Новости за 12.11.2021

JSE-listed Famous Brands has appointed Deon Fredericks as group FD from December 1. Fredericks succeeds Lebo Ntlha, following her resignation earlier this year.

Developing sustainable rural hamlets and villages will not only help to counteract urbanisation, but also enable livelihoods to be created in rural areas where 40% of South Africans live, rural development company Crossways Farm Village co-developer Dr Chris Mulder said this week. Towns and cities the world over developed from villages growing and eventually merging. South Africa should focus on creating smart and sustainable villages in rural areas that provide good living standards, he suggested during a webinar hosted by Rode and Associates.

The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) says the tariffs achieved during the fifth bid window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) confirm its previous analysis showing that renewable energy is the lowest cost generation option available for South Africa. In late October, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced the names of 25 preferred bidders to build 13 wind and 12 solar projects with a combined capacity of 2 583 MW.

Highveld Robusteel will be acquiring the remaining iron and steelmaking assets of Evraz Highveld Steel & Vanadium, business rescue practitioner Piers Marsden confirmed on November 12. The transaction is the first of Robusteel’s strategic acquisitions in the steel, mining, minerals beneficiation and infrastructure sectors within the Southern African Development Community, with financial support garnered from several major international and local funders.

South African pharmaceuticals company Ascendis Health’s board of directors continues to consider nonbinding proposals and expressions of interest (EoIs) for the acquisition of Ascendis Health shares. The company on November 12 said it continues to receive a number of these, though it advised shareholders that they should “base their investment decisions regarding Ascendis Health shares on announcements published by the company itself and not on information from other sources”, as that information... Читать дальше...

The growth in residential house prices has started to moderate and, despite low interest rates, buyers remain cautious and sellers may need to rein in their price expectations. Further, the oversupply of commercial office space and residential flats is expected to remain until general economic growth drives demand higher and vaccination rates improve.

Data and analytics company GlobalData reports that weakness in availability of lithium-ion battery materials in Western countries is set to impede electric vehicle (EV) adoption and serves to demonstrate China’s dominance of the EV market. China dominates the lithium-ion battery supply chain, specifically in terms of battery cells, cathode and anode production and chemical refining.

Mineral exploration should be incentivised so that South Africa’s great mineral endowment can be optimally leveraged to lower unemployment, improve export revenues, and strengthen this country’s gross domestic product (GDP). That is the view of Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) mining, metals and beneficiation head Thabiso Sekano.

To address a widening digital skills gap in South Africa, the Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority (Chieta) has signed an memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone (SBIDZ) Licencing Company. This was done to establish a new fully automated smart skills centre in the region, which will focus on basic digital skills and is aimed at addressing the digital skills divide in the district, as well as helping surrounding businesses and rural community members to learn technology-related skills.

Investment management company Climate Fund Managers (CFM) has closed its second blended finance global climate fund initiative – Climate Investor Two (CI2) – at $642-million for Africa, South and Southeast Asia, and Latin America. CI2 follows the establishment of its first initiative – Climate Investor One (CI1) – and will provide expertise, technology and financing to infrastructure projects in emerging markets by mobilising private sector financing at scale, supported by catalytic public sector donor funding.

The Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), which was delivered by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana on November 11, has been welcomed by the business sector, but concerns remain about the high public sector wage bill and how government will go about dealing with high debt servicing costs. Industry organisations the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) and Agri SA say the Minister has shown continuity with the prior Finance Minister in that growth and reform is a key theme of the budget policy statement.

The Energy Efficiency Showcase and Awards Event, held on November 12, recognised five projects that use German technologies to enhance energy efficiency in South African industry and buildings. The awards were given to projects that show innovative German energy efficiency technologies in areas of application highly replicable and relevant to South Africa, including compressed air, lighting solutions, pumping, combined heat and power, and energy management systems.

As Eskom exited one of its most intensive periods of load-shedding on Friday November 12, CEO Andre de Ruyter promised greater transparency in future on both the state and performance of the power system given the likelihood that the risk of disruption will persist for the coming three to four years. The State-owned utility suspended its latest bout of load-shedding – initially implemented at Stage 2 on November 5, but then swiftly escalated to Stage 4 before being trimmed back to Stage 2 almost a week later – early on Friday morning.

Peugeot has unveiled its newest addition to the local market in the form of the Landtrek one-ton pickup. “The new Landtrek enables Peugeot to make a comeback in a market where it has a very strong heritage, fuelled by numerous racing victories. It personifies the DNA of legendary models such the 404 wagon and the 504 pickup,” says the French vehicle manufacturer.

Worldwide, airline CFOs and Heads of Cargo are displaying strong optimism regarding profits and air passenger and cargo demand. This is the outcome of a survey by the sector’s global representative body, the International Air Transport Association (Iata), conducted in mid-October and published in the association’s Airline Business Confidence Index: October 2021 Survey. Regarding profitability, the improving trend, previously noted by Iata, continued during the three months covered by the new survey. Читать дальше...

As government rolls out the second Vooma Vaccination Weekend this weekend, Business for South Africa is calling on people over the age of 12, and especially those over the age of 50, to take advantage of the weekend vaccination sites ahead of the upcoming holiday season.  B4SA chair Martin Kingston said to get ahead of the expected fourth wave, as many people as possible need to get vaccinated. He said the private sector will be supporting government’s vaccination drive, including ensuring that over... Читать дальше...

The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has launched its Climate Change and Green Growth Framework – the first of its kind by any multilateral development bank – at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. Speaking at the Africa Day celebrations at the Africa Pavilion earlier this week, AfDB climate and green growth division officer-in-charge and manager Al Hamndou Dorsouma said the framework strengthens the AfDB’s ambition and vision to address climate change and promote green growth... Читать дальше...

Schneider Electric has appointed Taru Madangombe as Africa power and grid segment regional leader and Vladimir Milovanovic as Anglophone Africa power systems VP. In a statement, the company says their appointments represent Schneider Electric’s continued commitment to the ever-evolving power and grid marketplaces in Africa.

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

A common thread throughout the second Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium South Africa (SIDSSA), held on October 6 and 7, is that the fiscus, as well as the State’s professional capacity, is constrained. While the SIDSSA updated the public on the progress of projects under the sustainable infrastructure development systems, and presented projects to the market to attract funding, the issue of constrained State capacity needs to be addressed to ensure that projects are efficiently developed.