<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="577" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZU2NFCVHVJILPJH3QX7W7A5FMQ-820x577.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-483457" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZU2NFCVHVJILPJH3QX7W7A5FMQ-820x577.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZU2NFCVHVJILPJH3QX7W7A5FMQ-300x211.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZU2NFCVHVJILPJH3QX7W7A5FMQ-128x90.jpg 128w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZU2NFCVHVJILPJH3QX7W7A5FMQ-768x540.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZU2NFCVHVJILPJH3QX7W7A5FMQ-1536x1081.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ZU2NFCVHVJILPJH3QX7W7A5FMQ-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Election posters of different political parties are seen, as South Africa prepares for national and provincial elections to be held on May 29, in Pretoria, South Africa, April 5, 2024. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 6 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africans vote in national and provincial elections on May 29 that could test the African National Congress&#8217; 30-year rule.



After the vote, held every five years, the new National Assembly will choose the country&#8217;s next president from among its members.



Below are facts about the election and the voting process.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-electoral-system">ELECTORAL SYSTEM</h2>



Voting is under a proportional system where parties and candidates are competing for 400 seats in the National Assembly.



Parties on the national ballot will contest 200 of those seats while the other 200 are divided between the nine regions and contested by parties and independent candidates.



In provincial legislatures, the number of seats is determined on the basis of the size of the population in each of the nine provinces.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-three-ballots">THREE BALLOTS</h2>



For the first time, voters will receive three ballots instead of two on voting day. On each ballot, they will have to choose one party or one candidate.



Two ballots will be used to elect the National Assembly and the third one will be for election of members of the provincial legislature in each province.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-candidates">CANDIDATES</h2>



For the first time, independent candidates are allowed to compete for seats in the National Assembly and in provincial legislatures.



In total, the election commission cleared 14,889 candidates who will contest 887 seats in the forthcoming elections.



They were nominated by 70 political parties, except for 11 candidates who are independent.



A total of 31 political parties will contest the national elections for the first time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-voters">VOTERS</h2>



The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) says 27.79 million people are registered to vote, up from 26.74 million in 2019.



VOTING



Around 23,292 voting stations will be open on May 29 from 0500 GMT to 1900 GMT.



(Reporting by Anait Miridzhanian; Editing by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

South Africa prepares national and provincial elections

What you need to know about South Africa’s 2024 election

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anglo-CEO-meets-S.Africa-mines-minister-after-BHPs-takeover-proposal-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-482625" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anglo-CEO-meets-S.Africa-mines-minister-after-BHPs-takeover-proposal-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anglo-CEO-meets-S.Africa-mines-minister-after-BHPs-takeover-proposal-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anglo-CEO-meets-S.Africa-mines-minister-after-BHPs-takeover-proposal-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anglo-CEO-meets-S.Africa-mines-minister-after-BHPs-takeover-proposal-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anglo-CEO-meets-S.Africa-mines-minister-after-BHPs-takeover-proposal-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Anglo-CEO-meets-S.Africa-mines-minister-after-BHPs-takeover-proposal-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad speaks during the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2023 conference in Cape Town, South Africa, February 6, 2023. REUTERS/Shelley Christians REFILE &#8211; CORRECTING INFORMATION</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Anglo American&nbsp;AAL.L&nbsp;CEO Duncan Wanblad is meeting on Friday South African mines minister Gwede Mantashe for the first time since the miner rejected BHP Group&#8217;s&nbsp;BHP.AX&nbsp;$39 billion&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AFWN3GY2K8&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">takeover bid</a>, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.



BHP, the world&#8217;s biggest-listed mining group, is privately talking to investors as it weighs up its next move after Anglo&#8217;s rejection of its initial proposal.



Commodities giant Glencore is also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3H53AS&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">studying an approach</a>&nbsp;for Anglo, sources told Reuters, a development that could spark a bidding war for the 107-year old mining company.



Anglo declined to comment on the meeting with Mantashe.



The source did not give details of the meeting.



BHP has proposed that Anglo sell its shares in units Anglo Platinum (Amplats) and Kumba Iron Ore as an option to exit the South African assets it does not want included in the deal.



Anglo unanimously rejected the proposal as opportunistic and significantly undervaluing the company and its future prospects.



Its investors are concerned that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3H21H1&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">they stand to lose</a>&nbsp;heavily by holding shares in the South African subsidiaries, if they are un-bundled.



There is a risk that South African regulatory authorities, particularly its central bank, could be concerned about capital outflows from foreign investors not willing to hold the shares, the source said.



BHP CEO Mike Henry, who is in South Africa to canvass views from investors on the company’s proposed offer to Anglo, was in &#8220;listening only mode&#8221; during a meeting with a Cape Town-based fund manager on Friday, another source told Reuters.



BHP executives also held a call with South Africa&#8217;s Public Investment Corporation earlier in the week, a separate source said.



Anglo has said it&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3H22HL&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">will meet its top investors</a>&nbsp;to hear their views on BHP&#8217;s approach.



(Reporting by Felix Njini and Clara Denina, Editing by Veronica Brown and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

Investing in African Mining Indaba 2023 conference in Cape Town

Anglo CEO meets S.Africa mines minister after BHP’s takeover proposal

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="462" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Fed-and-ECB-divergence-on-rate-cuts-could-spell-trouble-for-the-euro-economist-says-820x462.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-482533" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Fed-and-ECB-divergence-on-rate-cuts-could-spell-trouble-for-the-euro-economist-says-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Fed-and-ECB-divergence-on-rate-cuts-could-spell-trouble-for-the-euro-economist-says-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Fed-and-ECB-divergence-on-rate-cuts-could-spell-trouble-for-the-euro-economist-says-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Fed-and-ECB-divergence-on-rate-cuts-could-spell-trouble-for-the-euro-economist-says-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Fed-and-ECB-divergence-on-rate-cuts-could-spell-trouble-for-the-euro-economist-says.jpeg 929w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) Christine Lagarde gestures as she addresses a press conference following the meeting of the governing council of the ECB in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on April 11, 2024. Kirill Kudryavtsev | Afp | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



The prospect of the European Central Bank diverging from the Federal Reserve on interest rate cuts is likely to be “particularly negative” for the 20-nation euro zone, according to one economist.



