Latest news with #Malawi
News24
42 minutes ago
- General
- News24
The Lead: Bye-bye Floyd. Why MK Party speared Shivambu as SG with Andisiwe Makinana
He took off his red beret to take up the spear. But the writing's been on the wall for some time before the MK Party booted Floyd Shivambu out of its secretary-general office on Tuesday and onto the benches in Parliament. 'Floyd's visit to [Shepherd Bushiri] in Malawi was an excuse they could find to take action against him,' says News24 political editor Andisiwe Makinana who joins us in the studio to discuss what this shift means for Shivambu's political prospects. Later in the show, South Africa's deputy president goes big on the taxpayer's ticket in Japan. Finally, claims of imminent June power cuts are hogwash, says our disinformation desk. Listen on YouTube: Listen on Apple Podcasts:
Zawya
6 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Fitch downgrades Afreximbank to one notch above 'junk'
LONDON - Fitch downgraded Afreximbank's credit rating to one notch above junk on Wednesday, with a negative outlook, citing high credit risks and weak risk-management policies. The one-notch downgrade to BBB- comes as the African lender battles to protect its loans from restructuring in Ghana, Zambia and Malawi, claiming that as a multilateral lender it has preferred creditor status. Fitch pegged Afreximbank's non-performing loans at 7.1% at the end of 2024, while the bank itself reported a first-quarter NPL ratio of 2.44%. "The revision of risk management to 'weak' reflects low transparency in the recent reporting of loan performance relative to multilateral development bank peers and that Fitch's definition of NPLs differs from the bank's approach, which makes use of flexibilities offered by IFRS 9," Fitch said. A lower credit rating can increase the borrowing cost for an issuer, which can in turn impact how much they can lend and at what rates. Fitch attributed the negative outlook, which effectively puts the bank on downgrade watch, to the risk that some of its debt to sovereign borrowers might be included in restructuring. "This would put pressure on our assessment of the bank's policy importance and heighten the risk associated with its strategy," Fitch said. Afreximbank did not immediately comment on the downgrade. The bank, whose shareholders include African sovereigns as well as private investors, is viewed by many as an important source of capital for African countries, particularly when international bond markets are closed to them and as rich countries cut aid and concessional lending. But ongoing debt restructurings in Ghana, Zambia and Malawi have put greater focus on the terms Afreximbank offers and whether its loans are "concessional", particularly when compared with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, whose lending is protecting from restructuring. Fitch said the bank's business profile risk remained "medium" but was negatively impacted by low transparency in reporting loan performance. Reuters reported last week that Afreximbank told investors in a call that Ghana was "up to date" on its loan facilities and that it would not participate in restructuring loans to its member countries. But Ghana said it had not made debt service payments in two years and that it wants to restructure its Afreximbank debt. Fitch said that inclusion in sovereign debt restructurings "would likely lead us to revise our currently 'low risk' assessment of the bank's policy importance."
Khaleej Times
7 hours ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
EU picks 13 new critical material projects, including in Greenland
The European Commission on Wednesday announced 13 new raw material projects outside the bloc to increase its supplies of metals and minerals essential for it to stay competitive in the energy transition as well as defence and aerospace. The EU's announcement follows China's decision in April to impose export curbs on rare earth magnets until new licences are obtained, leaving diplomats, carmakers and other executives from Europe and elsewhere scrambling to secure meetings with Beijing officials and avert factory shutdowns. China controls more than 90% of global processing capacity for the magnets, used in everything from vehicles and fighter jets to home appliances. Beijing is also the main supplier of many key inputs for renewable energy, especially rare earths, batteries and solar panels, a situation Brussels is keen to change. The EU list is part of the implementation of the Critical Raw Material Act agreed in 2023 under which the bloc aims to mine 10%, process 40% and recycle 25% of its needs by 2030. Most of the new projects will be focused on materials essential for electric vehicle batteries and battery storage, including lithium, cobalt, manganese and graphite. Two projects for rare earths are located in Malawi and South Africa. Rare earths are used to produce magnets in wind turbines. The projects are located in Britain, Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, Brazil and the French territory of New Caledonia. The British project is to extract tungsten and the ones in Ukraine and Greenland will be for graphite, with the project in Greenland run by GreenRoc Strategic Materials. Greenland has been a point of tension between Brussels and Washington this year after US President Donald Trump repeatedly said he wanted to acquire the Danish overseas territory. US officials have discussed a plan to pull Greenland into America's sphere of influence with a type of agreement called Cofa that the US has used to maintain close ties with several Pacific Island nations. Under Cofa, the US government offers essential services and in exchange, the US military operates freely while trade with the US is largely duty-free. The EU has estimated that the projects would need an overall capital investment of 5.5 billion euros ($6.27 billion) to get off the ground. They would receive coordinated financial support and buyer interest from the Commission, member states and lenders. The new list brings the total number of strategic projects to 60. In March, the Commission announced 47 projects within the EU.
