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African Guarantee Fund, Vista Group to boost SME financing in West Africa

By: Schalk Burger 17th January 2024 Specialised guarantee provider African Guarantee Fund (AGF) and financial services firm Vista Group have signed a partnership agreement to accelerate access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) including women-led businesses in four West African countries, namely Burkina Faso,... →

TymeBank reaches profitability within first five years

By: Schalk Burger 16th January 2024 Financial services firm TymeBank reached its first month of profitability in December 2023, less than five years since launching in February 2019. “We are proud of our achievement, particularly when you consider that globally, less than half of the top 100 digital banks are profitable. A recent... →

EAIF completes $294m debt raise for African infrastructure

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 15th January 2024 Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) has raised $294-million of additional debt facilities, achieving over half of its target to raise $500-million by 2025. Backed by financial institutions, the package will enable the EAIF’s... →

RMB invests in KOKO to expand clean energy for cooking in Africa

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 12th January 2024 Corporate and investment bank Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has announced a strategic partnership with climate technology company KOKO, where it has acted as the lead mandated arranger and financier for a carbon financing solution to further propel KOKO’s climate objectives. KOKO is part of the push... →

Commission studying Appeal Court judgment for next course of action

By: Schalk Burger 11th January 2024 The Competition Commission is studying the Competition Appeal Court (CAC) judgment, handed down on January 8, and is consulting its legal team before deciding on the next course of action. The CAC upheld the appeals of 19 respondent banks against the decision of the Competition Tribunal on March... →

Ninety One SA reduces shareholding in Murray & Roberts to below 5%

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 8th January 2024 Ninety One SA has disposed of an interest in the ordinary shares of JSE-listed Murray & Roberts, resulting in its shareholding in the company decreasing to 4.286%. Murray & Roberts Holdings is a South Africa-based engineering and mining contractor. →

Absa PMI ends 2023 on stronger footing as December business activity rises

By: Darren Parker 8th January 2024 Financial institution Absa’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) closed out 2023 on a somewhat stronger footing, rising by 2.7 points to 50.9 index points in December. Absa said on January 8 that part of the uptick could be attributed to an encouraging increase in business activity. It was noted... →

African Development Bank to withdraw international staff from Ethiopia – sources

By: Reuters 20th December 2023 The African Development Bank (AfDB) will withdraw its international employees from Ethiopia following what it said was an assault on its staff members by government security forces, two sources familiar with the decision told Reuters on December 20. The AfDB lodged a formal complaint with... →

DBSA, UCLG Africa establish African cities special purpose financing vehicle

By: Schalk Burger 14th December 2023 Development finance institution the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and African local government organisation United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLG Africa) have committed to establish the African Territorial Trade and Investment Agency (ATIA), which is a special purpose... →

World Bank makes $100m in financing available for African climate research

By: Marleny Arnoldi 11th December 2023 The World Bank will make $100-million available to the Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centres (CGIAR) through the bank’s International Development Association (IDA) as part of additional finance to accelerate climate research for Africa. World Bank agriculture and food global... →

Standard Bank signs $400m sustainability-linked syndicated term loan

By: Darren Parker 11th December 2023 Financial institution Standard Bank has successfully signed a $400-million sustainability-linked syndicated term loan. The facility, coordinated by the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s London branch (ICBC), Mizuho Bank and Standard Chartered Bank, is Standard Bank’s second... →

Nedbank announces R10m Green Economy Fund

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 8th December 2023 At the Nedbank Green Indaba, held on November 30, Nedbank Corporate Social Investment executive head Poovi Pillay announced that the bank had set up its Green Economy Fund with initial capital of R10-million. He explained that the fund is intended to provide funding for up to 100 start-ups in the... →

BankservAfrica to handle UnionPay International's local card processing, service channels

By: Schalk Burger 7th December 2023 Card payments company UnionPay International has appointed automated clearing house BankservAfrica as the domestic processor for all of UnionPay's card issuing and acquiring services across its current automated teller machines, points-of-sale and e-commerce payment channels. This appointment... →

