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Daily podcast – April 14, 2014

14th April 2014

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April 14, 2014
From Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Motshabi Hoaeane.
Making headlines:

State-owned power utility Eskom will likely need a bailout over the next few years.

Chad is in talks with the IMF on a $130-million loan programme.

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And, long lines form for Guinea-Bissau’s polls, which aim to turn a page on the coup.
 

State-owned power utility Eskom will likely need a R50-billion to R100-billion bailout if it is to survive over the next few years, Shava Mining Enterprise’s Andrew Kinghorn warned on Friday.

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Kinghorn said the National Energy Regulator of South Africa had only allowed an 8% increase, which would leave the utility with a R190-billion shortfall over the next five years.

The power utility was in distress as it battled to keep its head above financial water and South Africa’s lights on, with the country heading for “unavoidable” national debt of 44% – from a debt of 27.3% of gross domestic product in 2008.

Kinghorn said Eskom was potentially going to cripple the country. For Eskom to stay in business, a charge of R1.20/kWh was required, despite tripling the price over the past few years to the current cap of 70c/kWh.

 

Chad is negotiating a new loan program with the International Monetary Fund totaling about $130-million and hopes to conclude discussions in the second half of the year, the country's finance minister said on Saturday.

Bedoumra Kordje, minister for finance and budget, said Chad was seeking a so-called Extended Credit Facility from the IMF, which had proposed an amount of about 60-billion CFA francs (or $127-million) for the programme.

The extended credit facility is a longer-term IMF programme available for poor countries with protracted balance of payments problems. Chad had already had its policies especially monitored by the IMF under a Staff Monitored Program, which has no money attached, and ended in December.

 

Voters in Guinea-Bissau formed long queues on Sunday to elect a new president and parliament they hope will bring stability to the West African state two years after a military coup.

The last attempt at an election, in 2012, was aborted when troops under army chief Antonio Indjai stormed the presidential palace days before a presidential run-off was due to take place.

Indjai released two doves after he voted early on Sunday, as a symbol of peace. However, he declined to make any statement about the twice-delayed election, which finally took place under pressure from donors and regional powers that wanted to see an end to decades of conflict and instability.

No elected president has completed a five-year term in the former Portuguese colony, which has become a major transit point for smugglers ferrying cocaine to Europe.
 

Also making headlines:

Egypt has arrested a veteran of the Syrian civil war on suspicion of planning terrorist acts inside Egypt.

Libyan Interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni handed his resignation to parliament on Sunday after less than two weeks in the post, saying gunmen had tried to attack his family.

And, Madagascar names a new prime minister and eyes World Bank aid.
 

That's a roundup of news making headlines today.
 

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