Cape Times CT-2021-03-29

Edward West edward.west@inl.co.za THE MODELLING systems of National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) shows that South Africa’s seven vehicle manufacturers might lose about half their current employment of more than 110 000 people over 10 years, and export earnings would decline to about R40 billion a year, from R200bn in 2019, if vehicle manufacturers did not begin preparing for and participating in the electro-mobility revolution. Changes in the evolution of electro-mobility are happening 10 times faster than in the past 100 years of the automotive industry, Naamsa chief executive Mike Mabasa said on Friday. He said the local industry needed to urgently start transforming in line with global trends if it was not to be left behind. He spoke at the BRICS Manufacturing Conference held…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za BUSINESS Leadership South Africa (BLSA) on Friday launched a report on solutions to boost infrastructure investment to drive the economic recovery. Although the government has made much of infrastructure development to boost the economy following the Covid-19 crisis, and also in preceding years, there has been little in the way of implementation. While business, government and social partners all agree that greater investment is important, over five years infrastructure investment volumes have fallen further from the National Development Plan’s target of 30 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) a year. The report, compiled by Intellidex, said investment had fallen from 20.3 percent of GDP in 2015 to 17.9 percent in 2019, and more recent data suggested it had fallen further in 2020. BLSA said…

Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za TRADE and Industry Minister Ibrahim Patel has called for South Africa to rebuild its manufacturing strength to be able to fully benefit from the opportunities in the BRICS markets. Speaking at the BRICS Business Council meeting on Friday, Patel said this needed to be done through deeper partnerships and careful use of both demand and supply-side measures. Patel lamented how South Africa had rapidly opened its trade-exposed sectors to the effects of global competition, but lost manufacturing capacity due to lack of support to local firms. He said the results were painful to see. “It led to a wave of de-industrialisation pressures, and as core feeder-factories were closed down, they impacted on other parts of supply-chains,” Patel said. “Our localisation project is about working with the business…

EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za Another ban on alcohol would be the end of the tavern sector as we know it, Liquor Traders Formation convener Lucky Ntimane said yesterday. He joined other industry organisations which argued that the alcohol industry had yet to recover from the almost 19 weeks of non-trading since Covid-19 lockdown began, he said. Under current level 1 lockdown restrictions, alcohol sales take place at normal pre-Covid 19 trading hours, but media reports yesterday said that the National Coronavirus Command Council last week discussed banning alcohol sales over Easter and increasing the size of gatherings, among a raft of other suggestions to prevent a third wave of viral infections. The industry claims to have already lost about R36.3 billion in revenue due to previous bans, and was dealt…

Lockdown-hit gaming operations knock Grand Parade’s interim earnings Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za GRAND Parade Investments’ (GPI) gaming operations felt the impact of trading restrictions in the six months to end December, which resulted in a huge fall in earnings. As a result, the group’s headline earnings per share fell by 109 percent to a loss of 0.99 cents a share, down from a profit of 11.69c compared to last year while its basic earnings per share decreased by 122 percent to a loss of 0.30c compared to an earnings of 1.39c reported a year earlier. The investment holding company operates in the food and gaming sectors. The group said on Friday that Burger King showed resilience despite the tough trading conditions and exceeded management’s expectations while the gaming…

Altron CEO Mteto Nyati honoured with World Entrepreneur Award, SA region Sandile Mchunu sandile.mchunu@inl.co.za ALLIED Electronics Corporation (Altron) chief executive Mteto Nyati was among the biggest winners in the EY World Entrepreneur Award in the Southern Africa region on Friday. Nyati was nominated in the “Influence” category alongside Oceana Group chief executive Imraan Soomra and Pierre Spies, the chief executive of Alviva Holdings. EY Africa chief executive Ajen Sita said Nyati would join finalists from more than 45 countries to compete for the title of 2021 EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year award in June as the “Influence” winner. “It is no secret that entrepreneurs can change the world and help reframe the future and like many of us over the past year, they have faced a steep learning curve…