The Editor's Desk - Monday 8 December 2025: Why I won’t be at Davos for the first time in 19 Years

Here’s my take on why I’m not returning to Davos after 19 years, what it signals about the new WEF era, and the investment insights that matter today.Don't miss out on future episodes of The Editor's Desk. Subscribe to BizNews Premium and get the podcast delivered to your inbox daily..Listen here.Read the full transcript of The Editor's Desk podcast below.Hello and welcome. I’m Alec Hogg. You’ve read the headlines on BizNews.com, watched the interviews on BizNewsTV, caught up on the BizNews Briefing — and, I hope, also tuned into our BizNews Daybreak, which is ready for you by 6am every morning. Now let’s talk about what the latest developments mean for your money. This is the Editor’s Desk, exclusive analysis for BizNews Premium members. Today is Monday, 8 December 2025, and I’m glad to have you with me.For the first time in 19 years, I won’t be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos next year. This will surprise some members of the tribe — including those who’ve wondered over the years why I bother with the “globalists’ gathering”. My answer has always been simple: I go there to learn. Meeting people like Palantir CEO Alex Karp — whose company we added to our portfolio at $8.50, now $180 — more than justified the trips.But this year something unexpected happened. I simply didn’t receive an invitation — not as a participant, not even as accredited media. That’s unusual. At worst, I would normally be invited in a reporting capacity. Whether I could have attended is another matter, given our new ENCA commitment, but still the silence was odd.I contacted my long-time WEF liaison, Trevor Cho, whom I’d met just before leaving Davos last year. Everything was warm and friendly at the time. His response now? Invitations were being restricted… and I hadn’t made the cut. Fair enough — their prerogative. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was at play.Then I remembered last year’s disastrous Brand South Africa event at Davos: 200 South Africans in an extravagantly expensive venue, very few internationals, and a CEO whose remarks were half-flirt, half-praise for President Cyril Ramaphosa. A stark contrast to the earlier years when Brand SA used Davos as a high-level diplomatic tool, seating South Africans alongside influential global leaders. I criticised that event strongly — and publicly — to the tribe.My best guess? Someone at Brand SA wasn’t pleased with my assessment and complained to the new WEF leadership. With Klaus Schwab pushed out and the organisation shifting in tone and character, perhaps the easiest response was simply: “Drop him — we don’t need troublemakers.”To be clear: I’ve had a magnificent run at Davos. The intellectual engagement, the access to extraordinary minds, and the perspectives gained have enriched my work enormously. It’s also good for fresh financial journalists to step in. But it is troubling that an organisation that once prided itself on independence and diversity of thought may now be influenced by political irritation from a member state.Still, the show goes on — and so do the investment insights.Today’s first item: the BEE shareholders in MTN’s Zakhele Futhi scheme. The share price briefly jumped from 16c to 25c on Friday but remains down 97% year-to-date. What was meant to echo the highly successful first MTN Zakhele has instead collapsed under the weight of MTN’s operational challenges and the dangers of gearing. When it goes right, leverage amplifies gains; when it goes wrong, it destroys value. Sadly, the latter prevailed here.On a brighter note, I received a message from Stafford Masie on Friday promising big news today — and he delivered. Stafford, one of South Africa’s true internet visionaries, and Warren Wheatley, founder of what is now the Africa Bitcoin Corporation (ABC), have persuaded Dr Saifedean Ammous — author of The Bitcoin Standard and now The Gold Standard — to join ABC as an adviser. It’s a meaningful coup. BizNews holds a small non-strategic shareholding in ABC from work done years ago, but more importantly, Ammous’s involvement positions the company well within global Bitcoin intellectual circles.Stafford is now executive chairman full-time, and both he and Warren remain loyal attendees of our BizNews conferences. You’ll likely see them again in March, even though Stafford won’t be presenting this time.A final insight today comes from APSA’s trading update — the last of the Big Four banks to report ahead of their closed period. The signals echo those from Standard Bank and Nedbank: South Africa’s macro environment may finally be turning a corner. I’ll unpack the banking sector further with Kokkie Kooyman tomorrow.This afternoon, I speak with SPAR CEO Angelo Swartz following the retailer’s R4.8 billion loss — largely a clearing-the-decks exercise as the new leadership resets the business after abandoning loss-making ventures in Poland and Switzerland. Ireland is performing strongly, South Africa is stabilising, but no final dividend was declared: a clear message that cash must be conserved and the focus restored to basics.That’s it from me today. Keep an eye on your Premium newsletter for links to our freshest content. Thanks for trusting us with your time. I’m Alec Hogg — until tomorrow, cheerio.

The Editor's Desk - Monday 8 December 2025: Why I won’t be at Davos for the first time in 19 Years

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