Latest news with #WendellRoelf
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US tariffs on South Africa set to hit white farmers Trump has embraced
By Wendell Roelf CITRUSDAL, South Africa (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 30% tariff on South African exports is set to deal an economic blow to a community he has vocally and controversially championed: white farmers. Citing false claims that white South Africans are being persecuted, Trump has cut aid to the country, publicly berated its president in the Oval Office and invited Afrikaners - descendants of early European settlers - to come to the United States as refugees. But for white farmers who remain rooted in their homeland and aspire to keep making a living from the land, the tariffs due to come into effect on August 1 are an assault on those ambitions. "It doesn't make sense to us to welcome South African farmers in America and then the rest that stays behind ... to punish them," said Krisjan Mouton, a sixth-generation farmer in Western Cape province's citrus heartland. "It's going to have a huge impact," he said, standing among rows of trees heavy with navel oranges on his farm near the town of Citrusdal. "It's not profitable to export anymore to the USA." After a three-month pause, Trump escalated the global trade offensive he launched in April, announcing tariffs on more than a dozen countries on Monday, including South Africa. Its citrus fruit, along with wine, soybeans, sugar cane and beef, had previously benefited from duty-free access to the U.S. under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act. Helped by that trade initiative, South Africa, the world's second-largest citrus exporter after Spain, generates $100 million annually from the U.S. market. The new tariff ends that preferential treatment. And with three-quarters of South Africa's freehold land white-owned, white farmers will face the immediate economic fallout though they will not be the only casualties. Boitshoko Ntshabele, chief executive of the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA) said the levy will hurt all South African farmers and farm workers, no matter their race. "A 30% tariff would wreak havoc on communities that have, for decades, focused on producing specifically for the U.S. market," he said. 'FARMERS WILL GO BANKRUPT' Its location in the Southern Hemisphere means South Africa produces citrus at times of the year when the U.S. doesn't, with its exports giving U.S. consumers year-round access to fruit. While the United States accounts for only around 6% of South Africa's citrus exports, some farming areas produce specifically for the U.S. market. Redirecting produce grown for the U.S. to other markets is not simple, as size and plant health requirements vary from country to country. Nestled in a valley in Western Cape's rugged Cederberg mountains, Mouton's family farm employs 21 permanent workers, and nearly triple that number during peak picking season. The CGA has said about 35,000 jobs are at risk in Citrusdal alone, as the tariffs risk making South African citrus uncompetitive compared to fruit from Peru, Chile, and Australia. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said trade talks with Washington will continue and argued that the 30% rate was based on an inaccurate understanding of the two countries' trade. In the meantime though, the CGA wants to speed up an expansion of exports to new markets including China and India. High tariffs in some countries and stringent plant health requirements in the European Union, for example, make that a complicated prospect, however. Not far from Mouton's farm, workers are carrying on as usual, for now, sorting and packing fruit at the 14,000-square-metre Goede Hoop Citrus warehouse. But if the 30% levy remains in place, that won't last long, managing director Andre Nel told Reuters. "Farmers will go bankrupt. For sure there would be job losses within our sector," he said. "I don't even want to think about it." ($1 = 17.8568 rand)
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US tariffs on South Africa set to hit white farmers Trump has embraced
By Wendell Roelf CITRUSDAL, South Africa (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened 30% tariff on South African exports is set to deal an economic blow to a community he has vocally and controversially championed: white farmers. Citing false claims that white South Africans are being persecuted, Trump has cut aid to the country, publicly berated its president in the Oval Office and invited Afrikaners - descendants of early European settlers - to come to the United States as refugees. But for white farmers who remain rooted in their homeland and aspire to keep making a living from the land, the tariffs due to come into effect on August 1 are an assault on those ambitions. "It doesn't make sense to us to welcome South African farmers in America and then the rest that stays behind ... to punish them," said Krisjan Mouton, a sixth-generation farmer in Western Cape province's citrus heartland. "It's going to have a huge impact," he said, standing among rows of trees heavy with navel oranges on his farm near the town of Citrusdal. "It's not profitable to export anymore to the USA." After a three-month pause, Trump escalated the global trade offensive he launched in April, announcing tariffs on more than a dozen countries on Monday, including South Africa. Its citrus fruit, along with wine, soybeans, sugar cane and beef, had previously benefited from duty-free access to the U.S. under the Africa Growth and Opportunities Act. Helped by that trade initiative, South Africa, the world's second-largest citrus exporter after Spain, generates $100 million annually from the U.S. market. The new tariff ends that preferential treatment. And with three-quarters of South Africa's freehold land white-owned, white farmers will face the immediate economic fallout though they will not be the only casualties. Boitshoko Ntshabele, chief executive of the Citrus Growers' Association of Southern Africa (CGA) said the levy will hurt all South African farmers and farm workers, no matter their race. "A 30% tariff would wreak havoc on communities that have, for decades, focused on producing specifically for the U.S. market," he said. 