Business Day Spotlight

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we take a look at how coronavirus has impacted South Africans ability to make debt payments.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Punki Modise, chief financial officer for retail and business banking at Absa to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on the financial services sector.

Absa recently launched its payment relief programme at the end of March to give people the ability to delay certain loan or debt payments due for a period three months.

The discussion also touches on rationale for instituting this programme for its customers, the relationship between GDP and the banking sector, some of the pressure points that customers are feeling at the moment, how consumers and businesses at various income levels have been impacted by Covid-19 and an outlook for the retail and business banking sector for 2020.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we discuss the economics news of the week as SA begins its phased approach to re-opening the economy.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Sanisha Packirisamy, an economist at Momentum Investments to unpack the issues.

The conversation begins with Packirisamy explaining the recent S&P Global Ratings decision to downgrade SA further into junk status. S&P cited the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy and heightened concerns about the long-term sustainability of the country's debt.

The discussion also touches on S&P’s recent downgrade of SA, the challenges and opportunities likely to be faced in re-opening the economy, considerations at the local, provincial and national level; and if SA is likely to see more stimulus from government, even as more people go back to work.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we take a look at the global investment landscape for SA investors looking for opportunities in other parts of the world during the Covid-19 crisis.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Dorian Carrell, multi-asset fund manager at global investment house, Schroders in London, to discuss the issues.

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in global markets going into frenzy in the last few months. But even in times of crisis, there are those who find ways to allocate their capital intelligently to ultimately benefit from unusual market conditions.

The discussion also touches on opportunities in the bond and equity markets, interest in emerging markets, taking advantage of different interest rates, an outlook for the rest of the year, and a comparison between the Covid-19 crisis versus the global financial crisis in 2008.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we focus on the continued effects of Covid-19 on the economy, re-opening of the SA economy and government’s stimulus plan.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Phil Alves, an economist and senior managing consultant at Berkeley Research Group to discuss the issues.

SA is in the fourth week of a five-week national lockdown.

On Tuesday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a R500bn economic support package for SA, which amounts to 10% of the country's GDP. On Thursday, he announced that the lockdown restrictions would be lifted in phases. There are five levels, with level 5 being a hard lockdown and level 1 the most relaxed.

The discussion also touches on the phased re-opening of the economy, the stimulus package, effect of coronavirus on small businesses, consumer buying power, concerns of corporate players, and an outlook for the SA and global economy.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we learn about how a local start-up wants to push forward the idea of digital identity spurred on by the current croronavirus crisis.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Co-Pierre Georg, a professor and head of the masters program for financial technology at the University of Cape Town, and co-founder of Covi-ID.

Covi-ID is an SA-based start-up that offers a privacy-focused, free and open-source Covid-19 immunity pass for people using blockchain technology.

The discussion touches on the how Covi-ID works and how it was developed, business model for the platform, how the idea came about, how similar techniques have been used in other parts of the world, what makes Covi-ID different, privacy concerns, the team behind it and vision for the future.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we look at how the extended national lockdown and recent interest rate cuts by the SA Reserve Bank will affect the SA economy going forward.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Nicola Weimar, chief economist at Nedbank to discuss the economic developments of the week.

The discussion begins with Weimar explaining that one the difficulties at this time is trying to quantify the impact of Covid-19 on the local economy. For now, their team are keeping an eye on how the various forms of lockdown have affected other countries as a way to gauge the possible impact on SA.

The discussion also explores the SARB’s interest cuts, impact of the lockdown extension, considerations for investors and corporates at this time, the effect of the lockdown on different sectors and industries, how coronavirus has affected other countries, inflation concerns, ending off with an outlook for the Rand.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we look at how Covid-19 has impacted Africa’s economies.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Neville Mandimika, an economist and fixed income strategist at Rand Merchant Bank to discuss the impact of coronavirus on the African economy in the last weeks.

Mandimika starts off by explaining the different transmission mechanisms that will affect African economies during the crisis. From commodity prices to exchange rates, African countries will definitely feel the impact of Covid-19, he says.

The discussion also looks at the effects of global oil prices on different countries, the policy responses of central banks and governments to Covid-19 and possible time frames for a recovery, which until a cure or vaccine is created, remains an unknown.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re taking time to consider how employers have gone about responding to regulations around the national lockdown.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Professor Carin Runciman and Lynford Dor from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) to talk about the results of their new study looking at how employers in SA have responded to the Covid-19 crisis.

The report called 'Profit or workers lives? Employer responses to the Covid-19 pandemic' was conducted by the Centre for Social Change at UJ and the Casual Workers Advice Office (CWAO), a registered non-profit organisation based in Germiston.

The discussion looks at how the research was conducted, some of the key findings, reasons and explanations for the findings and recommendations provided by the research.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re taking a closer look at the economic impact of the national lockdown and Covid-19 on the local wine industry.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Francois Bezuidenhout, a longstanding Cape Wine Master, winemaker; and spirits and wine marketing analyst to discuss the issues.

As part of the national lockdown, government has taken a strong stance against the sale of alcohol in SA during this time.

The discussions also takes time to explore the possible impacts of Covid-19 on the whole wine value chain, how wine makers have adapted their businesses to aid in the production of sanitising products, opportunities in international markets, and the possible recovery that may come when consumers are allowed to make purchases freely again.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we look at the impact and effects of the recent Moody’s downgrade on the SA economy.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined on the line by Jacques Nel, head of Africa Macroeconomic research at NKC African Economics to discuss the impact of the downgrade and ongoing Covid-19 crisis.

This past week, international ratings agency, Moody’s issued a country rating for SA. After being the only ratings institution still holding the country above investment grade, Moody’s finally downgraded SA’s profile given issues like the budget deficit and problems with state-owned enterprises.

Even with the effects of corona doing much to dampen economic activity in the country, Nel says the downgrade by Moody’s had been expected.

The discussion also looks at the impact of global events on the Rand, outlook for economic growth, the recent US jobs report, and the role that policymakers have to play to get the country on the path to growth.