Star 2024-12-17

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), has been named the first-ever recipient of the prestigious “African of the Decade” award. The accolade was presented at the Africa Investment Forum in Rabat, Morocco, celebrating Adesina's transformative contributions to Africa’s development over the past 10 years, AfDB said in a statement last week. The award, introduced by the ABN Group in collaboration with CNBC Africa as part of the All-Africa Business Leaders Awards, recognises exceptional leaders whose efforts have had a lasting impact on the continent. Adesina, set to conclude his decade-long tenure at the AfDB in 2025, was praised for his visionary leadership and initiatives that have improved the lives of millions. Presenting the award, ABN Group chairperson Rakesh Wahi lauded Adesina’s “ethical and responsible…

SA Corporate Real Estate has guided at least a 5% increase in its distribution for its 2024 financial year to end December 31, 2024, and it has forecast a further increase on that for the 2025 year. The JSE-listed REIT with retail, industrial, office, and residential properties in South Africa, with a secondary presence in Zambia, said in a pre-close update on Friday. The share price moved up 1.98% to R3.09 in trading on the JSE on Friday, a price that was 34.35% higher than at the same time a year ago. For the 2024 financial year, the retail portfolio achieved 6.8% revenue growth due to strong contracted rental escalations, improved utility recoveries, and financial gains realised from additional take-up of space in Morning Glen, Hayfields Mall, Umlazi Mega City,…

South Africa has pledged to leverage its G20 presidency to confront the high cost of capital, a barrier to investment and development across the continent. After the recent G20 finance and central bank deputies meetings last week, on Friday the National Treasury underscored the fact that revisiting the cost of capital for African nations and developing economies was vital to unlocking sustainable growth. South Africa’s intention from the outset has been to place African priorities at the forefront of discussions, seamlessly integrating them into every Finance Track Working Group. “With our longstanding expertise on issues influencing the cost of capital, the Finance Track will take the lead in this review,” the Treasury said. To this end, the agenda focuses on creating concrete recommendations reflective of the discussions held in various…

Minister of Tourism, Patricia de Lille, has berated the slow pace of disbursements from the R1.2 billion Tourism Equity Fund (TEF) to help black businesses in the tourism sector. This comes as only 20 applications from businesses amounting to R301 million have been approved under the R1.2bn TEF over the last 12 months. KwaZulu-Natal leads in both submissions and approvals, recording five approvals, followed by approvals for businesses in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, the Western Cape and the Free State. Two of the approved applications are for new businesses and 18 are for expansion of existing businesses. The TEF is an initiative by the Department of Tourism to provide financial support to tourism enterprises and to transform the sector. It is managed by the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa)…

Presidency called on business to reconsider its position and to appoint more suitable partners Bain & Company whistle-blower, Athol Williams, has said that South Africa needs a comprehensive, non-legal approach to dealing with all companies and individuals involved in state capture, in addition to legal action, though it appears unlikely, so that the country can achieve some semblance of justice and move on. “Being haphazard does not serve our pursuit of justice and causes damaging uncertainty in our economy,” Williams told Business Report by email yesterday. This was in response to the Presidency criticising the black sheep of state capture, McKinsey and Bain’s involvement in national projects. Bain & Co is trying to repair its reputation in South Africa by working for free on a private project after it was…

Much excitement greeted the listing of Boxer on the 28th of November 2024, the first listing of a discount retailer in South Africa. Boxer can trace its genesis to 1977 when the business was founded in KwaZulu-Natal and later acquired by Pick n Pay in 2002. Boxer has positioned itself as a “full-service discount supermarket” catering to the needs of the middle to lower income consumer market, with additional format offerings in liquor and builders’ hardware. The Boxer offering marries the customer focus on value, quality and service with a highly efficient operating model, which prioritises the re-investment of cost savings and operational efficiencies into lower prices and deeper value for customers. Growth by the numbers Post its acquisition by Pick n Pay in 2002, Boxer has grown from 35…