(Reuters) &#8211; Shares of Eastman Kodak Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/KODK.N">KODK.N</a>) fell about 40% on Monday and were on track for their worst single-day decline after the U.S. government blocked a $765 million loan to the company, which was going to make drug ingredients for use in possible COVID-19 vaccines, because of “alleged wrongdoing” by executives.



The U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC) was slated to grant the loan to Eastman Kodak, which is looking to move deeper into the pharmaceutical arena.



But alarms were raised after senior Democratic lawmakers asked federal regulators to investigate securities transactions made by the company and its executives around the time it learned it could receive the government loan.



U.S. President Donald Trump said last week the government would investigate the circumstances surrounding the announcement of the loan.



“Recent allegations of wrongdoing raise serious concerns,” U.S. International Development Finance Corp (DFC) said late on Friday in a tweet.



The company’s shares have soared more than five-fold, with retail traders on the popular Robinhood trading app piling into the stock since DFC announced it would sign a letter of interest to provide the loan to the company.



More than 900 million shares have exchanged hands since the loan announcement, nearly 12 times the company’s outstanding shares.



Shares of the company were down 39.50% at $9 in pre-market trading on Monday.

wall street

Snap ! Kodak shares plunge after U.S. blocks $765 million loan deal

(Reuters) &#8211; The S&amp;P 500 and Dow rose on Monday, as investors rotated into value stocks from heavyweight tech-focused companies while awaiting word on progress in the fiscal support bill for the country’s battered economy.FILE PHOTO: The 11 Wall St. door of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, New York, U.S., June 26, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid



The Nasdaq&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>, which hit a record high every day of last week, was dragged lower by Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>), Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>) and Facebook Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FB.O">FB.O</a>). The Dow index touched a more than five-month high, boosted by growth-linked industrial and financials stocks.



Bets on a potential coronavirus vaccine, historic fiscal and monetary support, and more recently, a better-than-expected second quarter earnings season have brought the S&amp;P 500 to within 1% of its February record high.



“Particularly for many people who missed the rally, (cyclicals) is the only place where you can still find value,” said Thomas Hayes, managing member at Great Hill Capital Llc in New York.



All three indexes opened higher after U.S. President Donald Trump signed executive orders that partly restored enhanced unemployment benefits after talks between the White House and top Democrats in Congress about fresh stimulus broke down last week.



U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview to CNBC on Monday, said the Trump administration and Congress could reach an agreement as soon as this week if Democrats are “reasonable.”



Value stocks, which tend to outperform growth coming out of a recession, have gotten a lift in recent days. The Russell 1000 value .RLV index rose 0.7% on Monday, while the Russell 1000 growth .RLG index slipped 0.3%.



“It’s going to take a while before we can see some real good growth, but the market seems to be betting otherwise,” said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York.



At 13:03 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;was up 272.55 points, or 0.99%, at 27,706.03, the S&amp;P 500&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;was up 6.08 points, or 0.18%, at 3,357.36. The Nasdaq Composite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>&nbsp;was down 41.80 points, or 0.38%, at 10,969.18.



Energy .SPNY and industrials .SPLRCI, among the worst performers this year, led gains among major S&amp;P sectors. Technology .SPLRCT and communication services .SPLRCL fell about 0.8% each.



Among individual movers, Eastman Kodak Co (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/KODK.N">KODK.N</a>) sank 27.5% after its $765-million loan agreement with the U.S. government to produce pharmaceutical ingredients was put on hold due to “recent allegations of wrongdoing.”



Microsoft Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MSFT.O">MSFT.O</a>) fell 2.2% as sources said its bid to carve out parts of TikTok from its Chinese owner ByteDance will be a technically complex endeavor.



Mall owner Simon Property Group (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPG.N">SPG.N</a>) rose 7.3% after a report that it has been in talks with Amazon.com Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMZN.O">AMZN.O</a>) about turning some of its department-store sites into Amazon fulfillment centers. The company’s quarterly results are due after markets close on Monday.



