Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 April 2018

Mon Apr 9 12:57:18 CAT 2018

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Major International Business Headlines Brief::: 09 April 2018

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*  South Africa may ask pharma firms for fee to clear drug review backlog

*  De Beers, Botswana plan to expand Jwaneng diamond mine

*  South Africa rand firmer as buying on recent dip aids recovery

*  Ghana to court Japanese bond investors - finance ministry

*  South Africa's Ramaphosa orders probe into state firms Eskom and Transnet

*  JP Morgan says it knew ex-minister linked to firm in Nigeria oilfield deal

*  Zambian economy to grow more than 4 pct this year, finmin says

*  Foreign direct investment in Mauritius up 4.2 pct in 2017: central bank

*  Tanzania's PM revises GDP growth for 2017 to 7.1 pct from 7.0 pct

*  Deutsche Bank sacks British boss John Cryan after years of losses

*  Russia sanctions: Shares in Deripaska-controlled firms crash

*  Shipping industry faces calls to clean up emissions

*  Facebook suspends AIQ data firm used by Vote Leave in Brexit campaign

*  US punishes key Putin allies over worldwide 'malign activity'

*  US jobs growth slows in March

*  South Africa's net foreign reserves rise to $43.4 bln in March

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South Africa may ask pharma firms for fee to clear drug review backlog

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Drugmakers in Africa’s largest pharmaceutical market may be asked to pay a “backlog fee” to help clear a pipeline of medicines waiting years for approval, according to a proposal being considered by South Africa’s new industry regulator.

Delays for hundreds of medicines have kept the latest treatments off South African shelves and hampered the fight against cancer, heart and other diseases in a country which also has more people receiving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) than anywhere else in the world.

Besides improving access to life-saving medication, analysts say the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority’s (SAHPRA) proposal could help boost the revenue streams for companies competing in the $3.8 billion-a-year market.

“It’s the first time South Africa offers this and we would support a backlog fee, provided it is performance driven,” said Stavros Nicolaou, senior executive for strategic trade at Aspen Pharmacare.

SAHPRA wants to cut the backlog and allow the regulatory assessment of all products in an “achievable but ambitious” timeframe, the authority told Reuters.

“As part of this process, SAHPRA is also exploring other potential sources of revenue, including a backlog fee to ... speed up the registration of products in the current backlog,” said Helen Rees, chairwoman of SAHPRA’s board.

Talks with industry on cost implications, procedures and schedule for implementation are ongoing, she said.

Adcock Ingram said it was keen to discuss SAHPRA’s proposal to expedite reviews of its treatments.

“Adcock Ingram currently has more than 250 dossiers awaiting approval,” spokeswoman Kavitha Kalicharan said.

The company has waited up to seven years for a regulatory decision on some of its products, she said, and speeding up the process could bolster its prescription division.

South Africa’s pharmaceutical market is forecast to grow at a compound annual rate of 7.3 percent over the next decade, reaching 87.5 billion rand ($7.3 billion) by 2027 from 45.4 billion rand now, according to BMI Research.

FOCUS ON CHEAPER GENERICS

Replacing an apartheid-era Medicines Control Council lacking enough funds and expert staff, SAHPRA will for the first time refer to prior reviews from other regulators when registering drugs and medical devices.

It will also prioritise treatments that meet public health needs and potentially reduce prices by boosting competition and licensing cheaper generics.

“SAHPRA will prioritise the review of generic medicines to encourage market competition and improve affordability, but once market saturation has occurred, there will not be further prioritisation,” Rees told Reuters.

Africa’s most industrialised economy has a history of pushing to cut the prices of vital medicines, including winning concessions from big pharmaceutical firms to reduce the cost of ARVs used to control the HIV virus.

Industry body IPASA, which represents just under half of South Africa’s pharmaceutical private sector, said that while generic medicines were good for bringing prices down, it wanted to avoid perceptions of bias.

