Star 2024-12-04

South African real estate investment trusts (REITs) are on a strong growth trajectory heading into 2025 due to rising demand and increased market activity, alongside declining interest rates. The favourable prospects have also been acknowledged by investors on the JSE, as REIT prices made a strong recovery in October and have outpaced other asset classes, delivering a 34% return year-to-date. By comparison, the broader equity market has returned 15.9%, while South African bonds have gained 16.7%. SA REIT Association chairperson and Growthpoint Properties South Africa CEO Estienne de Klerk said key factors contributing to this included the formation of the Government of National Unity (GNU) and a stable power supply, both of which had positively impacted the sector and had driven improvements in property fundamentals. “In 2024, we saw notable…

Agriculture wobbles, country risks missing IMF’s latest projection of 1.1% for the full year A shock 0.3% contraction in South Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter of the year has stymied economists, who had expected marginal growth. This puts at risk the possibility of the country meeting the International Monetary Fund’s latest projection of 1.1% for the full year. The sharp GDP slump, mostly driven by a decline in the agricultural sector, didn’t unsettle the rand, which was trading at R18.12 to the dollar at 6pm. GDP grew 0.6% last year, based on Statistics South Africa figures released in March. Wichard Cilliers, the head of market risk at TreasuryONE, said the unexpected contraction marked a reversal from the revised 0.3% growth in the previous quarter, surprising economists…

President Cyril Ramaphosa launched South Africa's G20 presidency in Cape Town yesterday with the theme of solidarity, equality and sustainability and with a roadmap that focuses on climate resilience, debt sustainability, and inclusive growth." Ramaphosa vowed to bring development priorities of Africa and the Global South more firmly onto the agenda of the G20. He said, “South Africa’s Presidency will be the first time an African country has presided over the G20. We will use this moment to bring the development priorities of the African Continent and the Global South more firmly onto the agenda of the G20.” On solidarity, he said, “We can create an inclusive future that advances the interests of people at the greatest risk of being left behind. This is important in an interconnected world,…

International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) will today appeal the Durban High Court interdict that prevents Transnet from implementing the public-private partnership agreement with ICTSI, to run Durban Container Terminal Pier 2. In July 2023, Transnet awarded ICTSI, a global Top-10 firm that runs 32 port terminals in 19 countries, the contract to run the container terminal, in a competitive bidding process. Global shipping and freight group Maersk, through subsidiary APM Terminals, is one of the failed bidders and approached the courts this year to overturn the contract. While the interdict against the partnership was granted against Transnet, and not ICTSI, the global firm has asked for leave to appeal as findings by the court were damaging to its reputation and had no basis in fact, ICTSI contended yesterday. In October,…

During the shopping event of the year, the leisure and entertainment industry grew its share of online sales over the four-day Black Friday weekend by 113% from last year. This was according to Peach Payments who tracked the spend of transactions in the country during Black Friday. The company said there was growth in rand value of 38% overall processed via the payment service provider’s platform in the month of November compared to November 2023, and a 37% increase over just the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend compared to 2023. Rahul Jain, the CEO and co-founder, said, “This is in line with the trend over the last few years of the whole of November being treated as Black Friday Month, with deals offered by merchants across the board. Despite the economic…

The World Bank’s latest International Debt Report showed that developing countries spent a record $1.4 trillion (R25trl) to service their foreign debt as their interest costs climbed to a 20-year high in 2023. Higher interest rates meant that servicing that debt surged by nearly a third to $406 billion, squeezing the budgets of many countries in critical areas such as health, education, and the environment. In South Africa, the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) tabled on October 30 showed that debt service will consume a fifth of revenue this fiscal year. Over the past 15 years, public debt has accumulated, driven by a wide gap between spending and revenue. This led to increasing debt service costs consuming resources that could have been used for priorities such as education, healthcare and…