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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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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.


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Zimbabwe hikes gold price 10-fold to stop smuggling

(Reuters) - Zimbabwe's central bank raised on Wednesday the local price of gold nearly 10-fold in a bid to curb smuggling and boost sagging deliveries.

The precious metal is the main source of hard currency for the struggling southern African nation, accounting for a third of its export earnings.


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Exxaro sees H1 headline EPS 232-258 cents

(Reuters) - South African black-owned miner Exxaro Rersources expects to report first-half attributable and headline earnings per share of between 232 and 258 cents, the company said on Tuesday.

The company could not provide comparable figures because Exxaro was listed in November after it was spun off from Kumba Resources and merged with unlisted Eyesizwe Coal to form the country's biggest diversified black-owned mining firm.


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Kenya says wins EU pledge of equal trade access

(Reuters) - Kenya has been promised the same level of access to European Union markets as received by its poorer neighbours Uganda and Tanzania once a new trade deal takes effect in 2008, Kenya's trade minister said on Tuesday.

The EU is negotiating new economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to replace the Cotonou Agreement that guarantees preferential access for their goods into Europe until the end of 2007.


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S.Africa's SABC starts Africa channel amid bias furore

(Reuters) - South Africa's public broadcaster is launching an international news channel to compete with CNN and the BBC, joining the growing ranks of news outlets seeking to challenge media stereotypes about Africa.

But media watchdogs say the South African Broadcasting Corp should focus on bolstering editorial independence at home after charges of political meddling harmed its credibility and revived memories of its days as a propaganda machine for apartheid.


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Aquarius contractor fires 3,000 striking workers

(Reuters) - More than 3,000 striking workers at two South African mines owned by platinum miner Aquarius Platinum have been dismissed, the firm said on Thursday.

The strike stemmed from demands for a bonus made by employees and followed the dismissal of 108 load-haul dumper operators in May. The rest of the contractor workforce went on a sympathy strike.


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S.Africa bourse slips on global economy, rates woes

(Reuters) - Mining groups Anglo American and BHP Billiton led South African shares lower on Wednesday over jitters of economic slowdown in the U.S. and China, but gold shares soared on the metal's price.

Traders said the bourse was spooked into profit taking as U.S. stocks fell after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed expects the U.S. economy to expand one-quarter percentage point below its estimate six months ago.


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S.Africa maize deliveries at 4.257 mln T, boost price

(Reuters) - South African farmers have so far delivered 4.275 million tonnes of maize, data showed on Wednesday as the market rose on supply nerves generated by a gap between these figures and the official crop forecast.

White maize deliveries from South African farms rose to 2.682 million tonnes in the week to July 13 from 2.487 million, the South African Grain Information Service (SAGIS) said on its website shortly after the market closed.


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Uganda says investments almost triple in 2006/07

(Reuters) - Uganda said on Tuesday direct foreign and local investments almost tripled to $2.18 billion during the 2006/07 fiscal year partly due to growth in the hospitality sector ahead of a Commonwealth summit this year.

The east African country received $758 million in investments over the same period in the previous year.


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