“The government should not myopically just want to push generics at the expense of branded medicines,” said Dr Konji Sebati, chief executive of the Innovative Pharmaceutical Association South Africa (IPASA).

($1 = 12.0352 rand)

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South Africa rand firmer as buying on recent dip aids recovery

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s currency firmed to back below the crucial 12 rand per dollar mark on Monday, with some traders anticipating the unit would reverse a run of three consecutive sessions of losses as the dollar struggled to shake off U.S.-China trade tensions.

At 0630 GMT the rand was 0.33 percent firmer at 11.9800 per dollar compared to close of 12.0200 on Friday in New York.

The rand slipped to its weakest since March 19 last week, and threatened to touch a 2-month low, with a wave of selling hitting most emerging market currencies as the stand-off over import tariffs between the world’s two largest economies escalated.

The souring of investor sentiment about global growth, combined with rising lending rates by the Federal Reserve and technical indicators suggesting the rand’s “Ramaphosa rally” had run its course prompted traders to trigger defensive positions.

The rand however found support from a soft greenback, turning away from support around 12.0260, although traders said the recovery was unlikely to last with EM sentiment still bearish overall.

The yield for the benchmark government bond was down 1.5 basis points to 8.04 percent.

JP Morgan says it knew ex-minister linked to firm in Nigeria oilfield deal

LONDON (Reuters) - JP Morgan Chase has acknowledged it knew a former Nigerian oil minister convicted of money laundering would benefit when it transferred over $800 million of government funds to a company he controlled, according to a court document seen by Reuters.

JP Morgan made the acknowledgement in its legal response to a lawsuit filed by Nigeria over transactions made by the U.S. bank when Royal Dutch Shell and Eni bought offshore oilfield OPL 245 from Malabu Oil and Gas in 2011.

The $1.3 billion deal has spawned legal cases spanning several countries and involving Nigerian government officials and senior ENI and Shell executives, a number of whom face trial in Italy on corruption charges next month.

Malabu is controlled by Dan Etete, who was Nigeria’s oil minister at the time of the deal and was convicted of money laundering in France in 2007. He could not be reached for comment.

The lawsuit against JP Morgan accuses the bank of negligence over the transfer of funds from a Nigerian government escrow account into which Shell and Eni had deposited money to secure OPL 245. It claims $875 million from the bank.

In its written defence, filed in a British court last week, JP Morgan said Britain’s Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), now renamed the National Crime Agency, had approved the transfers to Malabu. It denied negligence.

The bank had previously said only that it “considers the allegations made in the claim to be unsubstantiated and without merit”.

JP Morgan did not provide a comment on the filing. Lawyers representing Nigeria did not respond to requests for comment.

It was not immediately clear whether JP Morgan’s acknowledgement that it knew of Etete’s links with Malabu will have any impact on the trial starting in Milan in May. Italian prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.

Eni’s chief executive is among those going on trial in Milan on charges of paying bribes to Etete and others, including sums that went to Malabu. Shell and Eni deny wrongdoing in relation to OPL 245.

Shell said in April last year that it “always knew” the Nigerian government would compensate Malabu and that Etete was involved. It had previously told Reuters only that payments went to the Nigerian government.

DENIAL OF NEGLIGENCE

The lawsuit against JP Morgan said that although it received a request from Nigeria’s finance ministry to transfer funds to accounts controlled by Malabu, the bank showed gross negligence by not making further checks before allowing the transaction.

Denying negligence, JP Morgan said in its response that the transfers were authorised by designated government signatories for the Depository Account — the then finance minister and the African country’s accountant general.

The bank also said it knew Etete was the beneficiary of Malabu by July 2011, one month before it made the transfers, and that by July 14, 2011, it “was aware of Etete’s conviction”.

“It is admitted that the order referred to Etete as Malabu’s principal. [...] It is admitted that by 15 July 2011 JPMC (JP Morgan Chase) was aware of Etete and of his association with Malabu,” it said in the court filing.

