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Economy News

Manufacturing confidence holds steady amid persisting headwinds – Absa

By: Schalk Burger 16th September 2024 Confidence levels among local manufacturers held steady at 28 points during the third quarter, driven mainly by their optimism regarding policy direction after a peaceful election and the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU), the Absa Manufacturing Survey for the third quarter... →

Bezos-backed group to prepare South African grids for investment

By: Bloomberg 16th September 2024 A global organisation backed by Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos’ climate and biodiversity fund said it’s setting up a programme to attract investment into South African municipal power grids, which need R319-billion to prepare for the introduction of more renewable energy. The Global Energy Alliance... →

Sasol appoints Dube as new chair as sustainability pressures rise

By: Terence Creamer 16th September 2024 JSE-listed chemicals and energy group Sasol has appointed Muriel Dube, a former government climate negotiator, as its new chairperson following the resignation of Sipho Nkosi from the position in November last year. Dube, who was appointed as an independent nonexecutive director in 2018, holds an... →

New Sasol chairperson Muriel Dube

BRICS Business Council working groups offer updates on work in the year-to-date

By: Darren Parker 13th September 2024 The BRICS Business Council has provided an update on its work thus far this year, reflecting on progress made and the challenges posed by the inclusion of Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates into the BRICS Plus alliance in January. The council’s working groups have been... →

South Africa says reform agenda in progress after Fitch affirms ratings

By: Reuters 13th September 2024 South Africa's National Treasury said on Friday its plan to reduce expenditure and raise revenue, while implementing critical reforms, was in progress after credit rating agency Fitch affirmed its debt rating at "BB-" with a stable outlook. Fitch said that key drivers affecting its decision to... →

Cape Town proposes new CBD spatial plan; expects up to 50 000 new inner-city residents by 2040

By: Irma Venter 13th September 2024 The City of Cape Town (CoCT) has invited the public to comment on its 2040 local spatial development framework (LSDF) for the central business district (CBD). The LSDF will guide decisions about land use, development, density, transportation and urban design. →

Image of CoCT's study areas for its LSDF

The LSDF study area

Tributes pour in for Pravin Gordhan

By: Thabi Shomolekae 13th September 2024 Fellow politicians and others on Friday expressed their deepest condolences on the passing of former Minister of Public Enterprises and South African Revenue Service Commissioner Pravin Gordhan. Gordhan passed away at the age of 75 in the early hours of Friday morning, following a period of... →

Photo by Bloomberg
Pravin Gordhan

DA calls on Tau to investigate alleged corrupt activities at the SABS

By: Marleny Arnoldi 13th September 2024 Democratic Alliance (DA) trade, industry and competition spokesperson Toby Chance has called on the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) to urgently investigate “serious transgressions” at the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS). In letters addressed to dtic acting... →

Democratic Alliance trade, industry and competition spokesperson Toby Chance

Pravin Gordhan dies at 75

By: Bloomberg 13th September 2024 Pravin Gordhan, who held three positions in South Africa’s cabinet and won plaudits for standing up to Jacob Zuma during his scandal-marred presidency, has died. He was 75. Gordhan died in hospital in the early hours of Friday morning after battling cancer, his family said in an emailed statement. →

Photo by Bloomberg
Pravin Gordhan

R217-billion investment set to transform eThekwini

13th September 2024 The eThekwini municipality aims to propel the city into a new era of prosperity through a R217-billion investment in development projects, which is expected to create 300 000 jobs. On August 14, eThekwini Mayor Councillor Cyril Xaba, along with the municipality’s executive committee, conducted an... →

Ramokgopa to seek advice from team of experts before taking next nuclear steps

By: Terence Creamer 12th September 2024 Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is assembling a committee of experts to advise him on the role that nuclear could play in South Africa’s future supply before issuing a new Ministerial determination for the possible procurement of 2 500 MW of new nuclear capacity. He has... →

Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa speaking at the nuclear summit

Emfuleni municipality’s bank accounts attached for Eskom to recover R8bn debt

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 12th September 2024 Power utility Eskom says the Sheriff of the Court has successfully attached the Emfuleni municipality’s four bank accounts for Eskom to recover about R8-billion in arrear debt, ensuring that the money collected for electricity is paid directly to the utility. This follows the municipality’s... →