The ECB&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/19/heres-what-12-ecb-members-said-about-interest-rates-this-week.html">appears on course</a>&nbsp;to cut interest rates in June, barring any major surprises, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/30/euro-zone-inflation-april-2024-and-first-quarter-gdp.html">recent inflation data</a>&nbsp;has since bolstered the case for an imminent reduction in borrowing costs.



The U.S. central bank, meanwhile,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/fed-rate-decision-may-2024-.html">held interest rates steady</a>&nbsp;on Wednesday, with the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee citing a “lack of further progress” in getting inflation back down to its 2% target.



The Federal Reserve&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/05/01/fed-decision-heres-what-changed-in-the-new-statement.html">said in a statement</a>&nbsp;that it did not expect to reduce rates until it had gained “greater confidence” that inflation was moving sustainably back toward its target level, reiterating language it used after the March and January meetings.



It leaves the ECB firmly on track to cut interest rates before the Fed.



“The problem of cutting rates right now is that the ECB takes for granted the strength of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/EUR=/">euro</a>. And if they start to cut rates ahead of the Federal Reserve, that is basically giving the world a signal that the euro needs to weaken,” Daniel Lacalle, chief economist at Tressis Gestion, told CNBC’s “Street Signs Europe” on Thursday.



“And if the euro weakens, the import bill of the euro zone is going to rise, making it even more difficult for the euro area to grow.”



Lacalle said a June rate cut from the ECB was not going to make German, French or Spanish businesses take more credit “because a small rate cut is not the driver of credit demand.” Credit demand refers to the appetite for business and consumer loans.



He added, “What makes credit demand interesting, or rise, is the fact that there [are] economic and investment opportunities and those are curbed by regulation and the misguided energy policy of the euro area.”



An ECB spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-ecb-heading-toward-a-rate-cut"><a></a>ECB heading toward a rate cut?</h2>



Speaking to CNBC on last month, ECB President Christine Lagarde&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/16/lagarde-says-ecb-will-cut-rates-soon-barring-any-major-surprises.html">said</a>&nbsp;the central bank remained on course to cut interest rates in the near term, subject to any additional shocks.



“We just need to build a bit more confidence in this disinflationary process but if it moves according to our expectations, if we don’t have a major shock in development, we are heading towards a moment where we have to moderate the restrictive monetary policy,” Lagarde said on April 16.



Official figures&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/04/30/euro-zone-inflation-april-2024-and-first-quarter-gdp.html">published</a>&nbsp;Tuesday showed that prices in the euro area held steady at 2.4% in April, while the economy returned to growth over the first three months of the year.



Gross domestic product rose by 0.3% over the first quarter, slightly better than consensus economist expectations. GDP for the fourth quarter of 2023 was revised from no growth to a 0.1% contraction, which means that the euro zone was in a technical recession in the second half of last year.



Tressis Gestion’s Lacalle said one prevailing market narrative was that high interest rates in Europe were to blame for sluggish economic growth. “However, the euro zone slowdown has absolutely nothing to do with rate hikes,” he said.



Instead, Lacalle said recent economic weakness across the euro zone should be attributed to the bloc’s energy policy, regulatory measures and farming and agricultural policy.



— CNBC’s Jeff Cox &amp; Jenni Reid contributed to this report.

Fed-and-ECB-divergence-on-rate-cuts-could-spell-trouble-for-the-euro-economist-says

Fed and ECB divergence on rate cuts could spell trouble for the euro, economist says

<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/Chad-prepares-to-vote-in-a-coup-hit-region-wary-allies-look-on-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-482530" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Chad-prepares-to-vote-in-a-coup-hit-region-wary-allies-look-on-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Chad-prepares-to-vote-in-a-coup-hit-region-wary-allies-look-on-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Chad-prepares-to-vote-in-a-coup-hit-region-wary-allies-look-on-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Chad-prepares-to-vote-in-a-coup-hit-region-wary-allies-look-on-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Chad-prepares-to-vote-in-a-coup-hit-region-wary-allies-look-on-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Chad-prepares-to-vote-in-a-coup-hit-region-wary-allies-look-on-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Supporters of Chadian interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby attend his presidential campaign rally ahead of the May elections in Moundou, Chad April 25, 2024. REUTERS/ Gilles Chris Namia Rimbarne/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



N&#8217;DJAMENA, May 3 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Chad will hold presidential elections on Monday, making it the first in a string of coup-hit states across Central and West Africa to use the ballot box to try to emerge from years of military rule.



Opposition groups have already cried foul.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3DR0AN&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The candidate</a>&nbsp;widely expected to win is Mahamat Idriss Deby &#8211; the man who&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N2MF76P&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">seized power</a>&nbsp;the day rebels&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N2MD0Q3&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shot and killed</a>&nbsp;his long-ruling father, Idriss Deby, in April 2021.



But Chad&#8217;s Western allies have largely stayed quiet and kept watch &#8211; hoping, analysts say, that at the very least, the vote will deliver a relatively stable state in a region hit by militant violence where Russia is also pushing for influence.



Among those Western countries is Chad&#8217;s former colonial ruler France which still has war planes and 1,000 troops there, most recently helping Chad and its neighbours combat the Islamist fighters of Boko Haram.



Chad is now the last Sahel country with a substantial French military presence after other junta-led states including neighbouring Niger as well as Burkina Faso and Mali, told Paris and other Western powers to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3FU0I9&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">remove their troops</a>&nbsp;and turned&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3GK399&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to Moscow for backing</a>.



The priorities of regional and Western powers will be to push for stability and shore up their positions in the country, analysts say.



&#8220;Chad is just too strategic at the moment for the West to allow Russia to get an opening,&#8221; Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel programme at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said.



It is not just strategic in terms of security, but also on the hot-button issue of migration.



Chad has accepted a huge influx of refugees from Sudan, where civil war has created the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3GN0S4&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">world&#8217;s largest displacement crisis</a>. Laessing said some refugees have crossed to Niger, which last year repealed a law aimed at slowing migration to Europe.



&#8220;It&#8217;s another reason for Western countries to keep the relationship with Chad despite the dismal human rights record,&#8221; he added.



