South Africa

South Africa’s Delinquent Municipalities Owe Eskom $4.5 Billion

South African municipalities owe Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. a total of 82.3 billion rand ($4.5 billion) in arrears, which the embattled state power utility is struggling to collect, Bloomberg News reported. Eskom supplies electricity to the municipalities, which in turn sell it on to households and businesses — and both have seen a rapid rise in outstanding debts.
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South Africa Mulls Tightening Over-The-Counter Derivative Rules

South Africa is getting closer to publishing long-awaited changes to its financial rules and has earmarked over-the-counter derivatives for greater scrutiny, alongside unlisted financial market activity, Bloomberg News reported. Regulators have been undertaking a financial market review for several years and “are at the point where we are able to put through some of those recommendations,” said Financial Sector Conduct Authority Executive Director Olano Makhubela.
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South Africa Holds Rates as Policymakers Hint at Dovish Shift

South Africa’s central bank kept interest rates on hold in a split decision, with two of the six policymakers favoring a cut which could signal a shift toward easing as soon as September, Bloomberg News reported. The monetary policy committee left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a 15-year high of 8.25% for a seventh consecutive meeting, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said in a virtual press conference Thursday. He said the two MPC officials who favored a cut wanted to lower rates by 25 basis points while the other four wanted to keep rates on hold.
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African Development Bank Approves $1B Loan to South Africa's State-Owned Rail and Ports Company

The African Development Bank said Thursday it had approved a $1 billion loan to South Africa's state-owned rail and ports company, Transnet, the Associated Press reported. The 25-year loan was wholly guaranteed by the South African government and will help finance the first phase of a $8.1 billion investment plan for Transnet to improve the country's ailing rail and port infrastructure, the bank said.
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South African Cryptocurrency Exchange VALR Targets Global Expansion

South Africa's largest cryptocurrency exchange VALR has secured a licence in Poland and eyeing other jurisdictions across the globe, in hopes to take on some of world's crypto giants, its CEO told Reuters. VALR is one of 75 crypto asset service providers that were recently granted licences this year by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to operate in South Africa, a key step in making crypto a mainstream investment option and creating a regulated environment for users.
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