Pretoria — Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has encouraged US automotive and energy storage company Tesla to explore the possibility of setting up shop in South Africa.

The company expressed interest of investing in South Africa during a business breakfast session in Washington, DC in the United States, where Minister Davies was addressing investors on Sunday.

This, as the Minister is in the US to attend the 15th Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum.

Tesla Motors designs, manufactures and sells electric car components and batteries. The founder of the company is South African born Elon Reeve Musk.

Minister Davies indicated that South Africa's automotive programme already has an additional incentive that applies to the electric vehicles. He further stated that government understands that electric vehicles are where things are going, including hybrids and fuel cells.

Minister Davies highlighted that government is still on track with the Independent Power Producers Programme (IPP) on renewable energy. He emphasised that investors had informed him that South Africa's IPP programme is one of the best power purchasing programmes in the world.

The business breakfast preceded the one day AGOA Forum on Monday. The Forum is an annual forum that takes place on an alternating basis between sub-Saharan Africa and the United States.

The theme for this year's Forum is "Maximising U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment: AGOA and Beyond". The forum will focus on the implementation of AGOA utilisation strategies, as well as, the US-Sub-Saharan Africa trade and investment relationship beyond AGOA.

AGOA is a unilateral US trade preference programme that provides duty-free, quota-free treatment for over 6 400 tariff lines into the United States market.

US President Barrack Obama signed into law the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 that contained the AGOA Extension and Enhancement Act, which extended AGOA for 10 years until 2025 with South Africa included.

PRESS RELEASE

Department of Science and Technology to host International Conference on Research Infrastructure 2016 in collaboration with European Union

The Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, will address the International Conference on Research Infrastructure (ICRI 2016) in Cape Town on Monday, 3 October.

The conference will give South Africa an opportunity for government leaders, policy makers, infrastructure directors, researchers and practitioners to identify new and existing challenges and opportunities, and to explore new ideas, policies, methods, techniques and tools with colleagues around the globe.

South Africa has demonstrated its science and technology research capability, and is acknowledged as a natural home of some of the world's most significant research infrastructures. The hosting of ICRI 2016 will augment the country's progression to becoming a knowledge-based economy.

Minister Pandor will share the stage with other dignitaries, including Marcus Cornaro, EU Ambassador to South Africa, Robert-Jan Smits (Director-General, Research and Innovation of the European Commission), and Phil Diamond (Director-General of the Square Kilometre Array Organisation).

Issued by: Department of Science and Technology

At 48% South Africa has one of the highest debt as a percentage of GDP among emerging market economies, according to an Allianz Global Wealth report.

South Africa's debt per capita stands at R31 856 (€2 070) – which is significantly higher than the average of other emerging markets at R24 777 (€1 610).

"In Latin America or Eastern Europe, for example, no country can match South Africa in this regard.

The Allianz Global Wealth report – the seventh of its kind – puts the asset and debt situation of households in more than 50 countries under the microscope. Based on the findings of the report, it seems that the good years are a thing of the past.

Global financial assets increased by only 4.9% in 2015, slightly above the growth rate of economic activity. In the three previous years, financial assets grew at twice that pace, with an average rate of 9%.

In South Africa, asset growth however slowed down – from 9.3% in 2014 to 3.7% in 2015. "After years of bumper growth, 2015 oversaw the smallest increase in wealth since 2008," the report said.

South Africa's liabilities, however, increased by 5.7% – slightly faster than the previous year. "Although debt growth has dropped a notch or two after the financial crisis, in the last years it continued to grow steadily and as a consequence the debt pile has doubled since 2007."

With regard to net financial assets per capita, South Africa ranked 39th globally with financial assets per capita valued at R90 647 (€5 890) – behind Mexico, but ahead of Russia or Turkey. It has slipped by three places compared to 2000.

According to Allianz, Scandinavian and Asian countries currently dominate the net financial assets per capita list.

Globally, the wealth report shows a mixed picture. The strong growth in emerging markets in recent years boosted economic participation among people and created a new middle class and in tandem with this, poverty levels have dropped significantly.