An election win would bolster Deby&#8217;s credentials as an ally. &#8220;Western policy makers can say at least he was elected,&#8221; Laessing said.



There are fears the turmoil could be testing old ties in the oil-producing country&nbsp;that lies&nbsp;next to the war-torn states of Sudan, Libya and Central African Republic and the economic powerhouse of Nigeria.



Mahamat Idriss Deby, who took on the title of interim president after his takeover, met French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris in October last year. He also met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N3EE1YQ&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in January</a>.



In April, Chad&#8217;s air force chief&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3GY33I&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ordered the U.S.</a>&nbsp;to halt activities at an air base near the capital N&#8217;Djamena, saying there was a problem with their paperwork.



Weeks later, the U.S. announced a temporary&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3GY33I&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">withdrawal</a>&nbsp;of at least some of its troops and said it would continue with a review of security operations after the vote.



PROTESTS, RIVALS, VIOLENCE



Concerns about human rights have also mounted since the younger Deby&#8217;s takeover.



He initially promised an 18-month transition after his father&#8217;s death, but his government later adopted resolutions that postponed&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3FC73Q&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">elections</a>&nbsp;and allowed him to run for president.



The delay triggered protests that security forces violently quelled, killing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL8N31L2NU&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">around 50 civilians</a>.



Opposition figure Yaya Dillo was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3FE5TP&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">shot and killed</a>&nbsp;in N&#8217;Djamena on Feb. 28, the day the election date was announced. The opposition has called Dillo&#8217;s death an assassination and forensic experts have said he was&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL5N3FX5DS&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">likely shot at point-blank range</a>.



Chadian authorities said he was killed during an exchange of fire with security forces who had been sent to detain him for alleged involvement in clashes.



One of Deby&#8217;s most prominent challengers on Monday will be Succes Masra &#8211; a political opponent who spent a year in exile from 2022-2023, then shocked Chadians by agreeing to become Deby&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3DR0AN&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">prime minister</a>.



He will also be running against former prime minister Albert Pahimi Padacke and seven other candidates, including Lydie Beassemda, the only woman going for the top job.



&#8220;Masra&#8217;s decision &#8230; was a bit surprising, because, during the demonstrations and the deaths, people were saying they wanted change and they saw Succes Masra as the face of change,&#8221; Babacar Ndiaye, research director at think tank WATHI, said.



Some opposition parties and civil society groups have called for a boycott of the vote, saying Deby and his allies control the main institutions of power and could influence the process.



&#8220;This is an election to consecrate the reign of the current leader of the transition,&#8221; Abderramane Goussoumian, head of the civil society network CSAPR, said.



But for Abakar Moussa Seid, a member of the opposition National Rally for Democracy in Chad party, a boycott would amount to a surrender.



&#8220;The only democratic way to end the perpetuation of the power of the Deby dynasty is through the ballot box,&#8221; he said.



(Editing by Bate Felix and Andrew Heavens)

Chad’s interim President Deby attends his presidential campaign rally in Moundou

Chad prepares to vote in a coup-hit region, wary allies look on

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-426016" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A labourer dehusks rice before loading it in bags at a processing unit in the town of Fanaye, on the outskirts of Saint Louis, Senegal September 13, 2022. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra</figcaption></figure>



SINGAPORE, May 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Global rice supplies have stabilised after last year&#8217;s rally, although the market remains vulnerable to risks from dry weather caused by the El Nino, a senior executive at commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Co (LDC) said.



Rice prices in key Asian export hubs&nbsp;RI-THBKN5-P1,&nbsp;RI-VNBKN5-P1&nbsp;have eased in recent weeks after climbing last year to their highest&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL4N3AB12M&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">since 2008</a>&nbsp;following an export ban by India, the world&#8217;s biggest shipper.



&#8220;It does seem like we went through a very tight situation. You had the export ban in India and Indonesia came to buy a very large volume of rice,&#8221; Rubens Marques, LDC&#8217;s chief executive for South and Southeast Asia, said in an interview.



&#8220;The combination of these two factors, I think, was too much for the market to handle, which ended up pushing prices up. It does seem like the supply and prices have stabilised.&#8221;



India&#8217;s July export ban ended a decade of price stability for the world&#8217;s most-widely consumed staple and heightened food inflation pressure.



Marques said rice supplies remain vulnerable to adverse weather.



&#8220;We cannot deny that climate change has had an impact and may still have an impact in terms of having this El Nino and having drier than expected weather,&#8221; he said.



The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL2N3GY40S&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">El Nino weather phenomenon</a>&nbsp;is a warming of the Pacific Ocean waters along the equator off the coast of South America. The pattern typically causes hot,&nbsp;dry weather in Asia, impacting vast swathes of rice growing regions.



The market is focusing in the coming months on production from irrigated crops.



&#8220;We need to keep an eye on the levels of reservoirs in some of the key producing countries. In May, June, we should know a bit more about what is going to happen with the irrigated crops,&#8221; he said.



LDC, among the biggest rice merchants, supplies buyers in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.



WEATHER RISK



The unpredictability of weather patterns fuelled by climate change is leading to further supply disruption.



&#8220;I think the biggest thing about El Nino, and it&#8217;s not talked enough about, is the unpredictability of the weather events, he said.



&#8220;The weather events have always been there, but it&#8217;s now how unpredictable it has become and how difficult it has become for the trade to basically solve those imbalances,&#8221; he said.



Last year&#8217;s price rally led to lower rice demand from some countries.



&#8220;You have to keep in mind that a lot of the rice in India ends up in Africa, which is a very price-sensitive market,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And on the way up, I think the market has done its job of rationing demand.&#8221;



India&#8217;s export prices fell to their lowest in over three months last week on subdued demand and ample supplies, while Thailand&#8217;s prices remained largely flat.&nbsp;RIC/AS



For the wheat market, the coming months are crucial for northern hemisphere crops, Marques said.



Benchmark prices&nbsp;Wv1&nbsp;climbed nearly 8% in April, following dryness in parts of Russia and the United States.



