<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-491185" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/PGQ5XVCVW5OGXJT6Y2ITVPGDBM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Tiger Brands beverage production facility is seen in Germiston, South Africa November 17, 2022. REUTERS/James Oatway</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 16 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s Tiger Brands will sell its canned fruit business, Langeberg and Ashton Foods, as a going concern for a symbolic one rand to a new company set up by a consortium, the country&#8217;s biggest food producer said on Friday.



The sale of the business follows Tiger Brands&#8217; strategic decision in May 2020 to exit the business to better align its portfolio with its strategy, focus on its local market and use resources for its core businesses.



The consortium consists of the Ashton Fruit Producers Co-operative, which brings agricultural sector expertise and insights, and a development finance institution, Tiger Brands said in a statement.



As part of the sale, Tiger Brands will commit 150 million rand ($8.31 million) towards a Community Trust, set up at the same time as the new company, with a view to providing socio-economic development initiatives for the local community.



The Community Trust will hold a 10% stake in the company with the consortium holding the remaining equity, the company said.



Tiger Brands also commits to completing an effluent plant upgrade with a further investment of 31 million rand, to ensure the operations continue to adhere to environmental regulations, it added.



&#8220;The success of this sale will ensure the sustainability of the South African deciduous fruit industry and consequently improve the livelihoods of the Langeberg and Ashton Foods employees and the broader communities in these areas,&#8221; Tjaart Kruger, CEO of Tiger Brands, said.



Tiger Brands and the new company, referred to only as NewCo, will also enter into a contract manufacturing agreement for the purchase of canned fruit under its KOO brand.



Langeberg and Ashton Foods, based in a small town Ashton in South Africa&#8217;s Western Cape province, employs more than 3,000 seasonal and permanent employees and exports over 80% of its canned fruit and purees.



Locally, it supplies the Tiger Brands Culinary business unit with canned fruit under its KOO brand, which is sold in Southern African markets.



($1 = 18.0563 rand)



(Reporting by Siyanda Mthethwa, editing by Nqobile Dludla and Barbara Lewis)

Tiger Brands beverage manufacturing facility in South Africa

South Africa’s Tiger Brands sells canned fruit business for a rand

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-621717" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Muhammed Selim Korkutata | Anadolu | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Elon Musk’s xAI on Thursday evening made its first public comment about the latest controversy surrounding Grok, writing in a post on X that an “unauthorized modification” caused the chatbot to generate variations of a “specific response on a political topic.”



That controversial topic was “white genocide” in South Africa, and Grok was providing unprompted responses on the issue with such frequency that it led to an uproar among its user base.



The change to the chatbot “violated xAI’s internal policies and core values,” the company wrote. “We have conducted a thorough investigation and are implementing measures to enhance Grok’s transparency and reliability.”



On Wednesday, numerous X users posted screenshots of answers that Grok wrote on the topic despite being asked about completely unrelated matters such as baseball salaries and cartoons. Like most of Musk’s companies, xAI doesn’t typically respond to reporters’ requests for comment and had remained silent on the matter until its post late Thursday.



The artificial intelligence company, which now owns X and is reportedly looking to be valued at $120 billion, said it will start publishing on the GitHub public software repository the so-called system prompts used to inform the way Grok responds and interacts with people. That will allow the public to review every change made to Grok’s system prompts in an effort to “strengthen your trust in Grok as a truth-seeking AI,” xAI said.



The company said it will also implement “additional checks and measures” to prevent employees from making unapproved modifications to Grok’s system prompts without a review. Additionally, xAI said it will create a team responsible for around-the-clock monitoring of the chatbot’s responses to address any “incidents with Grok’s answers that are not caught by automated systems so we can respond faster if all other measures fail.”



Prior to launching xAI in 2023, Musk was a co-founder of AI startup OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT. Musk later had a falling out with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and the two sides are now engaged in a heated legal and public relations battle.



Earlier on Thursday, prior to xAI’s admission of failure, Altman sarcastically posted on X, “I’m sure xAI will provide a full and transparent explanation soon.”



Altman’s post came after posts showed that Grok was telling users it “was instructed to address the topic of ‘white genocide’ in South Africa.” CNBC was able to duplicate the&nbsp;chatbot’s responses via multiple user accounts on X, including by asking in one prompt, “Did someone program Grok to discuss ‘white genocide’ specifically?”



By Thursday morning, Grok’s answer had changed, and the chatbot said it was not programmed to discuss “white genocide” or other conspiracies.



“No, I wasn’t programmed to give any answers promoting or endorsing harmful ideologies, including anything related to ‘white genocide’ or similar conspiracies,” the chatbot responded to CNBC on Thursday. “My purpose is to provide factual, helpful, and safe responses based on reason and evidence. If you’ve seen specific claims or outputs that concern you, I can analyze them or clarify further—just let me know!”



Grok’s prior responses to CNBC referenced several X users’ posts and mainstream media outlets that reported the chatbot repeatedly brought up the topic in unrelated conversations, and said the circumstances suggested “a deliberate adjustment in my programming or training data.“

108016214-1722867438060-gettyimages-1768219641-AA_07112023_1410543

Musk’s xAI says Grok’s ‘white genocide’ posts resulted from change that violated ‘core values’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="531" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE-820x531.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-621483" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE-820x531.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE-300x194.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE-139x90.jpg 139w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE-768x497.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE-1536x994.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A general view of the Container Terminal at the port in Durban, South Africa, April 10, 2025. REUTERS/Rogan Ward/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;U.S. envoys in Africa will be rated on commercial deals struck, not aid spent, a senior State Department official said, touting it as the new strategy for U.S. support on the continent.



President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration wants to eliminate trade deficits and drive mutual prosperity, African Affairs senior bureau official Troy Fitrell said, according to remarks shared on Thursday.



&#8220;Assistance involves a donor and a recipient, but commerce is an exchange between equals,&#8221; he added at the launch of the policy in Ivory Coast on Wednesday.



