Новости за 23.06.2021

Information technology services company EOH has appointed Ziaad Suleman as iOCO chief commercial officer from July 1. iOCO is the company's systems integrator and its largest business. Suleman will report to EOH group CEO Stephen van Coller.

The Institute of Risk Management South Africa (IRMSA) has appointed Pat Semenya CEO, effective July 1. She succeeds Gillian le Cordeur, who has led the organisation for the past ten years.

Majority black-women-owned platinum fuel cell venture Bambili Energy is working on 15 hydrogen and fuel cell-linked deployment projects that are expected to be completed by March next year. Bambili CEO Zanele Mavuso Mbatha is a former key shareholder in Incwala Resources, which partnered with Lonmin plc. (Also watch attached Creamer Media video.)

Business organisation Sakeliga has appointed nonexecutive director Russell Lamberti chief economist, effective September 1. He will be responsible for economic and policy analysis at the organisation, aimed at regulatory reform and developing private sector solutions.

TSX-V-listed Tsodilo Resources has entered into a research collaboration with the Department of Chemical, Materials and Metallurgical Engineering at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST) and Morupule Coal Mine (MCM) to undertake metallurgical studies with respect to the potential of generating a pellet feed and direct reduced iron (DRI) product from the Xaudum Iron Formation (XIF) using its magnetite and MCM’s coal as a reductant. Commercially, these high-grade pellets... Читать дальше...

Natural gas and helium producer Renergen has halted trading in its securities from June 23 to June 24 on the ASX, pending an announcement of the company entering a capital raise. Renergen is raising the proceeds for the completion of the Phase 2 studies of the Virginia gas project, and building up additional financial resources following delays suffered last year as a result of the wide-scale lockdowns and to bolster the already successful drilling campaign.

The Republic of South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum (MoP) has launched the country’s first oil licensing round. The MoP has identified new exploration blocks with potential hydrocarbons and has compiled crucial data to provide to interested investors, operators and counterparties.

Given Africa’s rapidly growing population, demand for food is set to escalate dramatically in the medium term, creating new growth opportunities in agriculture. By 2030, 20% of the world’s population is expected to be in Africa. The growing population will place immense pressure on Africa’s food supply, consequently requiring substantial investment, particularly from the private sector, to guarantee food security.

Deputy Minister of Employment and Labour Boitumelo Moloi said on Wednesday that while the Covid-19 pandemic has been catastrophic, it has, in many ways, presented a lot of economic reset opportunities in the process. She was addressing delegates at the launch of Switzerland's Institute of Management Development’s 2021 World Competitiveness Yearbook Survey. South Africa ranked sixty-first in economic performance, government efficiency and infrastructure and fifty-eighth in business efficiency.

Clean energy asset developer, manager and owner Decentral Energy has inked a R115-million loan agreement with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) to develop and expand its pipeline of solar assets. Decentral is a South African renewable energy investor that is mandated to invest in small-scale clean energy assets installed on commercial and industrial sites.

The “devastation” of the Covid-19 pandemic on South Africa’s small-, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMMEs) cannot be underplayed, nor can the importance thereof be over-emphasised, Department of Small Business Development chief director Mojalefo Mohoto has said. Speaking during a Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies- (TIPS-) hosted webinar on June 23, Mohoto stressed the impact of the pandemic on SMMEs, as well as the economic struggles brought about as a result of the subsequent lockdowns.

The rise in South Africa’s inflation rate to a 30-month high is unlikely to bring forward an interest-rate hike as the central bank had forecast a second-quarter spike in price growth. Consumer prices rose 5.2% in May from a year earlier, compared with 4.4% in April, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said Wednesday in a statement on its website. That matched the median of 15 economists’ estimates and was above the 4.5% midpoint of the central bank’s target range for the first time in 15 months.

Energy engineering company SEM Solutions has completed the installation of a 393 kW solar photovoltaic (PV) system on the roof of the Neelsie Student Centre at Stellenbosch University (SU). The power generated by the PV modules provides a third of the energy requirements of the student centre, says SU environmental sustainability manager John de Wet.

Wood-fibre products multinational Sappi has joined bioeconomy global movement the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance (CBA). “Sappi’s purpose and vision aligns very closely with the CBA. We fully support the work of the CBA in facilitating a science-informed dialogue and in demonstrating on the ground through targeted investments the potential of a circular bioeconomy in the global South,” Sappi group sustainability and research and development GM Dr Tracy Wessels says.

Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) is reviving discussions on a potential exit from South African fuel retailer business Engen, people familiar with the matter said. The Malaysian state energy company is studying options for its 74% stake in Engen, including a sale or initial public offering, according to the people. It has recently been fielding preliminary interest from potential buyers, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.

Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (DTIC) and Macsteel have reached a legal settlement in a case brought by the steel merchant after government extended the implementation of safeguard duties on hot-rolled coil (HRC) imports in August last year. The case was settled in the High Court, in Pretoria, on June 22 following an agreement that, once the current 8% safeguard expires in August, there be a moratorium on the implementation of further safeguard duties on HRC for at least the next two years.

The Road Freight Association (RFA) has called for the national general fuel levy (GFL) to be ring-fenced and used to fund road infrastructure by allocating it to the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral). "Roads should be funded by the GFL. If this levy had been applied solely to roads, this would have ensured that periodic maintenance would occur and South Africa would not have devastated roads," RFA CEO Gavin Kelly states.

Nearly 8 000 people living on and around the railway lines on Cape Town’s central line have been fingered as the spanner in the works in the battle to get the defunct route back up and running. Metrorail Western Cape manager Richard Walker on Tuesday told the Western Cape legislature's Standing Committee on Transport and Public Works that 7 844 dwellings have been erected on its land in Langa, Nonqubela and Philippi, affecting its ability to restore operation.

Prominent businessman Sipho Pityana says the trust gap between business and society can only be closed when the private sector addresses the full spectrum of challenges faced in South Africa. Pityana, as chairperson of Izingwe Capital, spoke during the Trialogue Business in Society virtual conference, which was held in the week of June 22.

The Information Regulator said that it may exempt some public or private bodies from the conditions for the processing of certain personal information in certain circumstances. Stakeholders can, under Section 37 of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia), which came into effect July 1, apply for exemption as long as it is in the public interest or there is “clear benefit” to the data subject.

Paper and packaging multinational Mondi has approved a €125-million capital investment project at its semi-chemical fluting mill in Kuopio, Finland, to increase the facility’s capacity by about 55 000 t/y to meet growing customer demand, enhance product quality and cost-competitiveness. The investment will also help to strengthen the mill’s environmental performance.

A $500-million US fund to compensate relatives of 346 people killed in two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes has opened, the claim administrators told Reuters on Tuesday. The fund, which opened on Monday, is part of a settlement with the US Justice Department. Boeing Co in January agreed to pay $500-million to compensate the heirs, relatives and beneficiaries of the passengers who died in Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2018 and 2019.

Four years in, the Small-Scale Grower Cane Development project has recorded notable successes, with over 860 sustainable jobs created and 3 000 ha of cane developed on communal land owned by small-scale growers. Tasneem Bulbulia elaborates.