Considering The State Of Our Economy, Is There A Place For Another State Bank?
Of late, there has been much debate in the media regarding the SA government’s plans to restructure and corporatise SAPO’s Postbank and to expand its range of services to include lending, bancassurance and other financial services.
Postbank will assume its full retail banking role once it has secured a banking licence from the Reserve Bank, which will likely be granted in the 2024/25 financial year.
Regardless of what you may think of Postbank’s less-than-stellar performance over recent years and its near-bankrupt mother brand, SAPO, it offers several advantages that make it a serious contender.
To Build a Decent, Flourishing Society, We Need To Build Decent Housing.
One thing that saddens me profoundly as I drive through the outskirts of our large metros is seeing the endless clutter of tightly-packed shacks. In these slums, millions of our fellow citizens battle to survive in overcrowded, unhealthy, and undignified conditions.
It’s a tangible reminder to those of us fortunate to live with a degree of comfort that informal settlements, which are growing by the day, are indicative of the massive societal ills that plague South Africa and hinder economic growth and stability.
ESG is the TLC South Africa Desperately Needs
As acronyms go, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) has become a buzzword in business circles. It’s also a topic that stirs passion in me and something I will do my utmost to promote amongst South African companies, big and small.
But what is it? And what does it mean to the person in the street?
How Africa’s youth of today could transform our continent into a world power of tomorrow
One area that has the investment potential to provide healthy ROIs is Africa's emerging entrepreneurs. According to a survey conducted by Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, sub-Saharan Africa has the world's largest population of nascent entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs.
Some 60% of 18 to 34 years olds believe they have the skills, the knowledge, and the ideas to start a business. They also have the vitality, the energy, and the chutzpah of youth on their side. However, unsurprisingly, 90% of these potential start-ups need capital to get their ventures off the ground.
Rwanda: From Adversity To Stability
As an introduction to the podcast here on my website, I’d like to provide some context to the subject matter being discussed with Ntoudi Mouyelo, the chief investment officer at Rwanda Finance Limited, at the Kigali International Investment Centre.
As the title of this podcast suggests, Rwanda has undergone the most dramatic – I’d even say, miraculous – economic and social recovery over the last 30 years.
To Achieve The Goals of Agenda 2063, Look to Small Businesses to Make a Big Contribution
In 2013, the African Union created a strategic framework for what the socio-economic transformation of the African continent should resemble within 50 years.
As a strategic blueprint, the Agenda is based on seven primary objectives, the first of which I, in my career in asset management of many years, take particular interest in the prosperity created through inclusive growth and sustainable development.
Whether you’re growing crops or young talent, cultivation requires passion
Becoming an aspirant farmer, attempting to grow maize, beans, and pumpkins on my family’s modest few hectares in Limpopo province, has become my new infatuation. Even though it was the livelihood of my forebears, I am, if you pardon the pun, a novice in the field.
The PIC Commission:
Dr Matjila Responds
As we have witnessed over the last few years, South Africa has been under attack by shadowy figures intending to capture strategic state assets. This war of attrition caused untold damage to what had been well-functioning state departments.