Новости за 30.09.2021

International Air Transport Association (Iata) regional VP: Africa and the Middle East Kamil Al Awadhi told journalists on Thursday that he had had a constructive meeting with South African Deputy Minister of Transport Lydia Chikunga. Al Awadhi has been on a three-nation African visit and briefed journalists at Iata’s Johannesburg office. Iata, which is the representative body for the global airline industry, has had a number of concerns regarding the South African civil aviation sector. Before the Covid-19 pandemic... Читать дальше...

The recovery of global manufacturing will be muted this year, with ongoing semiconductor shortages, rising freight costs and growing worker scarcities continuing to create problems for manufacturers, market intelligence firm Interact Analysis states. In its latest Manufacturing Industry Output Tracker, the organisation forecast global output would hit $41.9-trillion, compared with $39.3-trillion in 2020. The contraction in 2020 was smaller than initially anticipated, Interact Analysis reports.

The Energy Regulator has voted to reject Eskom’s fifth multiyear price determination (MYPD5) application for the three financial years from 2022/23 to 2024/25 and will now request the utility to make a new one-year submission "preferably based on the principles of a new [methodology] approach that is under consideration". The State-owned utility told Engineering News & Mining Weekly that it was “considering the options available to it in terms of the law” following the decision and stressed that... Читать дальше...

South African municipalities’ budget frameworks are at risk of being compromised by a three-year deal that granted their workers inflation-beating increases. Municipalities’ employee-related costs rose 5.2% in the year through June, Statistics South Africa said Thursday in a quarterly report of financial statistics from selected areas. The costs include basic pay, benefits such as medical and pension contributions, and clothing and other allowances.

The record operational and financial performance of Northam Platinum in the 12 months to June 30 was accompanied by the creation of 2 335 new sustainable jobs, which takes the total generated by the platinum group metals (PGMs) mining company well-timed growth strategy from 2015 to 8 232. In addition, all of the company’s employees benefit from comprehensive health care, retirements benefits and home ownership assistance, with another 1 279 affordable homes being made available this year.

A new quantitative study on the impact of the location of housing development in Johannesburg on carbon emissions - by the research partnership of Divercity Urban Property Fund and the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA) - shows that where and how housing is built in the city has a massive effect on its residents’ carbon footprints. Against the backdrop of near-universal recognition of the importance of reducing carbon emissions, the findings of this research are particularly significant, Divercity and the GBCSA note.

A number of successes have been achieved following the first round of the Infrastructure Investment Programme for South Africa (IIPSA); however, moving forward, areas that still need work include creating an environment conducive for greater private sector investment and de-risking the space to enable private sector to play its role without fear. This was the general message from speakers during a IIPSA webinar, titled ‘Long-term infrastructure financing in an emerging market’, held by the National... Читать дальше...

Cabinet has announced that the next South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC) will take place in March next year rather than this year. Three such conferences have been held every year since 2018, with a hybrid physical/virtual event held during 2020, when Covid lockdowns restricted travel and large gatherings.

Unitrans Africa has acquired a fleet of the world’s largest spraying drones. The seven Chinese-made DJI T30 Agras drones were developed at a cost of more than R400-million. The T30 drones are already in operation in Malawi and Mozambique, with results exceeding expectations in terms of spraying precision and the optimal utilisation of chemicals, thereby reducing costs and ensuring that each crop’s specific needs are met, says the company.

The South Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) is calling on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to take immediate steps to remove South Africa from Britain’s travel red list. In a meeting convened on September 27, leading South African scientists presented the latest pandemic data to the UK’s Joint Biosecurity Centre in a virtual meeting. South African scientists, led by Department of Health acting director-general Nicholas Crisp set out compelling evidence to address the key criteria applied... Читать дальше...

Mahindra South Africa has introduced the concept of a dedicated Mahindra certified pre-owned vehicle franchise. This is a dedicated used-vehicle division that is being launched at qualifying Mahindra dealers across South Africa.