Nike (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/NKE.N">NKE.N</a>) surged 4.4% to a record high after footwear retailer Foot Locker (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/FL.N">FL.N</a>), to which Nike supplies, said same-store sales increased about 18% in the second quarter. Foot Locker shares rose 6.3%.



Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 2.60-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 1.66-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.



The S&amp;P index recorded 36 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 95 new highs and nine new lows.

Wall Street mixed with stimulus in focus; Dow hits over five-month high

KAMPALA (Reuters) &#8211; Uganda’s central bank left its benchmark lending rate unchanged at 7% on Monday, pausing after two straight cuts aimed at helping revive economic growth hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.



In line with other central banks around the world, policymakers in the East African nation embarked on an easing round at the start of the coronavirus crisis, to try to limit the damage to the economy.



“(The easing stance) provided a foundation for the recovery of economic activity as the lockdown is relaxed,” the bank said in a statement.



The World Bank expects economic growth in Uganda to fall as low as 0.4% in 2020 from 5.6% last year, as the effects of the virus batter sectors including tourism, exports and manufacturing.



Policymakers cut a total of 200 basis points during their meetings in April and June to accelerate the flow of cheap credit to businesses struggling from the effects of a lockdown the government implemented to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.



The central bank expects economic growth in the 2020/21 fiscal year in the range of 3.0-4.0 percent, said its governor, Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile, in a statement.



“The economic outlook is extremely uncertain, largely because of the unpredictable intensity and duration of the pandemic,” he said, adding the possibility of a widespread and possibly more severe second wave of COVID-19, is a major risk.



Uganda implemented one of the Africa’s tightest anti-coronavirus lockdowns that included shuttering all businesses but the most essential, banning all vehicle movement and public gatherings.

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Uganda central bank holds lending rates after two cuts

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s struggling state defence firm Denel told trade unions on Friday that it cannot honour a court ruling that it should pay outstanding salaries by Friday, a letter from Denel’s lawyers to the unions’ lawyers seen by Reuters showed.



“Our client requests that your clients grant it an indulgence to enable it to work on measures to raise funds,” Denel’s lawyers wrote in the letter, adding that Denel would aim to give an update no later the end of next week. Denel said in a statement that it remained committed to meeting its obligations and paying outstanding salaries as soon as possible.

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South Africa’s Denel tells unions it can’t honour court ruling on salaries

ABUJA (Reuters) &#8211; The World Bank has approved $114 million to help Nigeria tackle its coronavirus pandemic, the global lender said on Friday.



The money comes in the form of a $100 million loan and a $14 million grant to be split between Nigeria’s 36 states and federal-level procurement of medical equipment, tests and medicine.



Africa’s most populous country has recorded more than 45,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 930 deaths, but low levels of testing have left a muddy picture of the outbreak’s severity.



“Nigeria has ramped up its efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, but more needs to done at the state level, which are at the front line of the response,” Shubham Chaudhuri, the World Bank’s director for Nigeria, said in its statement on Friday.

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World Bank approves $114 mln for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South African investigators are seeking to recover more than 400 million rand ($23 million) from German software firm SAP for two government contracts they allege were entered into unlawfully, court documents seen by Reuters show.



Although the amount of money sought is small for a company with a market value of around 162 billion euros, the move by the authorities is another headache for SAP, which in 2018 admitted to misconduct over deals with South African state firms during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure.



SAP, a major global business software company, had said it was reviewing all its public sector deals in South Africa dating back to 2010, but it has not publicly flagged wrongdoing over the agreements in 2015 and 2016 with the Department of Water and Sanitation.



Investigators say those contracts should be declared invalid because government regulations were contravened, according to the court papers, reported here for the first time.



The Special Investigating Unit (SIU), which is investigating the contracts, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.