The growth in financial assets in industrial countries, such as in Western Europe (3.2%) and the United States (2.4%) has slowed down and has more than halved in 2015.

At the other end of the spectrum is Asia (excluding Japan, however) where financial assets expanded by 14.8%. The region's lead over the rest of the world is only getting bigger. This also applies to the world's other two up-and-coming regions Latin America and Eastern Europe where the average growth was only half of that in Asia.

"The days in which regions were able to keep up with their counterparts in Asia are long gone," the report said.

Michael Heise, chief economist at Allianz, said the growth of financial assets have reached a critical juncture. "Extreme monetary policy is losing its impact even on asset prices. At the same time, interest rates continue their remorseless slide, deep into negative territory. For savers, the outlook is not rosy," Heise said.

Source: Fin24

South Africa

By Amos Ngwomoya

Kampala — Court has ordered for the attachment and sale of property of Owino Market vendors for recovery of more than Shs4 billion in a bank loan.

"These are to command you to attach and sell by public auction at the time or date and subject to the conditions set out in the notification of sale to realize the sum of Shs4,468,934,349, the immovable property of the said judgment debtor, St. Balikuddembe Market Stall," the order reads in part.

The order was issued by the Registrar of the High Court's Execution Division Mr Muse Musimbi to Baingana Bailiffs and Auctioneers on August 23 this year.

The debt arose from a loan, which Owino Market vendors acquired from Dfcu bank in 2011 for the lease of land, on which the market sits, from Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

Management of the market staked their 4.5 acres of land in Kisenyi suburb as the security for the loan. They were required to pay back the loan in five years.

However, the vendors have failed to repay the loan and the bank has moved to attach their property to recover the money.

On May 21, 2015, the market administration through St. Balikuddembe Market Stalls, Space and Lock-Up shops Owners Association (SSLOA), signed an agreement with DFCU bank. The two parties agreed that the market administrators would pay Shs 3billion within 90 days from the date of signing the agreement.

"… that in full and final settlement of this suit and all loan obligations of the plaintiff to the defendant, the plaintiff shall pay to the defendant a sum Shs 3b within the 90 days from the date of execution of this consent," the agreement reads in part.

Since the issuance of the court order for attachment of the property, the vendors have been appealing to government to urgently intervene before the bank sells off their land.

In an interview with Daily Monitor yesterday, the Owino Market spokesperson, Mr Wilberforce Mubiru, admitted he had received the court order but said they owe the bank only Shs2b.

"We received the court order and when we read it to the vendors, they went out of control. However, we have asked Dfcu to give us one and a half years as we collect the money because out of the 10000 vendors, only 3200 have paid Shs1m each, which we asked every vendor to pay. 6000 vendors have paid half while 800 vendors haven't paid any penny. If they give us more time, we shall be able to raise their money," Mubiru said.

He added that they were still engaging the vendors to pay in order to save their land from auction. He said they had even met different government officials for intervention.

"We call upon well-wishers to come to our rescue because it hurts to lose such land, which was bought from the sweat of the vendors. We beg the President to talk to this bank to give us more time so that we could remit their money," Mubiru said.

Asked about the Shs4b outstanding balance cited in the court order, yet he claims the vendors owe the bank only Shs2b, Mr Mubiru maintained his stand. He dismissed the Shs4b sum as a false claim.

This newspaper could not establish how much of the loan the vendors had deposited in the bank towards serving the debt. An official at the Dfcu bank head office at Kyadondo in Kampala, who declined to be named, said the bank cannot disclose details of their client's transactions as it would contravene the banking laws.

By Terhemba Daka

The African Development Bank (AfDB) will support Nigeria with a sum of $1 billion to address the country's N2.2 trillion deficit in the 2016 budget.The gesture comes amid re-assurance by President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigeria has the wherewithal to surmount its current economic setback.

AfDB President, Akinwunmi Adesina, who was at the State House in Abuja, yesterday, also unfolded other packages the financial institution has for the country.