Eskom says that municipal debt remains one of its biggest challenges

Not enough chrome shipments to fill Maputo corridor capacity, TFR says

By: Darren Parker 12th September 2024 The Maputo Corridor is being underused by chrome exporters, Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) northeast corridor acting managing executive Mandisa Mondi has said. Speaking at the Critical Materials Conference: Ferroalloys 2024, in Johannesburg, on September 11, she challenged chrome producers to... →

South African inflation expectations fall again in Q3

By: Reuters 12th September 2024 South African analysts, business people and trade unions further lowered their inflation expectations in the third quarter of this year, bringing them closer to the level targeted by the central bank, a quarterly survey showed on Thursday. The results of the survey - a key data point for the... →

South Africans pull R4.1bn from pension funds in 10 days since reform took effect

By: Reuters 12th September 2024 South Africans asked to withdraw R4.1-billion from their pension funds in the first ten days after a reform took effect on September 1 allowing fund members to make partial withdrawals before retirement, the tax service said. The "two-pot" pension policy reform is expected to spur domestic demand... →

Struggling miners put the brakes on South Africa’s stock rally

By: Bloomberg 12th September 2024 South African stocks have their noses in front of emerging-market peers, but glum news from China threatens to weigh on the key mining sector and stymie that outperformance. Johannesburg’s main equity index has climbed about 7% in 2024 in dollar terms, outshining the 4.6% advance for MSCI ’s... →

EIB, DBSA increase funding for private renewables projects to R11.9bn

By: Terence Creamer 11th September 2024 The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved another €100-million (R1.98-billion) loan in support of the Development Bank of Southern Africa’s (DBSA’s) Embedded Generation Investment Programme, which is supporting the development of private solar PV and wind projects in South Africa. The... →

Photo by EIB
European Investment Bank VP Ambroise Fayolle

Transnet breaches loan terms again as debt weighs on investment

By: Bloomberg 11th September 2024 Transnet breached loan covenants for a second year running as the South African port and rail operator staggers under a debt burden that’s constraining investments needed to resurrect its ailing equipment and infrastructure. The state-owned company’s loans increased to R138-billion in the year... →

Notable surge in trade expectations in August – Sacci

By: Schalk Burger 11th September 2024 The political broadening of governance has led to the encouragement of expectations in the trade environment, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) says. Although there remain notable economic challenges in providing certain logistical and other public sector services in... →

South Africa rejects civil-servant pay demand, offers 3% raise

By: Bloomberg 11th September 2024 The South African government rejected a demand by public-sector workers for a 12% pay increase, saying it’s unaffordable. Instead, the state offered a 3% raise, Frikkie de Bruin, general secretary at the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council said by phone Wednesday. The proposal by... →

Major UIF service points to extend operating hours, open on Saturdays in Sept

By: Schalk Burger 11th September 2024 Some Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) service points will be open on Saturdays and from 07:30 to 16:00 on weekdays to render services to clients and employers during September to cater for an anticipated increase in demand for real-time services. In August, the High Court in Pretoria issued an... →

South Africa may exit dirty-money list by October 2025, Treasury official says

By: Bloomberg 11th September 2024 South Africa should address outstanding shortcomings in tackling illicit financial flows to exit a global dirty-money list by either June or October next year, provided there’s no surprises, National Treasury Official Ismail Momoniat said. The nation has until February to address 22 key items... →

National Treasury Official Ismail Momoniat

National roads need over R307-billion of repairs

By: Bloomberg 10th September 2024 South Africa, which already faces a heavy bill to upgrade its port, rail and electricity infrastructure, needs R307-billion to repair and improve its sprawling national road system. The South African National Roads Agency requires design and construction work on 1 437 projects, Transport Minister... →

Transport Minister Barbara Creecy

R628m in EU grants to support South Africa’s goal of building green-hydrogen ecosystem

By: Terence Creamer 9th September 2024 The EU has announced R628-million (€32-million) in grant funding to support the development of South Africa’s nascent green-hydrogen industry, as well as to facilitate net-zero-related investments across Transnet’s rail, port and pipeline operations, including to prepare them for the production... →

European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson at a briefing in Pretoria

Improving Transnet’s performance key to bolstering economic growth – BLSA

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 9th September 2024 Recent statistics have underscored how crucial it is to fix State-owned enterprise (SOE) Transnet, with second-quarter GDP growth of 0.4% still insufficient to achieve the necessary progress in the country, and the rail operator reporting a R7.3-billion loss in the year to end March, compared... →

