Business Day Spotlight

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, the focus is on SA’s monetary policy as the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) is set to make an interest rate decision on Thursday 18 July 2019.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined on the line by Tumisho Grater, Economic Strategist at Novare.

In this discussion, Gavaza and Grater explore news around the SARB. With Governor Lesetja Kganyago having been reappointed to lead the central for another term, what does that mean for SA’s macroeconomic stability? Could the President have chosen anyone else to head up the central bank?

Grater explains the role and responsibilities of the governor and outlines the current state of monetary policy in SA.

Regarding the interest rate decision on Thursday, Grater says the Monetary Policy Committee is unlikely to hike rates this time around given the current performance of the economy coupled with the pressure felt by consumers.

She also highlights other factors to consider such as the US’s interest rate policy, international oil prices, together with the impact on ordinary South Africans, businesses and the Rand.

Listen in to hear thoughts around these and other questions.

With the G20 Summit having just concluded, what does this mean for the SA economy going forward?

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we focus on the meeting of the 20 largest global economies in Osaka Japan at the end of June and what benefit SA is deriving from being part of the group.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Asha Speckman, senior economics writer for the Sunday Times Business Times, who attended the summit as part of the SA contingent.

This year was the first time Japan has hosted the Summit where leaders deliberate on the global economy, trade and investment, innovation, environment and energy, employment, women’s empowerment, development and health.

The discussion looks at the experience of the Summit, and its overall structure. Questions are asked about how useful such meetings are for ordinary South Africans and how Africa’s economic issues are being addressed and dealt with on the global stage.

Speckman highlights some of the engagements done by President Ramaphosa with Japanese business people and the interest being shown in SA as a long term investment destination.

She says the positive reaction in most stock markets after the US and China agreed to resume trade talks was one of the major talking points of the event.

G20 members account for 85% of global economic activity and two-thirds of the world’s population.

Listen in to hear thoughts around these and other questions.

In a surprise turn of events, the Zimbabwe government, last week announced the end of its multi-currency regime after 10 years.

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we focus on what this move means for the southern African state and possible effects on the region.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Tara O’Connor, founder and executive director of Africa Risk Consulting (ARC) - a firm that advises on pre-investment and expansion strategies for countries like Algeria, Angola, Congo-DRC, Nigeria, East Africa, the Franc Zone (as a region), South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe amongst others.

According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and finance ministry, the Zimbabwe Dollar is now legal tender. Zimbabweans can no longer trade in US dollars, SA Rand, British Pound or Botswana as they have done in the past.

Many questions still remain about what this will mean for foreign investment, confidence in the currency and saving of ordinary people on the ground.

The decision comes as the country’s inflation rate reached as much as 95% month to month said O’Connor. She said this was a move in the wrong direction for the country headed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

“History is our best teacher,” she referring to the hyperinflation and economic turmoil experienced in that country over the last two decades.

Zimbabwe’s issues should be the concern of the region as a whole, particularly SA, O’Connor said. A net importer for a number of years, SA is Zimbabwe’s largest trading parter. The country is said to owe embattled power utility Eskom over R300 million for electricity previously supplied.

O’Connor says leaders in the region like President Ramaphosa may have to take on the role exhibited by former-President Mbeki in 2009, who helped to bring about a government of national unity with the opposition MDC party, which led to 5 years of economic growth before Zanu PF took back the reigns in 2013.

Listen in to hear thoughts around these and other questions.

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, the focus is on Facebook’s newly announced blockchain-based digital currency and what it could mean for the world’s financial system.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined in studio by Richard de Sousa, Senior Partner at AltCoinTrader - a cryptocurrency exchange that offers buying or selling digital coins for SA Rand - to discuss this development.

"If successful Facebook will be opening the biggest bank in the world,” de Sousa says. The discussion considers the possible impact on the global financial services sector if this plan is to gain traction and succeed.

Libra is said to be a stable coin because it will be backed by assets like bank deposits and government securities. What are these assets and how will the buying and selling of these work? Further, it has been reported that Libra will be pegged to major currencies like the US Dollar and Euro. How will this be done?

The most important question of the day: Is the SA Reserve Bank (SARB) likely to allow for the use of Libra when it launches next year?