&#8220;I don&#8217;t know how much weather premium is already priced in,&#8221; he said. &#8220;There&#8217;s upside potential if you see less than expected rains in the northern hemisphere.&#8221;



Chicago wheat futures edged higher on Thursday as traders assessed whether rainfall in U.S. and Russian crop areas was enough to alleviate dryness that threatens yields.&nbsp;GRA/



(Reporting by Naveen Thukral and Tony Munroe; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

PKJQ7JMDLFNENCLG7LH25JBXNY-1

Global rice market stable but weather risk remains, Louis Dreyfus exec says

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="549" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-820x549.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-425202" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-820x549.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-300x201.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-134x90.jpg 134w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-768x514.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-1536x1028.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/7E5H4JHT7JIDHHBALK7PSZDXSI-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South African Rand coins are seen in this photo illustration . REUTERS/Mike Hutchings</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, May 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The South African rand strengthened on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected and reiterated inflationary concerns.



At 0742 GMT the rand traded at 18.5050 against the dollar&nbsp;ZAR=D3, 0.68% stronger than its previous close.



The dollar index&nbsp;=USD&nbsp;was last trading down 0.1% against a basket of currencies.



The Fed on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3H31SH&amp;linkedFromStory=true" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wednesday</a>&nbsp;signalled it is still leaning towards eventual reductions in borrowing costs, but it placed a red flag on recent inflation readings that could delay any cuts to interest rates.



The focus for South African investors on Thursday will be a manufacturing sector purchasing managers&#8217; index and April vehicles sales data.



An absence of load-shedding (power cuts) in April would have boosted manufacturing, ETM Analytics said in a research note.



On the stock market, the Top-40&nbsp;.JTOPI&nbsp;index and the broader all-share&nbsp;.JALSH&nbsp;index were both up about 1% in early trade.



South Africa&#8217;s benchmark 2030 government bond&nbsp;ZAR2030=&nbsp;was stronger in early deals, with the yield down 6 basis points at 10.615%.



(Reporting by Bhargav AcharyaEditing by David Goodman)

South African Rand coins are seen in this photo illustration

South African rand strengthens as Fed keeps rates on hold

<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/OECD-upgrades-global-growth-outlook-as-U.S.-outperforms-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-482163" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/OECD-upgrades-global-growth-outlook-as-U.S.-outperforms-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/OECD-upgrades-global-growth-outlook-as-U.S.-outperforms-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/OECD-upgrades-global-growth-outlook-as-U.S.-outperforms-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/OECD-upgrades-global-growth-outlook-as-U.S.-outperforms-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/OECD-upgrades-global-growth-outlook-as-U.S.-outperforms-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/OECD-upgrades-global-growth-outlook-as-U.S.-outperforms-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">File photo: People cross the intersection of SW 8th Steet and Brickell Ave. at the Brickell neighborhood, known as the financial district, in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 23, 2023. REUTERS/Marco Bello/File photo</figcaption></figure>



PARIS, May 2 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The global economy is growing faster than expected only a few months ago thanks to resilient U.S. activity while inflation is converging more quickly than expected with central banks&#8217; targets, the OECD said on Thursday, upgrading its outlook.



The global economy would maintain the 3.1% growth rate seen last year and pick up marginally to 3.2% next year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said, upgrading forecasts dating from February for growth of 2.9% this year and 3% in 2025.



A faster than expected fall in inflation set the stage for major central banks to begin rate cuts in the second half of the year while also fuelling gains in consumers&#8217; incomes, the OECD said in its latest Economic Outlook.



However, the speed of recoveries diverged widely, the OECD warned, saying lingering sluggishness in Europe and Japan was being offset by the United States, whose growth forecast was hiked to 2.6% this year from a previous estimate of 2.1%.



Next year U.S. growth was expected to cool to a rate of 1.8%, up slightly from 1.7% in February.



Boosted by fiscal stimulus, China&#8217;s economy was also expected to grow faster than expected with its growth now forecast at 4.9% in 2024 and 4.5% in 2025, up from 4.7% and 4.2% respectively in February.



While weakness in Germany would continue to weigh on the broader euro zone, the bloc&#8217;s growth was projected to pick up from 0.7% this year to 1.5% next year as lower inflation boosts households&#8217; purchasing power and paves the way for rate cuts. The OECD had previously forecast euro zone growth of 0.6% this year and 1.3% in 2025.



Britain&#8217;s outlook was one of the few to be downgraded with the OECD now forecasting only 0.4% this year compared with 0.7% previously. As interest rates start coming lower from the third quarter of this year, UK growth was seen picking up to 1% in 2025, compared with 1.2% expected in February.



Meanwhile, in Japan, income gains, easy monetary policy and temporary tax cuts would help its growth rate to accelerate from 0.5% in 2024 to 1.1% in 2025, compared with forecasts of 1% for both years previously, the OECD said.



(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

People cross the intersection of SW 8th Steet and Brickell Ave. at the Brickell neighborhood, known as the financial district, in Miami

OECD upgrades global growth outlook as U.S. outperforms

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/V5IRAFHMYRPRVBHQAI5QG5X7UQ-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-413663" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/V5IRAFHMYRPRVBHQAI5QG5X7UQ-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/V5IRAFHMYRPRVBHQAI5QG5X7UQ-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/V5IRAFHMYRPRVBHQAI5QG5X7UQ-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/V5IRAFHMYRPRVBHQAI5QG5X7UQ-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/V5IRAFHMYRPRVBHQAI5QG5X7UQ.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A gas station attendant pumps fuel into a customer&#8217;s car at the NNPC Mega petrol station in Abuja, Nigeria March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde</figcaption></figure>



LAGOS, April 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Gasoline shortages persisted in Nigeria&#8217;s major cities on Tuesday, causing a sharp increase in prices and exacerbating the country&#8217;s cost-of-living crisis.



Prices in some retail outlets in Lagos and Abuja rose above 850 naira, while those outside major cities, such as Kano, soared above 1000 naira, though the government-owned oil firm, NNPC Ltd, which imports the products sells at an average price of 617 naira.



President Bola Tinubu&#8217;s government last year removed subsidies and allowed private firms to import but foreign currency shortages and a cap on the price of petrol have meant NNPC remains the sole importer.



An NNPC spokesperson said that some outlets were taking advantage of this situation to maximise profits.



Gasoline is widely used in cars and to power generators for households and small businesses and the current shortage is weighing on the economy, which is already struggling with the highest inflation rate in 28 years.