JP Morgan also denied it should have been aware of Nigeria’s constitutional law or that it owed the government or state any further due diligence.

Ghana to court Japanese bond investors - finance ministry

ACCRA (Reuters) - Government officials from Ghana will meet investors in Japan this week as the West African nation seeks to diversify its range of sovereign bondholders, the finance ministry said on Sunday.

Ghana, which exports cocoa, gold and oil, plans to issue up to $2.5 billion of sovereign debt, including a $1 billion Eurobond by the end of this month.

Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has previously said he is weighing the option of issuing a yen-denominated Samurai bond.

He and other officials, including a deputy governor of the central bank, will travel to Japan, the ministry said in a statement.

“To broaden and expand the investor base of Ghana’s bonds, the finance minister and the deputy governor will hold strategic meetings with portfolio and asset managers where they hope to whip up appetite for Ghanaian instruments,” it said.

The officials will also meet with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation during the April 9 to 14 trip.

Africa has seen a rush to market by governments seeking to issue bonds ahead of anticipated Federal Reserve interest rate increases. Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal and Ghana’s neighbour, Ivory Coast, have all issued foreign currency bonds this year, though none tapped Asian markets.

South Africa's Ramaphosa orders probe into state firms Eskom and Transnet

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered the country’s Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to probe allegations of maladministration at state run-power utility Eskom and logistics group Transnet, the government said on Friday.

Ramaphosa, who replaced former president Jacob Zuma in February, has made the fight against corruption a key plank of his administration as he seeks to restore investor confidence after the scandal-plagued Zuma era.

The announcement of the probe was published in the government gazette.

The SIU, which investigates malpractice in state institutions, state assets and public money, will investigate among other things, “unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure” incurred by Eskom and Transnet.

Eskom has been embroiled in allegations of corruption relating to a 1.6 billion rand ($130 million) contract that global consultancy McKinsey worked on with Trillian, a local company that was then controlled by Gupta family who are accused of using their access to Zuma to win state contracts.

Zuma and the Guptas have denied any wrongdoing

Transnet, which is also state-owned, has been investigating irregularities in the awarding of a 54 billion rand ($5 billion) contract to acquire locomotives in 2014.

Eskom spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said: “This matter has been a long time coming and we are happy that the SIU is starting this process.”

Transnet was not immediately available for comment.

De Beers, Botswana plan to expand Jwaneng diamond mine

GABORONE (Reuters) - Debswana, a joint venture between the Botswana government and De Beers, plans to expand its Jwaneng Mine extending its lifespan by eleven years to extract a further 50 million carats.

The project, known as Cut 9, follows a $3 billion expansion of the mine in 2010 to uncover 100 million carats of diamond and extend the life of the mine to 2024.

If approved by Botswana environmental authorities, the project will deepen the mine to 855 metres from 650 metres, the company said in a regulatory environmental impact assessment notice.

Debswana managing director Balisi Bonyongo told Reuters on March 27, 2018 that feasibility studies for Cut 9 will be completed before the end of the year which will inform the amount of funds required for the project.

De Beers is a unit of Anglo American. Botswana is the world’s biggest diamond producer and Debswana says the Jwaneng Mine is the world’s richest diamond mine by value.

Zambian economy to grow more than 4 pct this year, finmin says

LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambia’s economy is expected to grow by more than 4 percent this year helped by the mining, agriculture and construction sectors, Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe said.

Economic growth in Africa’s second-largest copper producer rose to 4.1 percent last year, helped in part by higher commodity prices.

Officials had initially targeted at least 5 percent growth this year, but Mwanakatwe’s comments in a statement issued by the finance ministry suggest growth could be closer to last year’s level.

Zambia, which expects copper output to rise to over 1 million tonnes this year, slapped Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals with a massive $8 billion tax bill last month.

It has held talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over an aid programme, but the IMF rejected its debt management plans in February.

Mwanakatwe said the government would complete a detailed debt sustainability exercise in the next two weeks before re-opening discussions with the IMF.

