1957: Ghana becomes the first African country to gain independence from colonial rule.

On this day in 1967, the defection of Soviet dictator Stalin's daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva, to the US caused an international uproar.

SA BEATS 2018 GROWTH EXPECTATIONS

SA emerged out of 2018 with growth of 0.8% — which is slightly higher than expectations. The Bloomberg consensus was for growth of 0.6%, while both the National Treasury and the Reserve Bank expected growth of 0.7%. This is higher than the tepid growth of 0.4% in 2016 but almost half the 1.4% recorded in 2017. The growth has been driven by activity in the finance, real estate and business services sector, which was up by 1.8%, and general government services, which was up by 1.3%. In Q4 2018, GDP grew by 1.4% bolstered by the manufacturing sector, which grew 4.5%; the finance, real estate and business services sector, which grew by 2.7%; and the transport, storage and communications sector, which grew by 7.7%. Mining, which fell by 3.8%, weighed on the overall figure. Compared to the same period the year before, GDP grew by 1.1%. Expenditure on GDP grew by 0.7% overall in 2018 and by 1.6% in Q4. (BDLive)

PRIVATE SECTOR SHOW ITS METTLE

Activity in South Africa's private sector expanded for the first time in eight months in February, as output stabilised and new orders fell at a slower pace, a survey showed on Wednesday. IHS Markit's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to 50.2 in February from 49.6 in January, breaching the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction for the first time since June 2018. "The latest survey showcased the resilience of South African businesses in the midst of repeated setbacks," said IHS Markit economist David Owen. New orders fell in February, IHS Markit said, but the rate of deterioration was the slowest in eight months of declines. Despite the improvement in the headline PMI, overall demand was still falling, IHS Markit said. (Reuters)

MANTASHA CALLS ON COPS TO QUELL STRIKE VIOLENCE

Growing unrest at Sibanye-Stillwater's South African gold operations has left nine people dead since workers downed tools in November, prompting the country's mines minister to call on the police to step in and protect the local community. Mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe has requested the assistance of the minister of police to "restore and safeguard the safety and security of the community" in Carletonville in the west of Johannesburg, the mines ministry said. "[The strike] has become violent, impacting negatively on communities in the area, with nine deaths reported thus far and an estimated 62 houses burnt down," the mineral resources department said. The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) has been on strike at Sibanye's bullion operations since mid-November and plans to extend the strike to its platinum mines as well as all other mines where the AMCU has members. (Reuters)

NEW HEAD FOR BRICS BUSINESS COUNCIL

Minister of trade and industry Rob Davies announced yesterday that Industrial Development Corporation chair Busi Mabuza would head up the new Brics Business Council. The other members of the council are: Ayanda Ntsaluba (Discovery); Bridgette Radebe; (Mmakau Mining); Stavros Nicolaou (Aspen Pharmacare); and Elias Monage (Afika Group). The council, established in 2012, aims to promote and strengthen business, trade and investment ties between the five Brics countries. (IOL)

AFRICAN OPERATIONS GIVE NEDBANK REASON TO SMILE

Nedbank’s headline earnings in the year to end-December rose 14.5% to R13.5 billion thanks to the turnaround of its Togo-based associate company, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), said CEO Mike Brown. ETI contributed a headline profit of R375 millon, from a loss of R975 million in 2017. Nedbank bought a 20% stake in the pan-African lender in 2014. Excluding that investment, Nedbank’s headline earnings grew at a more modest pace of 2.8%. Nedbank said its total assets crossed the R1-trillion mark for the first time ever, while revenues grew 6%. That helped it lift its total dividend for the year by 10.1% to R14.15 per share. (BDLive)

BITTER NOTE SPOILS CLOVER’S (POSSIBLE) SWANSONG

In what could be its last set of results as a listed company, foods and beverages group Clover Industries said yesterday that SA’s new sugar tax shaved R42.3 million off its half-year earnings. Clover, which could be delisted in May if a takeover by an Israeli-led consortium goes ahead, said net profit fell 0.3% to R232.5 million, even as revenues grew 4.1% to R4.4 billion. However, the company raised its interim dividend per share by 5% to 27.89c. Volumes grew, and “moderate improvements” in the sales prices of certain products were achieved, but operating margins fell from 8.8% a year before to 7.8% because of the sugar tax. Clover said in February that it had received a R4.8 billion takeover offer from a consortium led by Israel-based Central Bottling Company. (BDLive)