Many commuters were left stranded waiting for buses that were stuck in long queues at various retail stations.



Analysts say the price of basic food items would see a sharp increase if shortages persist. This will add to frustrations after the government raised electricity tariffs for some consumers.



&#8220;You have the money for transport but no bus, you have the money for to buy fuel but there is scarcity. No light (electricity), heat everywhere, and high costs of goods. What did we do to deserve our leaders,&#8221; someone posted on the X platform.



The NNPC has attributed the shortages to logistical challenges, assuring customers that it has more than 1.5 billion litres of petrol, which was enough to last at least 30 days. But it is in debt and is unable to produce enough crude for its refineries.



(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu, Editing by Louise Heavens)

V5IRAFHMYRPRVBHQAI5QG5X7UQ

Nigerian gasoline prices soar as shortages worsen cost of living crisis

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="3956" height="2632" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/VQAZCQXPCFMLTANSLSXV7JVCKA.avif" alt="" class="wp-image-481603"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A man poses with a handful of Zimbabwean dollars at a bank in central Harare, June 15, 2015. Zimbabweans began exchanging old notes of local dollars for U.S. dollars, as President Robert Mugabe&#8217;s government seeks to officially bury the worthless currency. REUTERS/Philimon Bulawayo/FILE PHOTO</figcaption></figure>



HARARE, April 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Zimbabwe&#8217;s new gold-backed currency came into general circulation on Tuesday amid promises by monetary authorities to keep the money supply in check as they struggle to contain inflation.



The southern African country dumped the Zimdollar earlier this month after it lost more than 70% of its value against the U.S. dollar.



The new currency, the Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), is backed by gold, other precious minerals and the U.S. dollar. It was trading on Tuesday at 13.4 to the dollar, little changed from previous levels on the formal market.



Long queues formed outside banks and at Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) while others used the new currency to buy goods in supermarkets.



While some Zimbabweans have expressed mistrust over the new currency, others such as Melda Mudavanhu, a 50-year-old civil servant, remain optimistic.



&#8220;If we support the currency, since it&#8217;s the first one of its kind, this currency will succeed. Getting rid of the money changers is also welcome because they were a menace,&#8221; Mudavanhu said.



Ahead of the ZiG&#8217;s introduction, authorities moved to arrest illegal foreign currency dealers, accusing them of charging a premium on the ZiG against the greenback.



The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on Monday set ZiG 3,000 as a daily withdrawal limit for individuals as it tries to contain the money supply.



A total of ZiG 80 million is currently on the market, according to the central bank.



The central bank&#8217;s Monetary Policy Committee pledged on Monday to support a tight monetary policy stance.



The ZiG, Zimbabwe&#8217;s fourth attempt at currency reform in a decade, has remained stable on the formal market since its introduction.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono, Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Gareth Jones)

VQAZCQXPCFMLTANSLSXV7JVCKA

Zimbabwe’s new gold-backed currency enters circulation

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2147863877-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-481574" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2147863877-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2147863877-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2147863877-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2147863877-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2147863877-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2147863877-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ajay Banga, president of the World Bank Group, speaks during an event at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The International Monetary Fund inched up its expectations for global economic growth this year, citing strength in the US and some emerging markets, while warning the outlook remains cautious amid persistent inflation and geopolitical risks. Photographer: Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, April 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;World Bank President Ajay Banga said he expects donor countries to meet a request by African leaders to make record contributions to a low-interest facility for developing nations, saying these were not handouts but investments in the future.



African heads of state called on Monday for rich nations to help raise at least $120 billion for the International Development Association (IDA) at a conference to be held in Japan in December.



That would be a record for IDA, which offers long-term loans to developing nations and operates on a three-year cycle. The last round of fund-raising in 2021 raised $93 billion.



The target amount of $120 billion means donors will have to put up about $30 billion since the World Bank can borrow $3 for every dollar raised.



&#8220;There is no doubt that all the donor countries have their own challenges and their own fiscal responsibilities. But I think they all value the effect of contributing to IDA,&#8221; Banga said in an interview on Monday.



African nations account for more than half of the 75 that tap the IDA facility. Many are grappling with heavy debt burdens and climate disasters but struggle to access affordable financing on international markets.



That makes access to IDA loans crucial, the African leaders said.



Banga said rich countries should recognise that giving generously is in their own interest, citing examples of once-poor countries like China and India that have graduated from IDA recipients to become major economies.



&#8220;I think the most important message is actually that this is not a handout,&#8221; he said. &#8220;If Africa develops well, Africa has a lot to offer the world.&#8221;



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by Aaron Ross and Nick Macfie)

Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

World Bank chief expects rich nations to meet African donation requests

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="534" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-820x534.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-481529" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-820x534.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-768x500.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-1536x1000.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-154793123-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A visitor descends stairs outside the offices of Anglo American Plc in the Marshalltown district of Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday, Oct. 26, 2012. Anglo American Plc Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Carroll , the first woman, external hire and non-South African to hold the job, will quit after Anglo lost $14 billion in value in the more than five years she was in charge. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG/LONDON, April 30 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;BHP Group&nbsp;BHP.AX&nbsp;can&#8217;t cherry pick Anglo American&nbsp;AAL.L&nbsp;assets without paying a hefty premium, Anglo investors told Reuters, concerned that they stand to lose heavily by holding shares in South African subsidiaries.



The world&#8217;s No. 1 miner is weighing up its next move after its initial $39 billion takeover proposal for smaller rival Anglo was rejected last week. The proposed premium was 31% on Anglo&#8217;s implied value.



BHP has proposed that Anglo sell its shares in units Anglo Platinum (Amplats)&nbsp;AMSJ.J&nbsp;and Kumba Iron Ore&nbsp;KIOJ.J&nbsp;as an option to exit the South African assets it doesn&#8217;t want included in the deal.



Anglo said the unsolicited proposal significantly undervalued the company and introduced uncertainty, complexities and execution risk.



If the BHP proposal goes ahead, Anglo investors &#8220;could be stuck with three pieces of paper for a deal that could take a long time to close,&#8221; a source at a Cape Town-based fund manager told Reuters.



