Cape Times 2025-11-06

Most African CEOs are planning acquisitions over the next three years, says KPMG in its 2025 Africa CEO Outlook survey, as business confidence in domestic economies and growth prospects recover amid the global race to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI). After surveying 130 top African CEOs, the KPMG survey report notes that 86% of African CEOs are planning acquisitions over the next three years, up from 77% in the same survey last year. It said this “signals a strong appetite for expansion” by the continent’s top corporates. “Confidence in domestic economies is also rising, with 63% of African CEOs expressing optimism about their country’s growth prospects up from 61% in 2024,” notes the report. Moreover, as much as 46% of Africa CEOs were aligning sustainability goals with their core business strategies,…

South Africa should adopt a long-term beneficiation strategy for platinum group metals (PGMs) through establishment of a commodity exchange, experts said on Wednesday, while also calling for miners of the precious metal to deepen research on wider use cases as the uptake of green hydrogen is emerging off a very low base. Despite their widespread use in internal combustion vehicles, PGMs are also considered essential for green energy transition as they can still be used in hybrid vehicles and in hydrogen vehicles. Nimrod Zalk, the chief research officer for climate and development at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance, said on Wednesday that PGMs have become the largest mining sector in the South African economy as a big employer and revenue generator for the government. However, to sustain future…

The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) on Tuesday hit back at allegations made by the United Democratic Movement (UDM), about the state of governance and the investments the PIC manages on behalf of its clients. David Masondo, the PIC board chairperson, said in a statement on Tuesday that the PIC is preparing detailed submissions to the Presidency, Parliamentary Committees and other government agencies, to substantially repudiate the "false and malicious allegations". "Since 29 October 2025, the UDM and its leader,Bantu Holomisa, have deliberately sought to mislead the public and important organs of state like the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), the Auditor-General and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU). This was done by clearly misrepresenting confidential, internal information about PIC transactions and governance processes, for…

Market source indicates that listing could be imminent, subject to market conditions and approval Well known South African cellphone company Cell C plans to raise about R7.7 billion through a listing on the main board of the JSE, this after a long period of restructuring. Although a date was not yet disclosed, a market source indicates the listing may be “imminent.” The company, the fourth largest mobile operator in the country, announced on Wednesday that it plans to list by way of an offer of shares by The Prepaid Company (TPC), an owned subsidiary of JSE-listed telecoms group BLU Label, by way of a private placement to qualified investors, subject to market conditions and to JSE approval. The R7.7bn would include an overallotment option of R500 million and an allocation…

Post-apartheid South Africa inherited both a promise and a paradox. The democratic transition of 1994 envisioned a capable developmental state rooted in accountability, transparency, and social justice. Yet, three decades later, the state apparatus is increasingly characterized by ethical decay, administrative inefficiency, and institutional capture. Ironically, while political and executive leadership often operate amid corruption and mismanagement, they continue to demand ethical conduct and heightened performance from a public service that is underpaid, under-resourced, and frequently marginalised in decision-making. This contradiction demands urgent scrutiny. The burden of integrity has been unfairly shifted onto a weakened public service, while those at the apex of power evade accountability. Without ethical leadership at the top, calls for bureaucratic integrity become hollow and reinforce the hypocrisy of South Africa’s political elite. Ethical Collapse at…

South African steel value chain stakeholders have criticised the International Trade Administration Commission’s (Itac) amendments to the Preferential Price System (PPS), in effect as of the beginning of this month, as having ignored evidence-based recommendations, amongst a series of uncorrected errors. In response to the gazetted amendments, steelmaker ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa) said the revised regulations again prioritise a small group of scrap-based mini-mills, to the detriment of the broader steel manufacturing ecosystem, including primary producers, downstream fabricators, recyclers, waste pickers, and industrial consumers. It said the concerning amendments are in addition to the delayed release of an independent scrap-industry study commissioned by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (Dtic), despite being completed months ago. This comes as Itac CEO Ayabonga Cawe announced reducing the discount for domestic ferrous…