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BusinessLIVE - For Your Ear

Listen to the latest BusinessLIVE articles from the news desk of Business Day, Financial Mail and the Business Times.

This audio is produced directly from the text article.
Daily English South Africa Business News · News
12,931 Episodes
828 – 848

Use the fourth industrial revolution to disrupt the tenderpreneur industry

It was Archimedes, the original naked scientist, who said: “If I can find the leverage point, I can move the world.” His famous “law of the lever” implores us to seek those solutions that require minimum effort while yielding maximum benefit. The ease of rolling a heavy ball of steel…
18 Aug 2020 9AM 4 min

Sterling close to five-month high — but Brexit talks to restart

London — The pound approached a five-month high against the dollar on Tuesday, driven by weakness in the US currency, but analysts remained cautious about the outlook for sterling as a new round of Brexit talks began. The dollar index hit new lows on Tuesday, facing the triple woes of…
18 Aug 2020 8AM 2 min

Local groups and the UN help Zim farmers amid ongoing drought

Bulawayo — After long-running drought slashed their harvests, small-scale farmers in Lupane, western Zimbabwe, decided to switch away from irrigating their fields by flooding them, which wastes huge amounts of water. They tested out more precise drip-irrigation that saves water by delivering it to plants efficiently, while monitoring soil moisture…
18 Aug 2020 8AM 5 min

LETTER: Employment act needs a revamp for working remotely

Thank you to Gideon Du Plessis for pointing out some of the pros and cons of working remotely (Benefits can outweigh drawbacks in new workplace reality (, August 16). It is about time our nation looks at atypical employment. Before the pandemic our unemployment rate was statistically the worst in…
18 Aug 2020 7AM 1 min

LETTER: Farm school offers hope to Die Poort community

While everyone is preoccupied by staving off the dangers of Covid-19, frightened by a clutter of sad news about shuttered world economies, increased unemployment and thousands of fatalities as a result of the pandemic, it is encouraging to notice that amid the doom and gloom there is a reason to…
18 Aug 2020 6AM 2 min

Jet stream buckles as heat increases, causing more heatwaves

Boston — The heat rolled in, the lights went out, a fire tornado materialised in the sky and the hottest temperature anywhere in the world since 1931 was recorded in Death Valley. It was a California weekend for the history books, adding to 2020’s global tally of extremes — including…
18 Aug 2020 6AM 5 min

Oil prices retain gains from Monday

London — Oil prices steadied on Tuesday, hanging on to gains from the previous session thanks to high compliance with production cuts from members of the Opec+ producer group. Brent crude was virtually flat at $45.39 a barrel at 9.05am GMT, having gained 1.3% on Monday. US crude edged down…
18 Aug 2020 6AM 1 min

Artisanal fishers threaten marine life in Congo but they say they have no choice

Dakar — Each day, fishmongers in the Republic of Congo pile up hundreds of dead sharks on the shore and begin lopping off fins and bartering over hammerheads and other endangered species. The bustling seaside business could be jeopardising the marine environment in the Gulf of Guinea, wildlife trade group…
18 Aug 2020 6AM 2 min

China-Australia trade tensions rise as wine probe begins

Beijing — China started an anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine on Tuesday, the latest measure to target the nation’s exports as relations between the two states deteriorate. The probe would normally end within a year, but can be extended to February 18 2022, according to a ministry of commerce statement…
18 Aug 2020 5AM 4 min

Norway’s wealth fund loses $21bn amid CEO appointment drama

Oslo — Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s biggest, lost $21bn in the first half of the year as a rebound in stock markets wasn’t enough to erase its record decline earlier this year. The Oslo-based fund fell 3.4%, or 188-billion kroner ($21bn), over the period, it said on Tuesday…
18 Aug 2020 5AM 2 min

Equity markets down as US-China tension escalates

London/Hong Kong — European shares slipped on Tuesday as simmering political tensions between the US and China escalated, while concerns over a deadlock on further US fiscal stimulus drove the dollar towards a two-year low against its rivals. A weaker opening for the region’s blue-chip euro Stoxx 50 weighed on…
18 Aug 2020 5AM 3 min

Vladimir Putin will have last word in Belarus — and that word will be ‘mine

It’s hard to think of anything more ominous than Russian President Vladimir Putin offering you his “assistance” so you can “resolve the problems” that are keeping you busy. But that’s what Putin has just promised to Alexander Lukashenko, the embattled and apparently fading dictator of Belarus. As the post-Soviet state,…
18 Aug 2020 5AM 5 min

Why the UK is pushing so hard to be the first vaccine maker

London — At the Global Vaccine Summit he hosted in June, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was keen to remind the audience that it was a British doctor, Edward Jenner, who pioneered vaccinations. Now it is the Jenner Institute at the University of Oxford that is leading the drive for an…
18 Aug 2020 4AM 5 min

Trump’s new move on Huawei invites Beijing retaliation

Taipei — A new US edict limiting Huawei Technologies’ access to technology is more than just an incremental measure against the Chinese telecommunications company. It threatens to kill the company, which invites retaliation from Beijing. In May, the administration of President Donald Trump mandated that manufacturers globally could not use…
18 Aug 2020 3AM 4 min

Most South Africans rely on debt to make it through the month

Almost 80% of South Africans seek expensive unsecured loans to help them meet their monthly financial obligations, a survey by fintech platform PayCurve shows. Many people are forced to work two jobs, if they are able to find any, and they take loans to buy food, cover emergency expenses, such…
18 Aug 2020 3AM 1 min

Trump the wrong president for US, says Michelle Obama

Bethesda/Washington — Michelle Obama has painted a dark picture of Donald Trump’s America, telling Democratic National Convention viewers that the president lacks the empathy and character to govern. Calling Joe Biden “a profoundly decent man”, Obama said she saw first-hand during the presidency of her husband how the job requires…
18 Aug 2020 3AM 3 min

Asian shares sluggish as Sino-US tensions rise

Hong Kong/New York — Asian stocks inched up on Tuesday as Sino-US tensions weighed on optimism generated by Wall Street’s tech-driven rally, while the dollar dropped against almost all major currencies. The Trump administration announced on Monday it would further tighten restrictions on China’s Huawei Technologies, aimed at cracking down…
18 Aug 2020 2AM 2 min

JOAN MULLER: How the rich will shift to ‘wealth whispering’

With the economy moving to level 2 from today, luxury brands will be pinning their hopes on the super rich to prop up sales, after a horrific few months has seen retail chains shutter stores. But it’s an expectation that looks increasingly like wishful thinking. Covid-19 has not only plunged…
18 Aug 2020 2AM 4 min
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