SAP did not comment on the specific allegations. In a statement to Reuters the company said: “SAP continues to cooperate with South African authorities/law enforcement and remains committed to the highest standards of business ethics.”



“Our policy is, and always will be, to carry out all company activities in accordance with the letter and spirit of applicable laws.”



The SIU has been probing SAP’s work for the water ministry for roughly two years, after President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised inquiries into possible procurement irregularities and corruption.



In court papers filed late last week, the SIU asked the Special Tribunal, a court Ramaphosa established to fast-track recovery of misspent or stolen public money, to order SAP to reimburse roughly 128 million rand for the 2015 agreement and 285 million rand for the 2016 agreement, plus interest.



In its review, included in the court documents, the SIU found the water ministry’s 2015 contract with SAP was concluded despite the ministry still having a year left to run on an existing agreement with the German company. For the 2016 contract, the SIU cited a senior technology official as saying neither the ministry nor its entities had received services from SAP despite the 285 million rand paid.



A SIU principal forensic lawyer said in an affidavit that investigators were still probing possible corruption related to SAP’s work for the water ministry. But he said they had decided to launch civil proceedings in the Special Tribunal now because taxpayer money was at stake.



The acting director-general of the water ministry said in an affidavit that a high turnover of directors-general since 2016 meant “the obvious illegality related to the conclusion of the SAP contracts” was not addressed sooner.



A ministry spokesman declined further comment.



In March 2018, SAP admitted to paying more than $9 million to intermediary companies linked to the Guptas, a family at the centre of a political corruption scandal in South Africa.



The Guptas, close friends of former president Jacob Zuma, have denied corruption allegations but their relationship to the former president is one of the main areas of focus of a state corruption inquiry that began after Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma in February 2018.



Zuma also denies involvement in any corruption.



Ramaphosa has staked his reputation on cleaning up public life in South Africa but a spate of tender scandals during the coronavirus crisis has made some analysts question whether much progress has been made.



The COVID-19 pandemic has poleaxed an already weak economy and set the stage for a record budget deficit in the post-apartheid era.



This week the SIU and Eskom, the state power company that has also featured in corruption scandals, took steps to try to recoup 3.8 billion rand they allege was diverted from the utility by former Eskom executives and the Guptas.



The Guptas have denied unduly winning contracts with government entities, including Eskom, during Zuma’s time in office.



($1 = 17.5557 rand)

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South Africa tries to recover over $23 mln from SAP for ‘unlawful’ contracts

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African central bank further cut its government bond purchases in July, buying 2.5 billion rand ($142 million) worth, or half the amount it bought in June, to bring its total holdings to 38.4 billion rand, data showed on Friday.



Rampant selling of government debt in March and April, as the coronavirus struck, forced the bank into emergency liquidity measures, including a quantitative easing style purchase of bonds in the secondary market.



At its rate meeting two weeks ago, when the bank clipped lending rates by 25 basis points, governor Lesetja Kganyago stressed the bond buying was to support liquidity rather than finance government’s ballooning budget deficit.



In May, National Treasury upped the weekly amount of debt on auction by nearly 2 billion rand.



Local banks and asset mangers have mostly taken up the increased supply, but foreign investors have reduced their holdings to an eight-year low at 30.1%.



($1 = 17.5639 rand)

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South African central bank cuts bond buys to 2.5 bln rand in July

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Cairo-based African Export-Import Bank has committed $400 million in loans and guarantees to Mozambique’s $20 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, the multilateral lender said on Thursday.



Afreximbank’s move follows a similar commitment for the same sum by The African Development Bank last month.



“The &#8230; financing will be used to partially finance &#8230; activities required to extract natural gas offshore, its transfer to onshore processing facilities and then its conversion to LNG for export &#8230; around the world,” the Afreximbank statement said.



The Mozambique LNG Area 1 Project is ranked Africa’s single largest foreign direct investment to date. It will consist of two LNG trains with a total capacity of around 13 million tons per year.