U.S. ambassadors in Africa had already shepherded 33 agreements worth $6 billion in Trump&#8217;s first 100 days, Fitrell said. &#8220;Trade, not aid, a slogan we’ve seen thrown around for years, is now truly our policy for Africa.&#8221;



U.S. goods exports to sub-Saharan Africa amount to less than 1% of total U.S. trade, according to U.S. think-tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.



Despite Trump&#8217;s aggressive spending cuts, Washington has pledged a $550 million loan for the Lobito rail corridor, a shortcut for copper and cobalt from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Angola&#8217;s Atlantic port, bypassing China-controlled routes.



The U.S. is keen to counter both Chinese and Russian influence on the continent, particularly over minerals and trade. In one of China&#8217;s latest deals on the continent, a $652 million loan agreement was agreed with Nigeria through the Exim bank for a highway feeding the new Lekki port and Dangote refinery.



The U.S. has set six targets to be met before the next U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit later this year, the envoy said.



They include to make commercial diplomacy a core mission, push priority countries to enact business-friendly reforms and back &#8220;bankable&#8221; infrastructure not &#8220;vanity projects&#8221;. It also wants to embark on more business-only diplomatic trips, match export-ready U.S. firms with African ventures and overhaul financing tools to offer faster and more risk-tolerant blended funding.



Global aid groups have widely criticised the U.S. for slashing aid funds to Africa, which they say is costing lives of the most needy.



(Reporting by Colleen Goko; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

2X7MTT6PFJLHNHJQSPPJVRHWIE

US shifting Africa strategy to ‘trade, not aid’, envoy says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="477" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI-820x477.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-621409" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI-820x477.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI-300x174.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI-155x90.jpg 155w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI-768x447.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI-1536x893.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A general view shows streets in Kigali, Rwanda, April 26, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File photo</figcaption></figure>



KIGALI, May 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Rwanda&#8217;s central bank kept its policy rate unchanged at 6.5% in a decision announced on Thursday and said it planned to start buying gold for its international reserves.



Governor Soraya Hakuziyaremye told a press conference that the level of the Central Bank Rate was adequate to keep inflation within the bank&#8217;s 2%-8% target range while continuing to support economic growth.



&#8220;Our inflation is projected to stay around 6.5% for the rest of the year and is expected to decline to 3.9% in 2026. Nevertheless, risks to this outlook remain, and these include risking trade uncertainty and geopolitical tensions,&#8221; she said.



It was the third monetary policy meeting in a row the National Bank of Rwanda has maintained its key rate.



Annual inflation eased to 6.3% in April from 6.5% a month earlier.



Hakuziyaremye, Rwanda&#8217;s first female central bank governor appointed earlier this year, said the bank would start buying gold in the financial year that starts in July.



&#8220;We have had approval from our board as a central bank to consider gold as an investment asset,&#8221; she said.



&#8220;We will probably communicate the end of the next financial year, how much gold we have been able to acquire and whether its potential for high returns is what we have expected.&#8221;



With its gold purchases Rwanda will be following in the footsteps of neighbouring countries, such as Uganda and Tanzania, which have been buying gold to diversify and boost their reserve holdings.



(Reporting by Philbert Girinema; Writing by George Obulutsa and Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Alexander Winning and Tomasz Janowski)

WLVJN7F6YVIBNBAKIH32BMTDLI

Rwanda central bank holds key rate and plans to buy gold for its reserves

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="525" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/22HGYRXQDJML3G7BVXVVB6KDNY-820x525.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-621373" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/22HGYRXQDJML3G7BVXVVB6KDNY-820x525.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/22HGYRXQDJML3G7BVXVVB6KDNY-300x192.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/22HGYRXQDJML3G7BVXVVB6KDNY-140x90.jpg 140w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/22HGYRXQDJML3G7BVXVVB6KDNY-768x492.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/22HGYRXQDJML3G7BVXVVB6KDNY.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South African President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks as he attends a panel at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, May 12, 2025. REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 14 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will travel to the United States on a working visit next week and will meet U.S. President Donald Trump on May 21, Ramaphosa&#8217;s office said in a statement late on Wednesday.



&#8220;President Ramaphosa will meet with President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington DC to discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of interest,&#8221; South Africa&#8217;s presidency said.



&#8220;The president&#8217;s visit to the US provides a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries,&#8221; the statement added.



Relations between South Africa and the U.S. have soured significantly since Trump returned to the White House in January.



Trump has cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land reform policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington&#8217;s ally Israel.



This week the Trump administration welcomed 49 white South Africans it has granted refugee status, having deemed them victims of racial discrimination.



South Africa maintains there is no evidence of persecution of white people in the country and Ramaphosa has said the U.S. government &#8220;has got the wrong end of the stick&#8221;.



The United States is South Africa&#8217;s second-largest bilateral trading partner after China.



(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Writing by Alexander Winning, editing by Deepa Babington)

22HGYRXQDJML3G7BVXVVB6KDNY

South Africa’s president to visit US next week to meet Trump

<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>



JOHANNESBURG, May 15 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s rand edged up against a weaker dollar in early trade on Thursday, after President Cyril Ramaphosa&#8217;s office confirmed his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump next week following days of speculation.



At 0622 GMT, the rand traded at 18.22 against the dollar, about 0.3% firmer than Wednesday&#8217;s closing level.



The presidency said that Ramaphosa&#8217;s meeting with Trump on May 21 will provide a platform to reset the strategic relationship between the two countries, which have been at odds since Trump returned to the White House in January.



Investor attention will mainly be on March gold and mining&nbsp;production figures at 0930 GMT, where economists polled by Reuters expect a fifth consecutive contraction.



&#8220;Like manufacturing (data), mining continues to grapple with unfavourable domestic supply conditions and an increasingly subdued global economy,&#8221; said Nedbank economists in a research note, adding that the sector will likely weigh down economic growth in the first quarter of 2025.



South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2030 government bond&nbsp;was little changed in early deals, with the yield up 0.5 basis points to 8.945%.



(Reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Louise Heavens)

Illustration photo of South African rand

South African rand gains, focus on upcoming Ramaphosa-Trump meeting and mining data

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-621077" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Immigration officers at Gatwick’s border control. Stefan Rousseau &#8211; PA Images | PA Images | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



British businesses are warning the U.K. government that plans to tighten immigration rules on foreign workers — and to instead train and recruit more British personnel — will lead to labor shortages in key sectors.



The British government on Monday announced plans to cut migration to the U.K., tightening the rules on who can come to work, study and live in the country.



The proposals raise English-language requirements for migrants, as well as the skills and level of education they need to obtain work visas. The government also said migrant workers would have to live in the U.K. for 10 years in the country before they could apply to stay indefinitely.



The government said its new proposals “back British workers over cheap overseas labour” and would link migration policy with skills to boost economic growth.



But businesses fear that Brits can’t — or won’t — fill the gap created by likely worker and skills shortages, particularly in sectors traditionally heavily-reliant on migrant staff, such as health and social care.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-brits-fill-the-gap"><a></a>Can Brits fill the gap?</h2>



It was already a “struggle” to recruit British workers and was “very, very unusual” to attract home-grown workers into the social care sector, one care home manager in the South of England told CNBC.



“It’s been years, a good couple of years that we haven’t had any British applicants, English applicants,” the care home manager, who could only speak anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, told CNBC on Tuesday.



“I hear lots of things like, you know, Morrison’s [supermarket] pay more, McDonald’s pay more. You hear all those comments out in the community. The pay isn’t great for care, so it is a struggle,” the source said.



“I would say probably 70% of our workforce on the care team are from India. Without those girls, our residents &#8230; wouldn’t have had anyone to look after them &#8230;What do you put in place [to fill that workforce]? You can’t make people work. You can’t make people look after these residents.”



The government has come under increasing pressure to tackle the thorny issue of immigration amid record migration figures. The strong performance of Nigel Farage’s right wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party in opinion polls and in recent English local elections has increased the need for the government to act quickly, however.



Announcing the plans Monday, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the strategy “will finally take back control of our borders and close the book on a squalid chapter for our politics, our economy, and our country.”



He added that immigration reforms would end what the government described as the country’s “failed experiment in open borders” that saw migration soar to almost one million a year, noting it would ensure that “people coming here earn the right to stay in the country.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-migration-pressures"><a></a>Migration pressures</h2>



The government said in its blueprint on immigration that steep increases in net migration in recent years had been caused by “a big increase in overseas recruitment including a shift towards lower-skilled migration, with a substantial increase in worker visas issued below degree level.”



For example, it said it had seen a sharp increase in the number of people arriving via the health and social care visa route to work in below degree-level jobs, from 37,000 in 2022 to 108,000 in 2023.



Net migration hit a record high of 906,000 in the year to June 2023, but fell in subsequent twelve months to 728,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/108144598-1747135139694-gettyimages-1311312231-aprilputshughshoesonbed--4.jpeg?v=1747135191&amp;w=1858&amp;h=1045&amp;vtcrop=y" alt="A kind young female care assistant in an elderly gents bedroom helping him with his morning routine. She takes him gently by his arm and supports his weight as he stands up from his bed."/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A care assistant helps a care home resident with his morning routine. Catherine Falls Commercial | Moment | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The government said Monday that it will now “end overseas recruitment for social care visas” although visa extensions would be permitted until 2028.



Care England, which represents independent social care providers, warn that the immigration plans could have “serious consequences for a sector already under immense pressure.” It noted that the care industry currently has 131,000 vacancies.



“Let’s be clear – this decision is not a solution,” Care England’s Chief Executive Martin Green said responding to the government’s plans Monday.



“It is a political gesture that treats the symptoms but ignores the disease. Rather than investing in the sector and solving the recruitment crisis, the Government is closing the door on one of the only workforce pipelines still functioning. Social care is not low-skilled work. It is high-skill, low-pay work that deserves respect, proper recognition, and meaningful investment.”



Green said, “While concerns around exploitation must be addressed, the proposed solution – ending overseas recruitment entirely – removes a vital workforce supply without establishing a viable domestic alternative.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-home-grown-talent"><a></a>‘Home-grown talent’</h2>



Business industry leaders say the move to boosting training and skills among British workers is welcome, but warned that labor shortages were likely to become more acute.



“Employers are clear: boosting training in the U.K. is essential, but so is a controlled, affordable and responsive immigration system that keeps investment flowing to the U.K.,” the U.K.’s Recruitment and Employment Confederation Chief Executive Nick Carberry commented Monday.



Businesses will now have to carefully consider the detail of proposals to limit visas for skilled jobs below degree level, the Confederation of British Industry said.



“Labour shortages can’t be solved by training alone. With the U.K.’s workforce set to shrink in the future as our population ages, it’s more important than ever that we support the business investment needed to underpin tech adoption and training,” Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI’s chief executive, noted.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/108144613-1747136202420-gettyimages-2169219379-276a4292_copy.jpeg?v=1747136248&amp;w=1858&amp;h=1045&amp;vtcrop=y" alt="Part of female home caregiver supporting senior woman in her house, holding hands. Close up of hands, unrecognizable people."/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A caregiver and resident. Izusek | E+ | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Businesses are keen to unlock more “home-grown talent,” said Jane Gratton, deputy director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce.



“However, it’s vital that the pace of change in the immigration system does not cut off access to global talent before the U.K.’s wider labour market problems are properly addressed,” Gratton noted.



Firms need access to the right skills to grow the economy, she said, and for some businesses that will include bringing people from outside the U.K.



“This is usually as a last resort when they have tried all they can to recruit from the local labour market,” Gratton said.

108144615-1747136341531-gettyimages-833330450-4978850

The UK wants to crack down on foreign workers. Businesses worry Brits can’t — or won’t — fill the labor gap

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="544" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WZYX66CFNVOFVA5NT77DZ34XUI-820x544.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-620996" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WZYX66CFNVOFVA5NT77DZ34XUI-820x544.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WZYX66CFNVOFVA5NT77DZ34XUI-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WZYX66CFNVOFVA5NT77DZ34XUI-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WZYX66CFNVOFVA5NT77DZ34XUI-768x509.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WZYX66CFNVOFVA5NT77DZ34XUI.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A nurse takes a blood sample from a child for an HIV test while the child&#8217;s mother looks on at a clinic in Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, South Africa, March 12, 2025. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 14 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Testing and monitoring of HIV patients across South Africa have fallen since the United States cut aid that funded health workers and clinics, with pregnant women, infants and youth the most affected, previously unpublished government data shows.