'FARMERS WILL GO BANKRUPT' Its location in the Southern Hemisphere means South Africa produces citrus at times of the year when the U.S. doesn't, with its exports giving U.S. consumers year-round access to fruit. While the United States accounts for only around 6% of South Africa's citrus exports, some farming areas produce specifically for the U.S. market. Redirecting produce grown for the U.S. to other markets is not simple, as size and plant health requirements vary from country to country. Nestled in a valley in Western Cape's rugged Cederberg mountains, Mouton's family farm employs 21 permanent workers, and nearly triple that number during peak picking season. The CGA has said about 35,000 jobs are at risk in Citrusdal alone, as the tariffs risk making South African citrus uncompetitive compared to fruit from Peru, Chile, and Australia. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has said trade talks with Washington will continue and argued that the 30% rate was based on an inaccurate understanding of the two countries' trade. In the meantime though, the CGA wants to speed up an expansion of exports to new markets including China and India. High tariffs in some countries and stringent plant health requirements in the European Union, for example, make that a complicated prospect, however. Not far from Mouton's farm, workers are carrying on as usual, for now, sorting and packing fruit at the 14,000-square-metre Goede Hoop Citrus warehouse. But if the 30% levy remains in place, that won't last long, managing director Andre Nel told Reuters. "Farmers will go bankrupt. For sure there would be job losses within our sector," he said. "I don't even want to think about it." ($1 = 17.8568 rand)
Time of India
03-06-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Astronomers fear impact of Musk's Starlink on South Africa mega-telescope observations
By Wendell Roelf CAPE TOWN: Astronomers working with South Africa's SKA telescope are pushing authorities to ensure that any licensing agreement with Elon Musk 's Starlink will protect their groundbreaking observations, a senior scientist said. Discussions to bring Musk's internet service Starlink in South Africa have already been contentious, with parent company SpaceX criticising local shareholding laws while backing equity equivalent programmes. South Africa said it will review its Information and Communication Technology sector rules but will not back down on government policies to transform the economy three decades after white-minority rule ended. Scientists fear South Africa's Square Kilometre Array (SKA-Mid), the world's most powerful radio telescope together with another array co-hosted in Australia, will have their sensitive space observations distorted by Starlink's low-orbiting satellites. "It will be like shining a spotlight into someone's eyes, blinding us to the faint radio signals from celestial bodies," Federico Di Vruno, co-chair of International Astronomical Union Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky, told Reuters in a telephone interview. Di Vruno said the SKA Observatory, where he is spectrum manager, and the South African Radio Astronomy Observatory (SARAO) were lobbying for license requirements to reduce the impact on observations in certain frequency ranges, including some that SKA-Mid uses. That could direct Starlink to steer satellite beams away from SKA receivers or stop transmission for a few seconds to minimise interference, he said. South Africa's current SKA antennae, in the remote Northern Cape town of Carnarvon, use the 350 megahertz to 15.4 gigahertz bandwidth, a range also used by most satellite operators for downlinks. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa regulator and Starlink did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters about the scientists' concerns. MAJOR OBSERVATIONS South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope, a precursor to SKA-Mid which will be incorporated into the larger instrument, has already discovered a rare giant radio galaxy that is 32 times the size of the Milky Way. Last year, it found 49 new galaxies in under three hours, according to SARAO. SKA Observatory, an international body, also campaigns for conditions on licensing agreements with other major satellite operators such as Amazon and Eutelsat's OneWeb to ensure quiet skies amid a boom in new satellite launches. "We are trying to follow different technical and regulatory avenues to mitigate this issue on the global stage," Di Vruno said.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US lawmakers move to block IMF Central Africa support over oil fund dispute
By Bate Felix and Wendell Roelf DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation that could block International Monetary Fund (IMF) support for some Central African countries, in an effort to guard billions of dollars that oil companies must set aside for environmental restoration. The bill highlights a standoff between foreign investors on one side, and Central African monetary authorities trying to enforce tighter capital controls on extractive industries to shore up depleted reserves on the other. Introduced by U.S. Republican Representatives Bill Huizenga and Dan Meuser, the bill targets new regulations imposed by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the regional central bank, that require international oil companies (IOCs) to deposit the environmental restoration funds into BEAC-controlled accounts. The funds, estimated at between 3 and 6 trillion CFA francs (approximately $5 billion to $10 billion) and currently held in foreign banks, have been set aside by IOCs operating in the region for future environmental clean-up once production ends. Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) member states want the funds moved to regional institutions to bolster their economies and foreign currency holdings. The move, backed by the IMF and approved during an emergency summit of CEMAC heads of state in Yaounde in December 2024, is seen by regional governments as a critical step in addressing economic fragility. According to BEAC's March 2025 monetary policy report, the implementation is expected to take effect from May 1, in line with the summit's resolutions, with penalties of up to 150% of the restoration funds for non-compliance. BEAC has also suggested raising rates for repatriation to the region of other funds, including for extractive companies' operational spending, currently set at 35%. Perenco, a privately-held French oil company with significant operations across the region, said it was in negotiations with regional stakeholders to reach an agreement before the April 30 deadline. "Perenco is already complying with the 35% repatriation of funds' rule, and all regulations currently in place," a spokesperson said. Other oil companies in the region did not respond to requests for comments. In Equatorial Guinea, the finance ministry has met major operators Marathon Oil, Chevron, Kosmos Energy and Vaalco Energy to discuss the issue, said one