Reuters
7 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
EU picks 13 new critical material projects, including in Greenland
PARIS, June 4 (Reuters) - The European Commission on Wednesday announced 13 new raw material projects outside the bloc to increase its supplies of metals and minerals essential for it to stay competitive in the energy transition as well as defence and aerospace. The EU's announcement follows China's decision in April to impose export curbs on rare earth magnets until new licences are obtained, leaving diplomats, carmakers and other executives from Europe and elsewhere scrambling to secure meetings with Beijing officials and avert factory shutdowns. China controls more than 90% of global processing capacity for the magnets, used in everything from vehicles and fighter jets to home appliances. Beijing is also the main supplier of many key inputs for renewable energy, especially rare earths, batteries and solar panels, a situation Brussels is keen to change. The EU list is part of the implementation of the Critical Raw Material Act agreed in 2023 under which the bloc aims to mine 10%, process 40% and recycle 25% of its needs by 2030. Most of the new projects will be focused on materials essential for electric vehicle batteries and battery storage including lithium, cobalt, manganese and graphite. Two projects for rare earths are located in Malawi and South Africa. Rare earths are used to produce magnets in wind turbines. The projects are located in Britain, Canada, Greenland, Kazakhstan, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine, Zambia, Brazil and the French territory of New Caledonia. The British project is to extract tungsten and the ones in Ukraine and Greenland will be for graphite, with the project in Greenland run by GreenRoc Strategic Materials (GROC.L), opens new tab. Greenland has been a point of tension between Brussels and Washington this year after U.S. President Donald Trump repeatedly said he wanted to acquire the Danish overseas territory. U.S. officials have discussed a plan to pull Greenland into America's sphere of influence with a type of agreement called COFA that the United States has used to maintain close ties with several Pacific Island nations. Under COFA, the U.S. government offers essential services and in exchange, the U.S. military operates freely while trade with the U.S. is largely duty-free. The EU has estimated that the projects would need an overall capital investment of 5.5 billion euros ($6.27 billion) to get off the ground. They would receive coordinated financial support and buyer interest from the Commission, member states and lenders. The new list brings the total number of strategic projects to 60. In March, the Commission announced 47 projects within the EU.
News24
7 hours ago
- General
- News24
uMkhonto Wesizwe Party (MKP) removes Floyd Shivambu as Secretary General
Floyd Shivambu has been removed from his senior position by the uMkonto Wesizwe Party (MKP). This came after his unapproved trip to visit Pastor Bushiri in Malawi in March, which the party described as a 'serious breach of political discipline.' Read more | ICYMI: Dr Nandipha Magudumana is taking her fight for freedom to the Constitutional Court The announcement was made by the party's leader, Jacob Zuma, during the party's media briefing held in Durban on Tuesday afternoon. Zuma said that neither he nor the party had approved of Shivambu's trip. He added that they concluded that the visit to Malawi violated the MK party's constitution's Section 3(j), which forbids members from travelling internationally in a way that conflicts with the party's or its allies' interests. View this post on Instagram A post shared by MK Party Official (@umkhonto_wesizwe_official) Shivambu's visit to Malawi coincided with South Africa's ongoing court proceedings to extradite the controversial fugitive Pastor Bushiri and his wife, Mary. Many viewed this visit as a direct affront to South Africa's laws and regulations. Zuma mentioned that they received numerous complaints about the visit, prompting them to take action. The delay in their response was attributed to the party's busy schedule at the time. Shivambu has welcomed the redeployment to parliament and is confident in executing his duties diligently. View this post on Instagram A post shared by MK Party Official (@umkhonto_wesizwe_official)