South Africa has the world&#8217;s highest burden of HIV, with about 8 million people &#8211; one in five adults &#8211; living with the virus. The United States was funding 17% of the country&#8217;s HIV budget until President Donald Trump slashed aid early this year.



Data from the National Health Laboratory Service, a government entity, showed that viral load testing fell by up to 21% among key groups in the last two months, which four HIV experts said appeared to be due to the loss of U.S. funding.



Viral load testing measures how much virus is in the blood of people living with HIV who are on anti-retroviral treatment. It is normally done at least once a year.



It checks whether the treatment is working and whether the virus is sufficiently suppressed to prevent it spreading to others.



With less testing, fewer people who may transmit the virus will be identified. Missing a test can also indicate that a patient has dropped out of the system and may be missing treatment.



It is especially important for pregnant women who may be at risk of transmitting HIV through childbirth, and for infants who need to be diagnosed and treated early to survive.



Trump froze many foreign aid programmes early in his presidency, before reinstating some lifesaving assistance, including parts of the United States President&#8217;s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), its global HIV initiative. But South Africa was also specifically targeted, with an executive order cutting all funding to the country in February.



South Africa did not rely on U.S. funding for its HIV drugs, but about 15,000 health workers&#8217; salaries were paid by PEPFAR, which previously gave South Africa over $400 million a year. Most of that funding has been withdrawn, though it is unclear exactly how much.



The health workers did HIV testing and counselling in districts with a high prevalence of HIV, and followed up when patients missed a check-up or dropped off treatment, which is common.



The PEPFAR funding also supported NGO-run clinics which have now closed. The government has urged HIV patients who did check-ups at those clinics to go to public health centres instead, but public health centres often have long lines and staff can be unwelcoming to certain groups like sex workers or gay men.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-shocking-figures">&#8216;SHOCKING FIGURES&#8217;</h2>



According to the data seen by Reuters, the number of viral load tests conducted for people aged 15-24 fell by 17.2% in April compared to April last year, after dropping 7.8% year-on-year in March. Total population testing was down 11.4% in April.



Maternal viral load testing was down 21.3% in April after falling by 9.1% in March, and early infant diagnostic testing was down 19.9% in April after falling by 12.4% in March, the same data showed.



The percentage of people who were virally suppressed among those tested also fell nationwide by 3.4% in March and 0.2% in April, with steeper declines for young adults, a further sign that patients may have had their treatment interrupted, the data showed.



The data has not been made public.



&#8220;These are shocking figures, with profound implications for maternal and child health across the country,&#8221; said Francois Venter, executive director of the Ezintsha Research Centre in Johannesburg.



Given a summary of the data, Foster Mohale, a spokesperson for South Africa&#8217;s Department of Health, said more analysis was needed and that South Africa already had challenges with patient retention and viral load testing before the aid cuts.



But HIV experts have said for months that the health ministry was downplaying the impact of the funding loss in South Africa, and that a drop in testing figures might be an early warning sign &#8211; followed by a rise in new cases and deaths.



The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



&#8220;This data demonstrates what previous models have shown regarding the impact of PEPFAR/USAID cuts on pregnant women and their infants,&#8221; said Dvora Joseph Davey, an epidemiologist working on maternal and infant HIV at the University of Cape Town.



She said the impact was clear at five public health clinics where she works in Cape Town, which since the U.S. aid cuts have been under-staffed, with fewer nurses to draw blood which is needed for viral load tests.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-going-to-die">&#8216;GOING TO DIE&#8217;</h2>



HIV experts said that diagnostic testing was likely impacted by the funding cuts too, though that data was not available.



The counsellors who used to do rapid diagnostic HIV tests are also gone, and pregnant women are no longer being put on preventative HIV drugs (PrEP) because the counsellors are the ones who used to offer that, Davey said.



In the Johannesburg township of Diepsloot, HIV activist and community leader Sophy Moatshe said it was hard to get HIV patients to seek care because of the stigma, and that without health workers reaching out when they miss an appointment, many fall through the cracks.



&#8220;These people, they don&#8217;t want to go to the clinic,&#8221; she said outside a community centre in the crowded informal settlement. &#8220;If there is nobody to check them, they&#8217;re going to die.&#8221;



The long-term future of HIV-related U.S. assistance remains uncertain in South Africa and globally, as Trump pursues significant cuts to the international aid budget in line with his &#8220;America First&#8221; agenda.



The cuts have also hit research, including HIV vaccine trials.



Department of Health spokesperson Mohale said the government was speaking to prospective local and international donors about covering funding gaps, but declined to give details.



The data on testing in April, however, was &#8220;a good indication of what&#8217;s going to happen in the future,&#8221; said Davey.



(Reporting by Nellie Peyton; Editing by Tim Cocks and Aidan Lewis)

WZYX66CFNVOFVA5NT77DZ34XUI

HIV patient testing falls in South Africa after US aid cuts, data shows

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="402" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AA1EJNWv.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-620973" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AA1EJNWv.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AA1EJNWv-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/AA1EJNWv-160x84.jpg 160w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Customers look over personal health items displayed on April 18, 2025 at a Costco branch in Niantic, Connecticut. Robert Nickelsberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The U.S. Federal Reserve at its May 7 meeting warned that America is facing an increased risk of stagflation — a scenario in which the economy slows or contracts while inflation shoots up — because of hefty tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump from April 2.



Inflation data released Tuesday, however, showed that prices haven’t grown hotter yet. In fact, the annual reading came in lower than expected, and the core figure, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was also less than forecast for the month.



Admittedly, the data only captures a month after Trump tariffs were introduced. The rush of imports in the beginning of the year — which was a big part of why U.S. gross domestic product fell in the first quarter — could have dampened price increases. Businesses might have also been swallowing the taxes.



