<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1367" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161691446-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-510146" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161691446-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161691446-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161691446-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161691446-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161691446-768x513.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161691446-1536x1025.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">NAIROBI, KENYA &#8211; JULY 16: Demonstrators opposed to the &#8220;Finance Bill 2024&#8221;, which proposes a tax bill, march towards the parliament building to protest against the government in Nairobi, Kenya on July 16, 2024. The Kenyan Parliament passed the Finance Bill 2024 last month, with 204 members voting in favor and 105 against. (Photo by Gerald Anderson/Anadolu via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, July 23 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Kenya&#8217;s police has asked protesters to avoid marching to the capital&#8217;s main airport and its environs, while the airport&#8217;s operator has asked passengers to arrive hours before flights due to enhanced security checks.



Youth-led protests across Kenya against proposed tax hikes have continued even after President William Ruto withdrew the legislation in late June and fired almost all of his cabinet. He named part of his new cabinet on Friday, mostly retaining holdovers from the cabinet he had sacked.



Some protesters had mobilised to march to the airport, prompting the police warning.



Activists say they want Ruto to resign and are calling for reforms to clean up corruption and address poor governance and service delivery at national and regional governments.



Protesters should avoid going into restricted areas, including airports, Douglas Kanja, acting police inspector general, said in a statement late on Monday.



Airport operator Kenya Airports Authority advised passengers using the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to arrive earlier than usual.



Police have in the past said the protests, which have claimed at least 50 lives since erupting nearly a month ago, had been infiltrated by criminal gangs.



The marches began peacefully but later turned violent.



Some demonstrators briefly stormed parliament on June 25, and the police opened fire.



(Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Michael Perry)

Demonstration against tax bill in Kenya

Kenya police warn against protests at capital’s main airport

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1678" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161957502-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-510111" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161957502-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161957502-300x246.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161957502-820x672.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161957502-110x90.jpg 110w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161957502-768x629.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/GettyImages-2161957502-1536x1259.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FAYETTEVILLE, USA &#8211; JULY 18: US Vice President Kamala Harris holds a campaign event that is her seventh visit to North Carolina this year and 15th trip to the state since taking office in Fayetteville NC, United States on July 18, 2024 (Photo by Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Democrats united behind Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s front-runner for the presidential nomination Monday, and their excitement translated into a juggernaut day of fundraising for the party and for Harris’ campaign.



Late Monday night, NBC News projected that Harris had won endorsements from a majority of the Democratic party’s pledged convention delegates. The threshold is 1,976 delegates, and NBC estimates that Harris has the spoken or written backing of 1,992 delegates.



While not yet formally the party’s presumptive nominee, Harris’ position as frontrunner is rock solid, and no potential challengers have signaled they intend to vie for the nomination.



In the hours since President Joe Biden announced that he would end his teetering reelection campaign, Harris and the Democratic party have pulled in roughly $250 million in online donations and major donor commitments. 



The Democratic fundraising platform ActBlue has processed $106 million in contributions to Democratic candidates since Biden dropped out, according to an automated tracker. 



It is not clear yet how much of this money was given to House and Senate campaigns and how much went to the former Biden campaign, rebranded overnight as the Harris for President campaign.&nbsp;



In addition to the online donations, a super political action committee that supports the Biden-Harris ticket announced that over the past 24 hours, major donors have made contribution commitments totaling $150 million to the Harris election effort.&nbsp;



The pledges to Future Forward were described to NBC News as coming from donors who had been sitting on the sidelines for the past month, amid concerns about Biden as the nominee. 



The pledged donations to Future Forward are just that, however: promises. Until the PAC files mandatory federal campaign finance reports, these numbers cannot be verified.&nbsp;



The historic fundraising numbers are energizing Democrats and breathing new life into their bid to defeat former President Donald Trump and his Republican running mate, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio.



Since Sunday, more than 888,000 small-dollar donors have contributed to the Harris campaign, according to a memo late Monday.



Harris’ momentum could be the reason that West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who recently switched his political affiliation to Independent, dropped his suggestion that he was open to challenging Harris for the Democratic nomination.



Republicans, meanwhile, are scrambling to retool a Trump campaign that was built to defeat Biden into one capable of defeating a very different candidate.



Trump spent much of the morning attacking Biden, but shifted to attacking Harris in the afternoon.

US Vice President Kamala Harris holds campaign in North Carolina

Majority of pledged Democratic delegates endorse Harris after massive fundraising day

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2000" height="1354" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BWEXMGXBZJGV5F4OV3LMRETAPA.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-401890" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BWEXMGXBZJGV5F4OV3LMRETAPA.jpg 2000w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BWEXMGXBZJGV5F4OV3LMRETAPA-300x203.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BWEXMGXBZJGV5F4OV3LMRETAPA-820x555.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BWEXMGXBZJGV5F4OV3LMRETAPA-768x520.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/BWEXMGXBZJGV5F4OV3LMRETAPA-1536x1040.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A flame rises from a gas flare stack at the under-construction Dangote Industries Ltd. oil refinery and fertilizer plant site in the Ibeju Lekki district, outside of Lagos, Nigeria, on Friday, March 6, 2020. Aliko Dangote, Africas richest man, plans to spend more than his net worth of $13.5 billion building one of the worlds biggest oil refineries. Photographer: Tom Saater/Bloomberg</figcaption></figure>



LAGOS, July 22 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigerian lawmakers on Monday set up a committee to investigate crude shortages to local refineries and importation of dirty fuels, issues at the heart of a rift between the Dangote Refinery and Nigeria&#8217;s downstream oil regulator.



The committee constituted by Nigeria&#8217;s lower parliament will investigate alleged importation of dirtier fuels, operations of standards agencies, why refineries including Dangote Refinery are unable to get adequate crude supplies and rising fuel queues.



&#8220;Our investigation will proceed in phases beginning with the allegation of production and importation of sub standard petroleum products and unavailability of crude oil to domestic refineries,&#8221; said Ikenga Ugochinyere, a co-char of the committee.



The findings of the investigative panel, which does not have the power to act on them, will be presented to parliament from which recommendations would be made to the president.



