Pretoria News 2022-10-19

FINANCIAL institutions and multi-lateral funding organisations need to rethink their bans on funding oil and particularly gas projects in Africa, as it will deprive the continent of much-needed economic development on its route to renewable energy self-sufficiency. This according to International Energy Agency deputy executive director Mary Wartick, who spoke at the African Energy Week in Cape Town yesterday. Lack of adequate financial support, infrastructure, technologies and up- stream, midstream and downstream activities have in the past hindered Africa’s oil and gas industry from reaching its potential. But the energy challenges in Africa are daunting. The conference heard that more than 600 million people, almost twice the population of the US, have no access to electricity on the conti- nent, while more than 900 million people, double the…

PICK N PAY posted strong sales results at its supermarkets, particularly at Boxer stores, which, with cost and prices cuts, and by driving change through their new “Ekuseni” strategy, resulted in the interim dividend rising 25.3% to 44.85 cents in the six months to end August. Chief executive Pieter Boone said in a telephone interview that the results were pleasing, considering the headwinds the group faced, including rising food and internal inflation, particularly on energy costs such as having to keep the stores open with generators through load shedding, which cost the group R110 million in the six months. Group turnover was up 11.5%. After normalising for disruptions in the base period due to the civil unrest, and Covid-19 liquor restrictions last year, turnover increased…

THE SOUTH African Reserve Bank (SARB) is in the process of attaching billions of rands of assets of former Steinhoff chief executive Marcus Jooste, the alleged ringleader in a financial fraud that saw investors lose more than R200 billion and resulted in the 95% collapse of the share price in 2017. The SA Reserve Bank published the Western Cape High Court order on its website yesterday which showed that Jooste and the respondents were suspected of contravening foreign exchange regulations. The assets to be attached included those of the Silver Oak Trust, art worth about R98.78 million, financial assets worth R1.21bn, loans receivable of R131.12m, Jooste’s house in Voelklip, Hermanus, at least six luxury vehicles, jewellery and other art worth some R795 400, books, documents, electronic devices and…

THE LARGE traditional banks have been monopolising the banking industry for as long as we have known, not just in South Africa but globally. We have trusted banks as intermediaries with our money and paid their fees, not because we were happy about it but more because there was no alternative. Over the past decade, banking customers have switched towards the digi-tal environment in their personal and business capacities – also demanding that their suppliers follow suit. This has compelled merchants to digitalise the way they do business to better meet demand, or see customers take their business elsewhere. At the same time, financial technology (fintech) companies have been at the forefront of disrupting various industries, strategically positioning themselves in the market to better analyse their customer needs, service their…

“SOMETIMES it is exhausting to be a South African,” Gareth Ackerman, the chairperson of Pick n Pay, said yesterday in a speech ahead of the interim results presentation, as he reflected on the challenges facing the retailer, while calling on the government to incentivise business to make infrastructure upgrades – through rates or tax rebates. This, as he said: “We are not power- less to turn this situation around. In fact, a much more positive trajectory is possible if we get just a few basics right.” He said tax levels in South Africa were high. “There is room to incentivise business to invest in the common good, but please don’t double tax us,” Ackerman said, as he reflected on headwinds, such as food inflation, the decay in…

NEW AND PRE-OWNED vehicle distributor Combined Motor Holdings (CMH) Group, which yesterday posted robust interims, has projected tough economic conditions for South Africa in the next six months. “Rising interest rates, and worsening power cuts, which have slowed the momentum of new vehicle sales, are set to continue to bring despondency to the economy,” the company said. New vehicle sales were hampered by continued disruption to the supply chain due to a shortage of electronic chips, it said. Also creating a drain on consumers’ disposable income was the surging petrol price. “Ongoing, and more severe, load shedding has played havoc with business productivity, and necessitated costly investment in alternative power sources,” it added. The South Africa Reserve Bank has successively hiked interest rates in the past 12 months. This, as…