Crowd-based solar leasing platform Sun Exchange has secured $2.5-million in convertible note financing from Mauritian private equity fund ARPF, which is advised by London-based ARCH Emerging Markets Partners (ARCH). This follows the company’s close of a $4-million Series A funding round in 2020, led by a $3-million investment from ARCH.

The German government will contribute €100-million to the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (Sefa), affirming its commitment to efforts to tap Africa’s renewable energy potential and drive its transition to clean energy sources. The funding will be used to unlock private sector investment in green baseload projects. Specifically, it will support technical assistance and investment in power generation, transmission and distribution to increase penetration of renewable power in African grids.

A protracted strike in the metals and engineering sector would severely undermine the nascent recovery under way in the industry following what was a deep Covid-linked slump in 2020, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (Seifsa) warned on Thursday. Speaking at the launch of a report on the sector’s performance during the first half of 2021, CEO Lucio Trentini said the industry was on a “precipice”, after the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) served... Читать дальше...

South Africa’s energy minister encouraged investment in technology that could potentially prolong the use of coal by mitigating emissions while a visiting delegation of rich nations were working on a plan to end the nation’s dependence on the fossil fuel. The call by Mineral and Energy Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe at a mining investment conference comes as envoys from the US, UK, Germany, France and the European Union meet with South African ministers, labour and business leaders around a $5-billion... Читать дальше...

Although transactions are increasingly moving online, physical outlets remain crucial to effectively serve retail customers, real estate investment trust Redefine Properties national retail asset manager Nashil Chotoki said this week. He told investors during a briefing on September 29 that, to ensure the sustainability of retail properties, there was a need to balance the capacity to serve customers at physical locations against the convenience and choice afforded by online commerce channels and platforms.

State-owned asset manager the Public Investment Corporation’s (PIC’s) assets under management (AuM) for the financial year ended March 31 grew by almost R440-billion, from R1.9-trillion in the previous year to R2.34-trillion. The PIC tabled its integrated yearly report before Parliament on September 29, in line with legislative requirements.

The latest South African stock exchange opens Thursday pledging to lure firms from across the continent with listing costs that are a third of that charged by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. TWK Agri will be the first company to trade on the Cape Town Stock Exchange, which was previously called 4 Africa Exchange before an overhaul that resulted in the bourse becoming a full-fledged stock exchange, according to CEO Eugene Booysen. BKV Holdings will list a few weeks later.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has highlighted that its joint space mission with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa), BepiColombo, will make its first flyby of the planet Mercury in the early hours of Saturday morning, South African (and Central European) time. Saturday (October 2) will also be the 101st anniversary of the birth of the Italian scientist after whom the mission is named, Giuseppe ‘Bepi’ Colombo (1920-1984). The BepiColombo mission is focused on studying Mercury, and this... Читать дальше...

The normalised headline earnings of platinum group metals (PGMs) mining company Northam Platinum soared by more than 215% to R10.9-billion in the 12 months to June 30. The JSE-listed company stated on Thursday that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) were 176% higher, at R16.7-billion, and revenue 83%-higher revenue at R32.6-billion. The Ebitda margin rose to 51% from 33.8% in the previous 2020 financial year

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) has officially served a notice of strike action in the metals and engineering sector. The strike action will start at 05:00 on October 5 with a march in Gauteng, as well as potentially in KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town.

Sub-Saharan Africa needs $240-billion for the region to transition to a clean energy, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday. “We need grant funding to help us transition,” he said. “If we get the funding we will migrate far quicker to renewable energy.”

South32 has exercised its pre-emptive rights to acquire up to an additional 25% shareholding and related rights in Mozal Aluminium, from Mitsubishi’s MCA Metals. In doing so, the Sydney- and Johannesburg-listed diversified mining company will match a headline purchase price of $250-million to acquire the interest, taking South32’s ownership of the smelter up to 72.1%.