The $20 billion Dangote Oil refinery, built by Africa&#8217;s richest man Aliko Dangote on the outskirts of Lagos, began operations in January but has been unable to get adequate crude supplies from Nigeria where vandalism, sabotage and low investments deter production.



Last month, the Dangote Refinery said oil majors were blocking its access to locally produced crude and the regulator was allowing fuel traders import high-sulphur gasoil thereby undermining its refinery.



In response, the head of the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the downstream regulator, said the Dangote Refinery was 45% completed hence unable to meet the country&#8217;s needs. He also said gasoil processed by the refinery is between 650 to 1200 parts per million of sulphur, thus inferior to imported products.



Nigerian regulation allows for the sulphur content in gasoil to be about 50 ppm and is set to begin enforcing the standards from next year.



When some lawmakers visited the plant on Saturday, Africa&#8217;s richest man, Aliko Dangote insisted on a test of the gasoil from his plant with others sold in the local market. The result showed that Dangote Refinery&#8217;s diesel had a sulphur content of 87.6 ppm, whereas the other two samples showed sulphur levels exceeding 1800 ppm and 2,000 ppm, respectively.



Dangote announced he was no longer proceeding with an investment into steel production in Nigeria due to allegations that he seeking to be a monopoly.



The investigative panel said it will conduct a forensic audit of the entire sector.



&#8220;The committee is urging stakeholders in the current dispute to deescalate tensions as the committee embarks on the great task of resolving the issue,&#8221; Ugochinyere said.



(Reporting by Isaac Anyaogu; editing by David Evans)

Africas Richest Man Builds Nigerias $15 Billion Oil Refinery

Nigeria investigates fuel imports after Dangote Refinery rift with regulator

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="768" height="512" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Kalgoorlie_open_cast_mine.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-372386" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Kalgoorlie_open_cast_mine.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Kalgoorlie_open_cast_mine-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Kalgoorlie_open_cast_mine-696x464.jpg 696w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Kalgoorlie_open_cast_mine-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: via Flickr</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, July 22 (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa&#8217;s Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) expects its demerger from parent company Anglo American to be completed next year and is planning a secondary listing in London, its CEO said on Monday.



Amplats, which reported first half results, also said it had cut some 3,700 jobs to reduce spending ahead of the demerger.



Meeting cost targets and the unbundling plan are crucial for efforts by Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad to restructure the wider group &#8211; after fending off a $49 billion takeover bid from rival mining giant BHP Group.



Amplats CEO Craig Miller said the standalone business would have brighter prospects.



&#8220;The planned demerger will create a more focused, independent global leader in the PGM industry,&#8221; Miller said, adding that a secondary listing would diversify its investors.



Amplats&#8217; profit fell 18% to 6.5 billion rand ($355.4 million) in the six months to June 30, while it declared a dividend of 9.75 rand per share, amounting to a total of 2.6 billion rand, in the first-half.



The wider Anglo group is due to report first half results on July 25, with investors hoping for a progress update.



Anglo has been battling an underground fire at one of its Australian coal mines since June 29, which could affect the way investors value the assets. Anglo&#8217;s sale of the coal assets is seen by investors as instrumental to raising capital.



&#8220;Anglo&#8217;s main problem this reporting period will be with the coal operations and how it will sell a burning coal mine,&#8221; said Ian Woodley, a portfolio manager at Old Mutual.



A spokesperson for Anglo said the coal assets sale had attracted strong demand from various investors.



&#8220;The sale process is well under way and there is strong interest in this world class set of steelmaking coal assets from a large number of parties,&#8221; the spokesperson said.



($1 = 18.2898 rand)



(Reporting by Felix Njini and Melanie Burton; Additional reporting by Nelson Banya and Clara Denina; Editing by Louise Heavens, David Goodman and Alexander Smith)

Kalgoorlie_open_cast_mine

Amplats says on track to demerge in 2025, plans secondary London listing

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1332" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CH74466FLFPLDMIKLENAOZO5UY-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423884" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CH74466FLFPLDMIKLENAOZO5UY-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CH74466FLFPLDMIKLENAOZO5UY-300x195.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CH74466FLFPLDMIKLENAOZO5UY-820x533.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CH74466FLFPLDMIKLENAOZO5UY-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CH74466FLFPLDMIKLENAOZO5UY-768x500.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/CH74466FLFPLDMIKLENAOZO5UY-1536x999.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks in Munich, Germany February 18, 2023. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay//File Photo</figcaption></figure>



Washington and the world are still reeling from President Joe Biden’s surprise announcement on Sunday that he is ending his teetering re-election campaign.



But Biden’s swift endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris to replace him at the top of the Democratic ticket is energizing Democrats and breathing new life into their campaign to defeat former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.



The “Biden for President” campaign committee has officially been renamed the Harris for President committee, maintaining the Biden team’s infrastructure, staff and — crucially — its $98 million in cash reserves.



Democrats excited about a new ticket have donated tens of millions of dollars online to the Harris for President campaign.



Now, speculation swirls about who the former California senator could choose for a potential running mate, if she becomes the party’s nominee. Several Democratic governors are early favorites, with strategists eyeing Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Roy Cooper of North Carolina and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.



Republicans are meanwhile scrambling to retool a Trump campaign that was built to defeat Joe Biden into one capable of defeating a very different candidate.



Both parties want to know what happened to make it possible for a would-be assassin to shoot at Trump while he was on stage at a rally in Butler Pa. on July 13. Trump survived the attempt, but one of his supporters in the audience was killed.



This is a developing story&#8230;

FILE PHOTO: Vice President Kamala Harris

Democrats rally behind Kamala Harris after Biden drops out; running-mate speculation swirls

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1424" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-417906" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-300x209.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-820x570.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-768x534.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CQH2GCFS7VKHNNUO4RF6ABAM54-1536x1068.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks as he attends the signing into law of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022, which will level the playing field for American exporters and importers, including farmers, and reduce costs for American consumers by lowering the cost of ocean shipping, at the White House in Washington, U.S., June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein</figcaption></figure>



President&nbsp;Joe Biden&nbsp;on Sunday&nbsp;dropped out&nbsp;of the&nbsp;2024 presidential race&nbsp;and endorsed Vice President&nbsp;Kamala Harris&nbsp;as the Democratic Party’s nominee, bowing to weeks of growing pressure by his own party members to quit his re-election bid against former President&nbsp;Donald Trump.