The process to de-merge South African assets could take as long as 18 months, the source added, due to various regulatory processes that the transaction would need to go through. There is a risk that South African regulatory authorities, particularly its central bank, could be concerned about capital outflows from foreign investors not willing to hold the shares, the source added.



&#8220;BHP could just make it a clean offer and then it&#8217;s up to them to deal with the un-bundling of the shares,&#8221; the source said. &#8220;When the deal goes through they un-bundle Amplats and Kumba to their shareholders.&#8221;



Amplats and Kumba&#8217;s share prices could also come under significant selling pressure if the units were demerged, as several shareholders would not be able to hold the stocks as these are in South Africa, another source familiar with the companies said.



The majority of shares in Kumba and Amplats are sitting in liquid hands, the source said. &#8220;So the 30% premium is going to get eaten up by the loss on those other shares tanking.&#8221;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-cherry-picking">CHERRY-PICKING</h2>



&#8220;I think it (the current bid) &#8230; places all of the risk on Anglo shareholders,&#8221; said Django Davidson, partner and portfolio manager at Hosking Partners, which holds shares in Anglo.



&#8220;BHP wants to buy the good bits without any of the friction of disposing of the bad bit. It&#8217;s by no means clear what the de-mergers would mean for the relationship with the South African government and what the underlying commodity prices will do over that period,&#8221; Davidson added.



BHP has until May 22 to submit a binding offer and investors anticipate the company to sweeten its bid.



&#8220;BHP is seeking to make Anglo some sort of an agent for their own deal,&#8221; Shane Watkins, Chief Investment Officer at All Weather Capital, said.



All Weather Capital holds shares in Anglo and BHP and Watkins said the nation&#8217;s central bank is unlikely to approve the transaction if Anglo opts to de-merge its South African units.



&#8220;Anglo must tell BHP they don&#8217;t like the deal or that they should buy the whole company, BHP can&#8217;t cherry-pick,&#8221; another source said.



(Reporting by Felix Njini and Clara Denina; Editing by David Evans)

Anglo American Plc’s South African Headquarters As CEO Cynthia Carroll Quits

As BHP weighs firm bid for Anglo, investors fret over cherry-picking assets

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="562" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ETXNXR4WXZLLPG724P5NBV5VPA-820x562.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-481513" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ETXNXR4WXZLLPG724P5NBV5VPA-820x562.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ETXNXR4WXZLLPG724P5NBV5VPA-300x206.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ETXNXR4WXZLLPG724P5NBV5VPA-131x90.jpg 131w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ETXNXR4WXZLLPG724P5NBV5VPA-768x526.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ETXNXR4WXZLLPG724P5NBV5VPA-1536x1052.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ETXNXR4WXZLLPG724P5NBV5VPA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Visitors to the BHP (formerly known as BHP Billiton) booth speak with representatives during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) annual convention in Toronto, Ontario, Canada March 4, 2019. REUTERS/Chris Helgren</figcaption></figure>



LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;BHP Group&#8217;s proposed takeover of rival miner Anglo American is one of those rare instances where a mega-merger actually makes strong business sense, but it will be difficult to pull off to the satisfaction of all parties.



BHP&nbsp;BHP.AX, the world&#8217;s largest mining company, offered $39 billion last week to buy Anglo&nbsp;AAL.L, a move the London-listed miner that grew out of South Africa rejected as &#8220;significantly&#8221; undervalued.



The expectation now is that BHP may boost its offer, or other buyers for Anglo, or parts of its diversified portfolio, may emerge.



Much of the media attention has focused on Anglo&#8217;s copper assets as the lure for BHP, with a combined company becoming the world&#8217;s largest producer of the industrial metal with a share of around 10%.



In effect, BHP&#8217;s bid is largely seen as a massive vote of confidence in the future of copper, which is essential to the energy transition given its properties as a conductor and its resistance to corrosion.



The bid may also be a tacit admission on BHP&#8217;s part that buying copper assets is far easier than trying to find them and develop new mines.



Anglo has interests in three copper mines in Chile and its production in the 2023 financial year was 507,000 metric tons, which resulted in underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $1.452 billion.



The London-listed miner also has a 60% share in the Quellaveco mine in Peru, which gave it production of 319,000 tons and EBITDA of $1.781 billion.



This gave Anglo total copper output of 826,000 tons and EBITDA of $3.233 billion, or 32% of the group&#8217;s total for 2023.



BHP&#8217;s copper business is more diversified, with operations in Chile, Peru, Australia and the United States, and in the 2023 financial year production was 1.717 million tons for an underlying EBITDA of $6.65 billion.



For the sake of argument, assume Anglo&#8217;s copper earnings can be maintained and the copper price remains stable, it would take about six years for the earnings to pay off half of BHP&#8217;s current offer price for Anglo.



Of course, it&#8217;s likely that there would be some cost synergies, and it&#8217;s also probably the case that copper prices rally, especially if the energy transition starts to accelerate.



That would make Anglo&#8217;s copper assets more valuable to BHP as the return would be over a shorter time period.



Of course, this assumes that BHP&#8217;s view of Anglo&#8217;s assets is that copper is effectively half of the worth of the total company, even though its only 14.5% of underlying EBITDA.



The question for investors looking at BHP&#8217;s proposed takeover of Anglo is how much are Anglo&#8217;s non-copper assets worth, can they be disposed of effectively, or integrated into the wider group.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-coal-iron-ore">COAL, IRON ORE</h2>



The asset that fits best with BHP&#8217;s existing portfolio is Anglo&#8217;s metallurgical coal mines in Australia&#8217;s Queensland state.



BHP, through its alliance with Japan&#8217;s Mitsubishi, is the world&#8217;s largest exporter of the coal used primarily to make steel, while Anglo ranks third.



Combining their assets would create a dominant metallurgical coal player, so much so that the deal is likely to attract scrutiny from regulators, especially in countries like Japan, which source the vast bulk of their coal from Australia.



The current BHP proposal foresees Anglo&#8217;s South African iron ore assets, held through Kumba Iron Ore&nbsp;KIOJ.J, and the platinum mines of Anglo American Platinum&nbsp;AMSJ.J, being divested and distributed to shareholders.



