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Relations between South Africa and Tanzania are set to soar to higher levels following the signing of two bilateral agreements.
South Africa - Tanzania
The agreements signed on Wednesday afternoon are the Bi-National Commission (BNC) and the Agreement on Co-operation in the fields of Arts and Culture. [Read more…]
Gauteng Finance
Johannesburg – Gauteng, the most populous province in the country, is on track to restore its financial well-being, Finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe said on Monday.
The past three fiscal years have been difficult for the province, with diminished collection rates from revenue sources and the sharp decline in equitable share, which led to cash flow problems. This was also due to poor financial management, resulting from unauthorised spending by some departments. [Read more…]
Durban – A R15 million SMME loan scheme has been launched in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday to help the youth finance their businesses.
The Imbewu Loan Fund, provided by Ithala and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), has been initiated to address problems relating to the lack of access to finance by most businesses in KZN. [Read more…]
Domestic expenditure rises to 8.3%
Pretoria – Real gross domestic expenditure accelerated to 8.3 percent in the first quarter of 2011, says the South African Reserve Bank.
“Growth in real gross domestic expenditure accelerated significantly from an annualised rate of 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010 to 8.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2011. This acceleration followed a further expansion in all the components of domestic demand,” said the Reserve Bank in the June Quarterly Bulletin. [Read more…]
South African Reserve Bank
Pretoria – The South African Reserve Bank reported a R1.2 billion after-tax loss in the year ended March 2011, it said in its Annual Report.
According to the document, capital flows to many emerging markets in the final quarter of 2010 and early 2011 with a similar pattern were observed in South Africa. [Read more…]
Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies
Cape Town – The first phase of setting up a free trade area across 26 countries in Africa is expected to come into effect in three years, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Monday.
Briefing the media in Parliament, following Sunday’s meeting in Sandton to set up a free trade area between the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and the East African Community (EAC), Davies said member countries had agreed to carry out negotiations in two phases – with the first to be concluded within 36 months. [Read more…]
Eastern Cape Entrepreneurs
East London – Aspirant young Eastern Cape entrepreneurs have been encouraged to take advantage of various government initiatives being offered to assist them. [Read more…]
Free trade deal could boost trade, investment in Africa.
Cape Town- A grand free trade agreement among African states – under discussion next weekend –could boost intra-continental trade and investment.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for East African States (Comesa) are to meet in Pretoria on June 11 and 12 to discuss the idea of a tripartite free trade agreement (FTA) first mooted three years ago. [Read more…]
Durban – Small construction businesses must start looking at the private sector for tenders. This was just one piece of guidance on offer at the 2011 Construction Indaba.
The two-day meeting, initiated by the eThekwini Municipality’s Business Support Tourism and Markets Unit, is aimed at assisting small businesses to become self-sustaining entities. [Read more…]
Cape Town Economy
Cape Town – South Africa’s economy has been projected to grow between 3.5 and 3.8 percent this year, up from -7.1 and 2.8 percent in the last two years respectively.
The Financial and Fiscal Commission revealed this on Monday, indicating that the growth showed the economy was mending from the recession.
Despite the positive picture, a lot still needs to be done as unemployment, poverty, inequality and low growth continued, it said.
The commission tabled before Parliament its recommendation for 2012 and 2013.
Addressing the media, the commission’s Deputy Chair Bongani Khumalo said that it was up to Parliament to enforce their recommendations.
Khumalo said that despite the provision of social grants, poverty remained high among “black and female-headed households.”
Inadequate educational and health outcomes are similarly skewed against the poor, he said, adding that “distorted settlement patterns” meant those same people were located out of towns and in rural areas.
He said that while government had made steps in achieving its social goals, it should pay attention to issues of inequality, poor educational attainment and child maternal mortality.
Looking ahead, Khumalo said, the key issue for the country was to “strike a balance around inclusive growth and job creation together with fiscal sustainability and low inflation.”
He emphasised that national, provincial and local government should “further prioritise expenditures in respect of equitable share and conditional grants for 2012/13, to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).”
He urged government to prioritise the attainment of universal education and push the fight against HIV and Aids.
In addressing local government issues, Khumalo said the commission believed that “sustainable development is anchored in a well-functioning local government sector and vibrant urban economies in particular.”
He said national and provincial treasuries’ efforts to improve the credibility of municipal budgets through annual benchmarking should continue to be supported and results made public.
In addition, he said, government should “develop and support peer learning and support programmes that assist poorly performing municipalities.”
He recommended that increases in education spending should be directed towards “investments that will have the biggest impact on quality.” That, he said, included learner and teacher support material and scholar transport. – BuaNews
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