They include $300 million to create jobs for 185,000 youths; $250 million for North East infrastructure development; $1 million grant, to deal with challenges of Internally Displaced Persons; $300 million for infrastructure development around Abuja; and $200 million for the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

Receiving Adesina, Buhari said: "God has given us people and resources. It will take hard work on our part, but we will make it. We will get out of our problems."

We are determined to produce what we eat, and stop importation. We will also chase those who stole, and get them to refund."Adesina appreciated the country's support when he contested the AfDB presidency, making him the first Nigerian to occupy the position since the bank was established in 1964.

The AfDB boss described recent economic policies in the country as "bold, tough, uncomfortable, but right," adding that Nigeria would reap the dividends in due course.

He added that AfDB would give a total of $4.8 million as grant for institutional support, with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) getting $2 million, and $1 million to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)."You can always count on my support and that of the AfDB," Adesina said.

AS Tanzania looks forward to receiving the second bombardier Q400 plane of two the government purchased from Canada this week, it has emerged that the aircraft are safer, fuel-efficient and ideal for cheap local flights.

The popular global Forbes Magazine writes in an article titled; "Can Bombardier's Q400 Save Regional Air Service in the US?"that comparing to other aircraft offering regional flights in the US, the Bombardier Q400 proved to have more advantages.

It was reported that the planes have appropriate speed to cater for needs in regional airline transport, including having more commercial benefits as compared to aircraft of its like such as the ATR. "Essentially, on a 350 nautical mile route, our analysis finds that the Q400 has about a 65 to 72 per cent advantage in terms of fuel burn per seat versus the E170/CRJ-700, and a 100 to 110 per cent advantage versus a 50-seat regional jet," the Forbes says.

This, along with rising RJ maintenance costs, translates into roughly a 15 to 17 per cent and 48 to 52 per cent advantage in terms of operating costs per seat on the route.

However, increasing the distance to 450 nautical miles causes that cost advantage to evaporate, as the slower speeds (RJs are about 80 knots faster than the Q400) lead to longer flight times, which in turn lead to higher capital and labour costs.

But until that threshold, the Q400 presents a unique opportunity to replace RJ services at a lower cost. The trip costs up to about 350 nautical miles for the Q400s and present day RJs are similar, which means that the same revenue pool (let alone a market stimulated with lower fares) would allow 50-seat RJ routes to be replaced.

Moreover, because the Q400's fuel costs are lower, airlines could afford to pay higher pilot salaries, thereby offsetting some of the severity of the pilot shortage.

"At present, we estimate that the Q400 would be an effective replacement aircraft of between 50 to 60 per cent of the routes in question, and help preserve service at more than 20 airports," it explains.

It further notes that the real opportunity on the Q400 lies in a re-engined, upgraded Q400X turboprop, which has been rumoured for launch since 2011. "If Bombardier opted for a higher speed Q400, the cost equalisation point would bend outwards to around 700 to 750 nautical miles.

"While our sources at Bombardier do caution that a higher speed Q400X would require significant aerodynamic re-design, such a product would allow the Q400 to do 90 per cent of RJ routes worldwide, most of them with superior economics than present and next-generation RJs," it adds.

President of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft, Mr Mike Arcamone, said the perception was changing: "I think a lot of operators are starting to realize its quiet…So there are a lot of markets where the Q400 could absolutely replace… at the lower end… . jets."

Experts argue that among other reasons, Tanzania was forced to purchase such planes after realising that high operational costs brought by Boeing as well as few passengers were among major factors behind failure by the Air

Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) to do business. Making price comparison, the Boeing is sold at 296m US dollars while the Bombardier Q400 price stands at 35m dollars. Which is to say the price of one Boeing could buy 9 Bombardier planes.

According to the experts, these nine Bombardiers could help the ATCL to operate profitably. Regarding time used to cover a certain distance, for instance, 1100km from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, the Bombardier can use one hour and 40 minutes whereas Boeing can take 1 hour and 15 minutes, which is a difference of 25 minutes only.

The experts went on explaining that Bombardier uses 1.187 litres of fuel to cover a distance of one mile.

For example, travelling from Songea to Dar, a distance of 537km (335.625 miles), the Bombardier would need 398.386 litres of fuel, costing about 796,773/- at a price of 2,000 per litre.

