July 2020

17 July 2020 – South Africa’s foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows rose in the first quarter of 2020, to R29.0 billion ($1.74 billion) compared to inflows of R10.5 billion in the final quarter of last year, the central bank said on Thursday. “South Africa’s direct investment liabilities increased … mainly as a result of the […]

16 July 2020 – A failure by South Africa to lower public debt risks triggering credit downgrades deeper into sub investment, Fitch said on Wednesday. Debt in Africa’s most industrialised economy is set to breach 80% of gross domestic product next year as the government borrows more to bring the coronavirus pandemic under control. Fitch

15 July 2020 – Since the beginning of May 2020 South Africa gradually started to ease lockdown restrictions with a consequent increase in trade reflected in  South Africa’s trade data for May which was released by the South African Revenue Services (SARS) on 30 June 2020. However, while exports show signs of improvements imports have remained relatively

14 July 2020 – Industry organisation Agri SA has called on government to be vigilant around produce trade. Globally, the decline in demand for agricultural produce has resulted in stock surpluses and over-capacitated storage facilities, it says. This has led to increased export volumes to low-value markets, which poses a potential threat to the South

13 July 2020 – South Africa’s poultry sector is bracing itself for a tough time ahead, as producers warn that an avalanche of chicken will hit the country after the Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbating chicken dumping issues that have plagued producers for more than a decade. With the country under lockdown for almost four months, many

10 July 2020 – South Africa’s manufacturing production decreased by 49.4% year-on-year in April. Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reports that the largest contributor to this decline was the motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment sector, where output decreased by 98% (contributing -7.8 percentage points). This was followed by the basic iron and steel, nonferrous

9 July 2020 – Retailers appear to be the only winners when it comes to the fresh produce industry as consumers complain of rising overall food costs while farmers’ margins are growing increasing tight. In an international survey conducted by Ipsos in 26 countries from 22 May to 5 June, the majority of people said

8 July 2020 – Enterprise risk management is in its nature intended to manage risks of an organisation holistically, writes IRMSA Member Lindiwe Magobholi. It is a reality that for many years enterprise risk management has struggled, with some organisations still battling to keep its seat at the roundtable, because although it is not a profit

7 July 2020 – Despite the ongoing challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa’s recent agricultural economic data has reaffirmed the view that this will be a recovery year for the sector, following two consecutive years of declining fortunes. Sector shows year-on-year growth Data released last week showed that gross value added (GVA) in

6 July 2020 – Households are bunkering cash amid the coronavirus outbreak, worried about the economy, their jobs and their future incomes. As near-term indicators pick up, central to the longer-term recovery is whether consumer worries fade enough to get people to spend again. The opposite – continued saving – could create a negative spiral