Latest News

BEE advisory council to be set up soon

25th March 2003 The South African government is set to establish the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Advisory Council, to advise President Thabo Mbeki on the implementation of BEE strategies, to make sure that full transformation of the business sector is in accordance with economic growth. →

CSIR, San in bioprospecting pact

25th March 2003 Arts, culture, science and technology minister Ben Ngubane has commended the San community and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on the signing of a benefit-sharing agreement in Northern Cape, yesterday. →

R20bn National Empowerment Fund to emerge as key BEE driver

By: Terence Creamer 25th March 2003 The South African government expects its National Empowerment Fund (NEF) to be capitalised to the tune of between R15-billion and R20-billion, which could make it a leading force in facilitating future black economic empowerment (BEE) ventures in South Africa. →

Barloworld buys US dealership for $5m

25th March 2003 South Africa's Barloworld said yesterday it had bought a US-based truck and equipment dealership for $5-million, in line with a strategy to expand its Freightliner business. →

SA unemployment rose in September 02

25th March 2003 South Africa's official unemployment rate for September 2002 rose. →

Demand for heavy trucks falls in US - DaimlerChrysler

25th March 2003 DaimlerChrysler, the world's biggest maker of commercial vehicles, told Reuters demand for heavy trucks in the United States fell sharply in the first quarter, but by less than expected. →

Africans must make Nepad a success, despite Iraqi war

24th March 2003 The United States led military assault on Iraq demands of Africans to stand on their feet and join hands to ensure that the continent’s self-help economic blueprint, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, Nepad, succeeds. →

The road to Cancun

By: Riaan de Lange 21st March 2003 South African business is at risk of losing out if it does not make its voice heard on key issues relating to the reform of the international trading system. →

Truck-body manufacturers under new ownership

21st March 2003 The management buy out (MBO) of TFM Industries has been completed and the management team, lead by MD Johan van der Merwe, is now firmly in the saddle at the company. →

R10m ship-handling simulator for ports academy

21st March 2003 A R10-million ship-handling simulator is to be installed at the Port Academy of South Africa in Durban, which will be employed to train marine pilots and tugmasters to international standards. →

Foskor buys into Nigerian fertiliser plant

21st March 2003 A subsidiary of the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), Foskor, has teamed up with Sino-Africa Petrochemicals Company, a Nigerian-Chinese consortium, to buy a 100% stake in a Nigerian State-owned fertiliser facility, Nafcon. →

Oil giant declares force majeure following Nigeria unrest

21st March 2003 US oil giant ChevronTexaco has declared a force majeure following unrest in Nigeria's southern Niger Delta region which has cost it 140,000 barrels of oil per day, the company said in a statement Friday. →

Water security in war should be included in Geneva Convention

21st March 2003 The war in Iraq is a clear example of the need for a special provision of the Geneva Convention to ensure water supplies to civilian populations in wartime, a top official of the World Water Council said Friday. →

Environmentalist slams State’s inaction on energy reform

By: Martin Czernowalow 20th March 2003 South Africa’s ‘business as usual’ approach to its energy industry has come under fire, with calls for reform of the country’s energy generation strategy. →

ABB’s divestment talks to be tied up soon – CEO

20th March 2003 Engineering firm ABB expects talks with parties interested in buying its non-core businesses to be completed ‘fairly soon’, the firm's CE Juergen Dormann said in a newspaper interview. →

New WTO agri negotiation paper released

20th March 2003 A revised World Trade Organisation (WTO) draft of the agricultural ‘modalities’ paper, circulated to member governments on March 18, ahead of the March 25-31 negotiations meetings has been released. →

Labour dept to act on non-performing Setas

20th March 2003 The South African Department of Labour welcomed the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Labour's hearings, on the Sectoral Education and Training Authorities (Seta), as an opportunity to ensure that these bodies are held accountable. →

