The world is changing fast and to keep up you need local knowledge with global context.
This section houses interviews conducted by Biznews, both video and audio, and other interesting inputs sourced from Third Parties.
Mark Lamberti has family roots in Newcastle, the town in Northern KZN where I grew up. So from the time we met in the 1990s, I’ve kept a close watch on his progress – as one tends to do with a “home boy”. Mark’s creation, Massmart, is now worth R35bn, and in the ultimate accolade, … Read more
“Paul is a real estate novelist…” sang Billy Joel in his classic Piano Man, the perfect description for those who turn wrecks into renovator’s dreams; broom cupboards into cosy. But at R60m for a penthouse, you might expect more than a line opening with “Refrigerated walk-in wine room, 4 palatial bedrooms with the wooden floor … Read more
There’s been a lot of noise around talented jockey S’Manga Khumalo becoming the first black to pilot a winner of the Vodacom Durban July. Rightly so. But in the excitement, an even bigger breakthrough is forgotten – 2011’s J&B Met when the Hassen Adams-owned Past Master made him the first black owner to win South Africa’s … Read more
I bought some Village Main Reef shares this afternoon. A full trading session since my interview with CEO Marius Saaiman (below), I’m fulfilling my internal rule of never using the advantageous timing we journalists enjoy to buy or sell a share. By now, the whole world could have studied what Saaiman told me on Friday … Read more
It’s not as well known as it should be, but the real online publishing pioneer in South Africa is Kevin Davie, consulting business editor of the M&G. Kevin launched the country’s first news portal, WOZA, in the mid 1990s and built it into the Goliath of the early web age. He gave me my entry … Read more
I visited China a few years back as a guest of SABMiller. Our little party travelled to Beijing and Tianjin to see, first hand, how the SA-founded group had developed its Snow brand into the biggest seller in the world’s most populous country. It was my first visit to China and a real eye opener. … Read more
For Newcastle-raised university students, the best vacation job by far is at the local Arcelor Mittal steel mill. I was lucky enough to land one over the 1979 Christmas holidays, spending it working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week as an Operator. Including the double time earned for overtime (and on Xmas Day … Read more
The timing was most unfortunate. Not just for us on Power Lunch, but for the ABSA Group itself. Key point of the SA bank’s results for the half year to end June, was the declaration of a Special Dividend that will distribute R5bn to shareholders. With another R2.5bn payment declared through the 11% higher interim dividend (more … Read more
A few years back, my good friend David Shapiro picked Hulamin as the share that would do best of all that year. It went the other way – and I ribbed him mercilessly through the next 12 months. David wasn’t the only one to prematurely call the turnaround. Hulamin’s shares have been on a steady … Read more
Smart regulators, a wave of broadband and an enterprising population has put East Africa and particularly Kenya on top of the continent’s Internet pile. So it’s not surprising to see Kenyan banks leading the way in the practical application of technology to their operations – with some astonishing results. In this respect Equity Bank, Kenya’s … Read more