DE BEERS FOUND THE GOING ROUGH

De Beers, the largest source of rough diamonds by value, reported the lowest level of rough diamond sales for February since it started releasing the data in 2016, achieving $490 million (about R6.9 billion). De Beers, which is 85% owned by Anglo American, has 10 sales events a year, including the allocation of specific diamonds to about 80 hand-selected clients at events called sights in Gaborone, as well as auctions. The $490 million realised in the second sale of 2019 was a continuation of the weak start to the year, with the first sale of the year of $500 million similarly falling far short of earlier sales. Russia’s Alrosa, the world’s largest diamond producer by number of carats, reported a 44% year-on-year decline in sales in January of $282 million, of which $278 million was from rough diamonds with the balance coming from polished diamonds. (BDLive)

ASHANTI TO REDUCE COLOMBIAN HOLDINGS

AngloGold Ashanti agreed to sell its interest in Northern Colombia Holdings Limited to Royal Road Minerals Limited to focus on its other Colombian exploration projects, it said yesterday. AngloGold, which has the Quebradona and Gramalote greenfields exploration projects in Colombia, said it would sell Northern Colombia Holdings, which includes mining concession agreements covering approximately 36 000 hectares and the rights to acquire further mining concessions. (Reuters)

MORGAN STANLEY BUILDS APPETITE FOR CURRENCY VOLATILITY

South Africa’s Rand, Turkey’s LIra and Brazil’s Real may be among the worst-performing emerging-market currencies in the past month, but Morgan Stanley isn’t giving up hope. The lender’s VIRP model, which produces buy and sell signals based on volatility and idiosyncratic risk premia, remains long on those units, as well as Russia’s ruble, even as a rally in developing-nation assets loses steam amid rising geopolitical risks and lingering concerns over a US-China trade dispute. The Morgan Stanley model is short Colombia’s peso, Malaysia’s ringgit, Indonesia’s rupiah and the Thai baht, while showing the Chinese renminbi close to triggering a sell signal, it said wrote. The signals should be used as inputs in investment decisions rather than rule-based trading strategies, he noted. (Bloomberg)

TRUMP’S TARIFFS HURTING WHERE IT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO

President Donald Trump regularly declares that he’s winning his trade wars. Yet evidence is growing that the US economy is a net loser so far. In two separate papers, some of the world’s leading trade economists declared Trump’s tariffs to be the most consequential trade experiment seen since the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs blamed for worsening the Great Depression. They also found the initial cost of Trump’s duties to the US economy was in the billions and being borne largely by American consumers. Economists from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Princeton University and Columbia University found that tariffs imposed last year by Trump on products ranging from washing machines and steel to some US$250 billion (about R3.5 trillion) in Chinese imports were costing US companies and consumers $3 billion a month in additional tax costs and companies a further $1.4 billion in deadweight losses. In a separate paper the annual losses from the higher cost of imports alone for the US economy at $68.8 billion, or almost 0.4% of GDP.  (Bloomberg)

MORE NEWS, NOTICES AND APPEALS

KZN ROLLS OUT RED CARPET FOR FORBES WOMAN AFRICA

The KZN government is rolling out the red carpet for hundreds of delegates to the 2019 edition of the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre. The summit. on Friday March 8, will coincide with International Womens’s Day under the theme: “The New Wealth Creators”.

So, you are still not organised…

•    February 2019 is almost gone
•    Less than 300 days left in 2019
•    Your goals list is enormous
•    Your time is short
•    You feel overwhelmed

Make the changes you need to, to achieve what you need to,
with less pressure – you know you need to and you’ll feel so good about it.

Book right now

Date: 28th March 2019 – GAP Academy PMB
Duration:  2 hours (14:00-16:00)
Cost:  R300 per person or R500 per person for 2 or more
Spaces are limited - so please be sure to book soon.

(Terms and Conditions Apply)

Book Now:  Shan Cade |  shan@shancade.co.za  | 078 801 0896
www.shancade.co.za