But, for Boeing, covering the same distance would require spending 28.8m/- on fuel alone.

With Agencies

Lobby group Right2Know has called for advertisers to boycott the public broadcaster until its "crisis" has been dealt with.

The crisis at the SABC was unprecedented, R2K said in a statement on Monday.

"The SABC is expected to post a loss of R500 million this year. Rampant financial mismanagement is to blame and can be seen in, among other things, the massively inflated salary bill for top management and the recent ego-stroking 'Thank You SABC Concert' that turned out to be an enormous and costly flop."

On Wednesday, R2K would march to the offices of several top SABC advertisers and call on them to pull their adverts from the public broadcaster.

"Under these circumstances, to be advertising with the SABC is to encourage gross mismanagement and unlawfulness."

It wanted a well-funded public broadcaster with the resources to fulfil its mandate, based on accountability and transparency.

It could not accept a situation where the broadcaster was subject to the whims of a "petty narcissist", COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng, who continued to rule with "absolute impunity".

"Hlaudi is where he is simply because he is so eager to lick the boots of his political masters and use the SABC to spin their 'good stories'."

Topping the R2K's demands was that Motsoeneng should leave the public broadcaster in line with the Public Protector's findings and court rulings that his appointment was irrational.

Last Monday, the Supreme Court of Appeal rejected Motsoeneng's bid to appeal against the Western Cape High Court's November 2015 ruling declaring his appointment as COO irrational and setting it aside.

On Thursday, News24 reported that the SABC's group secretary had asked the board, in a letter dated September 19, to recommended to Communications Minister Faith Muthambi that Motsoeneng be appointed acting COO until December.

Source: News24

The GE Angola team made sure their boots were made for running this September, when staff members took part in a gruelling 84km marathon along Luanda Bay. They jogged, walked and cycled the equivalent of twice the conventional marathon distance of 42.2km in order to raise funds for local orphanages.

The group ran, walked and cycled along Luanda Bay, completing the marathon in about 11 hours and 30 minutes. In total, more than USD $7,240 for two orphanages, in the capital Luanda and Cabinda province, located in the north of Angola, the El-Betel and Lourenco Amadeu orphanages.

Led by Subsea Services Leader Peter Condon and Senior Sales Manager Michael Baeten, the team was formed when their colleagues decided to join them in their efforts to complete an endurance event for a good cause. Knowing that the marathon would be a tough one, preparation included a weekly endurance programme.

Peter says he was inspired to do  the marathon after reading about GE colleagues in Cabinda who were fund-raising for orphanages in that province.

"It was fun and heart-warming to have colleagues and friends joining us  throughout the day. Even spectators we didn't know walked and cycled a short  distance with us. The motivation and encouragement from our colleagues was  crucial during the last few kilometres because it was tough. We had to dig  deep into our energy reserves to finish," says Peter.

The  total funds collected came in the form of pledges and donations after the pair team had completed the marathons. The charity committee will now compile wish  lists of the orphanages requirements,

Peter  says he would like to encourage more people to give back to communities, but cautioned that it is important to keep costs down when organising a  fundraiser. In this instance they borrowed bicycles, which they used during  the marathon.

Participants  need to be committed to giving up some of their time to prepare and make the fundraiser a success, so he also suggests keeping the team as small as possible to ensure that each team member delivers on the individual roles assigned.

London — Last week saw the #DATAMUSTFALL hashtag go viral in South Africa. This is every African mobile operators' nightmare as data becomes more central to a far greater number of African users. Russell Southwood looks at what data wars across the continent hold for the future.

There was a time not so long ago when Internet users in Africa didn't matter to anyone in power, whether in Government or the private sector. Before the Arab spring, there were a few closures of SMS services but no-one talked about the Internet. Now it seems that not a month passes without an African country closing the Internet: Gabon is simply the latest in a growing list of countries.

Africa's data users are now becoming mainstream consumers and with their access to social media are now able to articulate their views on the pricing of mobile Internet a great deal more effectively.