French energy major Total, the operator, has secured a $14.9 billion senior debt agreement, the biggest project financing Africa has seen.

Print

Afreximbank commits $400 mln to Mozambique LNG project

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; U.S. stocks climbed on Wednesday on the heels of a surprise quarterly profit from Disney and as investors stayed optimistic that a deal was near for a U.S. coronavirus fiscal aid package.



Walt Disney Co’s (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/DIS.N">DIS.N</a>) shares jumped, to put it among the biggest boosts to the S&amp;P 500 and Dow. The stock notched its biggest daily percentage gain since March 24 as revenue declines for Disney parks and media networks were not as bad as feared.



“That is helping the Dow and that has been a laggard versus the S&amp;P this year, but it is more than that,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in Milwaukee. “At a time when everyone is talking about how big and how important these megacaps are to the S&amp;P, kind of quietly you are starting to see a little bit of a leadership rotation.”



Unofficially, the Dow Jones Industrial Average&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.DJI">.DJI</a>&nbsp;rose 373.71 points, or 1.39%, to 27,202.18, the S&amp;P 500&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.SPX">.SPX</a>&nbsp;gained 21.52 points, or 0.65%, to 3,328.03 and the Nasdaq Composite&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/finance/markets/index?symbol=.IXIC">.IXIC</a>&nbsp;added 58.22 points, or 0.53%, to 10,999.39.



Square Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SQ.N">SQ.N</a>) surged after the payments processor reported a 64% rise in second-quarter revenue, as consumers increased online buying and used its peer-to-peer Cash App platform during the pandemic.



As quarterly results have come in better-than-feared and heavyweight technology and technology-related companies have surged, a heavy dose of fiscal and monetary stimulus have helped fuel a rally in equities to bring the S&amp;P 500 to less than 2% from its closing record on Feb. 19.



With 384 companies in the S&amp;P having reported earnings through Wednesday morning, results are coming in 23.5% above expectations, in aggregate, according to Refinitiv data, the highest on record back to 1994.



Economic data painted a mixed picture, as U.S. services industry activity gained momentum in July, according to an ISM survey, with new orders jumping to a record high. However, hiring declined, supporting views that a recovery in the labor market was faltering.



Earlier, the ADP National Employment Report, which can be an inconsistent precursor to the government payrolls report set for Friday, showed U.S. private employers hired far fewer workers than expected last month.



“We know we had this tremendous rebound off the lows but what we need now is sustained strength,” said Delwiche.



U.S. Congressional Democrats and White House officials were set to resume negotiations on coronavirus relief legislation on Wednesday, with administration officials aiming for an agreement by Friday.



Financials .SPSY, industrials .SPLRCI and materials .SPLRCM, that track economic growth, outperformed among the major S&amp;P sectors.



Teladoc Health Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TDOC.N">TDOC.N</a>) fell after agreeing to buy chronic care provider Livongo Health Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/LVGO.O">LVGO.O</a>) in a deal valuing the company at $18.5 billion, betting on a boom in online care and consultations spurred by the coronavirus crisis. Livongo shares also fell.



Electric truck maker Nikola Corp NKLA.O slumped after it reported a bigger quarterly loss in its first results as a listed entity.



Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by David Gregorio

Wonderful world of Disney boosts Wall Street

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Labour Court on Tuesday ordered state defence firm Denel to pay workers outstanding salaries for May, June and July by no later than Friday, Aug. 7, a copy of the court judgment showed.



The case against Denel was brought by two trade unions, Solidarity and UASA, on behalf of their members after the weapons manufacturer did not pay salaries in full.



A Denel spokeswoman said the company was preparing to comment in a statement.

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South Africa’s Denel ordered to pay outstanding salaries by Friday

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Blue Label Telecoms said on Tuesday that Cell C, in which it is the largest shareholder, had defaulted on the payment of capital on its $184 million note, which was due on Aug. 2.