De Sousa says the SARB and other regulatory bodies around the world will have to accept Libra or risk being left behind.

Is AltCoinTrader likely to allow for trading in Libra? Is Libra really a cryptocurrency or a currency that happens to be digital?

Listen in to hear thoughts around these and other questions.

Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we focus on the ongoing environmental legal saga, aptly dubbed the "Deadly Air” case.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined on the line by Bobby Peek, Executive Director at groundWork - a non-profit environmental justice service and developmental organization.

Environmental activists have launched a lawsuit to force the government to reduce air pollution in the coal-rich Highveld area, a landmark case that threatens to add R300bn to debt-saddled Eskom’s spending plans and also turns the spotlight on energy giant Sasol.

The case is being spearheaded by groundWork together with the Centre for Environmental Rights and Vukani Environmental Justice Movement In Action.

Peek says the country cannot continue to ignore such an important issue that is slowly causing irreversible damage to the health and welfare of many South Africans.

The discussion also looks at how decisions about SA’s coal energy production have had far reaching consequences beyond the simple act of turning on and off lights.

Listen in to hear thoughts around these and other questions.

Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we explore the current state of the SA economy as the latest Stats SA data shows the country’s GDP plummeted by 3.2% for the first quarter of 2019.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined on the line by Prof Adrian Saville, economics lecturer at GIBS Business School and CEO of Canon Asset Managers to unpack some of the week's top economic issues.

In addition to comments around the recently released GDP figures, the discussion looks at some of the reasons for the drop in economic performance and what some of the key drivers of growth for SA may be for the next 12-24 months.

With elections now out of the way, are we likely to see more inflows of capital into the economy from parties that were previously waiting to see how the democratic process would turn out. Saville says he certainly hopes so but the policy environment needs to be right to attract investors. As an investment professional, he also gives us some into the attitude and perception amongst investors at the moment.

The recent controversy over the ruling party’s comments about expanding the South African Reserve Bank’s mandate have also sparked much debate this week.

The discussion also looks at leadership in state owned enterprises (SOE’s) as CEO’s at SAA and Eskom resigned in the last few weeks. Is the state creating an enabling environment for the success of SOE’s? Is it perhaps time to take some of these entities from public hands? Is it possible to replicate the performance of Telkom at other state entities?

Listen in to hear thoughts around these and other questions.

Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we explore how the US-China trade war could potentially affect the global and SA economies.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined on the line by China’s Ambassador to South Africa to discuss the Chinese government’s position on the ongoing trade negotiations.

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we focus on US-China trade war tensions and the impact they have had on Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Huawei vice-president of corporate communications Glenn Schloss, who holds that the company is ready to deal with Washington's crackdown and will reduce its reliance on US components.

Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.

In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, we focus on a new telecoms report as the debate around mobile data prices continues in SA.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by BrandsEye CEO Nic Ray to talk about their SA Telcos Sentiment Index report, how it came about and the insights that can drawn.

SA’s telecommunications providers should ignore the court of public opinion at their peril, said the research firm in the report which analysed over 500 000 social media posts to gauge sentiment about the country’s largest operators - Vodacom, MTN, Cell C and Telkom.

"SA consumers are unhappy with telco providers’ data pricing and poor customer service as 1 in 10 threatened to switch networks and 44.4% of complaints on social media went unanswered by providers” said BrandsEye.

BrandsEye’s report comes on the heels of the much publicised report by the Competition Commission which found the large mobile operators to be pricing out poor South Africans in the data market.

Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.

South Africa has a well developed and functioning economy resembling that of a first world country but the society seems to have stagnated in a third world state for decades says Claude Baissac, CEO of Eunomix - a research and advisory firm that assesses countries on a number of metrics to determine their economic and social health.In this edition of Business Day Spotlight, our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Baissac, who unpacks their firm’s research into the SA economy explaining some of their findings and insights that could help develop sustainable policy solutions to the country’s problems. He explains their motivation for conducting this research, its history and importance for the country internally, and investors externally. With the much anticipated May 8 general election only weeks away, the state’s next set of leaders have a unique set of problems to tackle if the SA is to grow above the paltry rate of 1% per annum.