Zambia’s foreign debt stood at $8.7 billion at the end of March, she said, adding that this year the government wanted to achieve a fiscal deficit of not more than 6.1 percent of gross domestic product, the same level as in 2017.

Foreign direct investment in Mauritius up 4.2 pct in 2017: central bank

PORT LOUIS (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment in Mauritius grew by 4.2 percent in 2017 to 14.22 billion rupees ($425.11 million), driven by inflows into real estate and financial and insurance activities, official data showed on Friday.

Foreign investment in real estate led with 8.79 billion rupees followed by financial and insurance activities with 3.32 billion rupees, the central bank said.

“Together, France and Luxembourg accounted for over 50 percent of total gross direct investment inflows,” Bank of Mauritius said in a statement.

France was the biggest source of capital with 4.38 billion rupees followed by Luxembourg, which put in 3.31 billion rupees.

Famed for its white sand beaches and luxury hotels, Mauritius is shifting an economy traditionally focused on sugar, textiles and tourism towards offshore banking, business outsourcing, luxury real estate and medical tourism.

($1 = 33.4500 Mauritius rupees)

Tanzania's PM revises GDP growth for 2017 to 7.1 pct from 7.0 pct

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania’s economy grew around 7.1 percent last year, beating the government’s own revised forecast, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said.

In November, the East African country trimmed its gross domestic product (GDP) to 7.0 percent from 7.1 percent. That forecast had also been revised from 7.4 percent.

But Majaliwa said East Africa’s third-largest economy grew faster than expected last year owing to an increase in mining activity.

“Latest data ... shows that the country’s gross domestic product grew 7.1 percent in the period between January and December 2017, compared to a GDP growth of 7.0 percent in 2016,” Majaliwa said in the parliamentary presentation obtained by Reuters.

The session on Monday was held behind closed doors.

Full-year GDP growth in 2017 was driven by mining and quarrying (17.5 percent), transport and storage (16.6 percent) and construction (14.7 percent) activities, he said.

The World Bank cut its forecast for Tanzania’s full-year GDP growth in November to 6.6 percent due to slowdowns in public spending and growth of credit to the private sector.

Tanzania has pledged to boost public investment in infrastructure projects, including a standard gauge railway, new roads and an expansion of ports.

But some investors have been unnerved by some policies from the government of President John Magufuli, who is nicknamed “The Bulldozer” for his governing style.

“There appears to have been an overall deterioration in business sentiment due to the perceived risks resulting from the unpredictability of policy actions,” the World Bank said in its economic update on Tanzania in November.

Deutsche Bank sacks British boss John Cryan after years of losses

Deutsche Bank has dismissed its chief executive John Cryan amid continued losses at Germany's biggest lender.

After taking over in 2015, British-born Mr Cryan, 57, has battled the fallout from a series of scandals as well as three years of reported losses.

Co-deputy chief executive Christian Sewing, 47, will take over as chief executive immediately.

The shake-up was announced after an emergency meeting that ended late on Sunday night.

Mr Cryan's contract was due to run until 2020.

Deutsche chairman Paul Achleitner said Mr Cryan had "laid the groundwork for a successful future of the bank" despite his "relatively short tenure" as chief executive.

Mr Sewing, who has been with the bank for his entire career, had been responsible for its private and commercial bank operations.

Some analysts say his appointment suggests a strategic shift towards retail banking in its home market.

Investment slump

Deutsche Bank has grappled with falling revenues and its share price has sunk by close to a third this year. Shares rose more than 3% in Frankfurt on Monday.

The search to replace Mr Cryan is understood to have begun after the bank reported an annual loss of €500m (£436m) at the end of February.

That followed losses of €6.8bn in 2015 and €1.4bn in 2016.

Mr Cryan was appointed as co-chief executive in July 2015 to overhaul the bank following a number of regulatory problems stretching back to before the financial crisis.

