South Africa Oil Companies Improve Pay Offer to Try End Strike, Union Says

(Bloomberg) -- BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and
other oil refiners in South Africa improved their wage offer to
local workers in a bid to end a strike that has led to fuel
shortages in Africa's largest economy.

``We can't say yet what the improvement is,'' Welile
Nolingo, secretary-general of the Chemical, Energy, Paper,
Printing, Wood and Allied Workers' Union (CEPPWAWU) said by phone
from Johannesburg today. ``We're still negotiating.''


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Morocco H1 c/a surplus up 72 pct, trade gap widens

(Reuters) - Morocco's trade deficit grew in the first half of 2007 as a construction boom increased demand for foreign building materials and equipment, the North African country's Exchange Office said on Friday.

However, the current account surplus, boosted by increases in remittances from Moroccans abroad and tourism receipts, rose by 72 percent year-on-year.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa's c.bank casts doubt on maize for ethanol

(Reuters) - South Africa's central bank chief Tito Mboweni has questioned the wisdom of using maize as a source for ethanol, saying global trends have shown this would push up prices of the staple food.

"It seems that we in South Africa think that we are going to produce ethanol from maize," Mboweni said at a dinner.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rand softer vs dollar as risk aversion weighs

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand was weaker against the dollar in late Friday trade -- giving up its earlier gains -- as the greenback's own softness against the yen brought risky-asset jitters back to the fore.

At around 1510 GMT, the rand was trading at 7.1135 against the dollar, down 0.33 percent from New York's Thursday close of 7.09, having earlier strengthened to 7.0360 as some market players liquidated long dollar positions.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.Africa Telkom gets ok from regulator on price cuts

(Reuters) - South Africa's communications regulator has approved fixed-line operator Telkom's plans to drop its prices by 1.2 percent overall, the firm said on Tuesday.

Telkom -- which has been under pressure from government to lower telecoms costs that are among the highest globally -- filed its price changes last month with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).


Read more at Reuters Africa

Barloworld to spin off, list coatings unit

(Reuters) - South African industrial group Barloworld will list its coatings unit on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange before the end of 2007, it said on Tuesday.

Barloworld, which markets Caterpillar earth-moving machines and Avis car hire, has said it plans to focus on its equipment, motor, materials handling and logistics divisions, and is disposing of its other units.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.African stock market boosted by miners, banks

(Reuters) - South Africa's blue chip top-40 index rose over 1.7 percent on Monday, boosted by resource and banking stocks in late afternoon trade.

At 1452 GMT, the blue-chip index was 1.6 percent stronger, with heavyweight miners Anglo American up 2.07 percent to 402.40 rand and BHP Billiton 3.75 percent higher at 203.60 rand.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Importers help push rand weaker

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand weakened to a new one-month low against the dollar on Monday, pushed down mostly by heightened importer demand during the morning session, traders said.

At 1520 GMT the domestic unit was trading at 7.1475 versus the dollar, down 0.5 percent from Friday's New York close of 7.1125, but well off the session's softest level of 7.1999 -- its weakest mark since June 27, according to Reuters data.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.African stocks up as miners, financials recover

(Reuters) - South African stocks pushed more than 1 percent higher on Monday as miners and financials recovered from last week's bruising.

Heavily-weighted miner Anglo American, which slid more than 5 percent on Friday, gained 1.14 percent while peer BHP Billiton jumped 2.15 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Tongaat-Hulett says H1 headline loss R155 mln

(Reuters) - South African sugar group Tongaat Hullet posted a first-half headline loss of 145.1 cents per share, the firm said on Monday.

The group, which said on July 27 it expected the headline loss, said profit from operations was 308 million rand compared to 307 million rand in the year-ago period.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Madagascar, China sign deals worth $78 million

(Reuters) - China and Madagascar have signed four deals worth roughly $78 million for hotel construction and debt alleviation among other things, Malagasy officials said.

