WEDNESDAY, 8.45PM:
BANKING representatives of the 12-nation Southern African Development Community on Wednesday formed the Southern African Development Community Banking Association which will form uniform banking legislation, practices and procedures in the SADC countries.
The constitution of the new body has already been agreed on, with objectives to establish standards in-line with international practices, as well as fair banking, in all of the SADC countries; uniform legislation to support commerce and industry in the region; and regional payments systems and training.
The working committee will be established, and will elect a chairman and vice chairman within the next couple of weeks.
The Banking Council South Africa will provide the secretarial function and support to the association.
BUSINESS BRIEFS
ELLIS PARK TO LIST
ELLIS Park Stadium is to be listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on the main board under the beverages, hotels and leisure section, the Golden Lions Rugby Union said on Thursday. The union said the listing will unlock the underlying value of the company and provide further funding for expansion. The listing, under the name of Ellis Park Stadium Limited, will also give the public “the opportunity to be involved in a company which had a remarkable profit record for the last 14 years”.
Gauteng Lions Rugby Union
SACOB’S PARSONS TO RETIRE
SOUTH African Chamber of Business director-general Raymond Parsons confirmed on Wednesday that he is to retire next year. Parsons said the search for his successor has already begun, and it is visualised that the new director-general will join Sacob in early 1999, with a transitional period of a couple of months before Parsons steps down in May. Parsons is also chairman of Ithuba Trust and a board member of Business Against Crime, Management of the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa and the Council of Economic Societies of South Africa.
Sacob
POST OFFICE MD QUITS
POST Office MD Frank Touwen’s resigned last Tuesday with immediate effect, after leading the postal utility’s return to the commercial sector, the Post Office said on Wednesday. Concerns have been raised that Touwen, whose contract expires in 2000, was unseated, possibly to make way for an affirmative action appointment ahead of the utility’s search for an international strategic management partner. The Post Office reduced its operating loss by more than R430-million to R271-million under Touwen’s management. Posts, Broadcasting and Telecommunications Minister Jay Naidoo said no decision has been made on a successor.
Post Office
UGANDA TENDER CANCELLED
TELKOM, along with several other telecommunications companies, on Wednesday lost out on a tender for a 51% stake in state-run Uganda Telecommunications. The Ugandan government on Wednesday cancelled the tender and said it will negotiate with the only bidder that met its submission deadline, Telekom Malaysia International. “This [failure to meet the July 10 deadline] is completely unsatisfactory for competitive and transparency reasons,” said Leonard Mugwana, executive director of the Enterprise Development Programme overseeing the privatisation. The decision to cancel the bidding was taken at a cabinet subcommittee meeting on privatisation on Tuesday night.
SA ATTRACTS NAM MONEY
AN estimated R300-million has been funnelled out of Namibia into South Africa in the past few weeks as South Africa’s high interest rates boost its appeal for Namibian investors, Standard Bank Namibia said on Wednesday. The outflow of funds has caused liquidity shortages in the Namibian market, forcing banks to raise their rates to maintain a stable money supply. Accordingly, Standard Bank Namibia on Wednesday announced an increase in deposit rates by 3% and an increase in its prime lending rates to 24,25% from 21,25%.
MUGABE SETS STEEL SALE DATE
ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday said loss-making Zimbabwean Iron and Steel Company’s rehabilitation will be completed in 1999, with tenders for private participation floated by the end of 1999. Zisco’s rehabilitation is being done by Chinese company Shougang, and is expected to cost Z$800-million. Zisco, which produces over a million tons of steel a year, has been losing money for over two years after the collapse of a blast furnace that accounted for 70% of output.
BoE FORMS BANKING POWERHOUSE
MINORITY shareholders in BoE Corporation, BoE, Orion Selections Holdings and NBS Boland on Wednesday voted in favour of the proposals to restructure the BoE group to form a single investment banking powerhouse. Executive chairman Bill MacAdam said the vote in each case was “as good as unanimous” and never less than 99,9%. The scheme will now be sanctioned by the Cape Supreme Court on July 29 and the new shares listed on August 3.
SASOL SYNTHETIC CLOSED FOR REPAIR
SASOL Synthetic Fuels on Wednesday announced that part of its Secunda sulphur recovery plant operation will be temporarily shut between July 19 and 27 to allow for maintenance work. “[The maintenance work] is necessary to ensure that the performance of the plant complies with the requirements of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism for emission levels of hydrogen sulphide,” the company said.
DROUGHT DRIVES SMALL FARMERS OFF LAND
MORE than 1,5-million small scale and subsistence farmers in the Northern Province may be driven off their land by a series of severe droughts which have gripped the region since April last year, Northern Province African Farmers Union spokesman Solly Ngoepe said on Wednesday. African Eye News Service reports that micro-farmers have no access to agri-insurance or other bridging finance and will have no alternative but to abandon their small farms if the El Nio-related droughts persist, he warned. He stressed that micro-farmers relied exclusively on natural rainfall or ground water to irrigate their crops and had watched “helplessly” as seed-stock has died two years in a row.
ZIM GETS WHEAT AID
THE United States on Wednesday signed a $556000 loan package which will allow Zimbabwe to import wheat from the United States. Inter Press Service reports that, under the accord, Zimbabwe will import 65000 tons of wheat between September and December. Payment, however, will only start five years after the last delivery of wheat. This move follows a loan agreement for about $556000 the two countries recently signed.