Cape Times 2022-05-11

COAL MINES requiring finance for capital projects face a “hostile environment” from banks and even multilateral development finance institutions because of the environmental constraints these organisations have begun to impose on the financing of fossil fuels. This was according to Nikisi Lesufi, Minerals Council SA senior executive: environment, health and legacies, who said at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town yesterday that the council was trying to engage with the banking sector on this issue – the council has members that view climate change as an existential crisis while its other members see it as an opportunity. He said that while the banks might not wish to finance new coal mining projects, the council was trying to get banks to consider financing projects at coal mines that would aid the…

MINING groups have indicated that they would increase investment and capital expenditure by 84 percent, including current commitments, within five years if the government resolved the structural regulatory impediments that are affecting the industry, President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday. He said at the Mining Indaba in Cape Town yesterday that the government was committed to mobilising the resources and incentives for a “new wave of exploration” in South Africa that would, in particular, seek minerals that are essential for the global energy transition such as copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum. He said the country was keen to take the lead and become a global hub and exporter of green hydrogen, green ammonia, jet fuel and in green iron and steel production. Ramaphosa said the mining industry, which employs more…

THE DEPARTMENT of Public Enterprises has confirmed that the government will be responsible for the SAA historic debt of R8.4 billion, in spite of disposing of the majority of the State’s shareholding in the troubled carrier to a private strategic equity partner (SEP). Tempers flared yesterday in Parliament as Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan briefed the Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the sale of a 51 percent stake in SAA to Takatso Consortium. In June, the government entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Takatso Consortium, formed by Harith General Partners and Global Aviation. Takatso is set to provide R3bn in funding and aviation management expertise for the new airline in return for a 51 percent stake in SAA. Gordhan said that SAA’s debt remained…

SOUTH Africa’s sovereign debt and economic growth have excited considerable attention in the recent past and continues. The received narrative is that the country has a debt and growth problem. The narrative presumes that fiscal, monetary and related macroeconomic policies are sound, therefore, the high debt of about 80 percent to gross domestic product (GDP) and the decade and half sluggish growth of about 1 percent are a consequence of misguided spending and state entities’ inefficiencies? Can it be this simple? In responding to a parliamentary written question from the Economic Freedom Fighters, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana lamented that gross debt had grown to R4.3 trillion from R2.5 trillion in the past five years. At a Public Service Summit in March, Godongwana said debt service costs were…

KAAP AAGRI, the agricultural goods and fuel retailer, yesterday said that the agricultural sector might endure more challenging conditions ahead with the outlook not only dependent on general weather conditions, but also rapidly rising input costs, particularly fertiliser. Despite this, in its results for the six months ended March 31, 2020, released yesterday, the JSE-listed company declared an interim dividend of 46 cents per share, a 15 percent increase and a solid set of results. Earnings per share increased by 22 percent to 366.56c per share, from 300.39c per share from the prior corres- ponding period. Headline earnings per share increased by 13.9 percent to 341.61c per share, while recurring headline earnings per share increased by 15 percent to 351.11c per share. The market welcomed…

OCTODEC Investments experienced an increase in residential leasing activity with reduced vacancies in the residential portfolio during February and March 2022, it said in its interim results, saying it had been a “tough six months”. The JSE-listed real estate investment trust, which released its interim results for the six months ended February 28, 2022, yesterday said that although there had been a continued downward resetting of rentals across the sectors, it was pleasing to see that, from its perspective, several renewals were being concluded at increased rentals. “We continue to experience demand from large retailers for space in the Johannesburg and Tshwane CBDs,” Octodec said. While Octodec’s office sector, predominantly occupied by parastatals and small, medium and micro-sized enterprises was stable, the company said it did not expect growth from…