The Sunderland-born banker was also tasked with controlling the lender's spiralling costs and quickly cut thousands of jobs.

But after becoming sole chief executive in 2016, Deutsche continued to struggle, largely because of a slump in its investment banking division which accounts for more than half of sales.

In resolving its legal difficulties, it also incurred a series of heavy penalties, including a $7.2bn (£5.9bn) payment to US authorities in 2016 over an investigation into mortgage-backed securities.

At that time, it was considered to be the most dangerous bank in the world after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) found that a potential collapse of Deutsche posed the biggest risk to the stability of the global financial system.

Also in June 2016, Deutsche's US division failed a stress test conducted by the US Federal Reserve.

Deutsche and Santander's US unit were the only two of 33 banks to fail the test, which assessed how they would perform in a financial crisis.

'Fundamental problem'

Markus Riesselmann, an analyst at Independent Research, said Mr Cryan "had to battle serious problems that his predecessors swept under the rug for years".

"He's largely cleared those up and now it looks like Deutsche can't turn things around regarding margins, but I doubt a new chief executive could successfully make that transition. It seems rather to be a fundamental 'Deutsche Bank problem'," he added.

Mr Achleitner said Mr Sewing had proved to be a "strong and disciplined leader" in his more than 25 years at Deutsche.

"The supervisory board is convinced that he and his team will be able to successfully lead Deutsche Bank into a new era. We trust in the great ability of this bank and its many talents."

Deutsche Bank also said the co-head of its corporate and investment banking, Marcus Schenck, will leave.--BBC

Russia sanctions: Shares in Deripaska-controlled firms crash

Shares in firms controlled by Oleg Deripaska have plunged after the US imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs and their companies on Friday.

Shares in the Russian aluminium giant Rusal nearly halved on the Hong Kong stock exchange on Monday.

EN+, another firm controlled by Mr Deripaska, dived by 25% in London.

The sanctions follow a diplomatic crisis sparked by the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

They affect the seven oligarchs, 12 companies they own or control, as well as 17 senior Russian government officials.

According to Washington, the individuals and companies were targeted for profiting from a Russian state engaged in "malign activities" around the world.

Other magnates hit by sanctions include Alexei Miller, director of state-owned energy giant Gazprom.

Rusal, which produces about 7% of the world's aluminium, said it regretted its inclusion on the new US sanctions list.

The company said the sanctions were likely to have a "materially adverse" impact on its business and finances.

The rouble fell 2% against the US dollar while the Moscow stock market was down 6.5% on Monday as investors assessed the effect of the sanctions.

Shares with Russian exposure listed elsewhere were also hit. Shares in Russian steelmaker Evraz were the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 in London, down amore than 15%.

The US said it imposed the latest sanctions because of Russian activity in Ukraine, its support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and for subverting Western democracies.

It has also expelled dozens of Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK.

On Friday Russia's foreign ministry said there would be a "tough response" to the sanctions.--BBC

Shipping industry faces calls to clean up emissions

The global shipping industry is facing calls to follow the example of the car industry and cut its carbon emissions.

The International Maritime Organisation's environment committee is meeting in London this week to try to agree a global plan for reducing emissions levels.

Without a clean-up there are warnings that shipping could account for almost a fifth of carbon emissions by 2050.

Container ships use fuel that has 3,500 times more sulphur than car diesel.

International shipping carries about 90% of world trade but there has been no regulation of carbon emissions.

This is despite a provision under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol that gave responsibility for handling carbon emissions from marine fuels to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations division responsible for global shipping.

It has proposed a 50% cut in emissions by 2050, a move that is backed by Norway, but that does not go far enough for certain Pacific island nations that are most threatened by rising sea levels.

Monday's meeting of the IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee will hear a proposal that emissions should be cut by as much as 70% to 100% by that time.

Bigger ships

There is opposition to this from Panama, Brazil and other countries that depend on income from shipping, which say their economies could be damaged if action is too hasty.