Cell C, a mobile carrier, also defaulted on interest and capital repayments related to the respective bilateral loan facilities between itself and Nedbank Limited, China Development Bank Corporation, Development Bank of Southern Africa Limited and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited.



These were due in January and July 2020.

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South Africa’s mobile operator Cell C defaults on repayments on $184 mln bond

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s supermarket chain Pick n Pay flagged a more than 50% fall in first-half earnings on Tuesday, weighed down by not being able to sell alcohol, tobacco and clothes during the lockdown as well as voluntary severance payments.



Pick n Pay, which also owns discount supermarket brand Boxer, said headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the 26 weeks ended Aug. 30, would be down more than 42.52 cents from 85.03 cents reported in the previous year.



The retailer also blamed COVID-19-related costs for the decline in HEPS, the main profit measure in South Africa that strips out certain items.

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South Africa’s Pick n Pay warns of 50% decline in half-year earnings

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Power utility Eskom and South Africa’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU) said on Monday they had issued a court summons in an effort to recoup 3.8 billion rand ($221 million) they allege was diverted by former Eskom executives and the Gupta family, who ran high profile businesses in the country.



The move by Eskom and the SIU relates to the 2015 acquisition of Optimum Coal by the Gupta-controlled company Tegeta Exploration and Resources. At issue is a claim by Eskom that the deal involved a payment to the Guptas which was authorised by previous executives, damaging the company financially.



Eskom alleged “a concerted effort corruptly to divert financial resources from Eskom, (and) to improperly and illegally benefit the Gupta family” in a statement issued jointly with the SIU.



It said that Eskom had issued a civil summons in the North Gauteng High Court against 12 individuals to recover funds lost.



Rudi Krause, the lawyer acting for the Gupta family, said he had not received any communication from Eskom or South Africa’s SIU about claim for damages.



“If they serve a summons properly and my clients are properly cited, then I will have something to respond to. At the



moment I know nothing about it,” Krause said. Krause decline further comment on Monday’s statement.



Eskom is one of several South African state-owned firms which have been investigated over allegations of corruption involving government contracts.



The investigations have prompted the overhaul of Eskom’s management and board, as well as government promises of stronger oversight, with President Cyril Ramaphosa last year announcing Eskom would be spilt into three separate entities.



Eskom also has had a succession of chief executives over the past decade as it struggled to service debts totalling 450 billion rand, while trying to keep power supplies going.



Brian Molefe, who resigned as Eskom CEO in 2017 after South Africa’s state corruption watchdog questioned coal deals struck during his term, was one of the individuals named in the statement. He also said he had not received a summons.



“Suddenly they whip out this file after three years. Nobody has contacted me,” Molefe said.



Another former Eskom CEO Matshela Moses Koko, who was also named in the statement, also dismissed the legal move.



“What a horrific blunder and a bad publicity stunt by Eskom and the SIU,” Koko wrote on Twitter. “I really want to comment but I don’t have the summons. So I don’t know what Eskom is accusing me of,” Koko later told Reuters.



The SIU is an independent statutory body that is accountable to South Africa’s parliament and the country’s president. It says it conducts investigations at the president’s request.



A judicial inquiry into alleged corruption involving state contracts worth billions of rand at Eskom and other state firms, which began two years ago, is ongoing.



South Africa’s parliament and National Treasury have also conducted investigations into Eskom’s Tegeta deal and other aspects of its procurement arrangements, but have not brought any criminal or civil charges.



($1 = 17.1724 rand)

South_Africa-Mpumalanga-Middelburg-Arnot_Power_Station01

South Africa’s Eskom seeks $221 million damages over coal deal

PRAGUE (Reuters) &#8211; Volkswagen’s Czech carmaker Skoda Auto named VW’s South Africa boss Thomas Schaefer as its new chairman on Monday as part of a wider shake-up at the German autos group.



Schaefer replaces Bernhard Maier, who left the Czech firm last month after nearly five years during which he led the 125-year-old Skoda to record profits.



