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Steinhoff raises Poundland offer after hedge fund increases stake

11 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – South Africa’s Steinhoff has improved the terms of its agreed takeover of British discount retailer Poundland, saying its 610.4 million pound ($794.6 million) offer is final.

The increased offer follows a recent move by U.S. hedge fund Elliott to up its stake in Poundland to 17.5 percent, making it the firm’s second largest investor after Steinhoff.

Elliott has a track record of getting bidders to increase their offers. It was among activist investors that last month helped secure an improved offer from Anheuser-Busch InBev for rival brewer SABMiller.

Steinhoff said it is now offering 227 pence in cash for each Poundland share, comprising an offer price of 225 pence and a final dividend of 2 pence.

The revised offer price represents an increase of 5 pence per share over the 220 pence offer announced on July 13, which together with the dividend valued the British firm at 597 million pounds.

“The 5 pence rise in the Steinhoff bid for Poundland is a pretty modest victory for shareholder activism,” said independent retail analyst Nick Bubb.

All other terms and conditions of Steinhoff’s offer remain unchanged from last month’s deal.

Steinhoff said its revised offer is final and will not be increased.

“By offering Poundland shareholders an improved cash offer we aim to bring certainty to the transaction recognising the strength and value of the business and its management team,” Steinhoff Chief Executive Markus Jooste said.

Steinhoff owns the Bensons Beds and Harvey’s furniture chains in Britain. The Poundland deal should be third time lucky after it failed to secure Britain’s Home Retail, which owns Argos, and was also unsuccessful in a bid for Darty in France.

Poundland shares were down 1.5 percent at 221 pence at 07.21 GMT.

($1 = 0.7689 pounds)

 

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Paul Sandle and Jason Neely)

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Uganda’s Stanbic Bank H1 profit rises 57 pct on trading income

10 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

KAMPALA (Reuters) – Stanbic Bank Uganda (SBU), the country’s largest bank by assets, said on Wednesday its operating profit surged 57 percent in the first half of 2016, helped by strong performance in its trading activities.

A unit of South Africa’s Standard Bank, SBU’s operating profit jumped to 144 billion shillings ($42.73 million) for the first six months of 2016, from 92 billion shillings in the same period last year.

“Strong profitability was driven by … deploying high yielding investment assets and generating strong trading revenues,” Sam Mwogeza, SBU’s Chief Financial Officer, said.

The results showed strong earnings from trading in the interbank money market, interest from Treasury bills and bonds, and foreign exchange trading.

During the period SBU helped with arranging a $114 million syndicated loan for telecoms firm MTN Uganda and an interest rate swap deal with the Ugandan government on funds borrowed from China to finance a power plant.

SBU said the two deals supported the strong performance.

 

($1 = 3,370 Ugandan shillings)

 

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Edmund Blair and Alexandra Hudson)

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Beetles threaten Ugandan coffee crop

10 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

KAMPALA (Reuters) – Shrinking forest cover and climate change threaten Uganda’s coffee industry by creating conditions for the destructive black twig borer beetle to spread into plantations, an official said on Wednesday.

Africa’s largest coffee exporter, Uganda mostly cultivates the robusta coffee bean variety. Shipments of the beans are a major source of foreign exchange.

Exports in the 2015/16 (Oct-Sept) crop were expected to reach 3.6 million 60-kg bags, modestly higher than the previous period’s 3.46 million bags, according to state regulator Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).

But David Muwonge, head of marketing at the National Union of Coffee Agribusiness and Farmer Enterprises (NUCAFE), said prospects were clouded by the twig borer beetle which was increasingly migrating to coffee farms as forest cover shrank.

He said some farmers had reported losing as much as 40 percent of their potential harvest as a result of the beetle, although he did not give a forecast for the overall impact.

“The biggest threat to coffee in Uganda is … the twig borer,” he said.

The beetle thrives in the drier conditions which have become more frequent in recent years and which have been partly linked to global changes in climate, Muwonge said.

First detected in Uganda in 1993, the twig borer makes tiny grooves on the twigs – the small branches that bear cherries – of coffee trees and lays eggs there. It then infects the twigs with a fungi which causes the leaves and twigs to wilt and die.

A 2013/14 survey by UCDA found that at least 40 percent of all trees in robusta growing areas had infected twigs.

Muwonge said the beetle mostly lived in dense forests where natural enemies controlled its population. But smaller forests and drier conditions meant “some of the (beetle’s) natural enemies have been eliminated” and it was migrating to farms.

He said pesticides had only a limited impact and many farmers could not afford the chemicals.

“It’s an existential threat to our coffee because we don’t have a cure as yet,” he said.

