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Africa ready to embrace a low-carbon future
Carbon reduction can be combined with development and rising incomes
April 26, 2012--With a record number of 1,200 registered participants, this year's Africa Carbon Forum (ACF) demonstrated that Africa represents a golden opportunity for a green future.
The annual forum is the leading knowledge-sharing and carbon trade platform in Africa. The event, which this year was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, brought together project developers, service providers, buyers and sellers of carbon credits, and various other private and public sector stakeholders. All are hoping to tap the potential of carbon finance to promote low carbon development on the continent.
Judging by the success of the conference, Kai-Uwe Schmidt, team lead of Carbon Finance Assist at the World Bank, called the ACF one of the key climate events in Africa.
“This conference definitely exceeded our expectations.” he said, “especially in terms of the remarkable increase in the breadth and depth of the interactions among policymakers, experts, and practitioners from the public and private sectors. It has been a great place to see peers exchanging knowledge and collaborating on major issues, including low-carbon development strategies, action plans, climate, and carbon finance."
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Source: World Bank
JSE boosted by resources rebound
April 25, 2012--South African stocks edged up on Wednesday in thin trade, with resource firms including platinum producer Lonmin leading the charge on expectations that demand may pick up in China.
Shares of AngloGold Ashanti, Africa's largest gold producer, ended a five-session drubbing to post a 1.98% gain, closing at R260.57.
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Source: FIN24
Rand stuck in range after UK data
April 25, 2012--The rand was stuck in ranges in Wednesday afternoon trade after the release of UK GDP data that indicated that the country had fallen into recession, a trader said.
The data, released this afternoon, revealed that he UK economy shrank in the first three months of the year, after also contracting in the fourth quarter 2011. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of economic contraction.
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Source: FIN24
Brics to launch development bank in 2013
April 25, 2012--A joint development bank planned by the Brics group of major emerging economies will be officially launched in South Africa early next year, Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane said on Wednesday.
Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa met last month in New Delhi to discuss setting up the bank, which would fund infrastructure and act as an alternate lender to the World Bank and other finance bodies.
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Source: FIN24
BaDEx getting ready to launch as Zambia's second securities exchange
April 24, 2012--A new securities exchange in Lusaka (Zambia) is installing tried-and-tested bond and derivative trading software and says it will be ready to launch operations next month, May 2012.
BaDEx has trading platforms that include spot and derivative trading in bonds, currency, commodities (such as derivatives on metals and silo certificates on the spot market) and a variety of other derivatives including agricultural commodities, precious metals, equity and energy.
There is also a central scrip depository system (CSD) with a separate core management, risk solution, surveillance and settlement systems and platforms. The CSD will apparently link to CSDs in South Africa, Europe and the US and with the central Bank of Zambia’s real-time gross settlement system.
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Source: African Capital News
SA stocks up as Richemont glitters
April 24, 2012--South African stocks edged up 0.5 percent on Tuesday, as shares of luxury good firm Richemont rose on strong watch Swiss watch exports, although gains were limited by declines in some recent gainers such as British American Tobacco.
Shares of investment firm Brait jumped 2.8% to R23.99 after it said full-year earnings likely more than quadrupled, although it did not give a reason for the expected rise in earnings. The company is due to release results on June 6.
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Source: FIN24
Rand touches 3-week highs, bonds edge up
April 24, 2012--The rand touched its highest in almost three weeks against the dollar on Tuesday and was among the strongest-performing emerging currencies but government bonds edged up only slightly as some of the recent buoyant demand for local debt tapered off.
The rand hit a session high of 7.7680 to the greenback, its firmest level since April 4, and was up 0.6 percent at 7.7927 by 1543 GMT.
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Source: FIN24
Sarb index shows economy on growth course
April 24, 2012--The South African Reserve Bank's monthly economic sentiment indicator continued a gradual trend higher in February, with the leading business cycle indicator at 134.4 points from 132.9 in January.
The indicator collates data such as business confidence, job advertisements and the volume of manufacturing orders to gauge the economic outlook. It has been soft but gradually picking up since September last year.
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Source: FIN24
JSE ends weaker on risk aversion
April 23, 2012--The JSE ended sharply lower on Monday as weak economic data and political uncertainty in the eurozone weighed heavily on global investor sentiment.
The lacklustre Chinese preliminary manufacturing data also added to the negative undertone.
At 17:00 local time, the JSE All Share [JSE:J203] index was down 1.50% to 33 703.21 points, with resources shedding 1.95%, platinum shares losing 1.35% and gold counters coming off 1.10%.
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Source: FIN24
Bonds lose ground as rand weakens
April 23, 2012--South African bonds were up to 6 basis points weaker in midday play on Monday, mainly on the back of the weaker rand.
This week is thin in terms of local economic data. The main data releases are the leading indicator and producer inflation.
SA's producer price index (PPI) is expected to clock in at 7.9% year-on-year (y/y) in March from 8.3% y/y in February, a survey by I-Net Bridge has found.
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Source: FIN24