Skoda is the central European country’s biggest exporter, but its success has sometimes caused friction within Volkswagen, whose labour boss has criticised it for cannibalising sales.



The Czech company delivered 1.24 million cars globally in 2019, with China and Germany as its top markets. Like other carmakers, Skoda is battling to get back from shutdowns due to the coronavirus crisis and now faces uncertainty over demand.



However, it said last week it saw signs of recovery, after first-half deliveries crashed 31% and group Chief Executive Herbert Diess told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that Skoda &#8211; one of VW’s 12 brands &#8211; needed to do more to compete with South Korean and French rivals.



Labour unions, traditionally strong at Skoda Auto, said it was unclear what Schaefer’s appointment would mean for the direction of the Czech carmaker.



Schaefer, who takes up the post with immediate effect, joined Volkswagen from Mercedes-Benz in 2012 and has since 2015 led Volkswagen Group South Africa, which produces vehicles and engines mainly for export. It hit record output in 2019.



Schaefer also ran VW’s broader African business and spearheaded the development of production hubs in countries including Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.

VW South Africa boss Schaefer takes over at Skoda in shake-up

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Shoprite Holdings could become the latest South African retailer to retreat from other African markets after it said on Monday that it is considering reducing or selling all of its stake in its Nigerian subsidiary.



The company has been reviewing its long-term options in Africa as currency devaluations, supply issues and low consumer spending in Angola, Nigeria and Zambia have weighed on earnings.



Shoprite, which owns more than 2,800 outlets across Africa, said in a trading update that it was pursuing the sale after reviewing its operating model and receiving approaches from various investors.



In February CEO Pieter Engelbrecht told analysts that Shoprite remained committed to the continent but not at any cost.



The market welcomed the potential exit, pushing Shoprite’s shares to their highest in nearly two months. They were up 11.4% by 1214 GMT.



“Good riddance to Nigeria,” said independent investment analyst Christopher Gilmour. “Almost impossible for any foreign company to do business there. Companies never know where they stand with the authorities and there are constant disruptions and distractions.”



A portfolio manager who did not want to be named said that Engelbrecht is delivering on his promises to deleverage the balance sheet and focus on the domestic market, where the retailer continues to trade best.



“Future profits will also improve, given the severance of the lethargic Nigerian arm,” he added.



Its shares were also supported by a 6.4% jump in total sales to 156.9 billion rand (6.95 billion pounds) in the 52 weeks to June 28. Shoprite said its annual headline earnings per share (HEPS) could rise despite the impact of 327.2 million rand in COVID-19 costs and impairments of 1.3 billion rand.



The retailer said its basic HEPS &#8211; the main profit measure in South Africa &#8211; from continuing operations are likely to be between 1.6% below and 6.4% above the restated 747.7 cents it reported a year earlier.



Its South African supermarkets division grew by 8.7% while sales at its supermarkets outside South Africa, excluding Nigeria, fell 1.4%.



Its South African supermarkets were boosted by panic-buying at the outset of the coronavirus lockdown and significant growth at its Checkers business, which has been repositioned as a more upmarket brand and now represents 39.6% of the group’s domestic supermarket sales.

Shoprite,_Zeerust

Shoprite lifted by sales jump and potential Nigeria exit

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s seasonally-adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) expanded in July, although at a slower rate compared to the previous month.



The index, which gauges manufacturing activity in Africa’s most industrialised economy, fell to 51.2 points in July from 53.9 points in June, remaining above the 50-point mark that separates expansion from contraction.



The business activity sub-index ticked down slightly to 62.9 from 64.6 in June, Absa said in a statement on Monday.



The employment sub-index showed the manufacturing sector was still shedding jobs even with activity recovering.



South Africa imposed a strict lockdown in late March to curb the spread of the coronavirus but has since eased some of the restrictions, with most key industries now allowed to operate at full capacity subject to health and safety protocols.

