronger position,” Froneman said in a statement.



A five-month strike at the firm’s gold operations over pay and job cuts, which ended in April and cost Sibanye more than $100 million in lost revenue, also hit gold output.



Bullion production for the period fell to 344,752 ounces from 598,517 ounces a year earlier.



The miner, which is currently engaged in wage negotiations in the platinum sector, said it would be able to sustain a strike in the sector but that it was an unlikely scenario as negotiations were ongoing.



The sector’s majority union the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU), which originally demanded a hike of around 48%, said earlier this month that the offer by Sibanye for the Lonmin operations was a “slap in the face”.



Sibanye, which concluded the Lonmin acquisition in June to become the world’s second-largest platinum producer, said the assets were currently under a review which would be concluded during the third quarter.



“Whilst the improved PGM price environment may justify extending the operating lives of some of these operations, thereby mitigating the impact on job losses, a number of shafts have finite reserves and derive limited benefit from higher PGM basket prices,” Sibanye said.



Platinum prices are up 15% this year, while those of sister metal palladium are nearly 17% higher.



Froneman said a supportive precious metals price and a positive operational outlook would benefit earnings and cash flow in the second half, enabling it to pay down debt and possibly resume cash dividends payments in 2020.



Sibanye last paid a dividend in February 2016.



The firm said debt reduction will continue to be a priority after it was delayed by the impact of this year’s strike on its South African gold business.



Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Susan Fenton, Kirsten Donovan

Sibanye-Stillwater in talks over potential acquisition of AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine

By Dr Zweli Mkhize, MP and South Africa&#8217;s Minister of Health.



We
are all shattered by the sad news of the tragic and sudden loss of our beloved
Dr Thandi Ndlovu.&nbsp;



Dr
Ndlovu was an inspiring entrepreneur, a community developer, a freedom fighter,
a friend, a good doctor and a lovely human being.&nbsp;She inspired both
business women and men and was always elected to be their leader because of her
vision and her courage.&nbsp;



She
was trusted by many of us who still expected her to contribute a lot to the
future of our country. She worked hard and achieved many incredible milestones
in her career; making us all proud of her as a professional and a
businesswoman.



Personally,
I had the privilege to work closely with her as a comrade and business person
during my tenure as the Treasurer General of the African National Congress; as
she occupied leadership positions in various business organizations.



It
was fun to watch her in action &#8211; she was spectacular!&nbsp;



&nbsp;She
fought hard for Black business to be given space and be supported; taking up
their issues of unfair treatment and unpaid invoices as their spokesperson;
confronting inefficient and arrogant beaurocrats; with success.



In
the construction sector, Dr Ndlovu was known as the undisputed champion for
inclusivity, high quality performance and a fearless opponent for collusion and
injustice perpetrated against black contractors.&nbsp;



She
challenged chief executives and chairpersons of boards of the
large&nbsp;construction companies and on behalf of Black Business Council got
them to concede to a corrective process to address the past injustices; known
as Voluntary Rectification Program (VRP). This was a major achievements for the
BBC and government to enforce empowerment in the construction sector.



Men
and women in the industry respected her as a leader. 



For
her, being a woman was a source of confidence, strength, authority and decisive
leadership – it all came naturally. She was a strategist whose business acumen
made her a wise leader who was equally formidable and diplomatic in the board
room. These qualities made her ideas prevail.



Sisi
Thandi was a powerful force for transformation and economic emancipation!



&nbsp; South Africa&nbsp; has lost a leader and we
as a nation are all the poorer on such great a loss.



She
was a talented golfer,&nbsp; a generous person who loved people. She was always
cheerful with her loud infectious laughter.



She
was&nbsp; a good, humble and a caring soul and always a doctor at heart.&nbsp;



We
shall forever miss her sisterly love and warmth.&nbsp;



We
convey our deepest condolences to her beloved family, and to her friends.&nbsp;
May&nbsp; they be consoled to know that we
share in their grief.



May
her soul Rest In eternal Peace!

Southern Africa

This African country will continue debt restructuring talks despite ‘tuna bond’ court ruling

In conversation with the founding father of Computicket Percy Tucker

CEOs of MTN’s Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire units are stepping down

Plane leaves Zimbabwe for Singapore to bring home the body of former president Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe’s deepening crisis: Here’s why it’s time for a second government of national unity

South Africa’s rand strengthens, reignited by upbeat remarks from U.S. Federal reserve chairman

How Old Mutual could have avoided a costly legal battle with Peter Moyo

MTN Nigeria shares hit 3-month high after the telecoms company partially reopens

#WEFA19: Africa’s Economic Update

TIMELINE: A look at the life of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe

#BREAKING: Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe has died

#WEFA19: Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World

#WEFA19: Delivering the Promise of Africa’s Youth

South Africa’s GDP expands by 3.1% in Q2

What you need to know about Old Mutual’s plan to buy back $158 million more shares

Sibanye-Stillwater in talks over potential acquisition of AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine

Op-Ed: A tribute to Dr Thandi Ndlovu

News Tips

Advertise With Us

Southern Africa

This African country will continue debt restructuring talks despite ‘tuna bond’ court ruling

In conversation with the founding father of Computicket Percy Tucker

CEOs of MTN’s Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire units are stepping down

Plane leaves Zimbabwe for Singapore to bring home the body of former president Robert Mugabe

Zimbabwe’s deepening crisis: Here’s why it’s time for a second government of national unity

South Africa’s rand strengthens, reignited by upbeat remarks from U.S. Federal reserve chairman

How Old Mutual could have avoided a costly legal battle with Peter Moyo

MTN Nigeria shares hit 3-month high after the telecoms company partially reopens

#WEFA19: Africa’s Economic Update

TIMELINE: A look at the life of Zimbabwe’s late former president Robert Mugabe

#BREAKING: Zimbabwe’s former president Robert Mugabe has died

#WEFA19: Africa: Rising Continent in a Fractured World

#WEFA19: Delivering the Promise of Africa’s Youth

South Africa’s GDP expands by 3.1% in Q2

What you need to know about Old Mutual’s plan to buy back $158 million more shares

Sibanye-Stillwater in talks over potential acquisition of AngloGold Ashanti’s Mponeng mine

Op-Ed: A tribute to Dr Thandi Ndlovu

News Tips

Advertise With Us

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