Star 2022-10-12

STANDARD Bank’s recent SME Summit laid bare the need for small businesses to leverage the advantages of techno- logy and ecosystems to level the playing field between smaller enterprises and larger established businesses and corporates. The K-shaped economic recovery was seeing many big, established businesses boom. Smaller businesses and especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the other hand were struggling. At the onset of Covid-19, big businesses, further down the digital transformation path and well-armed with capital, were more easily able to tilt, sending staff home to continue working productively in virtual environments. Smaller businesses without the capital runway – or simply unable or unwilling to pivot – suffered. But there was hope. The current Web-3 environment in which previously dominant large platform businesses are increasingly challenged by decentralised,…

SOUTH African stocks fell for the third consecutive day yesterday as resource-linked companies continued to register losses due to the ongoing workers strike at Transnet ports. Transnet’s recognised workers unions – the United National Transport Union (Untu) and the SA Transport and Allied Workers' Union (Satawu) – on Monday rejected a revised wage offer. The JSE All Share Index fell nearly 1% to around 64 175 points by noon yesterday, the lowest since September 30, as the Transnet strike hampers exports of minerals, especially coal to Europe. In intraday trade commodities-linked shares were leading the losses, with Thu- ngela Resources falling 5.7% to R276.84 per share, South32 also lost 4.8% to R42.49 per share, while Glencore and BHP eased 2.7% and 2.4% to R96.93 and R452.64 per share, respectively.…

THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the risk of a global recession was fast approaching and could be as soon as 2023 as more than a third of the global economy will contract this year or next. In its latest World Economic Outlook report yesterday, the IMF painted a grim picture about global growth prospects amidst a number of economic headwinds and geopolitical pressures stacked against growth. The IMF cited high inflation, tightening financial conditions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the lingering Covid-19 pandemic as main challenges, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said they now forecast global growth to slow from 6% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022, before declining to 2.7% in 2023, down from 2.9% earlier predicted. Gourinchas said this was the weakest growth since 2001,…

THARISA Minerals, the platinum group metals (PGMs) and chrome co-producer, said yesterday that despite the PGM prices trading in the lower half of their 12-month range, driven by the economic slowdown, prices had not retreated as much as anticipated. In its production report for the fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2021, the group said demand-supply fundamentals, particularly for palladium and rhodium, remained in deficit, with platinum projected to be in a deficit within the next 18 months, according to consensus market analysis. “While supply from Russia is difficult to predict, primary supply from South Africa is slowing, driven by lack of development, rising costs and electricity curtailments, affecting deep-level mines in particular. “At the same time, the increasing importance of PGMs for the future of the hydrogen economy…

AFROCENTRIC Investment Corporation’s share price leapt a massive 25% yesterday morning to R5.24 after Sanlam made an offer to acquire control at R6 a share. The majority black-owned company’s board said they had received an offer from Sanlam to acquire no less than 36.9% and up to 43.9% of AfroCentric’s share capital. The proposed deal will, at the least, leave Sanlam holding 55% of Afro- Centric and no more than 60%. AfroCentric delivers affordable medical aid, health insurance and administration services. AfroCentric chief executive Ahmed Banderker said although the transaction was still subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals, he was “encouraged” by the offer and believed it signalled a positive move forward for AfroCentric. “Sanlam will be able to integrate AfroCentric’s product offering into its ecosystem, while AfroCentric will gain…

PASSENGER Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) and Acsa came up as the black sheep of transport parastatals yesterday at the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport with an 81% rate of under-performance in their core mandate. The Transport Portfolio’s overall irregular expenditure, largely attri- buted to the three, amounted to R1.7 billion from R1.6bn in the previous year, while fruitless expenditure ramped up to R291 million from R117m in the previous period. Carla Ferreira, the acting senior manager responsible for Transport at the AG’s office, said: “Prasa, Acsa and Sanral are among the most non-compliant of the entities. They account for 84% of procurement processes not being transparent and competitive. 11% of their processes are not equitable and fair.” Prasa, which…