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South Africa
- Heads of State from China, Brazil, and India, except Russia will attend the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg South Africa, starting August 22.
- President Vladimir Putin will participate in the summit virtually but will be represented in Johannesburg by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
- The bloc is also expected to discuss how to boost local currency fundraising and lending within the New Development Bank.
The five nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) are now a band of economies showcasing their ambition to maximize their emerging economies potential, across geopolitics axis. In one day time, heads of state from China, Brazil, and India, (except Russia) will attend the 15th BRICS summit in Johannesburg South Africa from August 22-24.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are expected to discuss a number of items as …
- A new $273,716 Growth for Jobs Tourism Challenge Fund seeks to grow South Africa’s tourism numbers by engaging SMEs.
- The fund will support regional and local tourism organisations, industry associations, and district and local authorities
- The target SMEs are expected to grow and expand their tourism product offerings.
South Africa has lined up a $273,716 fund to empower small businesses in the tourism sector to enhance their offerings. The $273,716 Growth for Jobs Tourism Challenge Fund will grow South Africa’s tourism numbers through local small businesses.
Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities Mireille Wenger said the fund will power the sector’s future growth by removing barriers.
“Our tourism and hospitality sector was hit hard by the COVID pandemic. But, it has seen a remarkable recovery with international arrivals reaching 100 percent of their 2019 figures in February this year,” she noted.
Wenger added that this would be achieved by helping …
- South Africa has adopted a number of measures aimed at boosting the country’s critical mineral industry.
- In January 2023, mining production experienced its twelfth consecutive month-to-month decline, recording a decrease of 1.9 per cent.
- According to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe, the industry needs to advance a commitment to working together as stakeholders on the reconstruction and recovery of the mining industry.
South Africa’s vast reserves of critical minerals present a huge opportunity for the country to accelerate economic growth and boost employment creation, while ensuring the energy transition is just and inclusive.
Statistics South Africa recently released its key findings for the fourth quarter of 2022, wherein the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) decreased by 1.3 per cent. According to the report, the mining and quarrying industry decreased by 3.2 per cent and thus contributed -0.1 per cent to the GDP growth.
Key to
Debts are quite effective economic tools when used correctly. However, debts have been seen to hold people and nations accountable over time and space and sometimes push developing countries to the edge of economic crisis.
In the case of Africa, debt has evolved to become a phenomenon that nations such as South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia battle with every inch of their economic prowess.
The African Report argued that the number of African countries at risk of debt distress has doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic, but only three of them have opted for debt restructuring.
- South Africa has been hit with most brutal power outages which hurt the economy significantly
- Recently, the finance ministry of South Africa stated that it will transfer state energy provide Eskom to government to empower the utility performance
- South Africa’s debts will peak at just over 71 per cent of gross domestic product this
As Africa’s role in the global economy continues to garner prominence, it’s imperative for the continent to seal the gaping hole in its power supply.
Lack of universal power access remains a major roadblock that has retrogressed industrialization and socio-economic development. Statistics from the World Bank indicate that Africa remains the least electrified region in the world, with 568 million people lacking access to electricity.
The Bretton Woods institution, further notes that the Sub-Saharan Africa’s share of the global population without electricity, jumped to 77 per cent in 2020 from 71 per cent in 2018, whilst most regions saw declines in their share of access deficits. It has become a Hobson’s choice for African governments to prioritize the power sector, which is the epicenter of industrialization, working towards Goal 7 of the UN SDGs; which advocates for universal access to affordable, reliable and modern electricity services.
Currently, Africa’s power is …
- Banking industry in South Africa staged a strong come back in 2021 in report by PWC.
- Banks enjoyed supportive credit conditions in the economy of South Africa.
- Banking industry is widely seen as a proxy of the general economy in South Africa
- South African economy has returned to pre-pandemic levels as evidenced by the financial performance of banks according to PWC
The banking industry in South Africa is in for good times according to a report by PWC. The banking industry sector analysis and report by the global management consulting firm published in March 2022 reports that the major South African banks delivered strong financial performance against what PWC described as “supportive conditions”.
The banking industry had combined headline earnings of ZAR 86.8 billion which represented a 99% increase from 2020 financial year levels. Banks had a combined return on equity (ROE) of 15.9% compared to 8.3% achieved in 2020, …
The financial results of the company began with a report of the company’s ESG performance. What stood out the most from the company’s report is that the company achieved zero fatalities during its operations in 2021. This is most exceptional given the nature of mining operations which are for the most part dangerous.
Most if not all Anglo-Plat’s peers have reported reduced or reduced fatalities in their operations but not always a zero-fatality rate. This was attributable to what the company calls their Elimination of Fatalities (EoF) strategy. The strategy focuses on the most common causes of fatalities across Anglo American.
Its purpose is to use what the company calls “accumulated learnings from a wide range of fatalities” and use that data to take a more proactive approach to prevent incidents that result in the loss of life. The strategy has paid off resulting in an outlier performance of zero …
Enock Godongwana, South Africa’s finance minister appeared at ease for a man delivering his maiden budget speech. A speech whose pronouncements can send the markets soaring or sinking. A lot was riding on this, but the man seemed casual and affable during the delivery of his address he occasionally addressed the members of parliament by name and spoke in his native Xhosa language.
A lot was indeed riding on his presentation today the 23rd of February 2022. The primary expectations of the speech from stakeholders are whether the treasury chief’s plan for 2022 will stimulate economic growth and foreign direct investment. Each South Africa needs urgently.
The finance minister began his address by affirming his commitment from his midterm budget speech to the reconstruction and recovery of the economy and by extension saving lives and livelihoods.
Very noble aspirations and themes. This message is needed by citizens who have grown …
The company has managed to make a strong comeback from when it faced an existential threat when prices of commodities slowed down in 2014. Prior to that period, mining company shares were hot because of China’s urbanization. It drove prices of commodities through the roof taking the shares of resource companies with them.
When China’s economic growth slowed down the miners also felt the pinch. The pinch was felt especially at Gold Fields which had to restructure its business and retrench at least 1,300 workers mainly from Ghana to ensure the long term sustainability of the company. The restructuring produced desirable results characterized by net cash inflow of US$ 235 million. In that same year, its Australian operations produced 1 million ounces of gold.
The company’s operations are massive and span 3 continents.…