Absa Reboots Image As 100 Years Of Barclays In Africa Ends

South Africa’s July Absa PMI signals slower manufacturing improvement

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s telecom operator Telkom has branched into the competitive space of financial services by launching a life insurance business that it said will initially sell funeral insurance.



Telkom and other mobile operators in South Africa are looking to tap more than 11 million South Africans who do not have bank accounts to offer lending and other financial services, a move that is set to threaten traditional and digital banks.



They are also seeking to expand their mobile payment apps into online market places to leverage their network and customer base.



“In recent years Telkom has made a strategic shift to digital distribution, which puts it in an ideal position to distribute insurance products using its considerable digital structure and intellectual property,” Sibusiso Ngwenya, managing executive for Telkom Financial Services said in a joint statement on Sunday with insurer Guardrisk which will underwrite the service.



Partly state-owned Telkom has been diversifying its income streams beyond the fixed-line business, which now contributes just over 20% to group revenue, up from 56% in 2013.



Underwriter Guardrisk Life is part of JSE-listed insurer Momentum Metropolitan Holdings Limited.



In a Sunday Times newspaper ad, Telkom said it will also offer business loans and soon launch a digital wallet service for customers to buy products and pay for services via its Yep! app as well as other online transacting platforms.



The battle to capture South Africa’s unbanked is intensifying among mobile operators after biggest mobile operator by subscribers MTN Group re-launched its mobile money app in South Africa in February and has been building the platform to include online shopping payments and micro loans.



In July Vodacom Group announced plans to create a ‘super app’ in partnership with digital payment provider Alipay, part of China’s Alibaba group, to allow consumers in South Africa to shop online, pay bills and send money to family from next year.

Financial

Snap ! Kodak shares plunge after U.S. blocks $765 million loan deal

Wall Street mixed with stimulus in focus; Dow hits over five-month high

Uganda central bank holds lending rates after two cuts

South Africa’s Denel tells unions it can’t honour court ruling on salaries

World Bank approves $114 mln for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response

South Africa tries to recover over $23 mln from SAP for ‘unlawful’ contracts

South African central bank cuts bond buys to 2.5 bln rand in July

Afreximbank commits $400 mln to Mozambique LNG project

Wonderful world of Disney boosts Wall Street

South Africa’s Denel ordered to pay outstanding salaries by Friday

South Africa’s mobile operator Cell C defaults on repayments on $184 mln bond

South Africa’s Pick n Pay warns of 50% decline in half-year earnings

South Africa’s Eskom seeks $221 million damages over coal deal

VW South Africa boss Schaefer takes over at Skoda in shake-up

Shoprite lifted by sales jump and potential Nigeria exit

South Africa’s July Absa PMI signals slower manufacturing improvement

South African telecom operator Telkom moves into financial services

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Financial

Snap ! Kodak shares plunge after U.S. blocks $765 million loan deal

Wall Street mixed with stimulus in focus; Dow hits over five-month high

Uganda central bank holds lending rates after two cuts

South Africa’s Denel tells unions it can’t honour court ruling on salaries

World Bank approves $114 mln for Nigeria’s COVID-19 response

South Africa tries to recover over $23 mln from SAP for ‘unlawful’ contracts

South African central bank cuts bond buys to 2.5 bln rand in July

Afreximbank commits $400 mln to Mozambique LNG project

Wonderful world of Disney boosts Wall Street

South Africa’s Denel ordered to pay outstanding salaries by Friday

South Africa’s mobile operator Cell C defaults on repayments on $184 mln bond

South Africa’s Pick n Pay warns of 50% decline in half-year earnings

South Africa’s Eskom seeks $221 million damages over coal deal

VW South Africa boss Schaefer takes over at Skoda in shake-up

Shoprite lifted by sales jump and potential Nigeria exit

South Africa’s July Absa PMI signals slower manufacturing improvement

South African telecom operator Telkom moves into financial services

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