Star 2023-08-31

DESPITE a youthful and largely literate demographic, the current narrative is that Africa’s skills don’t match the needs of a rapidly evolving digital and knowledge-based global economy. The global tilt to remote working during the Covid-19 epidemic only exacerbated Africa’s critical skills shortage as the continent proved fertile hunting ground for global companies seeking affordable new-economy skills. It is expected that shrinking workforces in many developed economies are only likely to deepen the import of skills from African environments offering lower wages and less competitive urban lifestyle propositions. Standard Bank is Africa’s largest bank, employing more than 50 000 people across 20 markets on the continent. As such, the bank is acutely aware of the efforts of its client businesses as well as its own operations in developing and…

The last bout of inflation has hit low-income workers harder, as its main pressure emanated from food and transport YESTERDAY the Standing Committee on Finance was briefed by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and the Prudential Authority (PA) on their annual reports. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago said that the poor were the most affected by high inflation in the country. “Inflation by far has been the highest for South Africa’s most vulnerable. We use StatsSA data, and according to this data, if you break the income deciles, you will see that the poorest decile is experiencing high inflation. Inflation is at 4.7%, and the higher income earners are experiencing inflation that is lower than overall inflation,” the governor told members of Parliament (MPs). The SARB has been on an…

ESKOM’S restructuring would not be able to happen in the set time frame, the Depart- ment of Public Enterprises (DPE) told Parlia- ment's portfolio committee on enterprises yesterday. The team, led by acting director-general Nadia Valley said approval of the split has been delayed as today, August 31, was the deadline for Eskom to finalise the financial conventions but was unlikely as lenders had not given their approval. This was due to numerous challenges such as: concerns by Eskom's lenders over the utility’s more than R450 billion debt; proper licensing from the energy regulator; finalis- ing of the Electricity Regulation Amendment (ERA) Bill and the legal wrangle over the splitting of Eskom into three entities. Donald Nkadimeng, DPE chief director, said when the road map for the…

HARMONY Gold announced yesterday that it had resumed its dividend following an increase in annual profit boosted by the performance of the Mponeng mine in Carletonville. In its results for the year ended June 30, 2023, South Africa’s largest gold mining company by volume declared a dividend of 75 cents out of income reserves. In the comparable period last year, the dividend declared was 22c. “Due to the strong group performance and excellent operating free cash flows in the 2023 financial year, we are pleased to declare a full-year dividend of 75 SA cents,” the group said. In March, the miner said no interim dividend was declared because of the allocation of capital towards near-term copper and growth projects. The group reported that gold revenue increased by 14% to…

THERE was less shareholder cheer for Motus Holdings on the JSE after the company’s stock shed more than 4% off its share price in yesterday’s trade session in the aftermath of subdued attributable profits and headline earnings per share for the full year period to the end of June. The company’s share price hit a low of R101 on the JSE after opening at R106. Motus paid a final dividend of 410 cents per ordinary share, although it stated that there was “no assurance that a dividend will be paid” in respect of any other financial year. “Any future dividends will be dependent upon the consolidated operating results, financial condition, investment strategy, capital requirements and other factors affecting the group,” the company said. Despite a 16% upswing in…

JSE-LISTED KAP skipped a dividend payment for the year to end June 2023, citing the current tough economic environment, elevated net debt levels and commitment to capital projects against the backdrop of a 43% plunge in headline earnings per share for the period. Shares in KAP, a diversified group of industrial, chemical and logistics businesses, lost 1.59% to R2.48 on the JSE yesterday. In the prior year, KAP declared a 29 cents per share dividend. With the South African operating environment buffeted by headwinds such as rising interest rates and inflation, subdued consumer confidence and continued infrastructure disruptions, KAP was also impacted by increased levels of electricity load shedding during the period under review. KAP CEO Gary Champlin, said these headwinds had resulted in “lower domestic sales volumes” and…