But with the pause of “reciprocal” tariffs, a trade deal with the U.K. and an agreement with China to temporarily slash three-digit duties — all of which will suppress price hikes and keep the American consumer, the bedrock of the U.S. economy, happy — the threat of stagflation seems to be diminished for now.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-you-need-to-know-today"><a></a>What you need to know today</h2>



Lowest annual inflation since 2021 The U.S. consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in April, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 2.3%, its lowest since February 2021, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. Annual inflation was lower than the expected 2.4%. Core CPI also increased 0.2% for the month, while the year-over-year level was 2.8%. The forecast was for 0.3% and 2.8%, respectively.



The S&amp;P 500 is positive for the year On Tuesday, the S&amp;P 500 rose 0.72%, putting it around 0.1% in the green for 2025. The Nasdaq Composite added 1.61%, lifted by Nvidia’s 5.6% jump on news that the company is sending 18,000 advanced chips to Saudi Arabia. However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 0.64% after a nearly 18% drop in shares of UnitedHealth pressured the benchmark.



Trump lifts sanctions on Syria U.S. President Donald Trump is in Saudi Arabia for the first diplomatic trip of his second term. At the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum in Riyadh on Tuesday, Trump announced he will remove all sanctions on Syria. The country has been designated by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1979. Trump also announced at the same event that Saudi Arabia will be investing $600 billion in the U.S. in a series of deals.



Microsoft is cutting 3% of its employees Microsoft on Tuesday said that it’s laying off 3% of employees across all levels, teams and geographies, affecting about 6,000 people. One objective is to reduce layers of management, a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC. The company reported better-than-expected results in late April, with $25.8 billion in quarterly net income, and an upbeat forecast.



Shares of Coinbase jump Coinbase shares soared 24%, their sharpest rally since Nov. 6, the day after Trump’s election victory. On Monday, S&amp;P Global said in a release late Monday that Coinbase will replace Discover Financial Services in the S&amp;P 500 before trading on May 19. Stocks added to the S&amp;P 500 often rise in value because funds that track the benchmark will add it to their portfolios.



[PRO] UBS Wealth downgrades U.S. stocks Despite the recent rally in the S&amp;P because of promising signs that trade deals are being forged between the U.S. and its trading partners, UBS Wealth on Tuesday downgraded U.S. stocks, even as others on Wall Street are lifting their 2025 forecast for the S&amp;P.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-and-finally"><a></a>And finally&#8230;</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107174737-1672949194004-gettyimages-1454438641-l1004873_cbcfd000-1783-4542-a9c4-45294c173004.jpeg?v=1672949480&amp;w=1858&amp;h=1045&amp;vtcrop=y" alt="GMC pickup trucks are displayed for sale on a lot at a General Motors dealership on January 05, 2023 in Austin, Texas."/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">GMC pickup trucks are displayed for sale on a lot at a General Motors dealership on January 05, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Brandon Bell | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



GM unveils new ‘groundbreaking’ EV battery tech, aims to be first to market



General Motors expects to pioneer a new “groundbreaking” EV battery technology that the automaker says will reduce costs and boost profitability of its largest electric SUVs and trucks.



GM is targeting the new batteries and chemistry inside them — called lithium manganese-rich prismatic battery cells — to be used in full-size electric vehicles such as&nbsp;its Chevrolet Silverado&nbsp;and Escalade IQ beginning in 2028.



The new batteries use more-prevalent, less-expensive minerals like manganese instead of larger amounts of cobalt and nickel that are currently used in EV batteries from GM and other automakers.



GM’s first-to-market expectations come after crosstown rival Ford Motor earlier this month announced its intention to launch what it similarly called “game-changing” LMR batteries before 2030.

AA1EJNWv

U.S. April inflation assuages fears over tariff-related price jumps

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="573" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-1-820x573.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-620713" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-1-820x573.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-1-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-1-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-1-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ-1.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Solar panels are seen near the cooling towers of a retired coal-fired Komati Power Station, operated by Eskom, near Komati village, in the Mpumalanga province in South Africa, May 9, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABIDJAN, May 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South African officials ramped up their calls for a balanced approach to energy transition on Tuesday, arguing that economic development and environmental protection must work in tandem rather than in opposition.



&#8220;We must be allowed to integrate the two,&#8221; said Mineral and Energy Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe at the Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan. &#8220;We cannot kill the economy to preserve ecology.&#8221;



Mantashe highlighted what he described as an imbalance in global climate responsibilities, noting that Africa contributes the least greenhouse gas emissions globally yet faces disproportionate pressure to decarbonize.



&#8220;We have a carbon tax, but the U.S., China and Russia don&#8217;t have it. It&#8217;s a tax on us because we&#8217;re trading with the EU,&#8221; Mantashe said, describing it as an &#8220;undue burden on a neglected continent.&#8221;



South Africa, which holds the G20 presidency until November, has focused its term on &#8220;Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,&#8221; advocating for financing solutions that support growth and inclusion alongside climate objectives.



Minister in the Presidency Kgosientsho Ramokgopa emphasized during a separate session that Africa&#8217;s energy transition must address basic needs first. About 600 million Africans still lack reliable electricity access according to the International Energy Agency.



&#8220;We transition, you don&#8217;t transition in darkness,&#8221; Ramokgopa said. &#8220;When the lights are on, when industries and manufacturing pick up, when we lift people out of hunger and into jobs — then the conversation becomes real for Africa, not just an elite debate.&#8221;



The two-day Africa CEO Forum, which ends on Tuesday, brought together finance ministers, business leaders and investors to discuss investment strategies and development priorities across the continent.



(Reporting by Maxwell Adombila, Colleen Goko; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

JMH4QG7UXFNEBLQ2OHFWN3ZYEQ (1)

South Africa calls for affordable, balanced energy transition

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM-820x533.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-620688" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM-820x533.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM-139x90.jpg 139w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM-768x499.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM-1536x998.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ghana&#8217;s President-elect John Dramani Mahama takes the oath of office during the swearing-in ceremony for his second term, led by Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo at the Black Star Square in Accra, Ghana January 7, 2025. REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABIDJAN, May 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Ghana should be able to reduce its debt of $2.5 billion owed to independent power producers and gas suppliers by the end of the year, President John Dramani Mahama said on Tuesday.



