just a secure. right place. trying to. shiny new figures from south africa's mining sector but it's all that letters gold we get some insights from the ground in south africa. and the leaders of brics countries meeting in brazil ya think global trade tensions and policy uncertainty are diminishing confidence. and i'm a bit officials accused of accepting millions of bribes from iceland's biggest fishing companies step down from office. this is the w. business i'm john meldrum a lot. and in berlin welcome once upon a time mining was the biggest single driver of growth in south africa while the sector was badly hit by the global recession a decade ago it continues to play an all important role in the economy close to half a 1000000 people work in mining more than in any other industry it accounts for over 7 percent of total economic output and is a vital source of foreign currency. coal and diamonds have traditionally been a mainstay of the industry but it's gold more than anything that has brought in the big bucks but the metal isn't quite as big as an earner as it once was a little over a decade ago south africa was the world's largest gold producer now it's slipped away down the list ending up far behind countries like china australia and russia now south africa has published fresh mining production figures here to break them down for us is a broad win seaborne from our partner channel business day t v bronwyn walk us through the numbers were there any surprises. well the headline figure in itself was quite a surprise we experienced growth of north point 2 percent year on year why that was a surprise is because most analysts had penciled in a contraction of as much as 2 percent so any growth that we saw faltering 3 was quite a surprise if you drill down into the detail of the doctor we saw that it was on or production that really laid the games it's also important to note that the diamond mine is contracted significantly that area of the industry contracting almost 16 percent and then september's figures that we've just been chatting about that brings to a close the 3rd quarter so we can really get a sense now of how mining production was during the 3rd quarter and with that will contribution contract from headline growth for south africa as a whole the mining industry really contributed quite significantly to economic activity here but for the 3rd quarter we did see a decline of 6.4 percent for the mining sector and that's likely to contract from headline growth here in south africa. now analysts have been expecting several challenges for the sector we're going to go from here. well that's really the $1000000.00 question isn't it is that uptick going to be sustained or not as it stands it doesn't look like the uptick is going to be sustained and that's firstly because of global factors that are coming to way you'd be familiar with the fact that global growth is slowing we're seeing trade come under pressure because of the u.s. china trade war and this demand for commodities is coming under pressure as well so that will put to some waves on the industry and then here locally what is also quite a few challenges that miners all facing firstly a rising cost base due to labor costs it's also becoming quite expensive to mine here in south africa gold miners specifically are having to go deeper and deeper to access the minerals so a lot of cost concern coming through and then added to all of that is regulated reconnaissance as well we need policy certainty to under lock investment potential and until we see that we're not going to see production pick up and as it stands it seems like a little uptick is all we're going to see and until this interchange is on those fronts we're not going to see great growth coming through. thank you very much bronwyn seaborne from our partner channel business day t v in johannesburg. and the south african president is among the leaders at a meeting of the so-called brics countries in the brazilian capital brasilia they're trying to strengthen economic and security ties a challenging task for such a diverse group on any day but in a time where multilateralism has taken a hit it's an even harder project. he has to see in the brics countries chinese president xi jinping after on china is the undisputed heavyweight among emerging economies brazil russia india and south africa are merely audience members . sarsi. there are lots of good suggestions on how we can strengthen trade systems clear commercial hurdles and improve communication and cooperation these suggestions shows what the economy needs we host brazilian president jarrod bolsa an hour oh is stuck between a rock and a hard place he's no fan of multilateralism and he seeks close ties with u.s. president trump still china is a key investor for brazil it was the. premier woman china is our most important trading partner. together with my entire team as well as the brazilian business community we want not just to expand we want to diversify trade relations. that's probably music too she's yours after europe and africa china has long had south america in mind for the construction of its gigantic infrastructure project the new silk road. the united arab emirates and egypt are to invest $20000000000.00 in economic and social projects the announcement was made while egyptian president abdel fatah sisi visited abu dhabi crown prince mohammed bin zayed in the u a e the leaders say the funds will be used to establish joint strategic investment projects in a number of sectors no further details have yet been provided. to a number