Star 2025-01-10

South Africa’s ability to implement policy reforms, especially those aimed at the ailing infrastructure, will be key to bolstering economic growth and creditworthiness for one of Africa’s top economies, Moody’s said today. Logistics constraints such as rail and port bottlenecks as well as high costs of electricity and water supply challenges are hobbling South Africa’s industry, mining and manufacturing sectors among others. Companies such as ArcelorMittal South Africa (Amsa) have had to close steel manufacturing plants as a result of the logistical bottlenecks, among other reasons. Moody’s analysts expect the logistics challenges faced by the SA economic to persist for longer. However, South Africa has now exited electricity load-shedding that cut productivity in the past few years. “For South Africa, structural bottlenecks – particularly in logistics – will take time…

Shell is still looking for further opportunities in Namibia despite writing off $400 million from exploration activities offshore of the southern African country. The company told Business Report today that although it had discovered hydrocarbons in the PEL0039 block, the discoveries “remain challenging due to resource mobility and permeability, and a high gas- to-oil ratio” that makes “extracting oil and gas harder” at the moment. Moreover, “current market conditions, have not yet enabled clear commercial pathways that meet Shell’s investment criteria” and requirements. Nonetheless, Shell and its partners in Namibia were now exploring other opportunities and pathways towards development of oil and gas offshore of Namibia. “Together with our partners, we are continuing to explore potential commercial pathways to development, while actively looking for further exploration opportunities in Namibia,” a…

AgriCulture South Africa (Agri SA) and the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) have raised concerns following a sharp decline in South Africa’s agricultural performance in the third quarter of 2024. This comes after a seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter decrease of 28.8%. In a joint statement today, Agri SA and Agbiz said that a decline was anticipated due to a challenging mid-summer drought; however, the extent of the decrease was surprising. “We requested the Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) to conduct a detailed analysis of the data,” they said. “BFAP, a renowned research organization with extensive knowledge of South African and African agriculture, has been publishing the BFAP Baseline for over twenty years and has recently issued quarterly research briefs on agricultural performance.” The statement added that BFAP…

RFA says association estimates daily losses at Lebombo border to be above R10 million South African businesses with export interests through Mozambique have been cautioned to tread lightly as the week-long lull in protests is likely to resume with the return of opposition leader, Venacio Mondlane, who has indicated a fresh wave of protests were on the cards. This is as Mondlane suspended protests last week after that country’s Constitutional Council reaffirmed the ruling Frelimo as the winner of the contested October polls. However, during his fanfare return to the country today Mondlane hinted at announcing more targeted protests on his return from self-imposed exile. Road Freight Association (RFA) CEO, Gavin Kelly, yesterday said the about week-long calm after Mondlane postponed protests had seen a decline in the volume of…

Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) has found that several sectors of the economy continue to be dominated by a handful of companies, despite amendments to the Competition Act in 2020 and interventions made to increase diversity by the Competition Commission. In a recently released report, Stats SA said the ocean fisheries sector was the most concentrated industry in the country out of 14 sectors recently surveyed. This comes as the five largest companies in the sector accounted for just more than two-thirds of total income. Stats SA also noted that several transport and storage industry activities exhibited high ratios of concentration, including transport via pipelines, railway transport and cargo handling. Air transport held the ninth spot in the list of concentrated sectors. However, retail sales of fuel in the motor…

The manufacturing industry could drag South Africa’s economic growth prospects in the fourth quarter of 2024 if it declines for the second consecutive month in December after output plunged to its lowest level in five months in November. This comes as real gross domestic product (GDP) measured by production decreased by 0.3% in the third quarter of 2024, following an increase of 0.3% in the second quarter. Data from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) showed that manufacturing production declined by 2.6% year-on-year in November 2024, following an upwardly revised 0.9% increase in October. This marked the steepest contraction in manufacturing activity since June 2024, mainly attributed to lower production of motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment. Stats SA further said the largest negative contributions were also made…