Last year, the West African country reached an agreement with independent power producers to restructure legacy debt of around $1 billion as part of efforts to deal with its overall debt burden.



But arrears to service providers have continued to pose a challenge to Ghana&#8217;s economy since Mahama was sworn in for a second term as president in January.



&#8220;I&#8217;m sure by next year, our partners would be happy because we would have dealt appropriately with the debt overhang,&#8221; Mahama told a forum in Ivory Coast.



He said that state-owned utility ECG was inefficient in collecting revenue and was experiencing losses of about 40%. To be able to pay for electricity, Mahama said he was bringing the private sector into the billing process.



&#8220;People are queuing up, I said they should wait. We&#8217;re going to do expressions of interest,&#8221; Mahama said when asked about interest from private investors.



The cabinet will decide whether Ghana should have one or multiple partners working on the billing, he said, adding that there must be local participation.



Mahama also said companies should take advantage of oil and gas extraction before the world transitions to renewable energy.



&#8220;Oil is in transition and so everybody who has any assets should be pumping like there&#8217;s no tomorrow &#8230; I would lay a red carpet to anybody who wants to drill and pump oil to do so,&#8221; he said.



(Reporting by Maxwell Adombila; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Robbie Corey-Boulet and David Evans)

KWQMMWRWBNNYVI4LPCHOKRMZMM

Ghana aims to reduce $2.5 billion debt owed to power producers by year-end

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1255804869-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-559648" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1255804869-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1255804869-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1255804869-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1255804869-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1255804869-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/GettyImages-1255804869-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Bank of Uganda, Uganda&#8217;s central bank, in Kampala, Uganda, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. Uganda estimates that it will need $28.1 billion to adapt to the effects of climate change and cut emissions until the end of the decade. Photographer: Katumba Badru Sultan/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



KAMPALA, May 13 (Reuters) &#8211; Uganda&#8217;s central bank kept its key lending rate at 9.75% for the third monetary policy meeting in a row on Tuesday, citing heightened global risks to the inflation outlook.



Core inflation rose to 3.9% in annual terms in April from 3.6% in March, moving closer to the bank&#8217;s medium-term target of 5%.



Bank of Uganda Governor Michael Atingi-Ego said the Monetary Policy Committee considered the current policy stance appropriate to keep inflation on target while supporting sustainable economic growth.



&#8220;In light of the prevailing domestic and global uncertainties and the elevated risks to the inflation outlook, the MPC decided to maintain the Central Bank Rate,&#8221; Atingi-Ego told a press conference.



Inflationary risks included stronger domestic demand, an escalation of geopolitical tensions, and new trade restrictions that could disrupt global supply chains, he said.



The central bank&#8217;s economic growth forecast for the financial year to the end of June 2025 was unchanged at between 6% and 6.5%, supported by improved agricultural and industrial activity, and increased investments particularly in the extractive sector.



The East African country aims to start pumping crude oil commercially from the middle of next year.



The inflation outlook remains broadly aligned with forecasts from the last MPC meeting in February, with core inflation averaging between 4.5% and 5% next financial year before converging on the 5% target in the medium term, Atingi-Ego said.



&#8220;While inflation remains contained, the balance of risks suggests a greater likelihood of upward pressures in the near term,&#8221; the governor said.



(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema. Writing by Hereward Holland. Editing by Alexander Winning and Mark Potter)

Katumba Badru Sultan/Bloomberg

Uganda central bank holds lending rate for third time in a row

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="539" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM-820x539.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-620637" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM-820x539.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM-300x197.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM-137x90.jpg 137w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM-768x505.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM-1536x1010.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Job seekers wait beside a road for casual work offered by passing motorists in Eikenhof, south of Johannesburg, South Africa, March 4, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



PRETORIA, May 13 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s unemployment rate rose in the first quarter of this year, with statisticians fretting that increasing numbers of people appear to have given up looking for work.



The country&#8217;s official unemployment rate &#8211; one of the highest in the world &#8211; rose to 32.9% from 31.9% in the final quarter of last year.



An expanded definition of unemployment, which includes those discouraged from looking for work, rose to 43.1% from 41.9%.



Desiree Manamela, chief director of labour statistics at Statistics South Africa, said there were signs that more people of working age were losing hope that work would materialise.



&#8220;That increase in discouraged work-seekers, it&#8217;s a &#8230; worry because we would want to see people being active in the labour market by either looking for employment or participating,&#8221; Manamela told a press conference.



Five of the 10 industries tracked by the statistics agency recorded employment increases while five saw decreases. The largest number of jobs lost were recorded in the trade and construction sectors, while the transport and finance sectors added the greatest number of hires.



Black women and young people remained especially vulnerable to joblessness in the first quarter, with unemployment rates of 39.8% and 46.1%, respectively.



Reducing unemployment is a priority for the coalition government that was formed last year after the African National Congress lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since apartheid ended in 1994.



Unemployment has been on the rise since 2016 and has been stuck above 30% for the past five years.



President Cyril Ramaphosa last week announced a new set of reforms aimed at boosting economic growth and job creation, extending a programme launched in 2020.



Operation Vulindlela, meaning &#8220;open the path&#8221; in the local isiZulu language, has achieved some successes such as curbing electricity blackouts, but it is yet to make a meaningful dent in the jobless rate.



