Africa in Business: beef, BRICS and bribery!

What to expect from the BRICS summit.

How to turn this loose club of nations into a geopolitical

STORY: Here's what's been making the business headlines in sub-Saharan Africa this week.

• 1. China has resumed imports of South African beef, its customs administration said on Thursday (August 17).

They were banned in March 2022 due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease on a cattle farm.
The resumption comes just ahead of a visit by President Xi Jinping to South Africa for the BRICS summit.

• 2. Also on BRICS, the bloc's development bank closed the auction for its first South African rand bonds - a 1 billion rand five-year note and a 500 million rand three-year note - on Tuesday (August 15).

The New Development Bank has been under pressure to boost its local currency fundraising and lending.

• 3. A Nigerian court on Thursday adjourned a hearing for suspended central bank governor Godwin Emefiele until August 23 as a co-defendant was unable to attend, a government lawyer said.

That meant Emefiele, who is facing a 20-count fraud charge, was unable to enter a plea.

• 4. Also in legal news, the Madagascan president's chief of staff has been arrested in London on suspicion of seeking a bribe from precious stone miner Gemfields, the UK's National Crime Agency said.

Romy Andrianarisoa and a French associate, Philippe Tabuteau, were allegedly seeking $286,000 and a 5% equity stake to secure licences to operate in Madagascar.

A lawyer for Andrianarisoa did not respond to a request for comment. One representing Tabuteau declined to comment.

Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina's office said the aide had been sacked with immediate effect. The NCA expressed its gratitude to Gemfields for raising the matter.

5. And finally, Safaricom's M-Pesa mobile money service went live in Ethiopia on Wednesday (August 16).

The Kenyan telecoms operator is betting that Ethiopia, which has around 120 million people and one of Africa's youngest populations, will power growth for years to come.