Category: Southern Africa
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S.A: 12 Month guide to financial stability
This coming year will no doubt be a tough financial year for all South Africans, with economists warning all to tighten their belts. In light of all the challenges that people face, it is essential to take control of one’s finances in 2017 to avoid falling into financial hardship. Below is a month-to-month financial planning…
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Silver lining for S.A agriculture
How the agricultural sector will help tame food inflation in 2017. The current rains are a welcome relief to farmers; they are the proverbial silver lining in what has been a gloomy season. “The past year has been testing for the industry; the drought has had an impact on the economy with South Africa’s gross…
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Zimbabwe reverses telecoms price hike after public backlash
Zimbabwe has reversed a decision to impose a drastic increase in mobile phone data charges, which provoked an angry response from customers and critics who accused President Robert Mugabe’s government of trying to curtail the use of social media. Last year activists used the Internet to mobilise the biggest anti-government protests in a decade, bypassing…
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South Africa’s Harmony Gold says strike at mine resolved
South Africa’s Harmony Gold has brought all employees at its Kusasalethu mine to the surface and will restart production after an illegal sit-in of nearly 48 hours, the bullion miner said on Friday. About 1,700 workers at the mine situated 70 km from Johannesburg brought production to a standstill on Wednesday, demanding payment of a…
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South Africa’s cenbank to weigh in on Barclays Africa bailout report
South Africa’s central bank will give extensive comment to the anti-graft watchdog about a preliminary report claiming Barclays Africa Group benefited from an apartheid-era bailout, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told talk radio 702 on Friday. The Mail & Guardian newspaper reported that Absa, a unit of Barclays Africa Group, could be forced to pay 2.25 billion…
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South Africa grain industry group sees 2017 maize surplus
South African industry group Grain SA sees a 2017 maize surplus after last year’s drought-induced deficit and its surveys show farmers have planted 2.4 million hectares this season, an 18 percent increase over 2016, its chief executive said on Thursday. “What I’ve learned from our surveys and discussions with the farmers is that we will…
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Zimbabwe: With Water Short, Zimbabwe’s Farmers Turn to Capturing Rain
Kuziwa Matongo’s rainwater harvesting system may not look like much, but its impact is huge. Triangular metal gutters run below the corrugated roofs on all the buildings at his home, transporting water into storage tanks below. The spartan system allows Matongo to collect enough water to get through the dry season – an ever more…
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Zimbabwe: ‘Command Agric’ Project Benefits Women
The Government-initiated Command Agriculture programme has benefited women who had the zeal to farm but were facing challenges in accessing loans from banks due to stringent requirements, a beneficiary of the programme Mrs Patience Tapomwa of Belford North Estate in Mazowe has said. Mrs Tapomwa, a beneficiary of the land reform programme, committed 40 hectares…
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South Africa: R12 Million for Foreign Firm to Manage SA’s Airline Mergers
It will cost government R12.1m to make use of the services of Bain and Company, the Boston-based consultancy firm appointed to manage the merger of South Africa’s three state airlines – SAA, Mango and SA Express, said Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown. Responding to a parliamentary question posed by the DA’s Alf Lees, Brown said…
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South Africa: Cape Town’s Water Usage Up, Despite Calls to Cut Down
Cape Town’s water consumption increased between the last week of 2016 and the first week of 2017, despite calls to use less. The city’s residents used 859 million litres of water per day between January 2 and 8, compared to 835 million litres in the last week of December, the City said in a statement…