Category: Southern Africa

South Africa’s cash-strapped national carrier plans to raise 16 billion rand ($1 billion) from banks and other financial institutions, a newspaper notice showed, days after saying it could pay its debts. State-owned South African Airlines is seeking secured and unsecured funding with a 3 to 15 year duration and wants to start drawing down the…

The Gupta family arrived in South Africa in the early 1990s. Since then they have accumulated a large amount of wealth through their interests in mining, ICT and engineering. Oakbay Investments is the holding company for the family’s businesses. According to the company’s website, Oakbay Investments has invested more than R10 billion in the country…

The National Energy Regulator (NERSA) today announced that it will be appealing the North Gauteng High Court judgement delivered on 16 August 2016 regarding NERSA’s earlier decision on the approval of Eskom’s Multi-Year Price Determination (MYPD 3) Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) for the 2013/14 financial year. The decision under review concerns NERSA’s approval of the…

South Africa’s presidency on Thursday defended plans to give President Jacob Zuma supervision over state-owned companies after allies of under-fire Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said it was a tool to limit his control. Cabinet announced on Monday that a new committee on state-owned enterprises (SOEs) would be set-up to “provide Zuma line of sight on…

South African assets slumped on Wednesday after an elite police unit summoned Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan over an investigation into a suspected rogue spy unit in the tax service, fuelling speculation that there was a plot to oust him. Gordhan and other former officials at the South African Revenue Service (SARS) must report to the…

Zimbabwe’s government plans to abolish about half the jobs in the agriculture department, a government official said on Wednesday, as President Robert Mugabe’s administration struggles to pay public service wages. The southern African nation is facing a biting shortage of cash, its worst since 2009 when it dumped its hyperinflation-wrecked currency in favour of the…

With their country in post-election disarray over allegations of vote rigging and the economy in a tailspin, Zambians like pensioner Memory Musonda are struggling to cope and fear that help will not come soon. Depressed global commodity prices have slashed Zambia’s receipts for copper, its top export, and in turn have caused a 9 percent…

Zimbabwe has stopped hiring new state workers after failing to pay its soldiers and teachers on time, according to an official notice, as President Robert Mugabe’s government struggles with a big financial squeeze. The southern African nation dumped its hyperinflation-hit currency in 2009 and adopted the U.S. dollar, but it is facing biting dollar shortages…