Новости за 17.06.2021

Wholesale and retail group Massmart says its localisation focus, in partnership with the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC), is bearing fruit, with visible benefits being experienced by the group and an increasing number of local suppliers. Massmart, over the past nine months, reviewed its top imported products and determined which of these have the potential to be manufactured more competitively by local manufacturers.

The Emerging Black Importers and Exporters of South Africa (EBieSA) is calling on the domestic poultry industry to urgently implement the transformation commitments contained in the Poultry Master Plan. “To date, far fewer than 50 black contract farmers have been helped to secure access to market, a pitiful number when compared to the vast number of black farmers in South Africa.

Logistics multinational Imperial Logistics has entered into an agreement to acquire 100% of the issued share capital of perishable foods company Deep Catch Namibia for R633-million. Deep Catch is owned by private equity investment management firm Salt Capital Ventures and development finance institution German Investment Corporate DEG, as well as management shareholders Christoph Kubirske, Jared-Dwight Geyser and Lewton Geyser.

Power and propulsion engineering company Rolls-Royce has announced its plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, at the latest. The company’s actions and the development of new low-carbon technologies will enable the users of such products to, in turn, lower their carbon emissions, enabling an accelerated take-up of sustainable fuels and driving step-change improvements in efficiency, the company states.

Trade conditions during December 2020 and January 2021 suffered a severe second wave of Covid-19 infections, which negatively impacted trade. While trade conditions have subsequently improved, South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) CEO Alan Mukoki says these were down again in May with the Trade Activity Index (TAI) having declined to 36.

South African Finance Minister Tito Mboweni told an investment conference the Treasury won’t back down on its insistence that any wage agreement for state workers mustn’t breach the government’s fiscal ceiling. Mboweni made the comments at a conference organized by JSE Ltd. and sponsored by Citibank and Absa Group Ltd. that’s closed to the media, a person attending the event told Bloomberg, asking not to be identified.

The debacle surrounding South Africa’s bid to secure emergency power supplies has highlighted a dysfunctional energy policy that’s subjecting Africa’s most-industrialised nation to intermittent blackouts. Since March, the energy department has identified companies it wants to provide almost 2 000 megawatts of electricity to the grid by August next year. But a losing bidder has alleged that the selection process was corrupt and sought to reverse it in court, environmental activists have raised objections... Читать дальше...

Having already announced a key reform for the electricity sector, President Cyril Ramaphosa told international investors on Thursday that the country will continue to remove barriers to growth and investment through the Operation Vulindlela delivery mechanism. In an address to the SA Tomorrow virtual conference hosted by the JSE, and banking groups Citi and Absa, Ramaphosa reiterated that Operation Vulindlela was “focusing on key reforms that we need to implement in energy, water, telecommunications, as well as in our ports and on our rail”.

The Gauteng Provincial Treasury (GPT) has announced an increase in the transfer of funds to the Gauteng Infrastructure Financing Agency (Gifa) from R64-million in the 2021/22 financial year to R65.4-million in the 2023/24 financial year. The increase in allocation is aimed at ensuring a sustainable pipeline of strategic infrastructure projects that are catalysts for socioeconomic development in the province.

Private sector banker Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) CEO James Formby has commended government for “finally taking the steps needed to tackle persistent power outages” by lifting the licensing-exemption threshold for embedded generation projects to 100 MW, from the previous 1 MW. He says it is an opportune time to capitalise on the move by taking further action on South Africa’s biggest economic challenges.

GreenCape’s 2021 market intelligence reports (MIRs), produced in partnership with the Western Cape Government’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism, are now available for download. The reports highlight the investment opportunities in key sectors of the green economy in the province, which has been “working hard to ensure the province is an attractive destination for investors looking to start or expand their businesses,” says Western Cape Finance and Economic Opportunities Minister David Maynier.

A new study using the MeerKAT radio telescope, in South Africa’s Northern Cape, has produced a striking image showing a combination of cosmic features never seen before, revealing unexpected details of the inner workings of enormous radio galaxies. At the centre of the giant elliptical galaxy IC 4296 is a rotating black hole with a mass of a billion suns.

German car maker BMW says it is making raw materials considered to be so-called ‘conflict minerals’ a special focus of its sustainability strategy.  This includes ores where mining or trading is often associated with violations of environmental and social standards.

DP World Maputo, which has the concession to manage, develop and operate the Maputo container terminal, in Mozambique, earlier this month launched its first dedicated container train service connecting Maputo and Harare, in Zimbabwe.  The company says the new service is part of its focus to expand its logistics and supply chain offering in the region, and key to its vision to connect Maputo with South Africa, Zimbabwe and Swaziland by rail.

The business sector, State-owned power utility Eskom and family members have paid tribute to Dr Jabu Mabuza, describing him as a man of integrity, courage and honesty. Mabuza passed away on June 16 from Covid-19-related complications. “Jabu was a role model for all South Africans who aspire to make a difference. He lifted himself up by his bootstraps, moving from being a successful small entrepreneur to becoming my predecessor as president of Business Unity South Africa,” Busa president Sipho Pityana comments.

The South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) has added its voice to the growing number of supportive voices following President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that the licensing threshold for embedded generation plants will increase to 100 MW. In welcoming the news, SAPVIA believes this increase will be viewed as a watershed moment for industry in South Africa, especially as the country works to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paramount Aerospace Systems, a subsidiary of aerospace and technology company Paramount Group, has moved its technical aviation academy to Wonderboom National Airport, adjacent to the company’s advanced aircraft manufacturing facility. Paramount Group originally launched its technical aviation academy in Polokwane and has, from its inception offered internationally-recognised aviation courses to train Africa’s future aircraft technicians, as demand for these professionals continues to increase across the continent and globally.