British charity Oxfam warned in 2008 that changing weather patterns in Uganda could leave much of country unsuitable for growing coffee within 30 years if temperatures rose 2 degrees or more.

 

(By Elias Biryabarema. Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Edmund Blair and William Hardy)

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Workers at S. African power utility Eskom defy court order to continue strike

10 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

By Nqobile Dludla

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – More workers at South African state-run power utility Eskom joined a strike over pay, their union said on Wednesday, in defiance of a court order preventing the industrial action at the state-run firm.

The company has branded the stoppage by thousands of National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) members which started on Monday illegal because its members are prohibited by law from striking, but said its operations had not been affected so far.

The labour dispute is the latest problem to beset Eskom, which has struggled to meet power demand in Africa’s most industrialised country due to its aging power plants and grid. However, it has managed a year without rolling blackouts that have hurt the economy in the past.

“Our message to the whole nation is just to keep calm. We are handling the situation, currently the situation is under control,” Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said, adding that he could not divulge the firm’s contingency plans.

Phasiwe said the court order prohibits NUM and two other unions from going on strike as part of the Labour Relations Act, which bars workers deemed to provide an essential service from going on strike.

NUM said on Tuesday that all of its 15,000 members at the utility, or close to a third of Eskom’s workforce, would stop work on Wednesday. [L8N1AQ41Q]

The union’s spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu said its members were on strike in provinces where Eskom runs its biggest plants, including in Mpumalanga province.

“Our members are aware that for them being involved in this strike there are consequences and they are saying they are fighting for the right cause,” said Mammburu.

Asked whether union members will be dismissed if they do go on strike, Phasiwe said workers would not be fired en masse but that each case will be handled on its own merit.

He said talks with the union had not yet collapsed and both parties were due to meet this morning for further discussions.

The utility is offering pay increases of 7 to 9 percent while NUM on Tuesday lowered their wage demand to 8.5 to 10 percent from 12 to 13 percent.

The stoppage at Eskom coincides with a strike over wages by around 15,000 workers in the petrochemical industry that has been going on since last week but has so far not caused any significant fuel shortages.

(Editing by James Macharia and Louise Heavens)

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Gambling explodes on the continent

10 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

Grandwest Casino in South Africa

As tourism increases and many Africans raise their standard of living, several countries on the continent are experiencing explosive growth in online gambling and development of casinos.

South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya host booming casino and online gambling operations.

South Africa, with the most developed economy on the continent, also has its largest gambling market, with more than $1.5 billion in annual revenue.

The nation’s online sports gambling sites generate significant revenue, and mobile online gambling is exploding as more and more people use their phones for transactions. Widespread internet connectivity has also driven the boom in online gaming in South Africa.

Online casino games banned

At the same time, the South African government earlier this year rejected a proposal to expand online betting options to include poker and other casino games.

Proponents argue that international gambling sites are serving South Africans with those games and it would be better if the revenue stayed in the country.

However, South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry has steadfastly opposed an expansion, citing “social ills associated with gambling, especially online gambling.” The government levies fines of up to $865,000 and prison terms of up to 10 years for illegal gambling. In July, the trade department took a step further and called for development of ways to prevent access to online gambling on sites outside the country.

Casinos upgrade, expand

Even as the nation’s economy slows, South African casinos are attracting major investments.

Tsogo Sun Holdings Ltd., Africa’s largest casino operator, is positioning itself for an economic recovery in South Africa.

Tsogo, based in Johannesburg, has upgraded two of its largest casinos and will spend nearly $140 million to expand a Suncoast gaming and entertainment site in Durban. The company also hopes to build a new casino in Cape Town to replace a smaller one.

The investments may create surplus of space in the short term, but the company is betting on growth in the near future, according to Chief Executive Officer Marcel Von Aulock.

“We’ve done all the work, so we are waiting for the uptick to come,” Von Aulock said.

The company gets about two-thirds of its profits from gaming and the rest from its hotels. Tsogo derives 90 percent of its profits from South African properties, which have continued to grow in revenue despite the country’s economic slowdown.

Revenue to top $2 billion

Gambling revenue in South Africa in 2014 increased to $1.5 billion, and Price Waterhouse Coopers projects it will top $2 billion by 2019.

Price Waterhouse Coopers is also projecting significant growth in gambling markets in Nigeria and Kenya.

Nigeria’s gambling industry produced about $46 million in revenue in 2014, increasing by 17 percent over 2013. While the growth rate is likely to slow, Nigeria still will see an annual growth rate of 8.5 percent and the sector will produce nearly $69 million in revenue by 2019.

