Business News Leaders

WATCH: Have the rules of sports sponsorship game changed thanks to Covid?

The COVID-19 pandemic has altered sports sponsorship For much of the pandemic, the world’s leading athletes were sidelined, working for reduced pay, playing to empty seats or isolated in competitive bubbles designed to thwart a pandemic that has sapped billions in revenue from professional sports. Still, for the best of…

27 Sep 2021 7AM 26 min

Watch: Spur sees early signs of a recovery

Spur says a slight pickup in franchised restaurant sales serves as an early sign of a positive recovery. The multi-brand restaurant franchisor has reported a 1% rise in restaurant sales for its full year, largely driven by the South African market. Alishia Seckam unpacked the results with CEO Val Nichas.

23 Sep 2021 2PM 6 min

Watch: Spur sees early signs of a recovery

Spur says a slight pickup in franchised restaurant sales serves as an early sign of a positive recovery. The multi-brand restaurant franchisor has reported a 1% rise in restaurant sales for its full year, largely driven by the South African market. Alishia Seckam unpacked the results with CEO Val Nichas.

23 Sep 2021 2PM 6 min

Watch: Reserve Bank keeps rates on hold

The Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee has kept the benchmark interest rate at a historic low of 3.5% and has upped its growth forecast for this year to 5.3% from 4.2% previously. Alishia Seckam spoke to Kevin Lings, Chief Economist at Stanlib for his take on the decision

23 Sep 2021 2PM 7 min

The week in perspective

We’re back to late night reshuffles as the president wielded the axe last night with the most significant change for the economy in the Treasury after Tito Mboweni decided he had enough cooking the budget, a job he had taken on reluctantly when Cyril first asked him to come back…

6 Aug 2021 2AM 25 min

Liberty ups defenses against impact of Covid-19

Liberty has topped up on its pandemic reserves by R1bn and this has led the group to report an interim normalised operating loss of R465mn. Alishia Seckam spoke to Liberty CEO David Munro for more insight into how the company is preparing to ride out the Covid​-19 pandemic.

4 Aug 2021 2AM 8 min

Vaccine rollout offers blueprint for future collaboration

South Africa passed the milestone of administering seven million Covid-19 vaccinations last week despite the drug supply limiting efforts to reach higher daily targets. We are still in the ramp up phase, but it would be churlish to continue to bang on about our slow start and not recognise that…

4 Aug 2021 2AM 27 min

Why the local asset management industry needs to change

Despite a number of boutique asset management firms entering the market over the past few year, the industry remains heavily concentrated. According to the latest figures from the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa, the seven largest firms in the collective investment schemes industry have a market share of…

4 Aug 2021 2AM 4 min

What will be Telkom’s new CEO’s top priorities

Telkom has announced that Serame Taukobong will be taking over from Sipho Maseko as the company's CEO in July 2022. Alishia Seckam spoke to Taukobong to find out what he’ll be bringing to the leadership role.

4 Aug 2021 2AM 6 min

Weaker dollar and commodity prices boost rand

The local unit has bounced back, recovering from last month's slump where it almost crossed the R15 to the dollar mark. This has mainly been driven by commodity prices and a weaker dollar.​ Business Day TV discussed the activity playing out in the currency scene with RMB's John Cairns. ​

3 Aug 2021 2AM 4 min

Royal Bafokeng Platinum quintuples cash pile

Royal Bafokeng Platinum says its net cash pile rose more than five-fold to R3.6 billion rand during its first half, thanks to higher platinum group metals prices during the period. Alishia Seckam unpacked the performance with CFO Hanré Rossouw.

3 Aug 2021 2AM 7 min

Covid-19 threatens retirement savings - Sanlam

The National Treasury has proposed a ‘two-pot system’ for withdrawals from pension funds, with up to one-third being accessible before retirement. The consideration comes as Sanlam warns that the economic impact of the pandemic poses a threat to retirement savings. Alishia Seckam spoke to Avishal Seeth, Head of Sanlam Umbrella…

3 Aug 2021 2AM 6 min

Absa PMI plunges to weakest level in 14 months

Absa's purchasing managers’ index fell to a 14-month low in July, highlighting the effect of stricter lockdown measures associated with the third wave of Covid-19, as well as the fallout of recent violent protests. Alishia Seckam spoke to Miyelani Maluleke, Senior Economist at Absa for more.

2 Aug 2021 2AM 6 min

Medupi power station completed

The Medupi coal-fired power station is finally complete. Work on the project was supposed to come to an end in 2015 but design defects led to delays and cost overruns. Alishia Seckam spoke to Eskom CEO André de Ruyter about what the completion of the Medupi power project will mean…

2 Aug 2021 2AM 7 min

Construction sector develops industry master plan

South Africa’s construction sector stakeholders are engaging with the Department of Trade and Industry and Competition over the development of master plan for the sector. The plan seeks to resolve structural issues and clarify the role of small and medium-sized enterprises in the industry. Alishia Seckam spoke to PPC Southern…

30 Jul 2021 2AM 8 min

The week in review

Rather than capital, I feel like Chinese regulators never sleep. Over the past nine months, Ant Group's IPO got pulled, Community Group Buying players were fined for price dumping, Alibaba was fined for anti-monopoly violations and Meituan was also fined for anti-monopoly violations. Just like Oprah dishes out cars, every…

30 Jul 2021 2AM 24 min

Imperial Logistics makes good on its 'Gateway to Africa' strategy

Imperial Logistics is growing it's African footprint. The company has acquired J&J Group, an African-based transport firm, for R4.4bb. The deal gives Imperial access to new regions and corridors on the continent. Alishia Seckam spoke to Mohammed Akoojee, CEO of Imperial for more detail.

29 Jul 2021 2AM 7 min

Sustainable Finance Instruments

On this special edition of Future of Business with Nedbank CIB - BusinessDay TV speaks to the Head of Sustainable Finance Solutions at Nedbank CIB, Arvana Singh, about sustainable finance instruments. These issues are particularly relevant in a world in which the fundamentals remain weak in the wake of continued…

29 Jul 2021 2AM 5 min

Manufacturing - a gangster’s paradise

Manufacturing was starting to show tentative signs of recovery before the riots. Let’s not forget that the sector was on its knees before Covid struck due to a range of factors from loadshedding to steel input costs, disagreements on how to pursue localisation, issues around competitiveness and dealing with leaky…

29 Jul 2021 2AM 24 min

ArcelorMittal SA returns to profit

ArcelorMittal SA is back in the black after steel prices surged during its half-year period. Alishia Seckam unpacked the performance in detail with the group’s CEO, Kobus Verster.

29 Jul 2021 2AM 8 min