Новости за 19.01.2021

A new multi-partner initiative has been launched with the aim of defining the role that finance can and should play in supporting both South Africa and India’s aspirations to implement “just transitions” to more climate-resilient economies. The ‘Just Transition Finance Roadmaps in South Africa and India Project’ is being backed by the UK’s development finance institution, the CDC Group, in partnership with Trade & Industrial Policy Strategies (TIPS) and the National Business Initiative (NBI)... Читать дальше...

President Cyril Ramaphosa has established an inter-ministerial committee to oversee the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines in the country. Ramaphosa announced this at a Zoom meeting of the ANC's Progressive Business Forum on Tuesday.

While 2020 was a year of fluctuations and novel challenges, the remuneration of nonexecutive directors continues to be increasingly linked to the performance of businesses, as well as their ability to adapt to new challenges and new demands from stakeholders and shareholders, says professional services and advisory multinational PwC South Africa People and Organisation Reward Tax, Legal and Governance leader associate director and co-lead Leila Ebrahimi. Ebrahimi is the editor of the PwC '2021 Nonexecutive... Читать дальше...

Environment, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Barbara Creecy has postponed the implementation of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Regulations to May 5. This follows a request from affected producers to make further inputs into the implementation process.

Following the announcement by African Union (AU) chairperson President Cyril Ramaphosa on January 14 that the AU has secured a provisional 270-million Covid-19 vaccine doses for Africa through its Covid-19 African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team (Avatt), the Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) has, on behalf of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), started the Covid-19 vaccines pre-order programme for all AU member States. Trade finance institution African Export-Import Bank... Читать дальше...

Global wind and solar company Mainstream Renewable Power has signed an agreement with renewable energy investment company Aker Horizons, which will take a 75% equity stake in the company, subject to regulatory approval. The deal values Mainstream at €1-billion (including a potential earn-out of up to €100-million in 2023 and subject to customary adjustments), which represents a significant return for shareholders of up to 5.5 times investment, the company acclaims.

Emerging natural gas and helium producer Renergen has replaced its old transport truck with a new one, equipped with the diesel dual fuel (DDF) kit and tank from the former truck, in a bid to prove the equipment will “outlast the truck”. While the truck itself is not linked to the company’s recently announced cold-chain storage solution, the company uses the truck to transport gas to its customers.

Platinum group metals (PGMs), which South Africa hosts in greater abundance than any other country on earth, are playing important catalytic roles in Switzerland’s green hydrogen and green truck rollout, which is now under way. Mining Weekly can today report that proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology, which benefits from catalysis brought about by PGMs in both electrolysers and fuel cells, is the technology of choice and is helping to bring about an incipient green hydrogen ecosystem in Switzerland. Читать дальше...

Binational organisation the Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) is progressing work at the Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project (KDRP). In a January 19 update, the authority said that ongoing KDRP works comprise two components, namely reshaping of the plunge pool and the refurbishment of the spillway gates.

JSE-listed Murray & Roberts has received formal notification that clients of financial services provider Ninety One SA have, in aggregate, acquired an interest in the ordinary shares of the company. The total interest in the ordinary shares held by Ninety One SA clients now amounts to 5.18% of the total issued ordinary shares of Murray & Roberts.

Variable ground conditions at an upmarket mixed-use development in Cape Town has demanded some innovative solutions from contractor GVK-Siya Zama Construction and readymix specialist AfriSam. At the Old Cape Quarter project in De Waterkant, four floors of luxury apartments are being added to retail and office space, which meant substantial strengthening of the foundations and columns was needed to accommodate the increased load, says GVK-Siya Zama Construction contracts director Garth Robb.

A trio of Covid-19-related risks heads up the tenth Allianz Risk Barometer 2021, reflecting potential disruption and loss scenarios companies are facing in the wake of the pandemic. Business interruption and pandemic outbreak are this year’s top business risks with cyber incidents ranking a close third.

In its latest 'Global Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) Industry Trends' analysis, PwC finds that deal volumes went up 18% in the second half of 2020, while deal values increased by 94%, compared with the first half of the year. Deal activity in the second half of last year experienced a surge despite continued uncertainty created by Covid-19 across the world.

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) and the SA Cabin Crew Association (Sacca) intend to make an urgent application to the Labour Court in Johannesburg on 28 January to have a deal regarding backpay of members of South African Airways (SAA) declared unlawful or unfair. The unions want payment to their SAA members made within seven days, if their application is granted.

After fulfilling, in November 2019, all the conditions precedent to finally consummate the R165-million acquisition of valve manufacturer Dynamic Fluid Control (DFC) from Aveng the new black owners faced a true baptism of fire. CEO and co-shareholder Tumi Tsehlo, who previously headed the South African Mint for eight years, reports that the business immediately slumped to its worst four-month performance in history – and that was before Covid-19 had even made its deadly appearance in South Africa.

The total capacity of dams supplying the Cape Town metropolitan area has decreased by 1.6 percentage points in the last week to 87.5 percent, compared with 72 percent at the same time last year, the city council said. Daily water consumption for the same period also dipped to 776-million litres per day, compared to 793-million litres the week before, the City of Cape Town said.

African central bankers meeting in the next two weeks amid a resurgent coronavirus may find they’ve used up most of their interest-rate ammunition to lift their economies out of recessions that still affect much of the continent. Monetary policy committees have limited scope to provide stimulus after aggressive easing when lockdowns first shuttered output in 2020, with inflation quickening in Nigeria and Angola and restrictions that would dull the impact of rate cuts continuing in South Africa and Kenya.

The Land Bank has posted a R172-million loss from its continuing operations for the six months ended on 30 September as its interest income continued to decline while provision for bad debts grew. The state-owned lender, which finances approximately 27% of agricultural debt in SA and is the only source of funding for most of the emerging farmers, published a short presentation of its unaudited interim results for the first half of its 2020 financial year on Monday evening.