This may present problems for the South African authorities, but it&#8217;s also a sad reflection of how international companies are no longer keen on assets in the country that was once renowned as a centre of mining excellence.



Iron ore is BHP&#8217;s biggest earner, and the high-grade material produced by Kumba would be useful in the portfolio, but South Africa&#8217;s political risk and crumbling infrastructure make it unattractive.



Anglo&#8217;s Brazilian iron ore operations also offer high-grade ore, which BHP could integrate or seek to sell off.



Platinum is a commodity that may struggle in the energy transition, given its use in catalytic converters for internal combustion engine vehicles.



Anglo&#8217;s other interests, such as diamonds through De Beers, and manganese through Samancor, could most probably be sold to existing partners: the Botswana government for De Beers and South 32&nbsp;S32.AX&nbsp;for the manganese.



Overall, the mechanics of the deal seem to make good sense for BHP.



They can be made to make sense for Anglo&#8217;s shareholders if the offer is raised high enough so that they can&#8217;t say no.



Winning over various regulators across several countries may be far more tricky, and compromises may be needed, and that could end up undermining the very logic of the deal in the first place.



Disclosure: At the time of publication Clyde Russell owned shares in BHP Group as an investor in a fund.



The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.



(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

A worker is seen at Anglo American’s Los Bronces copper mine in Chile

BHP’s Anglo buyout makes business sense if the price is right: Russell

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LYNXMPEG230SK-OZATP.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-481227" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LYNXMPEG230SK-OZATP.jpg 800w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LYNXMPEG230SK-OZATP-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LYNXMPEG230SK-OZATP-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/LYNXMPEG230SK-OZATP-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President of Togo Faure Gnassingbe is seen during the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government 54th Ordinary Session in Abuja, Nigeria December 22, 2018. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



LOME, April 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Voting got under way in legislative elections in Togo on Monday following approval of constitutional reforms by the outgoing parliament that could extend the 19-year-old rule of President Faure Gnassingbe.



Under a new charter adopted in March introducing a parliamentary system of government, the president will be elected by parliament instead of by universal suffrage.



Details about the assembly&#8217;s election of the head of state remain unclear as yet, although under the new constitution the parliament will appoint a position described as president of the council of ministers, who will have extensive authority to manage the coastal West African nation&#8217;s government affairs.



Monday&#8217;s vote had been pushed back twice because of a fierce backlash from some opposition parties who called the constitutional changes a political manoeuvre to allow Gnassingbe to extend his tenure for life.



Over four million people are registered to vote for 113 lawmakers among 2,352 candidates. Polls opened at 0700 GMT and provisional results are expected from Tuesday.



Regional elections are also taking place.



Opposition parties are taking part, hoping to gain seats that will enable them to challenge Gnassingbe&#8217;s UNIR party after they boycotted the last legislative poll and left it effectively in control of parliament.



Togo has seen years of resistance to the Gnassingbe family&#8217;s grip on power. The president was first elected 19 years ago to succeed his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who took office in a coup in 1967.



Violent police crackdowns on political demonstrations have been routine under Gnassingbe &#8211; reelected in a 2020 landslide disputed by the opposition &#8211; as they were during his father&#8217;s rule.



Several other African countries have pushed through constitutional and other legal changes in recent years allowing their presidents to extend their terms in office.



Monday&#8217;s vote, initially set for April 20, was postponed twice to allow for consultations on the new constitution.



Amendments unanimously approved in a second parliamentary vote earlier this month shortened presidential terms to four years from five with a two-term limit.



This does not take into account the time already spent in office, which could enable Gnassingbe to stay in power until 2033 if he is re-elected when his mandate expires in 2025. He has not yet stated his intentions.



Some opposition parties and civil society groups renewed calls for protests after the second vote, sparking small-scale demonstrations last week.



(Reporting by Alice Lawson; Writing by Sofia Christensen, Editing by William Maclean)

FILE PHOTO: President of Togo Faure Gnassingbe is seen during the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government 54th Ordinary Session in Abuja

Togo votes for a new parliament with stronger say in governance

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="547" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2150650304-820x547.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-481198" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2150650304-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2150650304-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2150650304-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2150650304-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2150650304-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/GettyImages-2150650304-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">NAIROBI, KENYA &#8211; APRIL 29: Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank, speaks to the audience during the IDA for Africa Heads of State Summit on April 29, 2024 in Nairobi, Kenya. (Photo by Patrick Meinhardt/Getty Images for Global Citizen)</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, April 29 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;African leaders on Monday called for rich countries to commit record contributions to a low-interest World Bank facility for developing nations that they rely on to help fund their development and combat climate change.



Donors will make their cash pledges to the International Development Association (IDA), a World Bank institution that offers loans with low interest rates and long tenures, at a conference to be held in Japan in December.



&#8220;We call on our partners to meet us at this historic moment of solidarity and respond effectively by increasing their IDA contributions&#8230; to at least $120 billion,&#8221; Kenya&#8217;s President William Ruto told a meeting of African leaders and the World Bank to discuss IDA funding.



African economies were facing a &#8220;deepening development and debt crisis that threatens our economic stability, and urgent climate emergencies that demand immediate and collective action for our planet&#8217;s survival,&#8221; Ruto said.



He cited Kenya&#8217;s own devastating floods and a severe drought affecting Southern African nations such as Malawi.



If the donors pledge the minimum amount suggested by African leaders, it will be a new high after the last round of fundraising in 2021, which raked in $93 billion.



IDA lending operates on a three-year cycle, which is usually preceded by donors making their contributions at a global meeting.



IDA offers low interest rates loans to 75 developing nations around the world, the World Bank said, with more than half of them in Africa.



The funding is used by governments to boost access to energy and healthcare, invest in farming and also build critical infrastructure such as roads.



Ajay Banga, the president of the World Bank, promised to cut down &#8220;burdensome&#8221; rules that govern lending to nations under the IDA, to make it more efficient and to deliver funds to borrower nations faster.



&#8220;We believe a simpler and reimagined IDA can be deployed with more focus to make meaningful impact,&#8221; he said.



(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Editing by George Obulutsa and Alex Richardson)

IDA for Africa Heads of State Summit

African leaders seek record World Bank financing to combat climate change

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x461.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-481182" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024.jpeg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Borge Brende, president of the World Economic Forum, gave a stark outlook for the global economy saying the world faces a decade of low growth if the right economic measures are not applied.



