CAPE TOWN – Good morning. This is all the latest business news that you need to know today.
1. Nhlanhla Nene asks to be let go as finance minister - report
Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene has reportedly asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to be let go as the minister of finance.
2. Steinhoff's Mattress Firm files for bankruptcy
Steinhoff has announced that its Mattress Firm subsidiary would close more than 25 percent of its units in the US as part of a major restructuring plan aimed at offloading some businesses and re-base its books.
3. R100bn available for black-owned enterprises
President Cyril Ramaphosa begins preparations for his investment summit later this month on a high after securing backing from some of the country's biggest conglomerates to assist his jobs creation drive.
4. Zim taxes mobile money transactions
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube has introduced a raft of measures meant to shore up the country’s dwindling financial resources, including a new tax on mobile money transactions, a reduction in the civil service, limiting international travel, and the disposal of state entities.
5. JP Morgan to settle allegations of violating sanctions
J.P. Morgan Chase Bank has agreed to pay $5.3 million to settle allegations it violated Cuban Assets Control Regulations, Iranian sanctions and Weapons of Mass Destruction sanctions 87 times.
6. MTN documents may cut R120 billion Nigerian claim
MTN and its bankers have provided more documents that may reduce Nigeria’s $8.1 billion (R120bn) claim on the wireless carrier, which could be resolved soon, Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele said.
7. Daimler starts building electric car batteries
Daimler said it will start building a battery plant as part of its planned $1 billion investment to upgrade its factory in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, which has also started to produce a new sports utility vehicle, the GLE.