Cape Times 2024-11-14

Prosus sold Swiggy shares worth more than $500 million (R8.99 billion) as part of the successful IPO of the India-based on-demand convenience platform yesterday, the second largest listing in that country this year. In the IPO, the Bombay Stock Exchanges of India (BSE) valued Swiggy at $11.3 billion (R203.4bn). Amsterdam-based and JSE listed Prosus, 43% owned by Naspers, has been a major investor in Swiggy since 2017 and will be left with 25% of the India company after the IPO, with two seats on the board. Prosus CEO Fabricio Bloisi said they had supported the Swiggy management team since Naspers’ first investment in 2017 with a 31% stake, and have seen the company flourish in the post-pandemic era. Swiggy listed its shares at ₹390 (R82.83) per share during its IPO.…

Treasury considers increasing guideline tax burden for all the alcohol categories or scrapping it South Africa’s beer industry has applauded the government for proposing to make adjustments to the guideline benchmarks framework for taxation of alcoholic beverages in South Africa. The National Treasury published a policy review yesterday on the taxation of alcoholic beverages, which builds on the previous excise tax policy review in 2014 and proposes adjustments to the current policy framework. In September, the lucrative industry raised issues about its sustainability amid ongoing economic pressures on the back of recent above-inflation increases in excise duties of between 6.7% and 7.2% on alcohol, which deviated from established excise policy and have resulted in beer tax burdens exceeding the targets set by this policy. Over recent years, excise duties on…

Fixed-odds lotto betting platform Lottoland South Africa has won an interim order in an antitrust case against Alphabet’s Google, with the Competition Tribunal ruling that the internet search giant must allow Lottoland SA to access Google Ads locally and in Ireland. This ruling comes hot on the heels of an almost decade-long battle between Google and the European Commission over restrictions the European body said the search engine had placed in online search advertising. In 2019, Google was fined €1.49 billion over its online advertising practices, which the commission said included preventing its competitors from advertising on the search engine, as well as reserving the best spots for its own adverts. That fine was overturned in September by the European Union General Court. Lottoland SA, which has been in existence…

A group of leading multilateral development banks (MDBs) have estimated to make $170 billion (approximately R3 trillion) in collective climate financing contributions in response to Loss and Damage for low- and middle-income countries until 2030. This comes as the 29th 2024 UN Conference of the Parties (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, yesterday heard that the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage was now ready to accept contributions after the signing of key documents and is now expected to start financing projects in 2025. Loss and damage has been a key priority in the COP29 Presidency’s plan to enhance ambition and enable action. The Fund will serve as a lifeline by providing critical and urgent support for those impacted by the devastating consequences of climate change. Africa receives only 3–4%…

The National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) has warned that smallholder farmers were struggling to make their mark in a market largely dominated by the major cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane, and Durban. The NAMC recently released its Smallholder Access Estimates (SMEAs) for the second quarter of this year, revealing fluctuations in revenue and volume for fruits and vegetables from June to August 2024 that underscore both the challenges and opportunities faced by these farmers. The data shows a notable increase in total revenue, rising from R526.5 million in June to R650.6m in August, indicating heightened market activity. However, more than 84% of this revenue is concentrated in four key markets, highlighting the need for greater access for smallholder farmers who often lack the necessary resources to thrive in such…

The value of all electronic transactions cleared through BankservAfrica at seasonally adjusted real prices showed a steady recovery in October this year following September’s weaker performance. In October, the BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index (BETI) climbed to an index level of 136.5, reflecting a 0.3% increase from September's 136.1. This marks a 4.5% rise compared to the same time last year. Following two months of lower volumes, the number of transactions cleared through BankservAfrica in October spiked to 167.8 million compared to 156.7 million in September, representing a 7.1% year-on-year growth and an all-time high. The standardised nominal value of transactions increased by 1% moderately to R1 317 trillion in October 2024 from R1 303 trillion in September. Shergeran Naidoo, BankservAfrica’s head of stakeholder engagements, said this latest movement indicated the…