“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President,” Biden wrote in a post on the social media site X.



“And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.



“I will speak to the Nation later this week in more detail about my decision,” wrote Biden, whose bombshell decision came after a sharp spike in recent days in the number of congressional Democrats publicly calling for him to step aside for another nominee.



Biden in a subsequent tweet wrote that his “very first decision as the party nominee in 2020 was to pick Kamala Harris as my Vice President.”



“And it’s been the best decision I’ve made. Today I want to offer my full support and endorsement for Kamala to be the nominee of our party this year. Democrats — it’s time to come together and beat Trump,” Biden wrote.



“Let’s do this.”



Harris in a statement said, “I am honored to have the President’s endorsement and my intention is to earn and win this nomination.”



Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a joint statement from the Democratic power couple, said, “We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her.”



Biden, who has been isolated at his Rehoboth, Delaware, beach home after being diagnosed with Covid-19, and Harris spoke on Sunday before he announced he would drop out of the election race.



NBC News reported that Biden at 1:45 p.m. ET Sunday told his senior campaign team that he had changed his mind about remaining in the contest.



On Sunday evening, on a campaign staff call, Biden campaign co-chair Jen O’Malley Dillon called for staff to rally behind their new candidate and said that their jobs would safely transfer to the Harris campaign, three sources familiar with the call told NBC News.



She also acknowledged the emotional weight of the moment: “It is ok to grieve, it is ok to be unsure but also be optimistic about our path forward.”



Trump in a phone interview with NBC News said of Biden’s decision, “He should never have been there in the first place.”



“He should have stayed in his basement,” said Trump, who was formally nominated as the Republican Party’s candidate last week, days after narrowly avoiding being killed in an assassination attempt at a Pennsylvania campaign rally on July 13.



Democratic National Committee Jamie Harrison in a statement said, “In the coming days, the Party will undertake a transparent and orderly process to move forward as a united Democratic Party with a candidate who can defeat Donald Trump in November.”



“This process will be governed by established rules and procedures of the Party. Our delegates are prepared to take seriously their responsibility in swiftly delivering a candidate to the American people,” Harrison said.



Biden’s move echoes the decision by another Democratic incumbent, President Lyndon Johnson, to drop out of the 1968 election as he faced turmoil over the Vietnam War, low approval ratings, and a surprisingly strong performance by Sen. Eugene McCarthy in the New Hampshire primary.



Biden’s campaign for weeks had insisted he would remain in the race, despite growing concern since his disastrous debate with Trump in late June that he was too old and frail to compete against the former president and serve a full second term if re-elected.



As of Sunday, nearly 40 Democratic members of Congress had urged Biden to drop out. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who recently switched his political affiliation from Democrat to independent, earlier Sunday publicly said Biden should quit the race.



Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat who previously served as speaker of the House of Representatives, in a tweet Sunday wrote, “President Joe Biden is a patriotic American who has always put our country first.”



“His legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history,” Pelosi wrote. “With love and gratitude to President Biden for always believing in the promise of America and giving people the opportunity to reach their fulfillment. God blessed America with Joe Biden’s greatness and goodness.



Biden’s decision to drop out blows open the presidential race less than four months before Election Day.



It also poses extraordinary questions and challenges for the Democratic party, which now must scramble to assemble a new presidential ticket.



The next candidate will need to compete against the Republican ticket of Trump and Sen. JD Vance, win over donors, delegates and other allies who were loyal to the incumbent — all while convincing voters of their own worthiness for the nation’s highest office.



Biden’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



Biden started to hemorrhage support from his own party and allies after his June 27 debate against Trump.



While he is only three years older than Trump, Biden looked and sounded significantly worse on the debate stage. He displayed a stiff posture and sometimes vacant-looking gaze, and he frequently gave answers that were raspy, unclear and ineffective.



In both substance and appearance, Biden contrasted sharply with Trump, who looked and sounded the same as he has in recent years.



The debate instantly set off a crisis among Democrats. Even before it ended, party operatives were raising doubts about whether Biden could effectively campaign against Trump.



High-profile Democratic donors and backers openly urged Biden to drop out, with some vowing to&nbsp;withhold campaign contributions&nbsp;in the meantime.



Biden and his aides spent weeks trying to stanch the bleeding.



In his first post-debate interview, Biden said he was convinced that he is the best person to take on Trump, adding that he could only be persuaded to step down “if the Lord Almighty comes out and tells me that.”



But as his resolute posture failed to quell the&nbsp;unrest in his party, Biden suggested he could be moved to withdraw in other ways.



In a BET interview that aired Wednesday during the Republican National Convention, Biden said he might reconsider his decision to stay in the race “if I had some&nbsp;medical condition that emerged.”



On the same day that interview was set for broadcast, Biden&nbsp;tested positive for Covid. He canceled a scheduled appearance in Las Vegas and returned his beach house in Delaware.



Biden is already the oldest person ever to serve in the White House.



He would have been 86 at the end of a second term. He had&nbsp;weathered questions&nbsp;about his physical and mental fitness even during his 2020 run.



Those concerns grew in the 2024 cycle, but they were aggressively batted down by Biden’s campaign and White House aides, and the president’s relative lack of press conferences and interviews may have shielded scrutiny about his acuity.

U.S. President Joe Biden signs into law the Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 2022

Biden drops out of 2024 presidential election, endorses Kamala Harris as Democratic nominee

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1311" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FKG5KKTJ3ZIJ3FXZRX4R573AVI-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-509343" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FKG5KKTJ3ZIJ3FXZRX4R573AVI-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FKG5KKTJ3ZIJ3FXZRX4R573AVI-300x192.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FKG5KKTJ3ZIJ3FXZRX4R573AVI-820x525.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FKG5KKTJ3ZIJ3FXZRX4R573AVI-141x90.jpg 141w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FKG5KKTJ3ZIJ3FXZRX4R573AVI-768x492.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/FKG5KKTJ3ZIJ3FXZRX4R573AVI-1536x983.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: Kenya&#8217;s President William Ruto addresses delegates after signing the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Amendment Bill 2024, backed by the National Dialogue Committee (NADCO), at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi, Kenya July 9, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



NAIROBI, July 19 (Reuters) &#8211; Kenyan President William Ruto on Friday mostly named holdovers from the cabinet he sacked last week to a new government meant to respond to the grievances of young protesters.



