Africa Briefs

Ramaphosa assures Moody's on land reformSouth African President Cyril Ramaphosa told ratings agency Moody's on Wednesday that a drive to expropriate land without compensation would be done in a way that would not harm the economy or food security.Ramaphosa also told Moody's that failure to create jobs was the biggest threat to the South African economy, the presidency said in a statement. South Africa has a jobless rate of over 25 percent and remains scarred by glaring income and ownership disparities that run mostly along racial lines, fuelling social unrest."President Ramaphosa reaffirmed that accelerated land reform will unfold within a clear legal framework and without negatively affecting economic growth, agricultural production and food security," the presidency said.Moody's will announce its latest outlook on South Africa on March 23. It is now the only major ratings agency that has kept South Africa's credit rating at investment grade. S&P and Fitch cut their ratings to sub-investment grade last year, after then-president Jacob Zuma fired Pravin Gordhan as finance minister.Kenya asks IMF for a 6-month extensionKenya has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to extend its US$1.5 billion standby credit facility that is expiring this month for a further six months, the IMF said on Wednesday.The IMF said last month that Kenya had lost access to the funds meant to cushion it against unforeseen external shocks last June because of a failure to complete a review of the programme.In a statement issued at the end of a mission to Nairobi, the IMF said the new request for an extension will be put to the board before the facility expires on March 13.The Washington-based IMF said the government had committed to reduce the fiscal deficit and substantially modify interest controls, imposed on banks in 2016, which have been partly blamed for choking private sector credit growth. – Nampa/ReutersKabila to sign new mining code soonDemocratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila will soon sign into law a new mining code, the government and the country's mining companies said on Wednesday. The code has been vigorously opposed by the miners.The announcement followed a nearly six-hour meeting between Kabila and mining executives in Kinshasa about the new code, which will raise taxes and remove a stability clause in the current law protecting miners from changes to the fiscal and customs regime for 10 years."The president of the republic assured the miners ... that their concerns will be taken into account through a constructive dialogue with the government after the promulgation of the new mining law," a joint statement said.Glencore, Randgold and China Molybdenum all operate mines in Congo, Africa's top copper and cobalt producer, and have said the changes in the code adopted by parliament in January would scare off new investment and violate existing agreements. – Nampa/ReutersNigeria passes anti-money laundering lawNigeria's parliament passed legislation on Wednesday meant to help authorities tackle money laundering and funding for terrorism by allowing its financial intelligence unit to operate free of state control.The move is aimed at removing bureaucracy impeding investigations of financial crime and was taken under international pressure on Nigeria to crack down on endemic corruption afflicting the economy and law enforcement.President Muhammadu Buhari would need to sign the legislation for it to come into force, but is expected to do so.The new law makes the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit an independent body able to share information with counterparts abroad. Until now, the agency has operated under Nigeria's state Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.Nigeria suffers from rampant graft and is fighting Boko Haram militants in the northeast, who have killed more than 20 000 people since 2009 and displaced two million others in an insurgency aimed at creating an Islamic state. – Nampa/Reuters

Africa Briefs

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