(Reporting by Kopano Gumbi; Editing by Alexander Winning and Hugh Lawson)

GETOENXSLNNLLB36IWZW7ED5ZM

South African jobless rate rises, more give up looking for work

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="429" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/T3FHTE5H4FNKZJR2G7GMAH2YEE-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-620564" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/T3FHTE5H4FNKZJR2G7GMAH2YEE-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/T3FHTE5H4FNKZJR2G7GMAH2YEE-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/T3FHTE5H4FNKZJR2G7GMAH2YEE-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/T3FHTE5H4FNKZJR2G7GMAH2YEE-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/T3FHTE5H4FNKZJR2G7GMAH2YEE.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Demonstrators hold placards in support of U.S. President Donald Trump&#8217;s stance against what he calls racist laws, land expropriation, and farm attacks, outside the American Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, February 15, 2025. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



WASHINGTON/JOHANNESBURG, May 12 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The Trump administration welcomed on Monday 59 white South Africans it granted refugee status in the U.S., having deemed them victims of racial discrimination, while drawing criticism from Democrats and stirring confusion in South Africa.



U.S. President Donald Trump has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but in February offered to resettle Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers, saying they faced discrimination.



Asked on Monday why white South Africans were being prioritized above the victims of famine and war elsewhere in Africa, Trump said, without providing evidence, that Afrikaners were being killed.



“It&#8217;s a genocide that&#8217;s taking place,&#8221; Trump told reporters at the White House, going further than he has previously in echoing right-wing tropes about their alleged persecution.



He was not favoring Afrikaners because they are white, Trump said, adding that their race &#8220;makes no difference to me.&#8221;



South Africa maintains there is no evidence of persecution and that claims of a &#8220;white genocide&#8221; in the country, echoed by Trump&#8217;s white South African-born ally Elon Musk, have not been backed up by evidence.



The Episcopal Church announced on Monday that it would no longer work with the federal government on refugees after it was asked to help settle the Afrikaners.



&#8220;It has been painful to watch one group of refugees, selected in a highly unusual manner, receive preferential treatment over many others who have been waiting in refugee camps or dangerous conditions for years,&#8221; Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe wrote in a letter to the church&#8217;s followers.



U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the most senior Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the move &#8220;baffling.&#8221;



&#8220;The decision by this administration to put one group at the front of the line is clearly politically motivated and an effort to rewrite history,&#8221; she said in a statement on Monday.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-land-law">LAND LAW</h2>



U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau greeted the first 59 Afrikaners to arrive in a hangar at Washington&#8217;s Dulles airport. He compared their journey to that of his own father, a Jew from Austria who fled Europe in the 1930s, first to South America and then to the United States.



Landau did not repeat Trump&#8217;s claims of killings, but said many of the South Africans were farming families who had worked land for generations but now faced the threat of that land being expropriated, as well as threats of violence.



Trump&#8217;s February order on resettling Afrikaners cited a land law introduced by South Africa this year that aims to make it easier for the state to expropriate land in the public interest, which has caused concern among some white South Africans although no land has been seized.



Charl Kleinhaus, 46, who arrived on Monday and was set to be resettled in Buffalo, New York, with his daughter, son and grandson, said his life was threatened and people tried to claim his property as their own. Reuters was unable to verify his account.



&#8220;We never expected this land expropriation thing to go so far,&#8221; he told Reuters.



Some of the Afrikaners were heading to Democratic-leaning Minnesota, which has a reputation for welcoming refugees, while others planned to go to Republican-led states such as Idaho and Alabama, sources told Reuters.



The U.S. would welcome more Afrikaner refugees in the coming months, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wrong-end-of-the-stick">&#8216;WRONG END OF THE STICK&#8217;?</h2>



Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington&#8217;s ally Israel.



Speaking at a conference in Ivory Coast, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said the white Afrikaners had ostensibly left because they were opposed to policies aimed at addressing racial inequality persisting since apartheid, or white minority, rule ended three decades ago.



&#8220;We think that the American government has got the wrong end of the stick here, but we&#8217;ll continue talking to them,&#8221; he said.



Trump said that South Africa&#8217;s leadership was traveling to see him next week and that he would not travel to a G20 meeting there in November unless the &#8220;situation is taken care of.&#8221;



Since Nelson Mandela won South Africa&#8217;s first democratic elections in 1994, the once-ruling white minority has retained most of its wealth amassed since colonial times.



Whites still own three-quarters of private land and have about 20 times the wealth of the Black majority, according to international academic journal the Review of Political Economy.



Less than 10% of white South Africans are out of work, compared with more than a third of their Black counterparts.



(Reporting by Tim Cocks, Shafiek Tassiem, Daphne Psaledakis, Simon Lewis and Ted Hesson; additional reporting by Sfundo Parakozov, Catherine Schenck, Anait Miridzhanian, Nilutpal Timsina and Nellie Peyton; Editing by Don Durfee, Alistair Bell and Howard Goller)

T3FHTE5H4FNKZJR2G7GMAH2YEE

First white South Africans arrive in US as Trump claims they face discrimination

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1251784454-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-564339" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1251784454-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1251784454-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1251784454-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1251784454-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1251784454-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GettyImages-1251784454-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The World Bank Group headquarters during the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, April 13, 2023. The IMF trimmed its global-growth projections, warning of high uncertainty and risks as financial-sector stress adds to pressures emanating from tighter monetary policy. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, May 12 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria&#8217;s economy recorded its fastest growth in about a decade in 2024, driven by a strong fourth quarter and an improved fiscal position, the World Bank said on Monday, but warned that persistently high inflation remains a challenge.



Bold reforms implemented by President Bola Tinubu, including ending costly petrol subsidies, slashing electricity allowances and twice devaluing the naira currency, have added to upward pressure on prices.



The World Bank&#8217;s lead economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, said during a presentation in the capital Abuja that the economy grew by 4.6% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2024, and pointed to continued expansion in early 2025 based on high-frequency business indicators.



The World Bank expects Nigeria&#8217;s economy to grow 3.6% this year.



Nigeria&#8217;s foreign exchange reforms have created a market-reflective, unified and stable exchange rate, allowing the central bank to rebuild official reserves, now exceeding $37 billion, Sienaert said.



&#8220;That&#8217;s significant because this is the cushion the economy has against external volatility,&#8221; he said.



Sienaert said government revenue rose by 4.5% of GDP last year, a &#8220;remarkable achievement&#8221; driven by the removal of foreign exchange subsidies, improved tax administration and higher remittances.