In a televised address, Ruto announced 11 appointments &#8211; six from the previous cabinet&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;with others to follow soon.



The mass firing last week was a concession to demands from youth-led protests that had already forced him to withdraw $2.7 billion in proposed tax hikes amid the biggest crisis of his two-year presidency.



The protests have resulted in more than 50 deaths since mid-June, and many demonstrators are now calling for Ruto to resign. Large protests took place again this week despite the president&#8217;s concessions.



Ruto re-appointed the ministers of interior, defence, environment and lands and changed the portfolios of two other ministers.



The appointee to be education minister, Julius Migos Ogamba, was the running mate of the outgoing education minister, Ezekiel Machogu, when Machogu stood unsuccessfully for governor of Kisii County in 2022, local media reports showed.



The nominees to be ministers of health, information, agriculture, water and education did not appear to have political backgrounds.



&#8220;I will be issuing next week a clear roadmap on the assignment that the new cabinet is going to have, with clear timelines and deliverables,&#8221; Ruto said.



The protests have left Ruto caught between pressure from lenders to pay down high debts and a public reeling from high living costs. The government has proposed austerity measures to narrow the deficit caused by shelving the proposed tax raises.



Kenyan media outlets had earlier reported that some members of the political opposition were likely to be named to Ruto&#8217;s new cabinet.



Activists behind the protests, which have no official leader and reject the entire political class as corrupt, have opposed the idea of a unity government.



They said a deal between rival coalitions would only perpetuate a tradition in Kenyan politics of leaders co-opting the opposition with jobs and perks while the population sees no benefits.



(Reporting by Aaron Ross, George Obulutsa, Humphrey Malalo in Nairobi, Tannur Anders in JohannesburgWriting by Aaron Ross Editing by Bate Felix)

Kenya’s President William Ruto signs the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Amendment Bill 2024, in Nairobi

Kenya’s Ruto retains former ministers in new cabinet appointments

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1166297288-scaled.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-397450" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1166297288-scaled.jpeg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1166297288-300x200.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1166297288-820x547.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1166297288-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/GettyImages-1166297288-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">HARARE, ZIMBABWE &#8211; SEPTEMBER 06. Zimbabwe&#8217;s president Emmerson Mnangagwa holds a press conference at State House:on September 6, 2019 in Harare, Zimbabwe. The current President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Managagwa, cut short his visit to the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa on hearing of the death of former President Robert Mugabe. (Photo by Tafadzwa Ufumeli/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



HARARE,July 19 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The United States wants to see key reforms before rejoining debt resolution talks between Zimbabwe and multilateral lenders from which Washington withdrew following the African country&#8217;s disputed 2023 election.



The new U.S ambassador to Zimbabwe, Pamela Tremont, on Thursday hinted that there are prospects for Washington to rejoin the debt talks.



&#8220;We are looking forward to new democracy and governance indicators that will give us the sense of where the government is, that is its democracy and governance pathway so that we return to the table and continue these talks,&#8221; Tremont told Reuters.



Tremont said the U.S pulled out of the debt talks led by the African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina in January because last year&#8217;s election that gave President Emmerson Mnangagwa a second term was not free and fair.



&#8220;We were an active participant in those talks but we had to put a pause on that after the elections that we did not find free and fair,&#8221; she said.



Zimbabwe is owing over $17 billion in debt and arrears to several multilateral funders, including the World Bank, AFDB and 17 Paris Club members.



It has been locked out of international financial markets for more than two decades but sees the debt resolution talks as a step towards clearing the arrears.



Before resuming debt resolution talks last year, Zimbabwe had committed to key governance and electoral reforms that included running a clean election.



The August elections were widely criticized by observers like SADC and EU observer missions which said the process fell short of international standards.



Zimbabwe&#8217;s main opposition leader Nelson Chamisa, who came second to Mnangagwa, described the election as a gigantic fraud.



Deputy Finance Minister Kuda Mnangagwa said the U.S was still welcome to rejoin the debt talks.



&#8220;We remain committed to the talks and re-engagement to foster strong economic ties with those who are willing to work with us,&#8221; Mnangagwa told Reuters.



The U.S remains a key party to the debt talks as it wields influence in the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.



&#8220;We think the AfDB process is really useful to discuss the reforms that the International Financial Institutions need for Zimbabwe to access the concessionery loans it wants,&#8221; Tremont said.



(Reporting by Nyasha Chingono; Editing by Nelson Banya and Angus MacSwan)

President Mnangagwa Holds Press Conference After The Death Of Robert Mugabe

US wants reforms before it returns to key Zimbabwe debt talks: Ambassador

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="929" height="523" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/108008818-1721376380367-gettyimages-2162122113-europapress_6090171_spain_national_team_plane_arriving_durin.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-509305" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/108008818-1721376380367-gettyimages-2162122113-europapress_6090171_spain_national_team_plane_arriving_durin.jpeg 929w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/108008818-1721376380367-gettyimages-2162122113-europapress_6090171_spain_national_team_plane_arriving_durin-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/108008818-1721376380367-gettyimages-2162122113-europapress_6090171_spain_national_team_plane_arriving_durin-820x462.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/108008818-1721376380367-gettyimages-2162122113-europapress_6090171_spain_national_team_plane_arriving_durin-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/108008818-1721376380367-gettyimages-2162122113-europapress_6090171_spain_national_team_plane_arriving_durin-768x432.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 929px) 100vw, 929px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Spain National Team plane arriving at Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport on July 15, 2024, in Madrid, Spain. Europa Press Sports | Europa Press | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



July 19 (Reuters) &#8211; A global tech outage that appeared to be related to issues at global cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike and Microsoft was affecting operations in various sectors on Friday including airports, airlines, media and banks.



Below is a list of disruptions that have been reported:



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-airlines-airports">AIRLINES, AIRPORTS</h2>



&#8211; Berlin airport has halted all flights until 10 a.m. (0800 GMT) due to a technical fault, the operator said.



