Pretoria News 2022-10-13

‘Historical unwillingness’ by the State is extraordinary – First Rand CEO AN “HISTORICAL unwillingness” by the State to crowd in the private sector is behind the extraordinarily slow pace of infrastructure rollout, FirstRand’s chairperson Roger Jardine said in the financial services group’s annual report released yesterday. “President Ramaphosa … has regu- larly acknowledged the criticality of South Africa’s infrastructure programme as a key driver of his economic recovery strategy. Yet, it is hard to identify one government-led infrastructure project of any significance that has actually been executed. “Progress, in other words, has been, to date, glacial. The pace does not correlate to the stated ‘extraordinary’ nature of the measures required. Extraordinary suggests urgency, immediate action and focus,” Jardine said in the report. While he acknowledged that there is “some…

BUSINESS sentiment in South Africa remains resilient and at a better level than the average achieved at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, in spite of recent turmoil in the economy. This comes as the Business Confidence Index (BCI) rose to a seven- month high in September, buoyed by inward tourism and increased merchandise import volumes during the month. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said yesterday that the BCI rose to 110.9 index points in September, from 105.6 points in August. This was the highest reading in the BCI since February, and higher than the March 2020 level of 103.9 points recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown was imposed. This BCI reading for September ended business confidence for the third quarter on an elevated…

SOUTH Africa faces a high probability of being “greylisted” by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) early next year if it does not strengthen required mechanisms against money laundering and terrorist financing. If this comes to pass, financial firms around the world, including banks, will be required to apply enhanced due diligence to any South African client, a process more invasive and extensive, to assess the source of funds and probity of clients. As a result, international companies may elect not to do business with any South African company or individual to reduce costs and compliance risks, which would drive the required foreign direct investment away. These are the findings of a report released yesterday following research done by consulting firm Intellidex, which was commissioned by the Business Leadership…

ZEDER Investments’ plans to sell its investment in Agrivision Africa for R160 million and other disposals are being evaluated, the group said yesterday at the release of its results for the six months to August 31. The investment group’s net asset value per share fell 39.6% to 445 cents in the six months mainly due to the earlier unbundling of Kaap Agri and the payment of a special dividend of 92.5c. Yesterday, Zeder declared another special dividend of 10c per share. On March 31, the investment in The Logistics Group (TLG) was sold for up to R1.57 billion. The initial R1.35bn was received on March 31 and during September, R178m was received as one of the earn-out payments. Hinting at more disposals, Zeder’s board said in a…

DESPITE market uncertainty around the future of SAA, the airline yesterday tried to reassure naysayers, saying its current business plan was to ramp up operations aggressively. It planned to implement a fleet strategy that would continue to gain momentum of growing its regional- continental services and introduce international long-haul services. SAA management said it was relentlessly implementing the expansion of the airline to match market dynamics on both the domestic and international scene. SAA executive chairperson John Lamola said, as the national flag carrier and an entity wholly owned by the people of South Africa, it had a responsibility to secure the sustainability of the airline industry in South Africa as an enabler of economic development and facilitator of affordable air travel to all users of air transportation in the…

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged governments to prioritise protecting vulnerable groups through targeted support while keeping a tight fiscal stance to help reduce consumer inflation. This comes as food prices have risen by half since 2019 and supply disruptions have persisted in both food and energy markets, mainly due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. IMF director of fiscal affairs Vitor Gaspar said yesterday that higher prices were threatening people’s standard of living everywhere, prompting governments to introduce a variety of fiscal measures, including price subsidies, tax cuts and cash transfers. During the third day of the IMF/World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, Gaspar estimated the median fiscal cost of such measures at 0.6% of national gross domestic product, on top of pre-existing subsidies, among countries for…