Schalk Burger

Building a stronger economy is the best way for South Africa to prepare for any internal or external shocks. While this requires the country to successfully carry out reforms, South Africa is in a distinctly advantageous position because it has strong historical and trade ties with both the East and the West, says business organisation Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) CEO Busi Mavuso.

South Africa’s competition landscape is under intense scrutiny following the Competition Tribunal’s recent decision to block telecommunications firm Vodacom’s R14-billion acquisition of a co-controlling stake in Vumatel parent Maziv, despite the merging parties agreeing to a range of additional conditions sought by the authorities. The decision threatens a R10-billion investment into fibre networks in underserviced parts of South Africa, and risks halting broader industry consolidation, emphasises business organisation Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso.

The families of two detained South African engineers, Frik Potgieter and Peter Huxham , staged a peaceful protest outside Africa Energy Week at the

Beverages multinational Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) has invested $50-million in a new bottling line in Namibia, which will produce 27 000 bottles an hour.

Insights, data and analytics provider BMI expects South Africa's economic growth to pick up from 1% this year to 1.5% in 2025 as improved energy

Mobility and ride-sharing company Bolt will invest €100-million over three years to improve safety, develop new safety products and scale-up preventive measures.

State-owned ports management agency Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) welcomed the British cruise line Swan Hellenic (SH) Diana passenger

State-owned power utility Eskom has welcomed the decision by international ratings agency S&P Global Ratings to upgrade Eskom's 'B' long-term global-scale foreign and local currency ratings to positive from stable. The ratings agency also affirmed Eskom’s ‘B’ issue rating on the group's senior unsecured debt and the ‘BB-’ foreign currency issue ratings on the government guaranteed debt.

Trade and development finance institution the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has signed a project preparation facility financing agreement for an up to 200 MW private-sector, reservoir-based hydropower project to be located along the Lufira river, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The bank has partnered with independent power producer Kipay Investments, which will develop, design, build, install, commission and operate, as well as manage, the hydroelectric power plant.

US zinc producer Titan Mining has announced district-scale exploration plans, an updated mineral resource estimate, and an extended mine life for its 100%-owned Empire State Mines (ESM) zinc operations, which produce zinc concentrate in New York state.The regional and near-mine exploration plans cover ESM’s 32 375 ha of controlled mineral rights in upstate New York. These plans target multiple high-quality, near-mine and district-scale targets with the potential to increase near-term production and further extend mine life, the company says.