This section houses interviews conducted by Biznews, both video and audio, and other interesting inputs sourced from Third Parties.
Omnia is one of those companies that you seldom think about day-to-day. Fertilizers and explosives are not the kind of products the average person interacts with every day, and so Omnia just isn’t a top-of-mind kind of business. Nevertheless, over the last few years, Omnia has performed extremely well. Over the years, the company has … Read more
One of the most exciting stories on the African continent at the moment is R200bn Marriott International’s purchase of South African-based Protea Hotels. It speaks of so much more than an international acquisition in an industry that was heavily affected by the 2007 global recession. It is a story of the African continent coming into … Read more
Wescoal Holdings has just delivered a strong set of results, with full year revenues jumping 70% to R1.1 billion, and operational EBITDA increasing by 124%. Wescoal’s share price has also performed favourably over the last 12 months and is trading 25% higher on the year, this is however off of a lower base, as the … Read more
Alexander Forbes will have its supporters when the financial services group re-lists on the JSE next month. Having generated operating profit of over R1bn in each of the last two financial years, it is certainly no lightweight. And with US-based giant MMC having acquired a 34% stake and identified the group as its vehicle for … Read more
The departure of Naspers’ long-time CEO Koos Bekker came over a weekend, giving punters time to reflect before voting with their chequebooks. As a result, a message of a “second sabbatical” before his return as chairman, had sufficient time to be absorbed. As did the decision to appoint a 40-something Dutch ecommerce specialist as his … Read more
A while back, Woolworths announced that it would be making a bid for high-end Australian retail chain David Jones. The deal is a fairly promising one for Woolies, which has done good things with the Australian lifestyle brand it previously purchased, Country Road. However, there are quite a few obstacles to overcome before the deal … Read more
Funny how life works out. During his days as trade unionist, South Africa’s new Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene reputedly organised the first ever strike in the country’s financial sector. Now he has to deal directly with consequences of a platinum mining strike whose knock-on effect hampers Treasury’s ability to meet commitments without increased borrowing or … Read more
The impending Security Industry amendment bill contains a number of problematic clauses. It requires all private security companies operating in South Africa to sell a 51% stake to South African citizens, for example, a provision that seems very difficult to comply with and very anti-investment. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) seems … Read more
The economics of the World Cup have always been a little dubious for the host country. While FIFA reliably makes its billions, many host countries find that the fabled rewards for hosting fail to materialise. Tourism numbers are lower than hoped for, the demand for hotels fails to hit the expected peaks, and most commonly, … Read more
One of the mysteries of the South African economies is that it really struggles to generate entrepreneurs, people who take the plunge and start small businesses that, over time, grow to be large ones. This is a pity, because around the world, small businesses are crucial to economic growth and, most importantly, to employment. Small … Read more