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Economy News

Brics offers ‘massive’ opportunities for intrabloc trade

By: Rebecca Campbell 19th April 2019 Gauteng Provincial Premier David Makhura has hailed the Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (Brics) alignment as a force that could promote global inclusive economic growth and help develop Africa. He was delivering the keynote address at the recent Brics Business Council mid-term meeting... →

Africa’s air cargo sector needs trade and aviation liberalisation to reach full potential

By: Rebecca Campbell 19th April 2019 In early February, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) released its global air freight data for the whole of 2018. Although worldwide demand, measured in freight (metric) ton kilometres (FTKs) rose by 3.5% in comparison to 2017, it was far below 2017’s 9.7% growth. And demand... →

Digital initiatives could unlock trillions in value for SA, research shows

By: Schalk Burger 19th April 2019 South Africa can unlock financial value and create meaningful outcomes for citizens in their daily lives by implementing key digital initiatives across government services and key industry sectors, professional services multinational Accenture says. Research indicated that the value that can be... →

VUKANI MNGXATI Unlocking the value from digital transformation within the economy will require efforts by the public and private sectors

Ongoing copper cable theft negatively affects power capacity

By: Mamaili Mamaila 19th April 2019 Ongoing copper cable theft from companies, such as State-owned power utility Eskom, has devastating effects on the local copper industry, says Copper Development Association Africa (CDAA) executive chairperson Evert Swanepoel. →

COPPER ALLIANCE The high demand for copper and copper alloys, with demand mainly from the Asian region, particularly China, is causing expensive exports to many countries

Fuel prices a sore thumb for businesses, consumers

By: News24Wire 18th April 2019 Higher fuel prices have contributed largely to the increase in March inflation, and industry has warned of the effects it is having on business profitability. Stats SA on Wednesday released March inflation figures, which increased to 4.5% compared to 4.1% reported in February. Transport costs... →

Reserve Bank: Damage wreaked by State capture even worse than we thought

By: News24Wire 18th April 2019 The damage done by State capture is worse than previously understood, and its effects, coupled with load-shedding, are bound to hit economic growth hard, according to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Review. In a document outlining growth prospects for the country, the Pretoria-based institution... →

Agri SA applauds Santam donation to drought relief fund

By: African News Agency 18th April 2019 Agricultural industry association Agri SA on Thursday applauded a donation from financial services group Santam to help drought-stricken farmers in the Northern Cape province. It said the drought in Sutherland had caused a devastating decline in the sheep breeding population and placed the town’s... →

Ncondezi receives shareholder loan conversion notice

By: Simone Liedtke 18th April 2019 Aim-listed Ncondezi Energy has received a shareholder loan conversion notice for 764 165 shares from lenders to be converted at a conversion price of 10p a share. Admission of these shares on Aim is expected to take place on April 26. →

Africa's sole nuclear plant undergoes revamp to extend lifespan

By: Bloomberg 18th April 2019 Eskom Holdings, the State utility that supplies 95% of South Africa’s power, is overhauling the continent’s sole nuclear plant with the aim of extending its lifespan by at least 20 years. The revamp of the 1 860 MW Koeberg facility comes as Eskom struggles to produce enough electricity to meet... →

Load-shedding may cut growth close to zero, SARB says

By: Bloomberg 18th April 2019 South Africa’s power cuts could bring economic growth for the year close to zero if they continue at the same severity seen in March, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) said. The wave of rolling blackouts that started in November and are among the worst the country has yet experienced could... →

SARB deputy governor Kuben Naidoo

SARB says too early to claim inflation win

By: Bloomberg 18th April 2019 The South African Reserve Bank says it’s premature to claim victory in the war against inflation and sees price growth stabilising at 4.5% only by the end of 2021. While inflation has been inside the central bank’s target band of 3% to 6% for two years and was at the midpoint of this range in... →

Mashaba says service delivery in Jhb is improving, but irregular expenditure remains a problem

By: Marleny Arnoldi 17th April 2019 Since the Democratic Alliance entered into a coalition government in the Johannesburg metropolitan two and a half years ago, the City of Johannesburg has achieved and maintained economic growth of around 1.95% a year, mayor Herman Mashaba said at the city’s annual general meeting on Wednesday.... →

Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba

Saice requests Ramaphosa’s urgent intervention to address construction site attacks

By: Nadine James 17th April 2019 The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (Saice) has joined other industry bodies in strongly condemning the recent spate of alleged “mafia-style” coordinated gang activity on project sites across the country. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Saice referred to pleas from the South... →

PIC raises Texton stake to 18.9%

By: Nadine James 17th April 2019 State-owned investment management company, the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) increased its beneficial shareholding in JSE-listed real estate investment trust Texton Property Fund to 18.9%. Texton CEO Marius Muller on Wednesday noted that the PIC had become Texton’s largest shareholder. →

MARIUS MULLER

South Africa's decline worst of nations not at war, model shows

By: Bloomberg 17th April 2019 South Africa’s performance on a range of social, economic and governance measures deteriorated more in the past 12 years than any other nation not at war, according to Eunomix Business & Economics. The decline is likely to continue as the country wrestles with the consequences of nine years of... →

SA consumer inflation edges up to 4.5% year-on-year in March

By: African News Agency 17th April 2019 South Africa's consumer price inflation edged higher to 4.5 percent year-on-year in March from 4.1 percent in February, the national statistics agency said on Wednesday. On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices were up 0.8 percent in March compared with February. →

Brand SA appoints Thulisile Manzini acting CEO

By: Marleny Arnoldi 16th April 2019 Brand South Africa has appointed Thulisile Manzini acting CEO. This follows the suspension of CEO Dr Kingsley Makhubela, owing to a number of charges being pursued in a disciplinary process. →

Steel demand growth rates to moderate in line with slowing global economic growth

By: Nadine James 16th April 2019 Global steel demand is expected to increase by 1.3% year-on-year to 1.74-billion tonnes this year, the World Steel Association’s (worldsteel’s) ‘April 2019 Short Range Outlook’ shows. Demand is projected to grow by a further 1% in 2020 to 1.75-billion tonnes, the association added. →

EOH shares surge as restructuring takes form

By: Schalk Burger 16th April 2019 JSE-listed information and communication technology (ICT) service provider EOH’s share price rose by 55.76% on Tuesday as the company reported its financial results for the six months ended January 31. The company reported a loss for the six months of R3.3-billion mainly owing to one-off costs... →

South Africa's growing debt a concern – Moody's

By: Reuters 16th April 2019 Ratings agency Moody's warned South Africa again on Tuesday that growing government debt linked to bailouts of state firms would continue to pressure the country's investment grade status. Moody's was the last of the big three ratings agencies to give South Africa an investment-grade rating, so... →

New Kusile unit powers up, 8 months ahead of schedule

By: News24Wire 16th April 2019 For the first time on Sunday Kusile Unit 3 produced power, according to an internal memo to Eskom staff. According to the note from Eskom's chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer, sent out to staff on Monday, the synchronisation of the unit happened eight months ahead of the scheduled December... →

Eskom CEO tries to allay fears of job losses in internal staff memo

By: News24Wire 16th April 2019 "Will I still have a job in this turnaround of Eskom?" That's the question Eskom Group CEO Phakamani Hadebe hears most often. →

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
Eskom CEO Phakamani Hadebe

Air force suppliers to be prosecuted for alleged collusive conduct

By: Creamer Media Reporter 16th April 2019 The Competition Commission has referred a case of alleged cartel conduct against network maintenance companies KF Computers and SAAB Grintek Defense to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution. The two firms have been charged with alleged collusive tendering in respect of a tender that was put... →

Corrugated packaging paper companies prosecuted for collusive conduct

By: Simone Liedtke 15th April 2019 The Competition Commission has referred a case of alleged cartel conduct against packaging and paper companies Mpact and New Era Packaging to the Competition Tribunal for prosecution. The two companies have been charged with fixing prices, dividing markets by allocating customers and tendering... →

Global finance chiefs prepared to 'act promptly' on growth

By: Bloomberg 15th April 2019 Global finance ministers and central bankers are prepared to “act promptly” to shore up growth in a world economy that faces downside risks including trade tensions, according to a statement issued Saturday. While growth is projected to firm up in 2020, “risks remain tilted to the downside,”... →

Photo by Bloomberg
South African Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago

Council, Minister discuss BBBEE achievements, shortfalls

By: Creamer Media Reporter 15th April 2019 The Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Advisory Council last week conceded that the generic 25% black ownership target across industries should be inclusive of active participation of the beneficiaries and not passive involvement. The council met with Trade and Industry Minister Dr... →

Political parties agree on need for business, government collaboration

By: Marleny Arnoldi 12th April 2019 One cannot develop South Africa with a blanket approach, without consultation and discussion and these interactions should not be confined to the election season only, Inkatha Freedom Party MP Mhuleko Hlengwa asserted during a Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa... →

Transnet to meet OEMs this month in bid to reach settlement on ‘unlawful’ locomotive contracts

By: Terence Creamer 12th April 2019 State-owned logistics group Transnet will, during the course of April and May, seek to secure “just and equitable” negotiations with the four original equipment manufacturers supplying it with 1 064 diesel and electric locomotives under a R49-billion procurement programme concluded in 2015.... →

MPC remains steadfast on CPI target midpoint

By: Bloomberg 12th April 2019 The South African Reserve Bank is steadfast that it wants to see inflation expectations anchored at the 4.5% midpoint of its target range, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said. While the central bank unexpectedly raised its key rate to 6.75% in November, its current policy stance remains accommodative... →

Photo by Bloomberg
Reserve Bank governor Lesetja Kganyago

South Africa must do 'a lot more' work to improve credit ratings – S&P

By: News24Wire 12th April 2019 It has been two years since Standard & Poor's downgraded South Africa's foreign currency debt to junk status, and the sticking point is its weak economic performance, an official of S&P Global Ratings has said. Speaking during a panel discussion at the S&P Global Annual South Africa Conference... →

Long-running trade dispute between aerospace giants ends with victory for Airbus

By: Rebecca Campbell 12th April 2019 Late last month the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO’s) Appellate Body found that the US had failed to end some of the subsidies awarded by Federal, State and local authorities to aerospace giant Boeing, and to stop the damage these subsidies were causing to Boeing’s Europe-based arch rival... →

Africa cooperation pacts key to new-vehicle manufacturing

By: Cameron Mackay 12th April 2019 The key to manufacturing more new vehicles in South Africa and on the continent lies in restructuring the African market around a cooperation agreement in key assembly economies such as Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, says advisory and investment holding company UBU Investment Holdings... →

NEW-VEHICLE AMBITIONS Despite the presence of small assembly operations, the sub-Saharan African market is dominated by second-hand vehicle imports, with few new vehicles being sold

Denel to stop manufacturing parts for Airbus A400M aircraft

By: Rebecca Campbell 12th April 2019 South African State-owned defence industrial group Denel announced at the end of last month that it had reached a mutual understanding with Europe-based major aerospace and defence group Airbus to cease Denel’s manufacture of components for the Airbus A400M military airlifter aircraft, “subject... →

Morocco biggest contender for SA auto assembly hegemony

By: Cameron Mackay 12th April 2019 Owing to lower costs, access to European markets, attractive incentives offered to industry and high investment into infrastructure, Morocco has become South Africa’s biggest challenger in the automotive manufacturing industry, says multinational professional services firm Deloitte Africa... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
MARTYN DAVIES MARTYN DAVIES South Africa’s passenger vehicles sales declined roughly by 25% in the past decade

SME sector ‘critical’ to growing South Africa’s economy – Pityana

By: Simone Liedtke 11th April 2019 Business Unity South Africa (Busa) president Sipho Pityana on Thursday said the organisation would convene a Small Business Working Group to obtain the view of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to further determine the challenges facing the SME sector and seek solutions to those... →

Photo by Creamer Media's Dylan Slater
Busa president Sipho Pityana

Brexit deadline extension positive for South Africa – Parsons

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 11th April 2019 The extension of the Brexit deadline to October 31 and avoiding a “no deal” Brexit outcome this week will give South Africa space to maintain continuity and predictability in its important trade relations with the UK and the European Union (EU), says North West University (NWU) Business School... →

Goldman says Eskom's crisis leaves no time for unbundling plan

By: Bloomberg 11th April 2019 South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to split the State-owned power utility into generation, distribution and transmission divisions will take longer than the government has to revive the business, according to Goldman Sachs Group. Eskom Holdings is focusing on trying to avoid... →

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