of b.n. now where a corruption scandal has rocked the country's fishing industry and claimed political casualties 2 ministers have resigned after allegations they received millions in bribes from iceland's a biggest fishing company sam harry the kickbacks were supposedly in exchange for fishing quotas and totaled around 11000000 euros. some harries trawler fleet catches thousands of tons of fish across the world's oceans by the look of things far more than they're allowed to to avoid being handicapped by strict quotas the company's managers are said to have paid one and a half 1000000000 icelandic crowns in bribes some 11000000 euros the bribes were aimed at namibian politicians they're accused of transferring the maybe as lucrative national fishing quota to the some hairy fisheries company in return your highness stephens is a former some hairy employee. or whatever the obstacle was you just had to overcome it to get as much quota as possible including bribery yes paying bribes was no problem for sam harry this is criminal activity as organized crime. namibia's justice minister and fisheries minister both resigned on thursday for the time being at least fisheries minister bernard esau won't comment. that your son in law accepted money from on this i want you somebody that you are you said that he was going to bring that money to you were you aware of that go investigate some of the scandal has whipped up a storm in iceland as well where the company's c.e.o. is quote stepping aside. now to some of the other global business stories making news surprising figures from china show the country's industrial output grew at a significantly slower rate than expected in october production increased by 4.7 percent year on year despite many analysts expecting growth above 5 percent chinese g.d.p. growth is that its lowest rate for 3 decades. germany has narrowly avoided entering a technical recession economy grew by 0 point one percent in the last quarter surprising analysts who expected stagnation there were fears that europe's economic engine was headed for recession after growth slowed in the 2nd quarter. dialers says it will make staff cuts as it looks to save a 1000000000 euros by the end of 2022 the maker of mercedes cars says it needs to cut its personnel bill germany's carmakers are facing high costs as they make the switch to greener vehicles. more than $10010000000.00 people signed up to disney's new streaming service on his 1st day this new plus launched in the u.s. and canada on tuesday with a brand new series based on the star wars films subscription is $7.00 a month. we work has more than doubled its quarterly loss to one and a quarter $1000000000.00 struggling office sharing company says the result is due to the opening of almost $100.00 new locations the company has recently shelved plans to go public and accepted a cash injection japan's tech investors soft bank. bosses barking orders stuff don't say a word to you if you think service has gone to the dogs you might be right our next report brings us to an establishment in the russian city of paris where an enterprising businesswoman has created a space for a canine loving customers or king. top class grooming a sunny disposition and a willingness to be constantly stroked are the qualities required to satisfy these customers the star dogs cafe is a human canine operation that opened a year ago in the russian city of paris. where woods is that they are also we're here for the 1st time we like it very much actually i mean the dog is here for the 1st time she's looking around and everything that interest to her she still little or her name with ava. i think she likes it here judging by her behavior. the cafe is led by lifelong dog lover and former shelter volunteer are you on that . as manager she works hard to ensure all members of staff are treated equally from what you and i mean that of course the dogs have the same working day from morning till night big here with us in the coffee shop and i for dogs. they do get tired so they have some days off they take turns usually to go to work on the following 7 day the other 2 are on. the cafe also sells dog themed products the proceeds are donated to a local animal shelter as the russian nights grow longer and colder these doggies in the window promised come fresh and cuddles in equal measure. china has been testing its mars lander ahead of its planned 1st mission to the red planet next year they trial the crowds ability to hover and avoid obstacles the steel cables attaching it to the platform are there to mimic the gravity on mars which is around a 3rd of the earth beijing has poured billions into its military run space program with hopes of having its own space station by 2022. thank you very much for watching. sean a clear position on the international perspectives currently witnessing often violent protests in countless countries around the world about a new global political awakening the words of the protesters have in common a well we'll be angry uprisings meet us find out when some appoint. 60 minutes b.t.w. . i've. not know how they will not succeed in dividing us about not succeeding taking the people off the streets because we're tired of this dictatorship. taking a stand above the news that matters. this is africa coming up in the next 15 minutes the rising stars shaping the future feel the 1st time in the next 100 most influential people. the africans who made the cut. and the land the foreigners off being put in focus one of the country's most recognized analyst sits at the table with me.