&#8211; Spanish airport operator Aena reported a computer systems &#8220;incident&#8221; at all Spanish airports which may cause flight delays.



&#8211; Amsterdam&#8217;s airport Schiphol, one of the major air transport hubs in Europe, said it was affected by a global cyber outage, and advised travellers to contact their airlines.



&#8211; Top Dutch airline KLM said it could not handle flights on Friday and that it suspended most of its operations. Air France, KLM&#8217;s parent company, said that its operations were disrupted.



&#8211; Turkish Airlines is experiencing problems with ticketing, check-in, and booking due to a global technical issue in its information systems, it said in a post on X.



&#8211; Major U.S. carriers including American Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines issued ground stops on Friday morning citing communication issues.



&#8211; A SAS spokesperson said the Scandinavian airline was expecting delays.



&#8211; Australia&#8217;s national airline Qantas and Sydney airport said planes were delayed but still flying.



&#8211; Passengers at Britain&#8217;s Edinburgh Airport were unable to use automated boarding pass scanners on Friday, and monitors at security displayed a message saying &#8220;server offline&#8221;, a Reuters witness reported.



&#8211; Hong Kong-based airline Cathay Pacific&nbsp;0293.HK&nbsp;said in a note to customers that self-service check in facilities at Hong Kong International Airport were unavailable due to &#8220;unexpected technical issues&#8221;. It advised customers to arrive early or check in online before coming to the airport.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-financials">FINANCIALS</h2>



&#8211; Australia&#8217;s largest bank, Commonwealth Bank, said some customers had been unable to transfer money due to the service outage.



&#8211; Several major oil and gas trading desks in London and Singapore were struggling to execute trades due to a cyber outage on Friday, six industry sources told Reuters.



&#8211; Macquarie Capital was unable to provide liquidity for unexpired warrants on HKEX due to technical problems.



&#8211; South Africa&#8217;s Capitec said card payments, ATM and app services were fully restored following significant nationwide disruptions linked to CrowdStrike.



&#8211; LSEG Group&#8217;s Workspace news and data platform suffered an outage on Friday that affected user access worldwide, causing disruption across financial markets.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-media">MEDIA</h2>



&#8211; Sky News, one of Britain&#8217;s major television news channels, was off air on Friday.



&#8211; Australia&#8217;s state broadcaster ABC said it was experiencing a &#8220;major network outage&#8221;, without giving a reason.



&#8211; Regular programming at Sky News Australia was disrupted.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-emergency-services-healthcare">EMERGENCY SERVICES, HEALTHCARE</h2>



&#8211; A health booking system used by doctors in England is offline, medical officials said on X on Friday.



&#8211; Several hospitals in the Netherlands had to scale down their operations because of the power outage, Dutch press agency ANP reported.



&#8211; Victorian state police in Australia said some internal systems had been hit by the outage but emergency services were operating normally.



&#8211; Copenhagen&#8217;s fire department said on X it was experiencing problems receiving automatically transmitted fire alarms following the outage, and urged people to call 112 in case of a fire.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-other">OTHER</h2>



&#8211; A spokesperson for New Zealand&#8217;s parliament said its computer systems had also been affected.



(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Compiled by Anna Pruchnicka, Andrey Sychev; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)

108008818-1721376380367-gettyimages-2162122113-europapress_6090171_spain_national_team_plane_arriving_durin

Global tech outage delays flights and disrupts services around the world

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="615" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1-820x615.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-509253" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1-820x615.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1-120x90.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A member of the Nigeria Labour Congress dances in front of the domestic airport which has been shut down as Nigeria&#8217;s main labour unions called for an indefinite strike from Monday after failing to agree to a new minimum wage with the government, in Lagos, Nigeria. June 3, 2024.REUTERS/Seun Sanni/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, July 18 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria&#8217;s main labour unions agreed on a new minimum wage of 70,000 naira ($44) a month on Thursday after talks with the government, ending months of deadlock and the threat of strikes.



Africa&#8217;s most populous nation is grappling with the worst cost of living crisis in a generation, stoking fears of Kenyan-style protests that have rocked that country for nearly a month.



Nigeria&#8217;s two biggest union federations, the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), have argued that soaring prices and a weakening currency caused by reforms instituted by President Bola Tinubu were hitting workers hard.



Soaring inflation has eroded incomes and hurt millions of Nigerians who are struggling to meet their basic needs.



The new wage announced by Minister of Information Mohammed Idris and union leaders, is more than double the 30,000 naira a month that was agreed in 2019.



&#8220;We are taking this new 70,000 naira minimum wage with mixed feelings because of the situation of the economy. We have to move ahead despite the situation otherwise the negotiation can linger,&#8221; NLC President Joe Ajaero told reporters.



He said the next minimum wage would be reviewed in three years instead of the customary five years.



The unions suspended a strike in early June to give negotiations a chance but warned that failure to reach an agreement could prompt members to call for new action.



Idris said Tinubu would send the proposal, which includes a provision to review the wage every three years, to parliament immediately for passage into law. Tinubu has said he will not roll back unpopular reforms, including electricity and gasoline price hikes.



On Wednesday, Tinubu asked lawmakers to approve $4 billion in additional spending to plug shortfalls in this year&#8217;s budget, with around half of it going to fund &#8220;further recurrent expenditure requirements.&#8221;



The government plans to invest in infrastructure and renewable energy, such as compressed natural gas (CNG) plants and busses to help lower transportation costs, Idris said.



($1 = 1,580.0000 naira)



(Writing by Elisha Bala-Gbogbo; Editing by Alison Williams, Susan Fenton, Philippa Fletcher)

ZHFRG3BTB5JXRNXZVXU4QXPJNI-1

Nigeria’s unions, government agree new wage deal, averting strike

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1365" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZCAXQIRLKZPJRMO2IJOAORLRXA-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-509235" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZCAXQIRLKZPJRMO2IJOAORLRXA-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZCAXQIRLKZPJRMO2IJOAORLRXA-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZCAXQIRLKZPJRMO2IJOAORLRXA-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZCAXQIRLKZPJRMO2IJOAORLRXA-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZCAXQIRLKZPJRMO2IJOAORLRXA-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ZCAXQIRLKZPJRMO2IJOAORLRXA-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">South Africa&#8217;s President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks during his opening of parliament address in Cape Town, South Africa, July 18, 2024. REUTERS/Esa Alexander</figcaption></figure>



CAPE TOWN, (Reuters) &#8211; President Cyril Ramaphosa pledged on Thursday to revive South Africa&#8217;s flagging economy and extend prosperity to the many left out of it, by resuscitating factories and farms, building roads and seizing the opportunities presented by green energy.



