Africa ETF News Older Than 1 year-If your looking for specific news, try using the search function
Gold, Platinum And Crude Oil Commodities Debut On The JSE
October 12, 2009--In a week in which weak dollar and inflation fears in the US continued to fuel demand for metals, and gold reached record prices, local investors interested in taking advantage of the price movements of these metals, began trading rand-denominated gold, platinum and sweet crude oil futures contracts for the first time on the JSE’s commodities derivatives market. This marks a new focus for the JSE. Until now, only agricultural commodities have been offered by the exchange.
“We are confident that trading will gain traction as more and more investors realise that they can trade these highly traded commodities in an easy and more affordable manner,” comments Rod Gravelet-Blondin, Head of the Commodities Division at the JSE.
Until now, investors would have had to trade these commodities on international markets using their foreign exchange allowance and would have been subject to exchange control regulations. Now individuals and corporates have no limits in terms of trading these three commodities on the JSE. This makes it easier for these investors to take advantage of the current interest in these resources as alternative hedging or diversification instruments. Pension funds and long-term insurance companies are however, subject to their 20% foreign allocation limits and asset managers and registered collective investment schemes are subject to their 30% foreign allocation limits when trading these commodities.
In terms of a recent agreement signed with the world’s largest derivatives marketplace, CME Group, the locally listed contracts will be cash-settled using benchmark gold settlement prices referenced from CME’s COMEX division and platinum and crude oil prices from its NYMEX division. Given that the underlying instrument is a contract traded on the Nymex or Comex, investors have the added advantage of accessing highly liquid international markets via these rand-denominated contracts.”
“The two metal commodities should interest local investors as South Africa is the world’s largest platinum producer and the third largest gold producer. The price of the commodities is generally linked to the prices of mining stocks. The liquidity that the current market makers and any new ones will bring to the market can only be beneficial to investors,” says Ashley Erasmus, Senior Commodities Trader at Nedbank Capital. Standard Bank and Rand Merchant Bank will also be quoting live rand prices for investors.
To make these contracts more attractive to individual investors, the JSE has made the contracts based on smaller lot sizes than those traded on the US markets. “We have taken accessibility into account, for instance the minimum contract size for crude oil on our market is 100 US barrels (15 898.73l) with contracts expiring in Feb, June, August and December, while in New York the contract minimum is 1000 barrels,” explains Gravelet-Blondin.
For both gold and platinum, each contract size equates to 10 troy ounces with the minimum price movement set at 100 South African cents per ounce. The gold contract expiry months are April, June, August and December with a minimum of two expiries always available for trade. The contract for platinum expires in January, April, July and October with a minimum of two expiries always available for trade.
“We are particularly excited about the opportunities that a crude oil contract offers. Oil has a knock-on effect on all sectors of the economy. Notably, as diesel is a major cost in farming, this will give our agricultural market a tool to hedge a major input cost. Organisations in the transport and manufacturing sectors that use large quantities of fuel may also want to hedge their energy usage against the benchmark,” adds Gravelet-Blondin.
In June 2008, the South African Reserve Bank granted the JSE approval to trade future and option contracts on Foreign Referenced Commodities, subject to certain conditions. In February this year, the JSE listed a Chicago corn contract and anticipates listing additional cash- settled commodities in the coming year.
Source: Online News
Kenyan Companies Turn to Bonds for Cheaper Funds, Kestrel Says
October 7, 2009--The largest companies in Kenya, East Africa’s biggest economy, are opting to raise funds for expansion through bond sales as the cost of borrowing from traditional lenders becomes more expensive, Kestrel Capital East Africa Ltd. said.
Safaricom Ltd., Kenya’s biggest mobile-phone company, today became the second company in a month to begin selling bonds, after Kenya Electricity Generating Co., the biggest power producer in the country, closed a 25 billion-shilling ($332.5- million) bond sale on Sept. 29.
read full story
Source: Bloomberg
Exploring U.S. Policy Options during Zimbabwe's Transition
Acting Assistant Secretary Baukol Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
September 30, 2009--Chairman Feingold, Senator Isakson, and distinguished members of the Committee, thank you for inviting me to testify at this important hearing on the current situation in Zimbabwe. Thank you also for asking my colleagues from the Department of State and USAID to join me at the witness table. I think we all agree that Zimbabwe's economy has taken a turn for the better over the last seven months and that progress could be fleeting if it is not supported by a political solution that restores democracy, rule of law, and strong institutions.
People who follow Zimbabwe closely are probably familiar with the recent economic trends, but it is worth recapping the economic mismanagement that devastated the country and contributed to the profound fragility of the current situation. When Robert Mugabe took office as leader of Zimbabwe after a long civil war, Zimbabwe had all the ingredients necessary for prosperity. With a per capita GDP of around $1,400[1], Zimbabwe was blessed with ample mineral resources, decent infrastructure, and productive farms that made it a breadbasket to Southern Africa. In 1980, Tanzania's then-President Nyerere told Mugabe he had inherited the "jewel of Africa." For almost two decades, Mugabe's government managed to maintain economic growth and roughly stable per capita GDP, but beginning in the late 1990s, the wheels began to come off. Thanks to a set of disastrous economic policies, headlined by a chaotic land redistribution scheme, five decades of economic progress were erased in five years, with per capita GDP in 2005 roughly equaling that in 1953, according to an analysis by the Center for Global Development. The combination of undermining the rule of law, instituting oppressive economic decrees, and suppressing press freedoms and political opposition led one observer in 2003 to describe Zimbabwe as a case study in "How to Kill a Country."[2]
The economic crisis further deepened as bad policies and the government's paranoid reaction to international isolation due to gross violations of human rights fed the spiral of decline.
