Star 2023-11-23

The spike in the country’s crime is costing South Africa as much as R700 billion per annum SOUTH Africa’s persistently high unemployment, worsening poverty and low growth projections are spelling a bleak economic outlook that, together with elevated inequality, has seen the impact of crime creep up to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP). From kidnappings of business leaders to organised crime and from cash heists to invasion of businesses during strike actions, crime has been spiking in South Africa over the past few years. The World Bank said yesterday that South Africa was consistently among the five countries with the highest homicide rates, with 41.9 intentional homicides per 100 000 people. Between July and September this year, said Police Minister Bheki Cele, as many as 6 945…

THE SOUTH African Future Trust has vowed to launch a new and im- proved second version of financial and non- financial support to thousands of small businesses in a bid to accelerate growth and job creation in the small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMME) sector. In March 2020, the SA Future Trust was established with a R1 billion donation from the Oppenheimer Generations Foundation to support small businesses through the Covid-19 crisis. The SA Future Trust extended direct financial support to businesses so that their employees could continue to receive an income through the lockdown period. This was done by providing interest-free loans to more than 10 000 qualifying SMMEs through a partnership with six South African banks which facilitated the process. SA Future Trust founder Jonathan Oppenheimer said…

ABSA Group’s financial director Jason Quinn is set to become the CEO of Nedbank, the banks announced yesterday. Nedbank said yesterday that Quinn, 49, had been appointed as group CEO-designate of Nedbank Group and Nedbank. The bank had announced on June 2 this year the start of a succession process for the chief executive of the bank. “After completing his notice period with his current employer, he will assume the role of CE on Mike Brown’s planned retirement from the boards at the close of the Nedbank Group annual general meeting, currently scheduled for 31 May 2024,” Nedbank’s board said in a statement. Meanwhile, Absa Group announced Quinn’s resignation, and that he would no longer be an executive director on the boards of Absa Group and Absa Bank, with immediate…

PORT CONGESTION is resulting in the loss of billions of rand, and the business sector criticised the government for delaying action on an offer from shipping lines to purchase the necessary equipment for Transnet’s repair. This sentiment was expressed by the business sector as it contemplated the path ahead. The Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry NPC, along with the Road Freight Association (RFA) and the South African Freight Forwarders Association (Saaffa), among others, have highlighted a concerning situation involving more than 96 vessels waiting at anchorage outside commercial ports. This situation is causing a daily direct cost of R98 million in sunken costs and at least R26m in indirect costs. Additionally, it is obstructing the movement of at least R7 billion worth of goods every day. Palesa…

THE SOUTH African government issued a R20.4 billion sukuk domestically yesterday, its first Islamic bond issuance since a debut sukuk in 2014 that listed overseas. The issuance was split into four tranches maturing between March 2029 and March 2036 and with profit rates of between 9.87% and 11.9%, according to auction results shared with Reuters by Standard Bank, one of the banks that arranged the deal. The benchmark local sovereign bond maturing in 2030 currently has a yield of 10.1%. South Africa’s first sukuk, which matured in 2020, was dollar-denominated, but its domestic investors comprise a deep liquidity pool. Its finance ministry forecast in November that the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio would peak higher than previously thought. South Africa’s latest sukuk, a senior unsecured sharia-compliant instrument that will launch on…

AMONG the many names, such as go-getters, innovators, job creators, small, medium and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) and start-ups, that President Cyril Ramaphosa called the entrepreneurs gathered at the 2nd National Presidential SMME Awards, the one that resonated with me was “hustlers”. These awards were very special for many entrepreneurs, not only because many of them walked away with prizes ranging from R100 000 to R1 million, but because they coincided with the president’s 71st birthday. Many were aghast that he took the time to attend and deliver an empowering keynote speech. This pays testament to the dedication he has given to start-up and SMME contributions to the economy. The awards also culminated with the close of the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2023, where 40 000 activities took…