Star 2024-04-23

ONLY 40 OF the world’s 100 largest private firms have set net-zero carbon emissions targets to fight climate change, according to a report released yesterday, lagging far behind public companies. But for the world to meet the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5ºC, all companies needed to reduce their planet-heating emissions, the report by the group Net Zero Tracker noted. The lack of market and reputational pressures on private firms compared to those publicly-listed, along with an absence of regulation, were to blame for their slow uptake of climate commitments, said John Lange of Net Zero Tracker. “I think things are changing on all three of those fronts,” he added. The report compared 200 of the world’s largest public and private companies based on their reported emissions…

THE RAND REMAINED volatile above the R19-mark against the US dollar in spite of clawing back some lost ground after calm returned to the markets yesterday as the war between Israel and Iran entered the second week. This comes as the JSE index edged up to around 73 850 index points, tracking its global peers, as easing geopolitical jitters prompted investors to return to riskier assets. The rand traded at R19.10 to the dollar for most of the day yesterday after spiking to R19.40/$1 when Iran entered the Middle East conflict with retaliatory strikes against Israel. By 4.49pm the rand was 0.44% weaker at R19.15/$. Analysts yesterday said that fears around any escalating fallout in the Middle East had eased, providing some room for riskier assets to recover some…

CHINESE tech giant Tencent Holdings said yesterday that it would release its much-anticipated “Dungeon and Fighter” mobile game on May 21 after seven years of development. Officially named “Dungeon and Fighter: Origin”, the action game, developed by Korean firm Nexon, is a mobile adaptation of the “Dungeon and Fighter” computer game, one of the world’s most profitable computer games. Tencent’s shares rose about 4.5% yesterday morning. E-commerce platforms Naspers and Prosus shares rose due to their stakes in Tencent. Naspers shares closed 5.35% up at R3431.79, while Prosus shares were also up 4.60% to close at R609.50 on the JSE yesterday. The game was released in South Korea in 2022 and became an instant hit. But its China release was delayed after the government cracked down on the gaming industry…

ARTIFICIAL intelligence (AI) and digital innovation are expected by bankers to play a key role in the future of the sector on the continent, according to the findings of KPMG’s inaugural Southern African Banking Survey that was released yesterday The African bank market has seen the withdrawal of many global banks over the past five years, but local banks have expanded aggressively, led mostly by South African, West African, and Northern African banks – 100% of survey respondents indicated that the size of the market is a key driver for their growth strategies on the continent. According to the respondents, this growth would be driven primarily by opportunity in corporate banking, investment banking, and transaction banking, followed by retail and wealth management – underpinned by innovation that enabled more customers…

ANGLO American may soon be compelled to defend itself anew against accusations of lead pollution in Zambia, following a high court ruling permitting the litigants to appeal a prior judgment favouring the global resources conglomerate. On Friday, the high court in Johannesburg granted litigants from Kabwe in Zambia rights to appeal a dismissal of their earlier application in respect of lead pollution from the town against Anglo American. Leigh Day and Mbuyisa Moleele – UK and South Africa-based law firms respectively – are representing the Zambian claimants in the case against Anglo American which dates back five years ago. On August 23, 2019, the law firms announced an intention to bring a class action lawsuit against Anglo American South Africa on behalf of claimants in Kabwe, a town located in…

Dr Sigqibo Biggz THE EXCITEMENT around the im- pending elections is being compared by those who voted in 1994 to the circumstances of the country at that time. I can’t say if I agree or disagree, because I was only seven years old at the time. Despite the fact that the era is distinct, most of the nation was set to vote for the first time in the new regime in 1994, having endured a dark past of persecution. A better living for everyone served as the cornerstone of the high expectations for what demo- cracy would offer. In 1994, the ANC, which had been banned in South Africa since the 1950s for opposing apartheid, took over as the country’s governing party. The South African constitutional regime is anchored on…