Wealth Advisory Newsletter

SA Inc expects improvement in trade activity ahead - SACCI

A majority of South African businesses have remained optimistic about improvement in trade activity in the next six months, in spite of experiencing negative trade conditions in August

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) on 14 September, said that its August 2023 survey of the trade environment still showed that trade conditions remain “tight and unsteady”.

The composite Trade Activity Index of the survey represents the up-to-date performance of a number of trade elements, while the Trade Expectations Index measures expectations on trade elements in six months’ time, reports Business Report.

African central banks set to hold rates as currency risks weigh

African central banks meeting in the next three weeks are mostly set to hold interest rates while leaving hikes on the table, amid risks to their currencies from higher borrowing costs in advanced economies and their own domestic challenges, reports Moneyweb.

The flurry of decisions from the monetary authorities will likely see South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Ghana keeping rates steady. Nigeria, Angola, and Kenya are expected to confront currency weakness by lifting borrowing costs.

Billions in automotive investment pouring into SA

South Africa is experiencing a multi-billion-rand automotive investment boom.

Multinational automotive group Stellantis confirmed on Wednesday, 13 September, its intention to invest R3 billion in South Africa to establish a state-of-the-art greenfields automotive manufacturing plant at Coega in the Eastern Cape by the end of 2025.

Stellantis was established in 2021 through a merger between the French-based PSA Group and Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), reports Moneyweb.

It has nine vehicle brands, including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Jeep, Opel, Peugeot and Abarth.

Cabinet approves new SOE plan - which may mean JSE listings, private investments

A radical new model for South Africa’s troubled state-owned enterprises (SOEs) could be on the cards, with the approval in September, of the draft National State Enterprises Bill, which would lay the basis for private equity investment in state companies and listings on the stock exchange, reports News24.

This will include the biggest "commercial" state enterprises, such as Eskom and Transnet, which will be moved into a newly created State Asset Management Company. It is the culmination of five years of work by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, advised by some of the members of the Presidential State-Owned Enterprises Council. The council itself has not produced a policy document. 

SA wants $8.5bn climate plan wrapped up by COP28

Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said she expects the long-delayed implementation plan for an $8.5 billion (R161,74 billion) climate pact with some of the world's richest nations to be completed by the COP28 summit that starts on 30 November.

The so-called Just Energy Transition Partnership, which aims to help coal-dependent South Africa transition to cleaner energy, has been slowed by infighting, with opposition coming from politicians close to the coal lobby and labour unions concerned about job losses. Coal is currently used to generate more than 80% of South Africa's power, reports News24.

Cabinet: Godongwana will soon publish the guidelines for the proposed budget cuts

Cabinet has confirmed that Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will soon be publishing the guidelines for the proposed budget cuts as the National Treasury looks to austerity measures on the back of rising constraints on the fiscus ahead of the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on 1 November, reports Business Report.

This comes after leaked reports of Treasury’s circular to all government departments and provinces instructing them to slash budgets by up to 15%, freeze all vacancies, and infrastructure roll-out programmes as part of the policy of fiscal consolidation.

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