The government revalued the currency in 2006 but quickly began resorting to the printing press to paper over yawning budget deficits. Inflation hit 90 sextillion percent in November 2008.
Despite its former status as a breadbasket for the region – one that sourced UN-sponsored food aid to other countries in Africa[3] – Zimbabwe's agricultural output declined to the point that about half of the population was in need of food aid in 2008.
Neglect of the medical sector and water infrastructure helped lead to a cholera outbreak that killed 4,276, according to the WHO.[4]
An estimated one-fourth of the population left conditions in Zimbabwe over the last decade; most went to South Africa in search of jobs to support their families.
The country's reserves plummeted to $5.8 million by the end of 2008, according to the IMF,[5] despite the country's possession of mineral resources such as chromite, coal, platinum, asbestos, copper, nickel, gold, and iron ore.
Economic activity and GDP plummeted, with the IMF estimating that per capita GDP fell to $188 on a PPP basis in 2008.
In this context, the last seven months have been characterized by relative economic stability as reformist elements of the transitional government began to undo some of the more disastrous economic policies of the previous nine years.
read more
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
Deputy Secretary Wolin Remarks to the Corporate Council on Africa
September 30, 2009-Good morning and thank you very much, Lionel, for that kind introduction. It is a privilege to be with you this morning.
This seventh U.S.-Africa Business Summit convenes at a time of enormous consequence for Africa and for the world. The global financial crisis has proved again, if anyone doubted it, that the nations of the world are inextricably intertwined – north and south, developed and developing
For African nations, that truth was clear before the financial crisis, as global shifts in supply and demand sent fuel and food prices skyrocketing in 2008.
The financial crisis compounded those economic shocks. As growth rates in developed nations plummeted, demand for African exports fell. So too did the levels of foreign direct investment and remittances. This year, capital inflows are projected to be just half of their 2007 levels.
The slowdown has been particularly dramatic in the continent's largest economies: South Africa, Nigeria, Angola. But the effects have also been severe in the smaller economies – many of which had seen rapid growth in recent years.
The Obama administration recognizes the seriousness of this crisis for Africa's economies. We have responded with vigorous support through the international financial institutions and through bilateral assistance to address the immediate impact of the crisis.
Working with development partners, African governments, too, have taken immediate measures to cushion the impact of the crisis – loosening monetary and fiscal policy, when possible, to stimulate growth.
These steps, along with the emerging global recovery, are likely to lead to a rebound in African growth, with the IMF projecting a healthy 4.1% real GDP growth rate for sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. Private capital inflows to Africa, after shrinking year-on-year since 2006, are forecasted to expand again next year. The value of exports from Sub-Saharan Africa, which shrank by 38% this year after six years of double-digit growth, is expected to grow by 13% in 2010.
Africa appears to be turning the corner.
read more
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury
SEC Conducts Regional Securities Market Oversight Training Program in Africa
September 24, 2009--As part of its longstanding activities to increase international cooperation among securities regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission has completed the latest of its training programs for foreign officials.
The five-day Capital Market Development and Oversight Training Program, which included foreign officials in Africa, concluded last week.
The program in Accra, Ghana, was part of the SEC's technical assistance training program, which was established in 1991 and has provided training for more than 1,800 foreign capital market officials from more than 100 foreign jurisdictions this year.
During the recent program, SEC staff conducted intensive training for foreign officials on methods for conducting investigations of insider trading, financial accounting fraud, market manipulation, pyramid schemes, and broker-dealer abuses. The training also included instruction on broker-dealer examinations, compliance, anti-money laundering, market development strategies, and the causes of the global financial crisis.
In addition to the SEC instructors, each day also featured sessions led by market experts from Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Nigeria regarding the challenges of capital and commodities market development in Africa. The discussions emphasized the potential that commodities and capital markets have to transform African economies.
The regional African program was the SEC's largest to date in Africa, featuring 99 delegates from 10 African countries: Cameroon, Cote D' Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, and Zambia. The program was hosted by the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission, and included financial sponsorship from the United States Agency for International Development.
Professor E.V.O Danquah, Chairman of the Ghana SEC, said, "The Ghana SEC is proud and honored to have hosted this invaluable opportunity for key officials from so many African markets to come together with the U.S. SEC to discuss how we may work together to build African capital markets and combat market abuse. This week-long program featured an incredible exchange of best practices, practical experience, and an intense dialogue among participants on how we may all work together to ensure that our markets develop with a reputation for integrity that will attract both local and international capital."
Ethiopis Tafara, Director of the SEC's Office of International Affairs, said, "We are honored to be invited to work with so many market leaders who, while facing many challenges, have the potential to grow transparent, high-quality capital markets that will ultimately serve to support infrastructure, create jobs, and reduce poverty. Our growing partnerships with African regulators will help us better protect our own market, as well as create new opportunities for all investors. Moreover, fostering high-quality capital and commodities markets can contribute to self-sustaining development among African nations."
The SEC's technical assistance training program consists of bilateral and regional training programs, assessments, consultations, and review and comment on statutory and regulatory initiatives.
For more information on the SEC's technical assistance program, contact Dr. Robert M. Fisher or Z. Scott Birdwell in the Office of International Affairs at 202-551-6690 or OIA@SEC.gov.
Source: SEC.gov
