South Africa's rand firmed on Friday after President Cyril Ramaphosa said his government would launch a second wave of reforms to try to boost economic growth. At 1531 GMT, the rand traded at 18.37 against the U.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appeared to respond to threats from U.S. counterpart Donald Trump by saying in his annual speech to the nation Thursday that his country would “not be bullied." The comment by Ramaphosa was seen as a reaction to Trump's pledge to cut all funding to South Africa over a new land

President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended South Africa's Expropriation Act, introduced in January, saying that it will "balance the need for public usage of land and the protection of the rights of property owners". Ramaphosa vehemently denied that the policy targets white landowners, as Trump had insinuated.