source. DETERIORATING RESERVES The six CEMAC members - Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, and Republic of Congo - share monetary policy, a currency, and the common BEAC central bank. They have struggled to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and other global shocks, leaving them short of foreign exchange reserves to cover imports and debt. Cameroon's President Paul Biya warned during the summit in December of "disastrous consequences" for the countries if urgent action was not taken to address their deteriorating net external reserves. Critics, including the bill's sponsors, argue that the BEAC mandate risks undermining billions of dollars in U.S. oil and gas investments across Central Africa. "By refusing to clarify that these restoration funds will not count towards gross foreign exchange reserves, the IMF has misled the CEMAC member states and directly put tens of billions of dollars of IOCs investment in the region at risk," the bill said. The bill said the funds are contractually restricted and designated for future environmental rehabilitation, and therefore should not be "readily available" or "controlled by monetary authorities to count towards foreign exchange reserves. Under the proposed legislation, the U.S. Treasury would be barred from supporting any IMF proposals involving CEMAC countries until the IMF publicly confirms such funds cannot be classified as gross foreign exchange reserves. The move could bar further approvals of IMF financial support for some countries in the region that rely heavily on the fund's support, such as Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. The IMF did not immediately respond to questions on the bill's implications. In a March report, the IMF highlighted serious concerns about the CEMAC region's economy, warning that without corrective action some countries could face debt levels nearing 100% of GDP and dwindling reserves by 2029. This could worsen liquidity issues and threaten the region's financial stability and repayment capacity, it said.
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US lawmakers move to block IMF Central Africa support over oil fund dispute
By Bate Felix and Wendell Roelf DAKAR (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation that could block International Monetary Fund (IMF) support for some Central African countries, in an effort to guard billions of dollars that oil companies must set aside for environmental restoration. The bill highlights a standoff between foreign investors on one side, and Central African monetary authorities trying to enforce tighter capital controls on extractive industries to shore up depleted reserves on the other. Introduced by U.S. Republican Representatives Bill Huizenga and Dan Meuser, the bill targets new regulations imposed by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC), the regional central bank, that require international oil companies (IOCs) to deposit the environmental restoration funds into BEAC-controlled accounts. The funds, estimated at between 3 and 6 trillion CFA francs (approximately $5 billion to $10 billion) and currently held in foreign banks, have been set aside by IOCs operating in the region for future environmental clean-up once production ends. Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) member states want the funds moved to regional institutions to bolster their economies and foreign currency holdings. The move, backed by the IMF and approved during an emergency summit of CEMAC heads of state in Yaounde in December 2024, is seen by regional governments as a critical step in addressing economic fragility. According to BEAC's March 2025 monetary policy report, the implementation is expected to take effect from May 1, in line with the summit's resolutions, with penalties of up to 150% of the restoration funds for non-compliance. BEAC has also suggested raising rates for repatriation to the region of other funds, including for extractive companies' operational spending, currently set at 35%. Perenco, a privately-held French oil company with significant operations across the region, said it was in negotiations with regional stakeholders to reach an agreement before the April 30 deadline. "Perenco is already complying with the 35% repatriation of funds' rule, and all regulations currently in place," a spokesperson said. Other oil companies in the region did not respond to requests for comments. In Equatorial Guinea, the finance ministry has met major operators Marathon Oil, Chevron, Kosmos Energy and Vaalco Energy to discuss the issue, said one source. DETERIORATING RESERVES The six CEMAC members - Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, and Republic of Congo - share monetary policy, a currency, and the common BEAC central bank. They have struggled to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and other global shocks, leaving them short of foreign exchange reserves to cover imports and debt. Cameroon's President Paul Biya warned during the summit in December of "disastrous consequences" for the countries if urgent action was not taken to address their deteriorating net external reserves. Critics, including the bill's sponsors, argue that the BEAC mandate risks undermining billions of dollars in U.S. oil and gas investments across Central Africa. "By refusing to clarify that these restoration funds will not count towards gross foreign exchange reserves, the IMF has misled the CEMAC member states and directly put tens of billions of dollars of IOCs investment in the region at risk," the bill said. The bill said the funds are contractually restricted and designated for future environmental rehabilitation, and therefore should not be "readily available" or "controlled by monetary authorities to count towards foreign exchange reserves. Under the proposed legislation, the U.S. Treasury would be barred from supporting any IMF proposals involving CEMAC countries until the IMF publicly confirms such funds cannot be classified as gross foreign exchange reserves. The move could bar further approvals of IMF financial support for some countries in the region that rely heavily on the fund's support, such as Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. The IMF did not immediately respond to questions on the bill's implications. In a March report, the IMF highlighted serious concerns about the CEMAC region's economy, warning that without corrective action some countries could face debt levels nearing 100% of GDP and dwindling reserves by 2029. This could worsen liquidity issues and threaten the region's financial stability and repayment capacity, it said. Sign in to access your portfolio