The deals confirmed agreements made at the China-Africa summit in Beijing last November between the Asian powerhouse and the enormous, mineral-rich island.


Read more at Reuters Africa

UPDATE 1-Sarkozy preens, ruffles feathers on African tour

(Reuters) - DAKAR, July 27 - Nicolas Sarkozy has tried to
break the cosy backroom diplomacy of Franco-African ties,
calling for more accountability and backing the trial of an
ex-Chadian dictator, but his lecturing tone has angered some.




On his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since his election
in May, the French president set out his Africa policy at a
Dakar university on Thursday, acknowledging colonial ills and
calling for democracy, liberty, justice and law.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

JSE bourse sees share issue hitting H1 EPS

(Reuters) - South Africa's JSE bourse operator expects to post a 59-67 percent drop in first-half headline earnings per share due to the issue of shares and options to black investors and a one-off gain the previous year.

The JSE said in a statement it expected EPS in the six months to end June to fall 53-61 percent, while revenue was expected to rise 27-35 percent.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Mozambique rail firm keen to cut Spoornet wagon link

(Reuters) - Mozambique's state-run railway company said on Friday it was investing $30 million to upgrade its commercial fleet in a move to cut $100 million in wagon hiring fees charged by South African rail freight firm Spoornet.

CFM, which operates the African nation's railways and ports, plans to refurbish 820 refurbished wagons with the investment, more than doubling the current number that travel lines to South Africa and Zimbabwe, spokesman Antonio Libombo said.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Angola cuts GDP growth forecast for 2007

(Reuters) - Angola has cut its economic growth forecast for 2007 to 19.8 percent from 31.2 percent, reflecting a drop in oil revenue and appreciation of its currency, the Kwanza, the state-run Jornal de Angola said on Friday.

The reduction in expected GDP growth was announced after Angola's cabinet approved a revised 2007 budget for the southwestern African nation, sub-Saharan Africa's second largest petroleum producer after Nigeria and the newest member of OPEC.


Read more at Reuters Africa

S.African stocks tumble to 3-week low, miners hit

(Reuters) - South African blue-chip stocks tumbled as much as 2.2 percent to their lowest level in more than three weeks as softer metal prices hit mining stocks and weaker global equities hurt broader sentiment.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks fell 1.98 percent to 25,809.55 points -- its lowest level since July 2. The Johannesburg All-share index slid 1.88 percent to 28,559.50 points.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Mr Price Q1 sales up 28 pct, sees slower growth

(Reuters) - South African fashion and homeware retailer Mr Price posted a 27.6 percent rise in first-quarter sales on Thursday but said sales growth for the rest of the year would be "more challenging".

The company said like for like sales stripping out the impact of new stores increased 10.9 percent in the quarter to end June.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Rand, bonds dive in emerging market sell-off

(Reuters) - South Africa's rand fell sharply on Thursday, caught up in a battering of global equities and emerging market currencies.

The local unit was trading at 7.0350 at 1530 GMT, a fall of 2.2 percent from its close in New York of 6.8825, but just off the session trough of 7.04 -- a two-week low.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Zimbabwe imports 200,000 tonnes of Tanzania maize

(Reuters) - Zimbabwe is importing 200,000 tonnes of maize from Tanzania as it battles food shortages which critics largely blame on President Robert Mugabe's policies, state television said on Wednesday.

Critics say Mugabe plunged the southern African state into economic crisis by seizing productive white-owned commercial farms and giving them to inexperienced black farmers who have left the country needing to import food since 2000.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Egyptian indexes edge down, blue chips mixed

(Reuters) - Egyptian stock indexes inched down on Wednesday, as market leaders closed on a mixed note amid profit-taking on Commercial International Bank (CIB), traders said.

Market speculation on a possible CIB move to buy Arab-African International Bank had boosted the stock's price since last Thursday, despite CIB's refusal to comment on the rumour, traders said.


Read more at Reuters Africa