Новости за 09.04.2021

Asset management company Moshesh Partners has reached a first close for its first renewable energy and clean infrastructure fund, and is targeting R2-billion in assets under management in the next 18 months, said Moshesh Partners co-founding member and CEO Sifiso Shongwe on April 9. This goal was in addition to the more than 2 000 MW pipeline of solar, wind and storage projects it has already secured.

Financial institution Bank of America on April 8 announced its goal of deploying and mobilising $1-trillion by 2030 in its Environmental Business Initiative to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy. This commitment will anchor a broader $1.5-trillion sustainable finance goal by both environmental transition and social inclusive development purposes, spanning business activities across the globe, said Bank of America vice-chairperson Anne Finucane.

Brazilian aerospace group Embraer, which includes executive or business jets in its product portfolio, has announced that it has released technical information that will help users of these jets to optimise them for the transport of anti-Covid-19 vaccines. Currently, more than 1 400 Embraer executive jets are in operation in more than 70 countries, and operators are considering the possibility of using them to transport vaccines. The documents that have been released cover all the group’s business jet types. Читать дальше...

Greenpeace Africa has responded on the matter of the African Development Bank (AfDB) consulting with African heads of State seeking advice on how to accelerate climate adaptation. "Climate adaptation investments are urgently needed for a continent that is expected to experience more intense and irregular weather in the twenty-first century, as science indicates,” the environmental organisation says.

Suspended Eskom procurement chief Solly Tshitangano supported the awarding of contracts worth more than R8-billion to Econ Oil in 2019 - despite being aware of evidence of impropriety and possible corruption involving Econ and Eskom officials.    He also took no steps to further investigate Econ Oil's possible misconduct, allegations which were first raised in 2016 and again in 2018, and allegedly misled the Eskom board over the status of Econ, resulting in the board approving further contracts to the company.

The guardians of the global economy this week implored governments to act to avoid a two-speed rebound where vaccinated, rich nations recover more strongly from the pandemic than poorer countries languishing under the burden of disease and debt. The International Monetary Fund said that it sees the us, as well as China, as the locomotive for global economic growth. The world’s largest economy, fueled by trillions of dollars in stimulus spending, is expected next year to surpass its pre-pandemic projected level of output.

Total’s likely decision to proceed with a $5.1-billion Ugandan oil project will extend its dominance as the biggest spender in sub-Saharan Africa. The French energy giant, poised to greenlight the plan within days, has been the largest investor in the region since 2012. Its spending on exploration and production there peaked at $6.2-billion eight years ago, and even following the latest downturn will be around $1.9-billion in 2021, Wood Mackenzie data show. That’s more than double any other international producer.

The construction industry is set to grow by 5.2% this year, following the collapse in construction activity in 2020 amid the severe disruption caused by restrictions to contain the spread of Covid-19, data and analytics company GlobalData said on April 9. The recovery in many markets in late 2020 surprised on the upside. This means the full-year outturn in 2020 was not as bad as previously expected, it states.

Mahindra South Africa has cut the ribbon on its new national parts warehouse in the Linbro Business Park, Gauteng. The new warehouse, situated near the intersection of the N1, M1 and N3 highways in Johannesburg, is around a third larger than Mahindra’s old Jet Park warehouse.

A newly launched private infrastructure investment fund FiveT Hydrogen is dedicated to delivering clean hydrogen infrastructure projects at scale. The fund aims to raise €1-billion from a combination of financial and industrial investors and act as a catalyst in the scaling of the global hydrogen economy. It has received publicly announced investment intentions of about €300-million.

The first group of students enrolled in the newly established Stellenbosch University (SU) data science and entrepreneurial development upskilling initiative Techpreneurship Centre, have completed a six-week programme. Seventy per cent of those who completed the course have been offered full-time internships.

The express parcel industry has more than doubled over the last decade, says South African Express Parcel Association (SAEPA) CEO Garry Marshall, and is currently the fastest growing transport sector in the country.  He says studies show that the formal industry recorded R8-billion in turnover in 2012, with this growing to more than R20-billion over the last nine years.

The business services sector in South Africa is a large and growing employer of labour that serves local and multinational companies and South Africa was ranked as the top global location for business process services and is exporting call centre and related services to other parts of the world, says Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel. South Africa rose to the top spot from second as the Most Favoured Offshore CX Delivery Location for 2021 by contact centre services intelligence... Читать дальше...

Creamer Media's Chanel de Bruyn speaks to Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer about the global push for net zero, what this means for the future energy system and whether South Africa is on the same net zero pathway as other countries.

Telecommunications group MTN Nigeria has been participating in a series of meetings, since April 6, to align on longer term pricing structures after a temporary suspension of airtime sales through the company’s banking channels owing to a dispute over the reduction in cost of sales. The sales of MTN products through its banking channel partners was suspended on April 2.

The Extraordinary Double Troika Summit of heads of States and government of the Southern African Development Community has directed an immediate SADC Organ on Politics Defence and Security technical deployment to Mozambique following insurgent attacks in the northern town of Palma. Recent reports revealed that twelve people, possibly foreigners, were found beheaded after an Islamic State-claimed attack on Palma, near natural gas projects worth $60-billion.

A video round up of this week’s magazine, highlighting our cover story, features and Business Leader.

Enabling effective education and the development of foundational, specialist and new skills that are needed across industries and societies – in part through adopting digital education tools – requires a broad partnership among civil, commercial, educational and governmental organisations, a range of educational and commercial companies’ representatives aver. Access to high-quality education underpins economic growth and social well-being – nowhere more so than on the African continent, says telecommunications... Читать дальше...