Star 2025-04-25

In this week's Personal Finance Saturday Pages, we look at the surge of insurance claims as South Africa’s crumbling roads turn driving into a professional sport ■ We look at how South Africans are navigating financial challenges according to the SpendTrend25 ■ We explore how to evaluate the performance of asset managers in your retirement savings ■ PSG answers your financial, debt and investment questions ■ For all your money matters content, visit: https://www.iol.co.za/personal-finance…

Tanzania has banned the importation of agricultural products from Malawi and South Africa, saying it was retaliation for similar hostile trade measures from both countries. The three countries all belong to a regional economic bloc, the Southern African Development Community, SADC. Tanzania had demanded that both countries rescind bans on imports of agricultural goods from Tanzania by Wednesday, but they had not done so, agriculture minister Hussein Bashe said in a video posted on his X account late on Wednesday. Malawi had recently banned imports of Tanzanian commodities like maize flour, rice, ginger, and bananas, among others, while South Africa has also proscribed the import of bananas shipped by Dar es Salaam. "I would like to officially announce that from this night ... we won't allow any agricultural products from…

ASP Isotopes, which uses its own South Africa developed technology to enrich isotopes, plans to add to its 2022 Nasdaq listing with a listing on the Main Board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The company, owned by its CEO Paul Mann and US-based institutional global investment funds, develops technologies and processes for the enrichment of isotopes that can be used in the medical, semiconductor and nuclear industries, born out of years of research and development, originally developed in South Africa. ASPI is a US incorporated company that has been listed on the Nasdaq since 2022. It has a market capitalisation in the US of $400 million, or R7.5 billion, and it plans to list on the JSE later this year, subject to regulatory approvals. “While our investor base has been…

Treasury says decision follows extensive consultations with political parties, and the recommendations of Parliament South Africa's business sector has cautiously welcomed the scrapping of the proposed 0.5 percentage points increase in the value-added tax (VAT) as a crucial relief for consumers, the country's fiscal position remained severely strained. However, the business industry said that the government would have to find alternative measures to raise enough revenue to plug the national budget deficit amidst rising debt-servicing costs and other national expenditure priorities. This comes as the National Treasury on Thursday announced that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will no longer be increasing the VAT from 15 to 15.5% from 1 May, which was proposed in the National Budget to plug the R58 billion fiscal deficit. North West University Business School economist,…

The World Economic Forum said Wednesday it has launched an investigation into fraud allegations against its founder Klaus Schwab that reportedly prompted his resignation this week. The 87-year-old Schwab, who for decades has greeted presidents and tycoons at the annual forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, said there was "not a shadow of proof" for the accusations. He added in a statement to the Swiss newspaper Blick that he had started defamation proceedings. In a statement confirming a Wall Street Journal report, the WEF said its board of trustees "unanimously supported the Audit and Risk Committee's decision to initiate an independent investigation following a whistleblower letter containing allegations against former Chairman Klaus Schwab". The longtime forum leader suddenly resigned on Monday, "with immediate effect". In a statement at the…

Moody’s Ratings has cautioned that though the US tariffs are expected to have few direct credit implications for African banks, the tariffs will have significant indirect negative implications through the financial markets' risk-transmission channel. Earlier this month, the US government authorised a 90-day pause on the implementation of most new US tariffs, reverting to a universal rate of 10% on all almost all targeted countries, including African countries. However, the Trump administration ramped up import tariffs on goods from China to 145% and the Chinese government retaliated with its own 125% tariffs on US imports, setting off a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Moody’s on Thursday said it expected the increase in tariffs after the 90-day pause is lifted to have few direct credit implications for African…