In the grand tapestry of international commerce, Africa’s 55 nations have stood as individual threads rather than a unified fabric of economic opportunity. But a new era of collaboration being ushered in by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement promises to harness the continent’s vast potential and foster economic prosperity for its people. [...]

The Mthatha Specialised Commercial Crime Court has sentenced a man to five years in prison, wholly suspended for five years, for falsely representing himself as an Eskom contractor to the residents of Marhambeni, in Mthatha, and tampering with Eskom’s infrastructure. The man was hired by residents to connect electricity, for which he received R120 000 in [...]

South African mining needs what is often referred to as a one-stop shop to ensure that an applicant is not sent from one department to the other but goes to one place where the application is submitted and the applicant receives communication from one source. “That’s a process that needs to take place as quickly [...]

The Competition Tribunal has approved the merger in which oil refining and logistics company Prax will acquire energy company TotalEnergies' interest in refinery National Petroleum Refiners of South Africa (Natref). The tribunal has approved the proposed transaction subject to conditions, which involve historically disadvantaged persons transactions and capital expenditure commitments.

South Africa achieved its first primary budget surplus in 15 years as it took a stern approach to funding State-owned companies that have drained government finances. Africa’s most-industrialised economy posted a primary surplus — when revenue exceeds non-interest expenditure — of R31.6 billion or 0.4% of gross domestic product in the year through March 2024, [...]

South Africa recorded foreign direct investment inflows of R24.4-billion in the first quarter of 2024, up from a revised R2.5-billion in the previous quarter, central bank data showed on Thursday. The South African Reserve Bank said in its Quarterly Bulletin that the inflows were largely due to the acquisition of a local vehicle-tracking company by [...]

The South African government and industry organisations have requested that two panels be established at a meeting of the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to examine the stringent citrus import measures being imposed on South Africa by the European Union (EU). The local stakeholders wish to address regulations around citrus [...]

The City of Cape Town has secured a further R3.5-billion in financing towards its plans to spend a record amount on infrastructure investment over the three years to 2027. Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis conducted the signing ceremony with Nedbank on June 24, after the council greenlighted the financing on June 12.

The Oppenheimer Memorial Trust has announced that the first winner of its New Frontiers Research Award is University of Cape Town (UCT) physicist, Dr James Keaveney. The trust created the award to help reinvigorate research excellence in South Africa (in 2021/22 the country spent only 0.62% of its GDP on research and development; in comparison, [...]

South Africa is risking a $9.3-billion climate finance pact by delaying the closing of a number of coal-fired power plants, a panel appointed by the country’s environment minister said. In an agreement known as the Just Energy Transition Partnership, South Africa won the bulk of the pledges from some of the world’s richest nations in [...]

Cement company PPC has reported a 20.6% year-on-year increase in revenue to about R10-billion for the financial year ended March 31, compared with the R8.3-billion in revenue reported for the prior financial year. At the release of its financial results, on June 24, the company said this growth was primarily driven by the company's performance [...]

In response to a recent Johannesburg High Court order favouring State-owned utility Eskom in a payment dispute with the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) and City Power, the CoJ and City Power say the court did not fully consider critical aspects of the evidence.  “While we accept and respect the court’s decision, the city reserve[s] the [...]