IDC, ACWA Power sign R20bn deal to boost energy security in South Africa

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 7th December 2023 South African development funder the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Saudi Arabia-based electric power generation company ACWA Power Company signed a joint development agreement term sheet (JDATS) to increase energy security in South Africa. Under the terms of the agreement,... →

An image showing the signing of a joint development agreement between the IDC and ACWA

JDA signing

AfDB grants $33m to Mozambique to improve grid

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 6th December 2023 The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group approved a grant of $33.25-million to Mozambique to implement the Songo-Matambo electricity transport line project, during a meeting in Abidjan on December 5. The grant is from the transition support facility, one of the bank’s financial instruments aimed... →

Bidvest Bank, Mastercard team up to provide international remittance service

By: Darren Parker 4th December 2023 Global payment technology company Mastercard has partnered with financial services provider Bidvest Bank to provide a solution called Bidvest Bank BidSend that allows customers to send international remittances at their convenience. The new solution is facilitated by Mastercard Cross Border... →

Mastercard Southern Africa country manager Gabriel Swanepoel, Bidvest Financial Services CEO Hannah Sadiki and Bidvest Bank CFO Tendani Sikhwivhilu

Momentum sponsors machine learning in finance research chair with Stellenbosch University

By: Schalk Burger 1st December 2023 Investment management company Momentum Investments has established the Momentum Investments Research Chair for research into machine learning (ML) in finance in conjunction with Stellenbosch University. ML is a rapidly growing field that offers many potential applications in investment management... →

Momentum Investments Research Hive research strategist Professor Evan Gilbert

World Bank grants consent for legal separation of Eskom’s Transmission division

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 28th November 2023 State-owned utility Eskom announces that multilateral development bank the World Bank, a key strategic creditor of the entity, has granted its consent for the proposed legal separation of the Transmission division from Eskom Holdings to the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA). “The... →

Photo by Bloomberg
The World Bank has granted its consent for the proposed legal separation of the Transmission division from Eskom Holdings to the National Transmission Company South Africa

Invicta delivers strong interim performance

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 27th November 2023 Investment holding and management company Invicta Holdings achieved a robust performance for the six months ended September 30, with revenue having increased by 12% to R4.3-billion. The increase of R461-million was made up of R178-million from the South African operations, while the rest of... →

Standard Bank denies currency manipulation allegations

By: Darren Parker 27th November 2023 Financial services provider Standard Bank has denied manipulating the value of the rand and having any involvement in anticompetitive or criminal conduct, despite admitting fault before the Competition Tribunal and a follow-up statement issued by the National Treasury on November 24 that spelled... →

Mastercard completes significant new payments technology infrastructure in South Africa

By: Schalk Burger 27th November 2023 Payments services multinational Mastercard has completed the construction of significant new technological infrastructure in South Africa that will enable the company to process transactions locally and help to drive the modernisation of South Africa’s payments industry. The new technology... →

Mastercard Southern Africa country manager Gabriel Swanepoel

Prosecutions coupled with zero-tolerance culture key to fighting SA’s corruption scourge

By: Darren Parker 24th November 2023 Corruption has long been an unhappy and increasingly harmful feature of the South African political, economic and business landscape. The extreme scale of this insidious problem came into sharp focus during the inquiry into State capture, however, which unearthed not only the far-reaching nature... →

Banks lagging in climate change action – report

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 20th November 2023 Although the country’s “big five” banks have expressed their commitment to climate action, four of the five have increased their financing and exposure to fossil fuels over the reporting year. This is according to Just Share, whose new report, titled ‘How cool is your bank?’, aims to give banking... →

Newly launched Utshalo to reconnect non-institutional investors with companies

By: Darren Parker 16th November 2023 Investor marketing agency Ince has partnered with investment firm Miller Capital Investments founder Paul Miller to launch financial service Utshalo, which is designed to address challenges faced by South Africa's public markets. The collaborative effort aims to reconnect non-institutional... →