Popular South African DJ Thabo "Tbo Touch" Molefe started a campaign to get data prices lowered in South Africa and it went viral. He asked listeners on his internet radio show and on Twitter to imagine a South Africa where people could download a book and stream a video, all while listening to online radio. He's also meeting with the Chair of the regulator ICASA.

As the topic trended, the Economic Freedom Fighters political party, which advocated free wifi as part of its election campaign, threw its weight behind the hashtag. Before long, he was also attracting global media coverage from the likes of Fortune magazine.

What irked South Africans in particular was that in the much more competitive data market in Nigeria South Africa's MTN was charging less for data than in South Africa. Nigeria is a country where the cost base and network challenges are significantly greater than in South Africa. And as Fortune observed: "In Nigeria MTN's 1.5GB monthly plan costs 1,000 naira or $3.12, while in South Africa the prepaid 1GB deal costs 79 rand or $5.56, according to the MTN website".

Some pushback came from South telecoms analyst and academic in a Facebook post in response to the campaign:" While the effective prices of data in South Africa may be well below the advertised price of the 1GB measure used internationally, users, especially those in lower income category, are spending significant portions of their income, around 20%, on relatively small amounts of data (1GB). This is because data prices still remain relatively high, but also because people are using a wider range of services more extensively. This now requires operators to build out next generation networks and increase their international and local capacity to meet demand and attempt to retain the quality of their networks".

"As a result they are collectively investing billions of dollars (over ZAR20 million between Vodacom and MTN in the current financial year alone) in network extension and upgrades for which they are required to ensure yield good rates of return for their shareholders. Doing so ensures further investments to compete effectively. Whether they are price gouging is unclear without a comprehensive cost analysis of their business and indeed the long overdue market review, in order determine dominance and abuse of dominance in the market".

Her conclusion? Government needs to keep the incentives in place for the private sector to invest and make effective interventions that help those less well off able to access data:"The role of public wi-fi as per SA Connect, and the successes in the big metro already, enabling dynamic spectrum sharing, and giving rural communities access to under-utilised spectrum are all things that if acted on now could see benefits in the very short term".

There is some sense in what Gillwald says but at the heart of this debate is whether Africa's incumbent mobile operators can find a business model that can deliver to a much wider range of people. Also South Africa is significantly less competitive than the benchmark comparison above with Nigeria. Competition means competitive pressure and "blood on the carpet" not simply preserving the status quo for existing businesses.

And as Nigeria's Technology Times reports:" The race among the Big Four mobile phone companies for more mobile Internet users has already kicked off with shifting marketing away from voice minutes to competitive data package offerings". Regulator NCC has removed the floor price for data and ushered in a period of fierce data price competition.

The issue of whether this competition will produce a new business model will be fought out around what economists call price elasticity. If you lower the price for mobile Internet, you get more users. Nowhere has this been clear than with the rise in mobile Internet users as mobile operators went down the "glide path" on 3G prices to current levels.

The issue with price elasticity is that at some point the increased volume of users at a lower price no longer produces a rise in revenues. What is at issue here is where is that point?

Tomorrow in Africa when voice and turns into WhatsApp, Skype and Viber and the value added services are music, film and TV, the business that is able to deliver mass, low cost data will probably not bear much resemblance to Africa's existing mobile incumbents.

So it's interesting that Vodafone is using its brand to explore how the business might look different if you started with data and worked backwards to voice. It has announced a non-equity Partner Market agreement with Afrimax to launch LTE data services under the Vodafone Cameroon brand in Yaounde and Douala. Effectively Vodafone lends its name and other help whilst getting to look over the owners' shoulders as the business develops.

The rollout for consumers and businesses will include the opening of Vodafone-branded retail stores and kiosks in key locations, supported by a network of distributors and resellers offering LTE handsets and devices. For SMEs, Vodafone Cameroon will also offer a range of connectivity products including LTE and Wi-Fi mobile data services, fixed internet and office solutions. Afrimax is already in Uganda and Zambia under the Vodafone name and in Ghana using the Busy brand.

Thus far its customer base is in the hundreds of thousands rather than millions but it is clearly laying down a new template for Africa's future data operators.