In his first policy speech to a new parliament since the African National Congress (ANC) lost its ruling majority in May &#8211; forcing it to team up with its rivals &#8211; Ramaphosa also pledged to get on top of the nation&#8217;s debt burden.



&#8220;We have a clear intention to turn our country into a construction site, as roads, bridges, houses, schools, hospitals and clinics are built &#8230; and as new power lines are installed,&#8221; the president said at the official opening of a new five-year term of parliament.



He acknowledged that in the past 15 years, Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy had &#8220;barely grown,&#8221; and &#8220;unemployment, poverty and inequality (remain) &#8230; extremely high.&#8221;



After an optimistic decade following the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela, South Africa has been mired in political troubles, including a lumbering response to its deadly HIV/AIDS epidemic, grand corruption and a systemic failure to deliver services or even keep the lights on.



Voters punished the ANC for these shortcomings in the May 29 election, leaving it with just 40% of the vote and forcing it into a unity government, mostly with the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), for the first time in three decades.



South Africa suffers some of the world&#8217;s biggest divides between rich and poor. Ramaphosa, formerly one of the country&#8217;s wealthiest Black businessmen, used the word &#8220;inclusive&#8221; 18 times in his speech to signal his intention to tackle economic injustice.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-enormous-opportunity">&#8216;ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY&#8217;</h2>



Outlining his administration&#8217;s plans for the next five years, Ramaphosa said the government would &#8220;pursue macroeconomic policy that supports growth and development,&#8221; while also stabilising the national debt.



&#8220;We are firmly committed to steadily reducing the cost of servicing our debt so that we can redirect funds towards other critical social and economic needs,&#8221; he said.



Other policies included overhauling the country&#8217;s ailing freight rail network, training young people in digital skills and investing in the green technologies being adopted the world over to mitigate climate change.



&#8220;We will seize the enormous opportunity in renewable energy for inclusive growth,&#8221; he said. &#8220;We &#8230; have a huge pipeline of renewable energy projects representing over 22,500 megawatts.&#8221;



The new cabinet, whichheld its first meeting last weekend, was determined to work together in the interests of all South Africans, Ramaphosa said, echoing remarks on Wednesday by the DA leader, John Steenhuisen.



In those remarks, Steenhuisen said the coalition government&#8217;s plans had broad buy-in from its different political parties and that it was working better than expected.



Ramaphosa said the coalition partners had taken the path of a &#8220;cooperation nation&#8221;.



(Reporting by Nellie Peyton and Wendell Roelf; Writing by Tannur Anders, Bhargav Acharya and Alexander Winning; Editing by Tim Cocks and Marguerita Choy)

Parliament address by South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa in Cape Town

South Africa leader pledges to revive economy, include the poor

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1351" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E2LAHPZEEFN6VLWP7WHSXPENYQ-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-425628" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E2LAHPZEEFN6VLWP7WHSXPENYQ-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E2LAHPZEEFN6VLWP7WHSXPENYQ-300x198.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E2LAHPZEEFN6VLWP7WHSXPENYQ-820x541.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E2LAHPZEEFN6VLWP7WHSXPENYQ-136x90.jpg 136w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E2LAHPZEEFN6VLWP7WHSXPENYQ-768x507.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/E2LAHPZEEFN6VLWP7WHSXPENYQ-1536x1013.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">FILE PHOTO: The logo of South Africa&#8217;s central reserve bank is seen during the delivery of a keynote address by South Africa&#8217;s central bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago, at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



JOHANNESBURG, July 18 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;South Africa&#8217;s central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at 8.25% in a decision announced on Thursday.



Eighteen of 20 economists polled by Reuters predicted there would be no change in the repo rate.



The decision by the central bank&#8217;s Monetary Policy Committee was split, with four members preferring an unchanged stance and two preferring a 25-basis-point rate cut.



Monetary policy has remained tight in Africa&#8217;s most industrialised economy as the South African Reserve Bank tries to steer inflation back towards the midpoint of its 3%-6% target range.



Consumer inflation stood at 5.2% year on year in May, the latest month for which data is available, the same as in April.



&#8220;Domestically, inflation expectations do not yet reflect the 4.5% midpoint objective over the medium term,&#8221; central bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said in a statement accompanying the decision.



Economists polled by Reuters before Thursday&#8217;s announcement predicted a 25-basis-point cut in September followed by another in November.



(Reporting by Bhargav Acharya, Tannur Anders and Kopano Gumbi; Editing by Alexander Winning)

FILE PHOTO: South Africa’s central bank governor to delivers keynote address

South Africa central bank keeps main interest rate unchanged at 8.25%

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1366" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-969639340-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-498461" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-969639340-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-969639340-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-969639340-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-969639340-135x90.jpg 135w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-969639340-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/GettyImages-969639340-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A Transnet logo stands on a rail mounted gantry crane, manufactured by Terex Corp., at the Port of Durban, operated by Transnet SOC Holdings Ltd.&#8217;s Ports Authority, in Durban, South Africa, on Friday, May 25, 2018. Transnet last year reduced its seven-year capital-investment plan by 17 percent to 229.2 billion rand in response to lower-than-anticipated freight demand. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



July 18 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a $1 billion loan for South Africa&#8217;s Transnet to aid the troubled logistics firm&#8217;s recovery plan, the bank and the company said on Thursday.



State-owned Transnet has struggled to provide adequate freight rail and port services in South Africa due to equipment shortages and maintenance backlogs after years of under-investment.



This has impacted commodity exports and other sectors such as manufacturing and retail, weakening Africa&#8217;s most advanced economy.



Transnet and the AfDB said in a joint statement that the 25-year loan was fully guaranteed by the government of South Africa.