Online casino games legal in Nigeria

Federal Palace Hotel & Casino in Lagos

Federal Palace Hotel & Casino in Lagos

Unlike South Africa, Nigeria’s online gambling platforms offer casino games as well as sports betting, which is growing rapidly. Most dice games, including roulette are banned.

Sun International, which operates more than three dozen hotels or casinos on the continent, runs three casinos in Nigeria, including Palace Casino in Lagos, which has slot machines and table games including roulette and blackjack.

In Kenya, gambling accounted for $20 million in revenue in 2014. That reflected a 7 percent increase from 2013 and followed an increase of 11 percent from 2012 to 2013. Experts attributed the slowdown to the imposition of a 20 percent tax on gambling as well as the launch of a national lottery. Price Waterhouse Coopers projects revenue will reach nearly $29 million in Kenya in 2019, reflecting an annual growth rate of more than 7 percent.

Kenya probes industry

Kenya’s National Assembly in August launched an inquiry into the casino industry with a focus on tax compliance and management of tax revenue from the industry, as well as allegations of money laundering.

Lawmakers expressed concern that the country needs a greater regulatory industry to monitor the burgeoning industry.

Kenya is home to more than a dozen casinos while online betting services include both sports gambling and casino games.

Mauritius also has more than a dozen casinos, including the Treasure Island Vegas Casino near the airport, a popular attraction with tourists as well as local elites. Gambling anchors the nation’s thriving tourism industry, which drew more than 1 million visitors in 2014, according to the World Bank.

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Thousands more workers to join strike at South African power utility

9 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Thousands more workers at South African power stations plan to join a strike on Wednesday over pay at state-run utility Eskom, their union said on Tuesday.

The strike began on Monday when about 1,500 members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) downed tools after wage talks stalled. Eskom branded the stoppage illegal because its members are prohibited by law from striking, but said its operations had not been affected so far.

The union said that all of its 15,000 members at the utility, or close to a third of Eskom’s workforce, will stop work on Wednesday. Tuesday was a public holiday in South Africa.

“It is going to be a total withdrawal of labour by our members. NUM members will be striking for the right to strike at Eskom,” the union said in a statement.

Eskom could not be reached for comment on how its operations would be affected on Wednesday.

Eskom said on Monday that arbitration over the wage dispute was continuing. The utility is offering pay hikes of 7 to 9 percent while NUM is looking for increases of 12 to 13 percent.

The labour dispute is the latest problem to beset cash-strapped Eskom, which has struggled to meet power demand in South Africa due to its aging power plants and grid. However, it has managed a year without rolling blackouts that have hurt the economy in the past.

 

(Reporting by James Macharia; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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Zambia’s H1 copper output rises 8%

9 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

LUSAKA (Reuters) – Zambia’s copper production rose by 8 percent to 368,371 tonnes in the first six months of this year from 340,510 tonnes in the same period last year, the country’s chamber of mines said on Tuesday.

Full-year copper production in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer was expected to rise by 5.4 percent to 750,000 tonnes this year from the 711,515 tonnes produced last year, the chamber said in a statement.

 

(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Louise Heavens)

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South Sudan inflation surges to more than 600% in wake of conflict

8 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

NAIROBI (Reuters) – South Sudan’s inflation more than doubled in July to reach an annual rate of 661.3 percent, its statistics office said on Monday, as the economy of the 5-year old nation continued to reel amid civil conflict.

The National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement that inflation jumped from 309.6 percent a month earlier due to rising food and non-alcoholic drinks prices. Prices rose 77.7 percent month-on-month in July.

Oil-producing South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011 but in December 2013 slid into a two-year civil war after a dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar.

The economy has been battered, driving prices higher.

In June, U.N. agencies said up to 4.8 million people in South Sudan face severe food shortages, the highest level since a conflict began.

 

(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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South Africa’s business confidence rises to 96.0 in July

8 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Latest Updates from Reuters

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s business confidence index rose to 96.0 points in July from 95.1 in June, lifted by a firmer rand and improvements in export volumes and retails sales, a South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) survey showed on Monday.

“South Africa experienced stronger merchandise export trade in June and July 2016, while the rand gained a healthy plus 10 percent on a weighted rand exchange rate against the U.S. dollar, British pound and the euro,” SACCI said in a statement.

SACCI, however, said it was concerned that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the South African Reserve Bank had lowered economic growth projections for Africa’s most industrialised country.

“A concerted effort will be necessary to avoid even tighter economic conditions in 2017 as such lower economic growth holds additional repercussions for public finance, unemployment and the real cost of borrowing,” SACCI said.