BLSA CEO Busi Mavuso

Ramaphosa says China’s tech capabilities can support Africa’s industrialisation

By: Thabi Shomolekae 9th September 2024 President Cyril Ramaphosa noted on Monday that relations between South Africa and China has entered “a new era of opportunity”, following his visit to China, which he said has strengthened trade and investment ties and cemented shared commitment to economy growth and job creation for the... →

President Cyril Ramaphosa and Chinese President Xi Jinping

Competition Commission, NEF renew MoU

By: Schalk Burger 6th September 2024 The National Empowerment Fund (NEF) and the Competition Commission have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at fostering collaboration in key areas of economic development and market regulation. The four primary areas of collaboration are merger control; development fund management;... →

Business calls for soul searching on Nedlac’s future amid big socio-economic shifts

By: Terence Creamer 6th September 2024 While reaffirming its commitment to the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac), organised business has again questioned whether the structure’s current composition and functioning are “fit for purpose”. Delivering the business constituency’s report at this year’s summit, which... →

Business Unity South Africa CEO Cas Coovadia

Wits’ Themba Maseko doubts embattled Justice Minister will ensure whistleblower protection

By: Thabi Shomolekae 6th September 2024 University of the Witwatersrand School of Governance head and whistleblower Themba Maseko said he is not confident that newly appointed Minister of Justice Thembi Simelane will be able to move forward with former Chief Justice Raymond Zondo’s proposal on strengthening the protection of... →

Wits School of Governance head Themba Maseko

Kgalema Motlanthe says addressing corruption requires a multifaceted approach

By: Thabi Shomolekae 6th September 2024 Former President Kgalema Motlanthe pointed out on Friday that mapping out a future that is free from corruption requires a “deliberate and tactical” approach to ensure a robust rule of law, ethical governance and effective leadership. Motlanthe was speaking on day two of the University of... →

Former President Kgalema Motlanthe

Pilot possibly a template for textiles recycling

By: Halima Frost 6th September 2024 The successful completion of a clothing, textile, footwear and leather (CTFL) waste disposal pilot project, managed by national support programme National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA), creates opportunity for similar projects, says NCPC-SA project manager Andre Page. The... →

NCPC-SA project manager Andre Page discusses the CTFL waste management project recently undertaken by the NCPC-SA

EU targets carbon emissions through import tariff

By: Nadine Ramdass 6th September 2024 The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), set to come into effect in 2026, is poised to drive companies exporting to the EU to rethink their energy strategies and adopt renewable-energy solutions, such as solar power, says solar installation specialist Solana Energy business development... →

An image of solar panels installed for a manufacturer

WEIGHING OPTIONS Businesses exporting to the EU will incur import charges according to Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism if they do not invest in renewable-energy

Private train operators could access Transnet's rail network by April 2025, says business development exec

By: Schalk Burger 5th September 2024 State-owned Transnet Group chief business development officer Yolisa Kani has said calls for applications for private train operators wanting to access the freight rail network are likely to open early next year. Reform of rail legislation means that it is likely that private train operators will... →

Metair boasts resilience amid tough first-half market conditions

By: Darren Parker 5th September 2024 In an operational update to shareholders for the six months ended June 30, JSE-listed Metair Investments has said its business verticals demonstrated resilience despite the challenging operating and trading conditions. The company said on September 5 that it had successfully maintained a constant... →

Financial savings displacing loadshedding as main driver of residential solar market

By: Terence Creamer 5th September 2024 The South African market drivers for residential, commercial and industrial solar PV and battery installations have started shifting towards cost savings from security of supply as loadshedding wanes, GoSolar CEO Andrew Middleton asserts. Although installations in 2024 are likely to be well below... →

GoSolr CEO Andrew Middleton

Busa calls out govt for failing to hold ‘structured’ NHI discussions

By: Thabi Shomolekae 5th September 2024 Industry body Business Unity South Africa on Thursday expressed disappointment that despite commitments by the government to engage on the National Health Insurance Act, structured discussions have not yet taken place, affirming its readiness to participate in meaningful dialogue with government.... →

Busa CEO Cas Coovadia

South Africa's current account deficit narrows again in second quarter

By: Reuters 5th September 2024 South Africa's current account deficit narrowed in the second quarter, to 0.9% of gross domestic product from 1.5% of GDP in the first quarter, central bank data showed on Thursday. In rand terms the current account deficit narrowed to R64.6-billion in April to June, from R106.9-billion in the... →

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