Aids threatens SA small business

20th March 2003 The future success of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), and the livelihood of many South Africans, could soon be wiped off the economic radar screen if business fails to deal with the destructive HIV/Aids epidemic threatening small business. →

SA leaves 02/03 maize estimate at 8,84mt

20th March 2003 South Africa's crop forecasters left their 2002/03 maize crop estimate unchanged at 8,84-million tons yesterday, from 8,78-million tons the previous year, but said farmers would plant less wheat. →

Cabinet approves new BEE strategy

20th March 2003 Government's long-awaited policy on black economic empowerment was approved by cabinet on Wednesday, and includes financial support measures as well as legislation. →

Interest rates remain unchanged

20th March 2003 The prime interest rate will remain steady at 17 percent after the South African Reserve Bank opted on Thursday to keep the repo rate at 13,5 percent. →

Rich country farm policies a $7bn yearly tax on Africa

By: Terence Creamer 19th March 2003 Agricultural trade reform, which leads to increased market access and the elimination of trade-distorting subsidies, would be central to Africa’s future economic development, a study conducted by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed. →

Bell eyes after-market opportunities

19th March 2003 Capital equipment manufacturer Bell Equipment is bullish about prospects for growing annuity earnings from its parts and services business, CEO Gary Bell reports. →

SA construction sector poised to boom

19th March 2003 South Africa's civil engineering sector is set for a boom in 2003, thanks to increased government spending and mining expansion work, but bureaucracy could dampen the outlook, industry officials said. →

Research bodies sign deal to boost black business

19th March 2003 The South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) have this week signed a formal agreement in Pretoria to work together. →

Omnia makes Australian acquisition

19th March 2003 Specialist South African chemical services group Omnia yesterday announced the acquisition of Australian company HRL Agriculture for R4,1-million (A$825 000). →

Malaria inroads could boost tourism in KZN

18th March 2003 Tourism KwaZulu-Natal has hailed as ‘victory’ efforts by a malaria control programme to reduce the incidence of the disease in KwaZulu-Natal by 91 percent in two years. →

SA to pre-qualify Durban port bidders next month

By: Martin Czernowalow 18th March 2003 The South African government is to pre-qualify bidders for concessions at the Durban Container Terminal (DCT) before the end of April, a step which is set to demonstrate the State’s commitment to the ports reform programme. →

Third train starts at Algerian oilfield

18th March 2003 The third 75 000 barrel per day (bpd) train at Algeria's Ourhoud oilfield has started up, a foreign equity holder said yesterday, indicating peak production of 230 000 bpd may be reached well ahead of the mid-year target. →

Vodacom’s Mozambique project in doubt

18th March 2003 South African mobile phone group Vodacom said yesterday it would not be able to begin operating in Mozambique on April 1 as planned, and differences with the government could throw the project into doubt. →

Durban refinery gets go-ahead to up output 20%

18th March 2003 South African environmental authorities have given the green light to Engen's Durban refinery to raise production by 20% to 150 000 barrels per day (bpd), the refinery said yesterday. →

Petrosa to pay State R1,6bn dividend

18th March 2003 The Petroleum, Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (Petrosa) is to pay a special dividend of R1,6-billion to government. →

Nigeria opens new bitumen project

18th March 2003 Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has launched a gigantic bitumen production project in the southwest Ode-Irele region in a bid to diversify the country's sources of foreign exchange, officials said Tuesday. →

Guinea keen to boost oil exploration

18th March 2003 Guinea is keen to step up the search for oil off its Atlantic coast and wants to attract more foreign oil firms to bolster exploration efforts in the poor West African country. →

The state of State oil

By: Jill Stanford 17th March 2003 State oil company PetroSA, formed last year from a merger of synthetic-fuel producer Mossgas, oil production and explor-ation company Soekor and some of the Strategic Fuel Fund operations, hopes to shed its ‘white elephant’ tag and transform itself into an effective vehicle for... →