- The world’s biggest cryptocurrency scam of last year was a jolt to South Africa’s regulator which has promised a crackdown on cryptocurrencies, and traders aren’t waiting around. South African traders say they are being forced to move to countries like Singapore and Germany, where legislation is being rewritten to embrace digital currencies. “South Africa seems to go in the opposite direction of some of the more developed market pioneers and innovators in this space”, said the head of Luno, Marius Reitz.
- South Africa’s gross domestic product grew 6.3% quarter on quarter in the three months ending in December. The economy did however record its biggest annual contraction in almost a century, declining by 7%. “Overall, the better than expected GDP performance in Q4 was broad-based despite the emergence of the second wave of Covid-19 and the resulting lockdown measures,” said Kevin Lings, Chief Economist at Stanlib.
- Royal Bafokeng has declared its maiden dividend and announced a significant increase in headline earnings per share for the year ended December 2020. The group says that despite the impact of Covid-19, it achieved record production with a marked increase in tonnes hoisted.
- Adapt IT says revenue declined in the 6 months ended in December due to ongoing challenging trading conditions particularly in South Africa, its primary market. The Covid-19 pandemic caused repeated shutdowns affecting project volumes. Headline earnings per share grew by over 40%.
- Greensill Capital, a start-up that provided short-term cash advances and spun off its loans into bond-like securities has filed for insolvency protection, according to The Wall Street Journal. This after bondholders Credit Suisse stopped investors from moving money in or out of $10bn in supply-chain investment funds when Greensill lost coverage from credit insurers. Investors such as German municipalities will lose millions of Euros.
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