Star 2024-01-18

STANDARD Bank Group has ap- proached the World Bank with a proposal to fast-track the financing of gas-to-power projects in Africa in a bid to attain energy security, accelerate the transition from fossil fuels, and improve economic development on the continent. The World Bank is one of the largest multilateral lenders in support of South Africa’s efforts to promote long-term energy security and a low carbon transition. Last year, the World Bank approved a R19 billion loan to help South Africa reform its energy sector as the country tries to overcome regular power cuts that have severely crippled economic growth. Speaking during a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meetings yesterday, Standard Bank chairperson Nonkululeko Nyembezi highlighted the importance of increased debt transparency in highly-indebted countries.…

Per capita GDP has been on the decline, lowering by as much as 0.6% in five years SOUTH Africa recorded a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of $13 243 (R247 105) in 2023, the World Economic Forum (WEF) said yesterday, highlighting the country’s low scores in economic inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability. The WEF said inequality was a major contributor to lower per capita productivity in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini. The WEF said in its new report, The Future of Growth Report 2024: “As much as 20% of overall inequality in Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa can be attributed to location, gender, age and parental background, with the figure reaching almost 50% when race factors are considered.” For South Africa, per capita GDP has been…

RETAIL activity in South Africa is expected to continue on a downward slope after sales plummeted for a second month in a row in November 2023, in spite of Black Friday discounts. This signals serious trouble for the economy in the fourth quarter as retail trade sales represent close to 20% of South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP), after GDP recorded a paltry 0.2% growth in the third quarter. With December’s data the only remaining for the year now, the fourth quarter retail sales could contribute to disappointing GDP growth for 2023, which has been revised upwards to 0.8%. Data from Statistics South Africa (StatsSA) yesterday showed that retail trade shrank by 0.9% year-on-year in November, following a downwardly revised 2.3% decline in October. This marked the second consecutive month…

THE REPAIR of South Africa’s main coal export line was proceeding “extremely well” following a collision of two trains and they were hopeful one of the lines would be operational before 12pm tonight, a spokesperson for Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) said. Transnet has been working to clear the line to Richards Bay, South Africa’s major coal export port, from Mpumalanga, since the derailment happened on Sunday. The State owned freight operator has not said what caused the derailment and was investigating, and there were no serious injuries or fatalities. A spokesperson said such was the progress, they expected to recover the line to functionality “sooner rather than later,” with most of the debris expected to be cleared over last night, weather permitting. The second line was expected to be operational…

HOUSE price growth may have troughed in the past three months of 2023, but weak house price growth was expected to continue for a little while amid heightened uncertainty, FNB senior economist Siphamandla Mkhwanazi said yesterday. The FNB House Price Index showed growth of 0.8% year-on-year in December, marginally higher than 0.7% in November, and a low of 0.5% in October. This meant house price growth would likely average 1.5% in 2023, in line with expectations, the bank said in its latest FNB Residential Property Barometer. The uncertainty was due to the potential impact of the election cycle, the possibility of further fiscal slippage on current stability, heightened geopolitical tensions, biosecurity risks as well as adverse weather that may complicate the slowing inflation increase trend. “This could cause interest rates…

THE LOWER levels of load shedding as well as fuel price decreases in December helped lift transactions in South Africa slightly after a poor showing from the previous two months. This was according to the BankservAfrica Economic Transactions Index (Beti) that was released on Wednesday. “The monthly Beti increased by 1.9% to reach an index level of 133 points in December. On a year-on-year basis, the Beti was only 0.6% above the recorded level,” Shergeran Naidoo, BankservAfrica’s head of Stake- holder Engagements said. Bankserv said while the increase was welcomed, it was still unlikely to signal the start of a significant economic turnaround in 2024. The average Beti in 2023 was also 0.5% lower than the 2022 average, the index showed. “During the first half of 2023, economic activity…