Shipping was excluded from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Christiana Figueres, a former UN chief negotiator on climate change and an architect of the Paris Agreement, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that some countries were already taking action.

"One very interesting announcement made last week came from [South] Korea, which is ordering more than 200 new ships for its fleet. These are 30% larger and 30% more efficient," she said.

The largest container ship currently operating carries just over 20,000 containers.

However, Ms Figueres pointed out that not all countries would have access to finance for such a change, and an international finance fund should be set up to help less wealthy nations.--BBC

Facebook suspends AIQ data firm used by Vote Leave in Brexit campaign

Facebook has suspended a Canadian data firm that played a key role in the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.

The social media giant said AggregateIQ (AIQ) may have improperly received users' data.

It cites reported links with the parent company of Cambridge Analytica (CA), the consultancy accused of improperly accessing the data of millions.

AIQ denies ever being part of CA, its parent company SCL or accessing improperly obtained Facebook data.

The Vote Leave campaign paid AIQ £2.7m ($3.8m) ahead of the 2016 EU referendum.

An ex-volunteer with the campaign has also claimed Vote Leave donated £625,000 to another group to get around campaign spending limits, with most of the money going to AIQ. Vote Leave has denied any wrongdoing.

AIQ's website once quoted Vote Leave chief Dominic Cummings saying: "Without a doubt, the Vote Leave campaign owes a great deal of its success to the work of AggregateIQ. We couldn't have done it without them." The quote has since been removed.

In total, AIQ was given £3.5m by groups campaigning for Brexit, including Vote Leave, the Democratic Unionist Party and Veterans for Britain. The UK's Electoral Commission reopened an investigation into Vote Leave's campaign spending in November.

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"In light of recent reports that AggregateIQ may be affiliated with SCL and may, as a result, have improperly received FB user data, we have added them to the list of entities we have suspended from our platform while we investigate," a Facebook spokesperson said.

"Our internal review continues, and we will co-operate fully with any investigations by regulatory authorities."

In a message posted to its website, AIQ says it is "100% Canadian owned and operated" and "has never been and is not a part of Cambridge Analytica or SCL".

It adds: "Aggregate IQ has never managed, nor did we ever have access to, any Facebook data or database allegedly obtained improperly by Cambridge Analytica."

It also denied ever employing Chris Wylie, the Canadian whistleblower who alleged that the data of 50m people was improperly shared with Cambridge Analytica. Facebook has since said the number of people affected could be closer to 87m. CA says it obtained the data of no more than 30m people and has deleted all of it.

It was three weeks ago that Facebook suspended Cambridge Analytica just hours before a whistleblower's revelations to the Observer newspaper triggered the current scandal over improper use of data.

Christopher Wylie insisted that Aggregate IQ was closely linked to Cambridge Analytica, and supplied documents to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee which he said proved it.

Now Facebook's decision to suspend the Canadian firm from its platform appears to give further validation to Mr Wylie's claims. It also throws the spotlight back onto the potential use of Facebook data during the Brexit campaign.

Facebook says it is looking into whether the data that Cambridge Analytica acquired improperly from as many as 87 million people - 1 million of them in the UK - ended up with Aggregate IQ. The firm worked for both Vote Leave and BeLeave during the EU referendum campaign, but has always insisted it has never been a part of Cambridge Analytica, and has not had access to any of its Facebook data.

AIQ is a small company operating out of Victoria, British Columbia. It uses data to help micro-target voters and was founded by two Canadian political staffers.

Apart from its Brexit work the company has also been accused by Mr Wylie of distributing "incredibly anti-Islamic" content on social media ahead of the 2015 Nigerian presidential election to discredit Muslim opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari, who went on to win the contest.

The BBC has approached AIQ for a response to the Nigeria allegations.

Mr Wylie has said that AIQ was referred to among Cambridge Analytica staff as "our Canadian office". He told the Guardian he helped to set up the firm as a "Canadian entity for people who wanted to work on SCL projects who didn't want to move to London" and that he had known the firm's co-founder, Jeff Silvester, since he was 16.