&#8220;It will facilitate the first phase of the company&#8217;s ZAR 152.8 billion rand ($8.1 billion) five-year capital investment plan to improve its existing capacity ahead of expansion for the priority segments throughout the transport value chain,&#8221; the statement said.



Transnet, which has debts of 130 billion rand, recorded a loss of 1.6 billion rand in the six months to Sept. 30 on the back of declining rail, port and pipeline volumes as well as higher costs.



It has seen freight volumes decline to 150 million metric tons in financial year 2022/23 from 226 million tons in 2017/18.



Transnet&#8217;s recovery plan, announced in October 2023, seeks to restore freight volumes and return the company to profitability over a period of 18 months.



The turnaround plan includes splitting the freight rail subsidiary into two &#8211; an infrastructure management company and an operating unit. It also targets reduced port backlogs and plans another attempt to open up parts of its rail network to private operators after a false start two years ago.



(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Alexander Winning and David Evans)

Operations At The Transnet SOC Ltd. Port Of Durban

S.Africa’s Transnet gets $1 bln African Development Bank loan

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="536" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KCD5AG3PPBMM3P4T4YY7RIKCA4-820x536.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-508945" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KCD5AG3PPBMM3P4T4YY7RIKCA4-820x536.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KCD5AG3PPBMM3P4T4YY7RIKCA4-300x196.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KCD5AG3PPBMM3P4T4YY7RIKCA4-138x90.jpg 138w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KCD5AG3PPBMM3P4T4YY7RIKCA4-768x502.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KCD5AG3PPBMM3P4T4YY7RIKCA4-1536x1004.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/KCD5AG3PPBMM3P4T4YY7RIKCA4-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Rwanda&#8217;s incumbent President and presidential candidate for the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) Paul Kagame prepares to cast his ballot during the Presidential election at the SOS Kinyinya polling centre in Kigali, Rwanda July 15, 2024. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo</figcaption></figure>



KIGALI, July 18 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Rwanda&#8217;s President Paul Kagame has been re-elected with 99.18% of the vote, the National Electoral Commission said on Thursday, extending his near quarter-century in office.



The two men standing against him &#8211; Frank Habineza from the Democratic Green Party and independent Philippe Mpayimana &#8211; both conceded defeat in Monday&#8217;s election, which rights groups say was marred by a crack-down on journalists, the opposition and civil society groups. A government spokesperson repeatedly rejected such criticism during the election period.



Oda Gasinzigwa, chairperson of the National Electoral Commission, told a news conference that voter turnout was 98.20% of the nine million registered voters.



The final election results are due to be announced no later than July 27, she said.



Kagame, who got more than 93% of the vote in the last three elections, has won praise from Western and regional leaders for helping to end the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and rebuilding the country into an attractive destination for investment and aid.



His reputation has been damaged, however, by accusations of abuses at home and supporting rebels in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo &#8211; allegations he has repeatedly denied.



The electoral commission barred eight other candidates, including Kagame&#8217;s most vocal critics, from running, citing a range of reasons including missing and incomplete registration documents.



(Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Peter Graff and Mark Potter)

Rwanda President Paul Kagame votes during the presidential election in Kigali

Rwanda’s President Kagame re-elected in a landslide

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="2048" height="1366" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-scaled.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-408693" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-scaled.jpg 2048w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-820x547.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-120x80.jpg 120w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/GettyImages-154793099-1536x1024.jpg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A sign stands at the entrance to 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>



LONDON July 18 (Reuters) &#8211; Anglo American said its copper output was almost flat in the first half, while it curbed this year&#8217;s output forecast for coking coal, which is likely to weigh on earnings just months after it rebuffed a takeover bid from rival BHP Group.



Copper production rose 2% to 393,800 metric tons in the six months through June and is on track to meet full-year guidance, Anglo said in a statement.



Copper demand is expected to rise sharply in coming years for use in applications ranging from solar panels and electric cars to data centres for artificial intelligence.



Anglo&#8217;s share price was up 1.4% by 0709 GMT.



Anglo cut its output guidance for steelmaking coal to between 14 million tons to 15.5 million tons from 15 to 17 million tons previously, as it battles an underground fire at its Grosvenor coal mine in Australia that started on June 29.



Anglo has put its five operating coal mines, development projects and joint ventures in Australia up for sale, as part of a wider plan to divest less profitable assets and focus on expanding copper output after BHP&#8217;s failed attempt to take over the company. But analysts say the timing and value of a planned sale of coal assets are now uncertain.



&#8220;The mine has been stabilised and we are re-establishing comprehensive underground gas monitoring, prior to being able to assess the steps towards a safe re-entry into the mine,&#8221; Anglo said in a statement on Thursday.



Assessment of the damage and re-opening is likely to take several months, the company said.



Iron ore production was also flat at around 31 million tons in the first half, while platinum group metals (PGM) output fell 5% and rough diamond production dropped 19%.



&#8220;An expected recovery in PGM and diamond prices could help sentiment while a renewed approach from BHP cannot be ruled out,&#8221; analyst Marina Calero at RBC Capital Markets said.



&#8220;However, we view the outlook for Anglo as more balanced in the near term as the sale of the steelmaking coal assets gets more complicated at a time when we expect iron ore prices to roll in H2 24,&#8221; she added.



(Reporting by Clara Denina and Felix Njini; editing by Jason Neely and Sharon Singleton)

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

Anglo cuts coal output forecast after fire at Australian mine

<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1600" height="900" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-508834" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648.jpeg 1600w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648-300x169.jpeg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648-820x461.jpeg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648-768x432.jpeg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648-1536x864.jpeg 1536w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Chinese President Xi Jinping and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing, China, in 2017. Artyom Ivanov | TASS | Getty Images</figcaption></figure>



BEIJING — If Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidential election, his plans for 60% tariffs on Chinese goods could be a “major downside growth risk” to China, according to Goldman Sachs.



Chances of Trump becoming the next president ticked higher after he survived an assassination attempt on Saturday and selected former critic JD Vance as his running mate two days later.



“Right now exports are a major bright spot in the Chinese economy, and I think the policymakers might want to be prepared,” Hui Shan, chief China economist at Goldman Sachs told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday.



