Star 2024-01-15

INVESTORS have warned of a weak fiscal outlook in South Africa due to expenditure containment pressures, the ongoing financial support for Eskom and large transfers expected to keep Transnet afloat. This comes as Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana prepares to table his February 2024 Budget Review in Parliament amid a projected deficit of around R347 billion for the 2023/24 financial year, a substantial increase from the R247bn deficit in 2022/23. South Africa’s gross loan debt is projected at 74.7% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2023/24, significantly up from 70.9% in 2022/23. Bank of America (BofA) on Friday said Budget 2024 was unlikely to offer much good news, but the fiscal outlook could finally turn the corner in 2026. The bank noted that the budget framework has R15bn in additional…

TONGAAT Hulett’s (THL) rescue from liquidation by the Vision Consortium was broadly welcomed by the sugar industry on Friday, but representative bodies still await the payment of industry levies owing to the South African Sugar Association (Sasa). The association, a regulatory body for the sugar industry, on Friday welcomed the creditors’ vote the day before in favour of the adoption of Vision’s business rescue plan for the region’s biggest sugar producer, thereby averting the liquidation of THL and paving the way for implementation of the plan. “We are pleased the process produced a positive result. All industry stakeholders, including the government, have been fully committed to saving THL since the start of the business rescue process. The sustainability of the industry remains one of our core priorities,” said Sasa independent…

It could upset the country’s trade relations with Israel’s biggest ally, the US SOUTH Africa’s legal action against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza could upset the country’s trade relations with Israel’s biggest ally, the US, and further threaten the renewal of the African Growth Opportunity Act (Agoa). This was the warning by US foreign policy expert Professor Michael Walsh, a senior fellow in the Africa Program at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, who spoke exclusively to Business Report on Friday. It comes as South Africa went to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and brought a case against Israel of contravening the Genocide Convention by allegedly committing acts of genocide against Palestinians through its military action in Gaza.…

AFRICA’S biggest diesel and aviation fuel refinery built by the continent’s richest man has started production, the company said on Saturday, calling it a “big day for Nigeria”. The 650 000 barrel-per-day Dangote refinery could be a game changer when fully operational by helping end Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports. The delayed megaproject built by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote said it hoped the products would be on the market this month, but it was not clear when the refinery will reach full capacity production or start refining petrol. The facility sits on 2 635 hectares of land at the Lekki Free Zone on the edge of Lagos and cost an estimated $19 billion (R253.65bn), according to local media. “Dangote Petroleum Refinery has commenced production of diesel and…

MERAFE Resources’ attributable ferro- chrome production from the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture was 75 000 tons in the fourth quarter to December 31, 2023, from 97 000 tons in the same period in 2022, Merafe said on Friday. This resulted in a decrease of about 22% in production for the year to that date, compared to the prior comparative period. The reduction in production was due to planned pull back resulting from market conditions. Only the Lion smelter operated over the three-month high electricity demand winter season, a period of elevated power prices, Merafe said in a quarterly report on Friday. For the year ended December 31, 2023, attributable ferrochrome production fell to 300 000 tons from 384 000 tons the year before.…

THE 54TH WORLD Economic Forum (WEF) gets under way at Davos, Switzerland, this coming week. In attendance will be more than 100 governments, major international organisations and enterprises, 1 000 of the Forum’s partners together with civil society leaders, experts, youth representatives, social entrepreneurs and the media. Also in attendance will be Sekunjalo’s and Independent Media’s chairperson Dr Iqbal Survé, a veteran of the annual big league think tank. Business Report sat with Dr Survé before his travels, to get his take on how he sees the 2024 gathering: “The theme for this year’s gathering, ‘Rebuilding Trust’, is a sad indictment of where the world finds itself, says Survé. The call for 2024 is for more transparency, consistency and accountability – noble intentions and quite necessary, but extremely…