The IMF expects South Africa’s economy to grow by 0.1 percent this year, while the central bank cut its 2016 growth forecast to zero.

 

(Reporting by Olivia Kumwenda-Mtambo; Editing by James Macharia)

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How telemedicine promises to change Africa

8 August 2016 Comments (0) Africa, Business, Featured

telemedicine africa

Telemedicine is making a big difference is African disaster zones; however the technology has huge potential to benefit the whole continent.

Technological disruption is rife across Africa. The developing continent is perfect for new technologies to be used in ways that were either impossible or just unnecessary in the Western world. From solar energy to mobile banking, new technologies are helping plug gaps and solve problems at an astonishing rate. In Africa, one lesser known but incredibly important technology is telemedicine, and it’s only just getting started.

In practice, telemedicine is simply the transmission of medical information via modern telecommunications, allowing for remote diagnosis, consultation and treatment. This straightforward concept is finding a broad array of applications across Africa, as the continent wrestles with its unique set of healthcare challenges.

Telemedicine is changing humanitarian healthcare

Telemedicine has become a critical tool for medical treatment in disaster and conflict situations. One recently reported example came from doctors working under healthcare charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF.) In a recent interview with SciDev.net, MSF Doctor Raghu Venugopal recalled a story about a young girl who had been shot in the hand in war-ravaged eastern Congo. Medical staff on the ground were unsure how to treat the wound, and whether or not they would have to amputate the girl’s hand. Through MSF’s telemedicine “store and forward” consulting services they uploaded photographs and other information about the wound, which were then assessed by specialists overseas. Recommendations were then relayed to the medics on the ground not to amputate, but to remove specific unrecoverable tissues, ultimately saving the girl’s hand.

This is just one such example. Unfortunately, warzones aren’t exactly abundant with top-tier western trained specialists. However through telemedicine services, humanitarian medics and field doctors are able to access expert advice within a matter of hours. Dr. Raghu spoke positively about how quickly MSF’s telemedicine service is being adopted: “What we’re seeing is the time needed for 1,000 cases (on MSF’s system) to accrue, to 2,000 cases to accrue, and then for 3,000 cases to accrue is dropping from years to months, to even shorter periods of time, so we’re seeing very promising uptake.” Additionally, Dr. Raghu commented on how the doctors in the field were highly positive about the service, highlighting the relevance and timeliness of the advice, cost savings and invaluable learning they obtained.

Tech tackles Ebola

Telemedicine technology has also been a valuable tool in tackling the most infamous African health issue in recent years, Ebola. The highly contagious virus poses an extreme threat to frontline healthcare workers. However, by using robot mounted iPads to examine quarantined individuals, doctors have been able to assess symptoms, communicate with patients and provide treatments while minimizing risk. In a similar fashion to MSF’s service, information on Ebola cases is often relayed to overseas specialists for consultative advice. For those undergoing treatment, telemedicine services also offer the opportunity to communicate with their family and loved ones without risk of spreading the virus. Undoubtedly, telemedicine services are transforming the quality of treatment available in areas of humanitarian crisis.

Huge benefits to internal programs

Merck Telemedicine partnership in Kenta

Merck Telemedicine partnership in Kenta

Some African countries are taking note of Telemedicine’s effectiveness, and making moves to implement their own programs on a national level. In May 2015, Kenya announced a collaborative partnership with the German firm Merck Group. Together they are rolling out a new telemedicine scheme designed to connect rural communities in the nation’s east with specialists at Machakos Level Five Hospital, the top referral destination in the country. So far the program has been highly successful, prompting the government to expand the scheme to additional regions. Kenya’s Health Secretary, James Macharia, encouraged other countries in the area to follow suit: “I urge all stakeholders and county governments to invest in telemedicine as a way of bringing specialised services closer to the rural poor.”

Connectivity is key: Google, Microsoft and Facebook can help

While other countries such as Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana have also seen successful schemes take off within their borders, major telemedicine services remain off limits for most African nations. Locked away behind poor broadband infrastructure and financial limitations, the technology will remain scarce, restricted to programs provided by humanitarian organizations in crisis zones, until conditions change.

Telemedicine is already revolutionizing emergency care in disaster areas. The technology also has the potential for remote training and up-skilling of Africa’s healthcare sector. However the biggest change to Africa’s healthcare fortunes will occur when telemedicine services become widely available to rural populations across the continent. Fortunately, this change may be on the horizon. Telemedicine should be able to arrive quickly, riding on the back of major internet rollouts pledged by the likes of Google, Facebook and Microsoft. If this is indeed the case Africa stands to benefit immeasurably.

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