Vaccine rollout: Govt. leans on private sector once again
By Roxanne Henderson
(Bloomberg) – South Africa’s biggest companies are in talks with government to help finance and facilitate the rollout of coronavirus vaccines in a program they estimate will cost R12bn ($802m), an alliance of the country’s largest business organisations said.
Plans are being drafted to help with logistics and funding and talks are being held with the National Treasury and Department of Health to surmount any obstacles and bring “private-sector finance to the party,” said Martin Kingston, chairman of the steering committee at B4SA, or Business For South Africa, said in a briefing Wednesday.
Word Count: 494
Banks have distributed 17.8 billion rand since the initiative started in May through to Jan. 16, the Banking Association of South Africa said in a statement on Wednesday. At the current rate, only 18.9 billion rand will be allocated under the plan, it said.
Ramaphosa’s administration last year unveiled a 500 billion-rand support package by reprioritizing spending from existing budgets, setting aside 100 billion rand to protect and create jobs, and 50 billion rand for welfare. Banks were roped in to distribute loans guaranteed by the government to help small- to medium-sized businesses navigate through the crisis, starting with 100 billion rand of disbursements before doubling up.
By Roxanne Henderson
(Bloomberg) – A R200bn ($13bn) loan program, one of the linchpins of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s plans to shore up a South African economy devastated by the coronavirus pandemic, may not even reach 10% of its target.
Banks have distributed R17.8bn since the initiative started in May through to January 16, the Banking Association of South Africa said in a statement on Wednesday. At the current rate, only R18.9bn will be allocated under the plan, it said.
Ramaphosa’s administration last year unveiled a R500bn support package by reprioritising spending from existing budgets, setting aside R100bn to protect and create jobs, and R50bn for welfare. Banks were roped in to distribute loans guaranteed by the government to help small- to medium-sized businesses navigate through the crisis, starting with R100bn of disbursements before doubling up.
U.K.’s CDC partnering with Vodafone for Ethiopia telecom bid
CDC Group is planning about $1 billion in Africa investments this year in sectors including infrastructure and finance, and is part of a consortium considering a bid for a new telecommunications license in Ethiopia.
The U.K. development-finance institution is matching a similar outlay made on the continent in 2020, Chief Executive Officer Nick O’Donohoe said in an interview. CDC will target markets such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria, while also considering putting money into more remote, frontier locations.
“The two areas we will be particularly focused on this year are accelerating our climate-related” and technology-based investments, the CEO said. “In addition to that, we are a big investor in infrastructure and will continue to be.”
SA to crack down on bitcoin after alleged Ponzi scheme unravels
South Africa’s finance-industry regulator wants more power to prosecute perpetrators of fraud and oversee dealing in cryptocurrencies after the collapse of a bitcoin trader, alleged to be the country’s largest Ponzi scheme.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority is making proposals to regulate trading in cryptocurrencies such as ethereum, XRP and litecoin, the watchdog’s head of enforcement, Brandon Topham, said in an interview.
The FSCA has handed details of its probe into the failure of Mirror Trading International to a top police unit after uncovering alleged fraud.