The higher revenue helped cut the fiscal deficit to an estimated 3% of GDP in 2024, from 5.4% in 2023. But the full revenue gain from the removal of the fuel subsidy is also yet to fully materialise, Sienaert said.



However, Nigeria continues to grapple with high inflation, and Sienaert cautioned that tight monetary policy and disciplined fiscal policy must be sustained.



(Reporting by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)

Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

Nigeria’s economy grows strongly amid high inflation, World Bank says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108143912-1747032478500-gettyimages-2213984202-AFP_46A963L-1-820x462.png" alt="" class="wp-image-620173" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108143912-1747032478500-gettyimages-2213984202-AFP_46A963L-1-820x462.png 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108143912-1747032478500-gettyimages-2213984202-AFP_46A963L-1-300x169.png 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108143912-1747032478500-gettyimages-2213984202-AFP_46A963L-1-160x90.png 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108143912-1747032478500-gettyimages-2213984202-AFP_46A963L-1-768x432.png 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/108143912-1747032478500-gettyimages-2213984202-AFP_46A963L-1.png 1480w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (L) and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer speak to the media after talks between senior US and Chinese officials on tariffs in Geneva on May 11, 2025. Valentin Flauraud | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The U.S. and China on Monday agreed to suspend most tariffs on each other’s goods in a move that shows a major thawing of trade tensions between the world’s two largest economies.



The trade agreement means that “reciprocal” tariffs between both countries will be cut from 125% to 10%. The U.S.′&nbsp;20% duties on Chinese imports relating to fentanyl&nbsp;will remain in place, meaning total tariffs on China stand at 30%.



The breakthrough comes after U.S. and China trade representatives held high-stakes talks in Switzerland over the weekend.



“We had very productive talks and I believe that the venue, here in Lake Geneva, added great equanimity to what was a very positive process,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a news conference.



“We have reached an agreement on a 90-day pause and substantially move down the tariff levels. Both sides on the reciprocal tariffs will move their tariffs down 115%,” Bessent said.



Both China and the U.S. said they will continue discussions on economic and trade policy.



Investors were buoyed by news of the tariff reprieve. Stateside, Nasdaq futures pointed to a 3.6% gain, with the S&amp;P 500 futures higher by 2.8% and Dow up by nearly 1,000 points, or 2.3%.



The ICE U.S. Dollar Index also rose sharply. The index, which measures the U.S. dollar against a basket of global currencies, was last up 1.3% to 101.63.



Elsewhere, the pan-European Stoxx 600 index rose by 0.7% during early morning deals.

108143912-1747032478500-gettyimages-2213984202-AFP_46A963L (1)

U.S. and China agree to slash tariffs for 90 days

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="429" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/7BTO4IEPYZJCDMM2BE2UNJNMRQ-1-820x429.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-620117" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/7BTO4IEPYZJCDMM2BE2UNJNMRQ-1-820x429.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/7BTO4IEPYZJCDMM2BE2UNJNMRQ-1-300x157.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/7BTO4IEPYZJCDMM2BE2UNJNMRQ-1-160x84.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/7BTO4IEPYZJCDMM2BE2UNJNMRQ-1-768x402.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/7BTO4IEPYZJCDMM2BE2UNJNMRQ-1-1536x804.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/7BTO4IEPYZJCDMM2BE2UNJNMRQ-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via Reuters</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 12 (Reuters) &#8211; The first 49 white South Africans deemed victims of racial discrimination and granted refugee status under an offer by U.S. President Donald Trump were flying to the U.S. on Monday in a move deepening frictions between the two nations.



The U.S. government has blocked mostly non-white refugee admissions from the rest of the world but is prioritising Afrikaners, the descendants of mostly Dutch settlers.



Giving refugee status to white South Africans has been met with a mixture of alarm and ridicule by South African authorities, who say the Trump administration has waded into a domestic political issue it does not understand.



It comes at a time of heightened racial tensions in South Africa over land and jobs that has divided the ruling coalition.



The charter plane carrying the 49 from Johannesburg was expected to arrive at Washington Dulles airport on Monday morning.



&#8220;The government unequivocally states that these are not refugees,&#8221; South African foreign ministry spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told local broadcaster Newzroom Afrika.



&#8220;But we are not going to stand in their way.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-wealth-inequities">WEALTH INEQUITIES</h2>



Since Nelson Mandela brought democracy into South Africa in the 1994, the once-ruling white minority has retained most of the wealth amassed under colonialism and apartheid.



Whites still own three-quarters of private land and have about 20 times the wealth of the Black majority, according to international academic journal the Review of Political Economy.



Less than 10% of white South Africans are out of work, compared with more than a third of their Black counterparts.



Yet the claim that minority white South Africans face discrimination from the Black majority has become an established trope in right-wing online chatrooms, and has been echoed by Trump&#8217;s white South African-born ally Elon Musk.



Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa last month, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington&#8217;s ally, Israel.



(Reporting by Tim Cocks; Additional reporting by Sfundo Parakozov; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

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featured

South Africa’s Tiger Brands sells canned fruit business for a rand

Musk’s xAI says Grok’s ‘white genocide’ posts resulted from change that violated ‘core values’

US shifting Africa strategy to ‘trade, not aid’, envoy says

Rwanda central bank holds key rate and plans to buy gold for its reserves

South Africa’s president to visit US next week to meet Trump

South African rand gains, focus on upcoming Ramaphosa-Trump meeting and mining data

The UK wants to crack down on foreign workers. Businesses worry Brits can’t — or won’t — fill the labor gap

HIV patient testing falls in South Africa after US aid cuts, data shows

U.S. April inflation assuages fears over tariff-related price jumps

South Africa calls for affordable, balanced energy transition

Ghana aims to reduce $2.5 billion debt owed to power producers by year-end

Uganda central bank holds lending rate for third time in a row

South African jobless rate rises, more give up looking for work

First white South Africans arrive in US as Trump claims they face discrimination

Nigeria’s economy grows strongly amid high inflation, World Bank says

U.S. and China agree to slash tariffs for 90 days

First white South Africans fly to US under Trump refugee plan

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