South African electricity tariffs are likely to keep rising steeply as the country tries to fund a massive spending programme to upgrade its power network, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Friday. Africa’s largest economy has suffered a series of power failures over the past couple of years as it struggles to keep up with faster economic growth.
Africa’s four biggest economic powers could become an engine for regional growth in the same way that emerging market giants Brazil, Russia, India and China are trendsetters in the rest of the developing world, a senior researcher at the African Development Bank said.
African gay activists this week protested against ”state-sponsored” homophobia, saying authorities condone their persecution across the continent. The International Gay and Lesbian Association’s first pan-African conference in Johannesburg drew activists who say they have seen the consequences of laws that breed homophobia.
South Africa’s government has no plans to interfere in monetary policy in order to influence the exchange rate and promote vital exports, an economic adviser to President Thabo Mbeki said on Wednesday. Mbeki rattled investors in February when he said raising interest rates was not the only tool to tame consumer spending.
Africa’s vast arable lands have the potential to rival top agricultural nations like the United States in supplying biofuels to a world seeking cleaner energy sources. But using land reserved for food production to supply biofuel demand could squeeze food supplies in a region vulnerable to shortages.
South African maize prices have surged by up to 18% in the past week alone, and traders say the rally may still have some way to go after one of the driest seasons in years. An industry group has drawn comparisons with events five years ago, when soaring prices forced the government to provide aid to millions of poor South Africans for whom maize is a staple.
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/ 14 February 2007
With investors, perception often counts for a lot more than reality. And that appears to be the case in South Africa, which said on Tuesday it had stepped up a campaign to hand more land to black people and announced its first state-ordered farm sale, hitting a nerve with those wary of the thorny issue of land reform.
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/ 8 February 2007
South Africa’s Reserve Bank has for some time raised the alarm about the inflationary risks posed by a boom in credit. But some analysts say increasing borrowing by businesses may bode well for the economy and may even help the country tackle its huge unemployment rate, provided the money is ploughed into much-needed investment in local industries.
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/ 29 January 2007
Daphney Makhubela had to wait over 20 years to bury her brother Schoeman Ramokgopa, who never said goodbye before leaving South Africa in the 1970s to train as a soldier in the anti-apartheid movement. Ramokgopa was killed in a 1983 battle with apartheid forces on the border with Botswana, where he was stationed as part of an exiled military force.
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/ 1 November 2006
It has created a wealthy black elite but has been decried for leaving millions of people behind; advocates say it has helped redress the economic wrongs of apartheid but critics argue it is deeply flawed. South Africa’s black economic empowerment (BEE) policy was supposed to bring the black majority into the mainstream economy but as opponents grow more vocal, there are signs the government may be ready for a rethink.