AIQ says it "has never entered into a contract with Cambridge Analytica" and that "Chris Wylie has never been employed by AggregateIQ".

Cambridge Analytica is at the centre of a row over whether it used the personal data of millions of Facebook users to sway the outcome of the US 2016 presidential election and the UK Brexit referendum.--BBC

US punishes key Putin allies over worldwide 'malign activity'

The US has imposed sanctions on seven Russian oligarchs and 17 senior government officials, accusing them of "malign activity around the globe".

Twelve companies owned by the oligarchs, the state arms exporter and a bank are also sanctioned.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the penalties targeted those profiting from Russia's "corrupt system".

The move was a response to Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 US presidential election, he said.

The sanctions are also being imposed because of the actions taken by the Kremlin in Crimea, eastern Ukraine and Syria, Mr Mnuchin said in a statement on Friday.

He accused the Russian government of "malicious" cyber-activities and said the sanctions would target "those who benefit from the Putin regime".

"The Russian government operates for the disproportionate benefit of oligarchs," he added.

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It is the most aggressive action taken by the Trump administration thus far against Moscow.

Last month the US imposed sanctions on 19 Russians, accusing them of interference in the 2016 election and alleged cyber-attacks.

The US has also expelled dozens of Russian diplomats in response to the poisoning of a former Russian spy in the UK.

Who's been targeted?

Among those targeted is Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire aluminium magnate and Putin associate with ties to President Donald Trump's former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Also on the list is Suleiman Kerimov, who is one of Russia's richest men. His family controls Russia's largest gold producer, Polyus, and he has an estimated net worth of $6.3bn (£4.7bn).

In November, Mr Kerimov was placed under formal investigation in France on suspicion of tax evasion.

Alexander Torshin, a senior Russian official with reported ties to the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), has been blacklisted.

Mr Putin's bodyguard, his son-in-law, the head of Russia's national security council, and former prime minister Viktor Zubkov are also sanctioned.

Russian state arms exporter Rosoboronexport, one of the companies targeted, said the sanctions were designed to force Russia out of the global arms market.

Any assets they have under US jurisdiction have been frozen and US nationals are forbidden from doing business with them.

"This is unfair competition in its purest form," a spokeswoman told Reuters news agency.

This is the most aggressive move against Russia taken by the Trump administration: targeting Vladimir Putin's inner circle.

The name most familiar to Britons will be Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire who was at the centre of a political scandal ten years ago when he entertained Labour's Peter Mandelson and the Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne on his super yacht.

Of more interest here in the US are his connections to Paul Manafort, Mr Trump's former campaign manager.

Congress passed a law last summer calling for such measures and has criticised the Trump administration for taking so long to act.

But senior officials insist that they have been planning the moves for some time.

These sanctions were already in the works before the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in the UK, so are not a direct response to it.

But they add to the rising diplomatic tensions between the West and Russia over that incident, and contrast sharply with President Trump's consistently softer approach to Mr Putin.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump felt compelled to insist he was being tough on Russia but said he still hoped a good relationship with its leader was possible. That seems even less likely now.

Russia has vowed that there will be a "tough response" to the new sanctions.

"We will not leave the current and any new anti-Russian attack without a tough response," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"We would like to advise Washington to drop, as soon as possible, the illusions that they can talk to us in the language of sanctions".

Earlier on Friday, the Russian embassy in Washington said the sanctions were a mistake.

"We are told that these measures are not aimed against the Russian people, but they are," the embassy said in a post on its Facebook page.

It described the sanctions as "a new blow to Russo-American relations."--BBC

US jobs growth slows in March

US job growth slowed sharply in March, as employers added 103,000 positions over the month.

The figure was lower than expected, and left the unemployment rate unchanged at 4.1%.

Analysts said the cold weather may have contributed to the slowdown, which was anticipated to some degree after February's blockbuster gains.

