BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Nigeria heads for recession as coronavirus takes toll

Abuja — Nigeria might fall into recession in the third quarter, the head of the country's budget office said on Thursday, citing the affect of low oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic. The continent's top oil producer faces its worst economic crisis in four decades in the wake of an…

27 Aug 2020 2PM 1 min

Corruption to dominate agenda at ANC meeting

The ANC is set to go into a critical meeting this weekend in which it will have to determine how it deals with members who are accused of corruption, less than a week after its president, Cyril Ramaphosa, drew a line in the sand to isolate corrupt officials. The corruption…

27 Aug 2020 2PM 4 min

Cyril Ramaphosa defends ‘cheap’ IMF loan

President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday defended the government’s decision to approach the IMF for financial assistance, saying the loan has no stringent conditions attached to it and came cheap. Responding to questions in the National Assembly, Ramaphosa said the loan from the lender of last resort will go a long…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 3 min

Zimbabwe’s treatment of its citizens makes things ripe for a coup

Ahead of planned mass protests on July 31, Zimbabwe’s state security apparatus cracked down on citizens. Largely initiated via social media, the calls for the protests galvanised popular sentiment and mobilised citizens to exercise a co-ordinated political voice against corruption, the failing economy and repression. The regime responded by sending…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 5 min

World Bank pauses ‘Doing Business’ reports due to data irregularities

Washington — The World Bank said on Thursday that it is pausing publication of its “Doing Business” report to probe data collection irregularities in the closely watched annual ranking of countries’ business and investment climates. The World Bank said in a statement that it will conduct a systematic review of…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 2 min

Trial of potential Covid-19 treatment begins in SA

Scientists at Cape Town’s Groote Schuur Hospital have begun enrolling volunteers in a phase 3 trial investigating the potential of the drug nitazoxanide to treat Covid-19. It is one of several drugs scientists hope to repurpose for treating patients infected with Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. Nitazoxanide was discovered…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 2 min

Gold falls and yields gain after Fed comments

New York — Gold fell in volatile trading on Thursday as the US dollar and Treasury yields rose after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell shifted the central bank's inflation target in a widely expected move. Spot gold fell 1.72% to $1,921.10/oz after midday in New York. Prices had risen as…

27 Aug 2020 1PM 1 min

New Post Office board members appointed amid leadership battle

Five new people have been appointed to the SA Post Office board, amid a battle between the board and shareholder minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams over appointments and her alleged interference in operations. Sapo — which suffered more than R1bn in losses in the past financial year, extending its money-losing streak to…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min

Government mulls setting up special courts to tackle Covid-19 graft

President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government is looking into establishing special courts, similar to those set up for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, in a bid to tackle corruption allegations related to Covid-19 procurement. Responding to questions in the National Assembly on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the state was also considering…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 4 min

African Development Bank re-elects Adesina for five-year term

Abidjan — African Development Bank (AfDB) president Akinwumi Adesina has been re-elected for another five-year term following a tumultuous three months that divided shareholders. He received 100% support, the Ivory Coast-based lender said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. “As shareholders, we strongly support the bank and will give him…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 1 min

Hurricane Laura hits Lake Charles in Louisiana, causing huge destruction

Houston, Texas — Hurricane Laura made landfall early on Thursday in southwestern Louisiana as one of the most powerful storms to hit the state, shattering glass windows and tearing roofs off buildings in Lake Charles as it moved northward to drench the inland. Residents of Lake Charles, Louisiana, heard Laura's…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 4 min

Jerome Powell takes more relaxed position on inflation

Washington — Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell announced a new approach to monetary policy on Thursday that takes a more relaxed stance on inflation and on its view of how low US unemployment can go. Powell said the Fed would seek inflation that averages 2% over time — a step…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min

Show us the money, SAA unions tell the government

The majority trade union alliance at SAA has called on members not to sign voluntary severance agreements until the department of public enterprises can show them it has the money. The department negotiated generous voluntary severance packages for which 3,110 out of 4,661 employees applied. But there has always been…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min

EDITORIAL: Right now, it’s sensible to be bearish on cash

The latest survey of local fund managers by Bank of America Securities certainly gives a mixed picture. Bank of America Securities is better known in SA as as Merrill Lynch, its name before the corporate dealing that emerged from the debris of the global financial crisis. The survey revealed that…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 3 min

Study rates chances of reaching Everest summit

Kathmandu — Climbers tackling Mount Everest are twice as likely to make it to the summit and slightly less likely to die than two decades ago, despite a sharp increase in crowding in the “death zone”, a study released on Wednesday shows. From 2006 to 2019, about two-thirds of climbers…

27 Aug 2020 11AM 2 min

Reserve Bank could lighten an efficient government’s load

The severe economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic will cause an already bad fiscal situation to become even worse, with the government’s main budget deficit sure to reach more than double last year’s 6.7% of GDP. Equally, it should surprise no-one if the gross debt load races past 80% of…

27 Aug 2020 10AM 6 min

Trump says he saved 51-million jobs in pandemic but economists disagree

Boston/Washington — Standing before six US flags during a press conference at his country club in Bedminster, New Jersey, President Donald Trump heralded what has become a central plank of his argument for re-election in November: his administration’s handling of the economic fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic “Through the historic…

27 Aug 2020 9AM 6 min

Saudi Arabia reforms death sentences for minors

Riyadh — Saudi Arabia’s public prosecutor referred for review death sentences given to three young men whose alleged crimes occurred when they were minors, reflecting a royal order halting the use of capital punishment in such cases. The sentencing of Ali al-Nimr, Dawoud al-Marhoon and Abdullah al-Zaher — which caused…

27 Aug 2020 9AM 2 min

Give Competition Commission powers to fine tampering with tenders

Reports of inflated bids to supply personal protective equipment (PPE) to the government during the national lockdown raise concerns that competition in a wide range of critical markets in SA is being disrupted by fraud, nepotism and corruption. Tenders are among the most powerful means to foster efficient markets and…

27 Aug 2020 8AM 5 min

Russia succumbs to pressure to investigate Alexei Navalny illness

Moscow — Russian authorities have announced a preliminary probe into the sudden illness last week of opposition leader Alexei Navalny after Western leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, called for an investigation of the high-profile case. The Russian interior ministry called the probe a “pre-investigation check” and repeated the Kremlin’s…

27 Aug 2020 8AM 2 min