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EDWARD WEST edward.west@inl.co.za SANDTON City achieved its highest turnover ever in March 2021, compared to the preceding five years’ months of March, its owner Liberty Two Degrees said in an operational update on Friday. Turnover at the iconic Johannesburg mall was up by 41 percent in March 2021 compared to the preceding year, and 2.6 percent higher than March 2019. However, taking into account the level 1 Covid-19 restrictions that were tightened from December 29 to March 1, and the lockdowns of 2020, annual comparisons were difficult to make. Nevertheless, the 2021 first quarter was only down 2.1 percent on 2020 and down 3.5 percent on 2019, the group said. The market responded positively to the operational update, with the share price up 3 percent…
Siphelele Dludla siphelele.dludla@inl.co.za THE RAND rallied to a 16-month high on Friday after rating agency Moody’s skipped its review of South Africa’s credit rating and after a weak jobs report in the US prompted a sell-off of the dollar. The rand gained strongly on Friday, climbing 0.15 percent to R14.08 to the dollar, its highest level against the greenback since January last year, as it returned to pre-pandemic levels. By 5pm on Friday, the rand was up 15 cents at R14.08 to the dollar, compared with the previous day’s close. Moody’s Investors Service skipped its scheduled review of the country’s sovereign credit rating on Friday, but issued a note indicating that “no ratings were updated for” South Africa. The could mean that the agency needs more time to assess South…
Dineo Faku dineo.faku@inl.co.za JSE-listed Orion Minerals has obtained an urgent interdict from the Northern Cape High Court in Kimberley to prevent disruption at its Prieska copper-zinc mine following several violent protests, the company said on Friday. Orion approached the court after gun-wielding protesters demanded that the company appoint a specific contractor, which failed to win a competitive bid for a construction management contract adjudicated by Orion in a fair and commercial manner. Chief executive Errol Smart said on Friday that the company respected the constitutional right to protest but this did not extend to armed threats and the possibility of behaviour that would put lives as well as livelihoods at risk. “These protests are ill-conceived and self-defeating: they will not create more local jobs or opportunities, rather the protesters will…
JPMORGAN Chase has appointed James Reid as chief information officer for a new unit focused on developing and modernising technology used by the bank’s 250 000 employees, an internal memo sent on Friday showed. Reid, who was most recently head of corporate technology's engineering and architecture team, becomes the bank’s first black CIO and the first black member of its technology leadership team. JPMorgan, the largest US bank by assets, has also appointed company-wide chief data officer Melissa Goldman as chief information officer for the renamed finance, risk, data and controls technology unit, the memo said. In her role, Goldman will continue to lead a team developing technology for risk, compliance, finance, liquidity, controls and data functions. Many banks are seeking to modernise their systems, as more customers seek…
THE FINANCIAL Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) on Friday apologised to Ovex after concluding an investigation, saying it did not currently require a licence from the FSCA, because its business activities fall outside the FSCA’s jurisdiction. Ovex is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange that offers a selection of digital asset markets. The FSCA had previously warned the public that Ovex did not have a financial services provider licence. It had previously raised concerns that Ovex was asking the public, through radio advertisements, to invest R50 000 with the company to take advantage of arbitrage in the dollar- versus rand-denominated cryptocurrency markets. “The FSCA has now received the necessary information in order to finalise our preliminary investigation. Based on the information provided by Ovex, we are satisfied that Ovex does not currently…
IT IS COMMON knowledge that the majority of African nations are heavily reliant of the agricultural sector for their economic development, livelihoods and food security. Conventional wisdom posits that sustained and increased investment levels are indispensable for agriculture to continue on its positive trajectory. Investments in infrastructure, such as irrigation, capital goods for agricultural research and development (R&D), human resource development and agricultural R&D itself, are crucial for the successful take-off of the agricultural sector in Africa. However, investment in agricultural R&D remains the most pressing need, because appropriate agricultural innovation can come up with coping mechanisms, even with limited infrastructure and natural resource endowment. R&D produces knowledge that can be used repeatedly, thus it can be considered non-rival and a necessary precondition for agricultural development and improved economic contribution…