Speaking Sunday at WEF’s “Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development” in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he warned that global debt ratios are close to levels not seen since the 1820s and there was a “stagflation” risk for advanced economies.



“The global growth [estimate] this year is around 3.2 [%]. It’s not bad, but it’s not what we were used to — the trend growth used to be 4% for decades,” he told CNBC’s Dan Murphy, adding that there was a risk of a slowdown like that seen in the 1970s in some major economies.



“We cannot get into a trade war, we still have to trade with each other,” he explained when asked about avoiding a period of low growth.



“Trade will change and global value chains — there will be some more near-shoring and friend-shoring — but we shouldn’t lose the baby with the bathwater &#8230; Then we have to address the global debt situation. We haven’t seen this kind of debt since the Napoleonic Wars, we are getting close to 100% of the global GDP in debt,” he said.



He said governments needed to consider how to reduce that debt and take the right fiscal measures without getting into a situation where it kicks off a recession. He also motioned persistent inflationary pressures and that generative artificial intelligence could be an opportunity for the developing world.



His warning chimes with a recent report from the International Monetary Fund which noted that global public debt had edged up to 93% of GDP last year, and was still 9 percentage points higher than pre-pandemic levels. The IMF projected that global public debt could near 100 % of GDP by the end of the decade.



The Fund also singled out the high debt levels in China and the United States, saying loose fiscal policy in the latter puts pressure on rates and the dollar which then pushes up funding costs around the world —exacerbating pre-existing fragilities.



Earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund raised its global growth forecast slightly, saying the world economy had proven “surprisingly resilient” despite inflationary pressures and monetary policy shifts. It now expects global growth of 3.2% in 2024, up by a modest 0.1 percentage point from its earlier January forecast.



WEF’s Brende said Sunday that the biggest risk for the global economy is now “the geopolitical recession that we are faced with,” highlighting recent Iran-Israel tensions.



“There is so much unpredictability, and you can easily get out of control. If Israel and Iran escalated that conflict, we could have seen an oil price of $150 overnight. And that would of course be very damaging for the global economy,” he said.

107407269-1714293090268-gettyimages-1931121428-DAVOS_WEF_2024

WEF president: ‘We haven’t seen this kind of debt since the Napoleonic Wars’

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="510" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/J4H2NTSDSNLWZN4ASKFPW2A6IA-820x510.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-481179" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/J4H2NTSDSNLWZN4ASKFPW2A6IA-820x510.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/J4H2NTSDSNLWZN4ASKFPW2A6IA-300x187.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/J4H2NTSDSNLWZN4ASKFPW2A6IA-145x90.jpg 145w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/J4H2NTSDSNLWZN4ASKFPW2A6IA-768x478.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/J4H2NTSDSNLWZN4ASKFPW2A6IA-1536x955.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/J4H2NTSDSNLWZN4ASKFPW2A6IA-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Workers talk on their mobile phones, as a Maersk container is transported by a train, near a port of Barcelona, Spain April 26, 2024. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, April 28 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria secured a $600 million investment in seaport infrastructure from Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk&nbsp;MAERSKb.CO, the presidency said in a statement on Sunday.



The investment was secured during a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Moller-Maersk Chairman Robert Maersk Uggla on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia.



&#8220;We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships,&#8221; the Nigerian presidency quoted Uggla as saying during the meeting.



Nigeria has promised to revamp its ports, including in the commercial capital Lagos, to ease congestion that frustrates businesses.



Tinubu said during the meeting that his government would support the modernisation and automation of its ports to improve trade, reduce corruption and boost efficiency.



&#8220;A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimize trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships.&#8221;



(Reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja and Kanjyik Ghosh in Bengalulu, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Matthew Lewis)

FILE PHOTO: Workers talk on their mobile phones as a Maersk container is transported by a train near a port of Barcelona

Nigeria secures $600 million Maersk investment in seaport infrastructure

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="461" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/103389971-GettyImages-154793097-820x461.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-480295" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/103389971-GettyImages-154793097-820x461.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/103389971-GettyImages-154793097-300x169.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/103389971-GettyImages-154793097-160x90.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/103389971-GettyImages-154793097-768x432.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/103389971-GettyImages-154793097-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/103389971-GettyImages-154793097.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



Elliott Management has built a roughly $1 billion stake in miner Anglo American in recent months, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC.



Anglo American shares were up 5% on the news Friday.



News of the activist’s position comes as the $43 billion, London-based miner faces takeover interest from BHP, a mining giant with worldwide operations. Anglo rejected BHP’s $39 billion takeover offer Friday morning, saying BHP’s offer “significantly undervalues Anglo American and its future prospects.”



Anglo American declined to comment. The company is one of the largest producers of copper in the world.



BHP’s bid would have called for the spinoff of Anglo American’s South African subsidiaries. The metal plays a critical role in the worldwide transition to clean energy, and is used in the manufacture of EVs and wind turbines.



Anglo American chairman Stuart Chambers noted in the company’s rejection that copper represented “30% of Anglo American’s total production, and with the benefit of well-sequenced and value-accretive growth options in copper and other structurally attractive products,” there was more value to be created for shareholders in the months and years ahead.



Elliott’s position was first reported by Bloomberg.



Elliott has extensive experience with mining companies, including at suitor BHP in 2017. The activist urged the company to spin off its petroleum businesses and ditch its primary listing in Australia in favor of one in London.



BHP initially rejected those proposals, before exiting the oil business in 2021. The Australian miner is one of the largest in the world, with a market cap of $145 billion and mining sales of $53.8 billion in 2023.



CNBC’s Karen Gilchrist contributed reporting.

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Chad prepares to vote in a coup-hit region, wary allies look on

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As BHP weighs firm bid for Anglo, investors fret over cherry-picking assets

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Togo votes for a new parliament with stronger say in governance

African leaders seek record World Bank financing to combat climate change

WEF president: ‘We haven’t seen this kind of debt since the Napoleonic Wars’

Nigeria secures $600 million Maersk investment in seaport infrastructure

Elliott takes $1 billion stake in Anglo American as miner faces takeover interest

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