South Africa shows economic resilience – Allianz report

By: Darren Parker 13th November 2023 According to a new global insolvency report published by credit insurer Allianz Trade, operating in South Africa through the Allianz Commercial licence, economic resilience has been tested and remains a feature of South Africa, evidenced by a declining trend in insolvencies from a historical... →

Forensic Analysis Centre launched to collaboratively tackle financial crime

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 13th November 2023 To bolster South Africa’s capacity to investigate and prosecute financial crime, the Banking Association South Africa (Basa) and the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (Sabric) have partnered with the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) to make a digital and financial... →

AfDB announces Alliance with other DFIs to provide $3bn special agri-zone financing

By: Marleny Arnoldi 10th November 2023 Development finance institutions (DFIs) led by the African Development Bank (AfDB) have partnered to finance $3-billion in a private sector-focused Alliance for Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) to bridge the critical financing gap in agriculture in Africa. These zones are aimed... →

JSE Ventures launches carbon market

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 9th November 2023 The JSE Ventures on November 9 launched a new Voluntary Carbon Market, in partnership with global environmental markets infrastructure provider Xpansiv. This initiative is aimed at allowing local participants to buy or sell carbon credits and renewable energy certificates that are held in either... →

More taxpayers pleased with Sars’ quality of service – survey

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 8th November 2023 An increasing number of South African taxpayers believe the quality of service delivered by the South African Revenue Service (Sars) is improving, professional services firm PwC’s newly released ‘Taxing Times Survey 2023’ shows, with a combined 53% of respondents having said they ‘agree’ and... →

Climate Finance Accelerator South Africa calls for project proposals

By: Schalk Burger 3rd November 2023 UK government-funded technical assistance organisation the Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) South Africa has called for proposals for low-carbon projects that are seeking finance and which can achieve measurable climate outcomes or facilitate greenhouse-gas emission reductions. The CFA aims to... →

South African economy to slow down this year before stabilising in 2024

By: Darren Parker 30th October 2023 South Africa's economic growth is projected to decelerate from 1.9% in 2022 to 0.4% this year, before picking up to 1.3% in 2024, according to data and analytics company GlobalData. This comes as the South African economy grapples with several challenges, including severe power disruptions,... →

Godongwana’s MTBPS must show same fighting spirit as Boks – BLSA

By: Darren Parker 30th October 2023 Following on the heels of the Springbok’s fourth Rugby World Cup win, Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso has said the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), set to be announced by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on November 1, is critical for business confidence.... →

Investment firm launches solar-focused funding

By: Nadine Ramdass 27th October 2023 Investment firm Bravura Energy has launched a Solar Fund for the exclusive investment in solar photovoltaic (PV) projects. The fund generates income through triple net power purchase agreements (PPAs) with solar providers. The fund is aimed at businesses that manage PPAs, including engineering,... →

Embedded generation threshold increase drives PPAs

By: Nadine Ramdass 27th October 2023 Increasing the threshold for embedded projects has been the biggest positive policy change in unblocking private power purchase agreements (PPAs) and stimulating South Africa’s energy transition, says financial institution Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) energy finance head Amith... →

GCF approves $50m in equity for fund aiming to advance renewable energy investment in Africa

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 26th October 2023 The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved the allocation of $50-million in equity to REPP 2, a new debt fund providing an opportunity to invest in sub-Saharan Africa’s fast-growing renewable energy market. Climate and impact fund manager Camco is developing REPP 2 as a $250-million fund designed... →

Stanlib, Standard Bank, Liberty to launch Energy Transition Fund

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 25th October 2023 Investment manager Stanlib, together with group companies Standard Bank and Liberty, is launching a large-scale Energy Transition Fund to assist with the energy transition across the continent. Standard Bank and Liberty will provide initial seed assets of R3-billion to the fund, which will be... →

Cláudia Conceição appointed IFC Southern Africa regional director

By: Tasneem Bulbulia 25th October 2023 World Bank Group member the International Finance Corporation (IFC) has appointed Cláudia Conceição as Southern Africa regional director. In her new role, Conceição will lead the IFC’s strategy and operations in 12 countries in the region, designing and implementing projects to support... →

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