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BRICS payment system would not replace SWIFT -S.Africa finance minister

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s finance minister said on Thursday that the BRICS grouping would not be looking to replace international payment systems including SWIFT, but rather consider creating one that would strengthen trade in local currencies. At the conclusion of a three-day BRICS summit in Johannesburg, the bloc’s leaders announced they would task their …

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Yevgeny Prigozhin crossed Putin’s red lines with short-lived Wagner revolt

By Mark Trevelyan LONDON (Reuters) – He dared to challenge the authority of Vladimir Putin. Two months later, he was dead. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who Russian authorities said was killed in a plane crash north of Moscow on Wednesday, led his Wagner private army out of the shadows and on to the frontlines of Russia’s war …

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Gabon’s president eyes third term as opposition seeks end to Bongo dynasty rule

By Gerauds Wilfried Obangome LIBREVILLE (Reuters) – Gabonese President Ali Bongo has campaigned for re-election in remote corners of the rainforested nation this month, seeking to dispel opposition claims he lacks the strength and track record to fulfil generous electoral promises in a third term. The Central African state holds presidential, legislative and local elections …

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Analysis-BRICS expansion could hinder the bloc’s geopolitical aspirations

By Tim Cocks JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – When a British economist coined the BRIC acronym two decades ago to denote Brazil, Russia, India and China, he didn’t have in mind an alliance that would seek to challenge Western dominance in global affairs. Jim O’Neill, then a Goldman Sachs banker, was writing about investment opportunities in nations …

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S.African rand falls as dollar rises ahead of Fed symposium

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) -The South African rand slid 1% on the last day of the BRICS summit on Thursday, largely due to U.S. dollar strength ahead of the Federal Reserve’s Jackson Hole symposium, analysts said. At 1515 GMT, the rand traded at 18.6950 against the dollar, about 1.1% weaker than its previous close. The rand had …

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Nigeria building collapse kills at least two, dozens injured

By Camillus Eboh ABUJA (Reuters) -A two-storey building collapsed in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja late on Wednesday, killing at least two people and injuring dozens, the city’s emergency agency said. Thirty-seven people were rescued from beneath the rubble, and evacuated for treatment, Abbas Idris, head of the emergency agency, told reporters on Thursday. “We …

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Sudan army chief Burhan appears to leave army HQ for first time – video

(Reuters) -Sudan’s army chief, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, appeared in a video circulated by the army on Thursday outside of the army command compound in Khartoum for the first time since the beginning of a war more than four months ago. The army has been fighting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) for control of …

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BRICS bank can help African countries tackle urgent challenges

(Reuters) -The New Development Bank created by BRICS countries in 2015 can help finance African countries’ projects to tackle their most urgent challenges, the bank’s president Dilma Rousseff said on Thursday. The BRICS countries are “good partners” for Africa, former Brazilian President Rousseff said in a speech in Johannesburg, adding the bank would finance physical …

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At least five killed in Senegal building collapse

DAKAR (Reuters) – At least five people were killed and eight injured when a building collapsed in Senegal’s capital Dakar, a government official has said. It was not immediately clear what caused the building to collapse, or how many people were inside when the disaster happened on Wednesday morning in the Dakar suburb of Rufisque. …

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Botswana holds policy rate as inflation slowdown seen as temporary

GABORONE (Reuters) – Botswana’s central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged at 2.65% on Thursday, saying that a fall in inflation to below its target range was likely to be temporary. Annual inflation fell sharply in July to 1.5%, from 4.6% in June. The Bank of Botswana’s objective inflation range is 3%-6% in the …

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