Star 2024-03-20

South African investors have adopted a wait-and-see attitude ahead of the May 29 elections and would be banking on possible post-poll clarity on policy as well as expected US dollar weakness, which could act as sparks to further investment decisions, Bank of America’s emerging markets strategist, Morris John Stewart, said yesterday. There was, however, less confidence in speedy resolution of port and rail logistics hurdles, he said. Despite some improvement in port volumes and backlogs in Durban, port delays were still afflicting South African businesses, especially those in mining, manufacturing and retail. “Investors don’t see a swift turnaround in logistics although port volumes are up recently and the Durban backlogs have improved,” said Stuart, speaking after Bank of America hosted investors focused on South Africa. “Locomotives and spares procurement are…

SOUTH Africa should implement the SA Renewable Energy Masterplan (Sarem) as soon as possible, as every day’s delay is a wasted opportunity, said Sarem facilitator Gaylor Montmasson-Clair yesterday on the sidelines of the Solar Storage Live Africa and Future Energy Show. Sarem is an industrial and inclusive development plan for the renewable energy and storage value chains by 2030, aimed at helping South Africa re-industrialise after load shedding resulted in manufacturing and mining constraints and the consequent jobs bloodbath. “Sarem was finalised in December, and we were hoping to start implementation in March or April, but now I am not sure when it will be implemented. We started this process in early 2021, and we have ticked all the boxes as far as consulting and getting buy-in from all affected…

Yellow cranes likely to begin dotting the skyline in the near future, says the president The planning of 12 new big infrastructure projects valued at more than R180 billion are being prioritised by the government this year, so that public and private sector funding can bring these projects to reality, President Cyril Ramaphosa said yesterday. The new projects come at a time when thousands of jobs have been lost in the construction sector over the past decade due to falling infrastructure spending, mainly by the government, and the private sector. Infrastructure backlogs, in energy, transport, housing, government services, and logistics have cut economic growth prospects off at the knees. “We are working to rebuild the construction industry and ensuring it is able to deliver projects on time, within budget and…

South Africa’s fractured airspace is set for more upheaval as dominant operators – Airlink and Global Airways Operations, which co-own the domestic airline Lift – square off with Safair Operations, the owner of FlySafair, over its alleged 74% foreign ownership. Airlink and Global Airways Operations have launched complaints with two aviation authorities: the International Air Services Council, and Air Services Licence Council. The knife fight, set for April 11, emanates from Airlink and Global Airways’ complaints that Safair is largely owned by foreign shareholders, against the conditions of its aviation licence and the country’s laws. The central complaint is that foreign investors and shareholders predominantly own Safair, thus breaching the Air Services Licensing Act and the International Air Services Act. The former requires that holders of aviation licences in South…

Denel’s new CEO Tshepo Monaheng is aiming to turn around the struggling state arms manufacturer with a new operating model to reflect proven proficiencies in the aerospace, guided weapons, landward and integrated systems (ISS) capability domains. Monaheng, appointed CEO in December, has pledged better financial results ahead with the new operating model. He said the parastatal needed to focus on its streamlined model, which emphasised operational cornerstones such as Denel aerospace, the former Denel aeronautics and Denel Overberg test range (OTR); Denel guided-weapons, the former Denel dynamics; Denel landwards, a consolidation of Denel land systems (DLS), Denel PMP, Denel vehicle systems (DVS) OMC and mechatronic business units; as well as integrated system solutions (ISS). Under the guidance of Mike Kgobe, the last acting CEO, Denel had exhibited global-leading products in…

THE rand was stable yesterday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision due today. At 5.30pm, the rand traded at R18.9375 against the dollar, near its previous close of R18.94. The dollar was last trading up about 0.31% against a basket of global currencies. Recent US economic data has pointed to stubbornly high inflation, causing investors to temper their expectations of the pace and scale of Federal Reserve rate cuts this year. Like most emerging market currencies, the rand often takes its cues from global factors such as US monetary policy in addition to domestic events. In South Africa, the focus this week will be on February inflation figures due today. Economists polled by Reuters have predicted that annual inflation will inch up to 5.5%, from 5.3% in January.…