“We are seeing tariff narratives, not only in the U.S., but across other major trading partners of China’s,” she said. “So this is not going to be a sustainable driver of growth for China.”&nbsp;



The U.S. is China’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis, while the European Union has fallen behind Southeast Asia as China’s largest regional trading partner. Trump had raised duties on Chinese goods when president in 2018 and has threatened to increase them to 60% if reelected this fall.\



The contribution of goods exports to real GDP growth in China for the second quarter of this year was the highest since the first quarter of 2022, when Covid restrictions limited domestic economic activity, according to Citi.



Meanwhile,&nbsp;Beijing’s push to develop high-end manufacturing has not yet been able to fully offset a real estate slump and lackluster consumption.



U.S. officials such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen have said that China’s policies to boost its industrial capability and technological self-reliance have led to U.S. job losses.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-china-the-biggest-threat"><a></a>China the ‘biggest threat’?</h2>



In his first interview since he was selected as Trump’s running mate, Vance told Fox News that instead of the war in Ukraine, China was the “real issue” for the U.S. and posed the “biggest threat.”



The Biden campaign has criticized Trump’s pick, saying the choice was deliberately made “because Vance will do what Mike Pence wouldn’t on January 6: bend over backwards to enable Trump and his extreme MAGA agenda, even if it means breaking the law and no matter the harm to the American people.”



Supporters of Trump, who was president at that time, had stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election results on January 6, 2021.



Asked about Vance’s comment, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Lin Jian said Tuesday at a daily press briefing, “We are always opposed to making China an issue in U.S. elections.”



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-calls-for-stimulus"><a></a>Calls for stimulus</h2>



China’s economy grew by 4.7% in the second quarter compared to a year ago, missing economists’ expectations and bringing growth for the first half of the year to 5%. It prompted some calls for more stimulus if the world’s second-largest economy is to reach 5% growth for the full year.



The downside risk from potentially higher U.S. tariffs under Trump would primarily come from the greater uncertainty and tighter financial conditions, as well as pressure on the Chinese yuan, Goldman’s Shan said. She pointed out that tariffs in 2018 did not significantly dent China’s exports to the U.S.



More recent data, however, showed a slowdown in that trade. China’s exports to the U.S. rose by a modest 1.5% in the first half of the year.



“Policymakers need to think about domestic demand and focusing on something that is more persistent and sustainable for the growth outlook,” Shan told CNBC on Tuesday.



If 60% tariffs are imposed, “that’s pretty high and we think the implication for the macro economy is pretty significant,” she added.



So far, China has held back on stimulus measures. The country’s top leaders are meeting in Beijing this week for a highly anticipated Third Plenum, which is expected to determine long-term economic policy goals.



Citi analysts said Monday that weak retail sales and disappointing second-quarter growth won’t be enough to convince Beijing to increase support for the economy.



“Policymakers may tolerate short-term weakness amid the structural shift of the property sector,” the analysts said. “More concerns on trade and external relationships could also lead China to save the policy space for future.”



Citi forecasts 5.0% growth in real GDP growth for China this year.



China’s U.S. dollar-denominated exports grew by 3.6% in the first six months of the year after better-than-expected global demand for Chinese goods in recent months.



“Manufacturing and infrastructure investment may stay robust and exports should stay in decent [year-on-year] growth in [the third quarter], with possible front-loading of shipment orders in [the second half of the year] due to fears of higher tariffs,” Tao Wang, head of Asia economics and chief China economist at UBS Investment Bank said in a note Tuesday.



She said Chinese authorities would likely be reluctant to roll out major stimulus in the next few months in order to save resources in the case of greater economic weakness and increased tariffs.



UBS forecasts 4.9% growth for China’s economy this year.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><a></a>Trump the dealmaker</h2>



Not all analysts believe a possible Trump presidency will prove detrimental to China, though.



Ben Harburg of Corevalues Alpha told CNBC on July 4 that he believes China is more likely to have “positive” trade outcomes under a Trump presidency, given the ex-president’s “transactional nature.” “He’s a dealmaker, and like any negotiator, he likes to kind of set the bar low, and kind of set his price low, and then work up from there,” the portfolio manager said on “Street Signs Asia.”



Speaking on foreign policy, Harburg pointed out that another Biden term would also mean continued tariffs, as well as “encroachment on Chinese domestic issues” — which would not significantly improve China’s economy, nor U.S.-China relations.



He said a Trump-China partnership would signify “a more binary potential for a positive outcome for China.”



CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed reporting from Singapore.

106463174-1585290052493gettyimages-871925648

What would a second Trump presidency mean for China? Goldman Sachs weighs in

<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="574" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WYRXXEW7ZRJT5P77WID3M5MBLM-820x574.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-423487" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WYRXXEW7ZRJT5P77WID3M5MBLM-820x574.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WYRXXEW7ZRJT5P77WID3M5MBLM-300x210.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WYRXXEW7ZRJT5P77WID3M5MBLM-129x90.jpg 129w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WYRXXEW7ZRJT5P77WID3M5MBLM-768x537.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WYRXXEW7ZRJT5P77WID3M5MBLM-1536x1074.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WYRXXEW7ZRJT5P77WID3M5MBLM-scaled.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Nigeria&#8217;s newly declared winner of 2023 presidential election, Bola Tinubu speaks at the National Collation Centre in Abuja, Nigeria, March 1, 2023. REUTERS/Esa Alexander</figcaption></figure>



ABUJA, July 17 (Reuters)&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;Nigeria&#8217;s President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate for an extra 6.2 trillion naira ($4 billion) in funding to plug shortfalls in this year&#8217;s national budget, according to a letter read to lawmakers on Wednesday.



Tinubu also sought to impose a one-off windfall tax on banks&#8217; foreign exchange gains, as his government aims to raise revenues to fund &#8220;capital infrastructure development, education, and healthcare as well as welfare initiatives.&#8221;



Senators immediately started debating a bill to approve the new funding request, which comes at a time when the government is under pressure from unions to agree a new minimum wage amid the country&#8217;s worst cost of living crisis in a generation.



($1 = 1,555.0000 naira)



This is a developing story&#8230;



(Reporting by Camillus Eboh; Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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What would a second Trump presidency mean for China? Goldman Sachs weighs in

Nigeria’s president asks lawmakers for extra $4 billion funding

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