Category: Southern Africa

Chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Majid Saif Al Ghurair, firmly believes that South Africa remains the gateway to the continent. He says the country’s current low economic growth rate can be turned around very quickly if changes to legislation are made that will open up key sectors of the economy to…

The World Bank is delaying approval of further development loans to Mozambique pending a debt sustainability analysis to be conducted with the International Monetary Fund, a spokesman said on Wednesday. The IMF said last week Mozambique had admitted to having more than $1 billion of undisclosed debt and that the two parties were evaluating the…

LOCAL clothing retailers are lobbying Government to impose a ban on finished clothes, saying the influx of imports, mainly from Asian countries were hurting their operations. Industry players told The Herald Business they were facing unfair competition from imported products mainly from China and Dubai. Retailers such as Edgars and Power Sales are also importing…

Starbucks Corp. will invest R130m ($9.13m) in South Africa over the next two years as the company starts its expansion in the continent’s most developed economy. The world’s largest coffee-shop chain has been focused on adding locations in emerging markets, including China and India. The moves come as same-store sales gains shrink in Starbucks’ Americas…

South Africa’s state-owned financier of black ownership deals wants to take part in a legal dispute between the government and a group representing mining companies over a law on black holdings in the industry. The request by the National Empowerment Fund comes after the Chamber of Mines asked the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria…

The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday that Mozambique has admitted to having over one billion dollars of undisclosed debt and the two sides were now evaluating the implications of this disclosure. The IMF learned of the undisclosed borrowing last week but Mozambique’s Finance Minister Adriano Meleiane initially dismissed the suggestion, speaking only of “some…

As the country’s growth outlook worsens, foreign investors are piling into government bonds to profit from junk-level returns on debt that’s rated investment grade. Yet all of that money is flowing out again as investors dump stocks at the fastest pace in at least ten years. Foreigners have bought a net R35.7 billion ($2.46 billion) of…

Spain’s Valencia Chamber of Commerce’s chairman, José Vicente Morata, is currently in Angola to promote and attract private investment while encouraging exports between the two countries, according to media reports. Agência Angola Press (ANGOP) reported that Morata arrived in Angola on April 24 and will promote the internationalisation of Angolan and Spanish companies. Among other…

The South African government assigned Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan, Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant and Mineral Resources Minister, Mosebenzi Zwane, to “engage” with the big-four banks that have cut ties with the Guptas. The Gupta family has been at the centre of controversy in South Africa with allegations including state capture and having a corrupt relationship…

Shouting, sweating and stamping their feet, dozens of farm labourers fill Tinago Chisvo’s makeshift office to demand their money, as the tobacco farmer desperately tries to explain the crisis that has hit his farm. Nobody listens. “We don’t want to hear stories,” bellows one angry labourer. “You must just pay us for the job we…