The low unemployment rate may also be making it hard to find workers, they said.

Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst for interest rate tracking website Bankrate.com, said that the March report from the US Labor Department, looked at in isolation, was "on the disappointing side".

"Broader context is appropriate, however," he added. "The job market is widely regarded to be close to full employment. So, hiring gains should be slowing at this point in the expansion."

Wage growth picks up

The US economy has been adding jobs consistently since 2010, one of the longest expansions on record. The growth has pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level since 2000.

Over the last three months, employers have created an average of 202,000 jobs, the Labor Department said. The number of jobs increased by 326,000 in February, 13,000 more than previously reported.

Job openings remain plentiful, but hiring has lagged.

Sophia Koropeckyj of Moody's Analytics said firms will have to offer a combination of better wages and more flexible practices, conditions and training if they want to continue to bring on workers.

The average hourly wage for private sector workers was $26.82 in March, up 2.7% from a year ago.

That was a slight acceleration from the previous month, but still below the rate of increase when the unemployment rate was last at this level.

Manufacturing and health care firms drove the job gains last month, while most industries saw little change. The construction sector shed jobs.

The labour force participation rate - the share of the population working or looking for work - slipped to 62.9%. It remains well below the pre-recession rate, a trend expected to persist given the aging of the US population.

The jobs report did little to alter consensus opinion that the labour market remains solid and the Federal Reserve will stick to its plan to raise interest rates gradually.

In a speech in Chicago on Friday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell appeared to confirm that view, saying he expects inflation to pick up in coming months.

If "the economy continues broadly on its current path, further gradual increases in the federal funds rate will best promote" employment and stable inflation, he said.

Mr Powell noted that wage growth has been modest, but told the audience: "The labour market has been strong, and my colleagues and I ... expect it to remain strong."

Wall Street shares, which tend to benefit from the lower borrowing costs that accompany lower interest rates, tumbled during and after Mr Powell's remarks.

They also started the day lower after US President Donald Trump threatened additional tariffs on Chinese-made goods.

Analysts said the trade tension could disrupt some of the growth in the months ahead, as uncertainty weighs on business activity. Manufacturers and farmers are particularly vulnerable.--BBC

South Africa's net foreign reserves rise to $43.4 bln in March

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s net foreign reserves rose to $43.384 billion in March from $43.272 billion in February, the Reserve Bank said on Monday.

Gross reserves fell to $49.979 billion from $50.051 billion, the central bank data showed.

The forward position, which represents the central bank’s unsettled or swap transactions, fell to $1.996 billion from $2.057 billion.

“The decrease of $72 million in the gross reserves reflects the foreign exchange payments made on behalf of the government, which was partially offset by the depreciation of the U.S. dollar against most currencies,” the central bank said.

INVESTORS DIARY 2018

Company

Event

Venue

Date & Time

Zimbabwe

Independence Day

Zimbabwe

18/04/2018

Workers’ Day

01/05/2018

Africa Day

25/05/2018

Zimbabwe

Heroes’ Day

Zimbabwe

13/08/2018

Zimbabwe

Defence Forces Day

Zimbabwe

14/08/2018

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DISCLAIMER: This report has been prepared by Bulls ‘n Bears, a division of Faith Capital (Pvt) Ltd for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for any securities. The information contained in this report has been compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but no representation or warranty is made or guarantee given as to its accuracy or completeness. All opinions expressed and recommendations made are subject to change without notice. Securities or financial instruments mentioned herein may not be suitable for all investors. Securities of emerging and mid-size growth companies typically involve a higher degree of risk and more volatility than the securities of more established companies. Neither Faith Capital nor any other member of Bulls ‘n Bears nor any other person, accepts any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this report or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith. Recipients of this report shall be solely responsible for making their own independent investigation into the business, financial condition and future prospects of any companies referred to in this report. Other  Indices quoted herein are for guideline purposes only and sourced from third parties.

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