Entertainment & Media (E&M) markets across South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya have continued to see growth and is likely to continue in the next 3 years. This is according to the latest Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2024–2028 report (E&M report) produced by PWC. The key African markets, in this industry of South Africa (SA), Nigeria and Kenya, are seeing revenue growth ahead of the global average (3.9% compound annual growth rate through 2028). Key market highlights South Africa: South Africa has the most well-established E&M market, compared to Nigeria and Kenya, and is set to see the slowest growth…
Author: Greg Stewart
Business & Tech News US Tech Stocks Rebound U.S. stocks saw a rebound yesterday, led by the Nasdaq’s 1.5% surge, as technology shares recovered from Monday’s AI-driven sell-off triggered by Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek’s announcement of a competitive AI model. Nvidia clawed back 8.8%, recovering some of its historic 17% single-session loss on Monday that saw the Tech company shed $593 billion in market value. Broadcom and Oracle also added 2.6% and 3.6%, respectively, amid broad tech strength. The S&P 500 climbed 0.9%, supported by its tech sector, while Apple and Microsoft saw a 3.7% and 2.9% respective growth in…
Businesstech Africa spoke to Rupert Hare, Head of Multi-Asset portfolio at Prescient Investment Management, about their newly launched Prescient Domestic Balanced fund. Prescient is an independent systematic investment company, meaning that they utilise sequence of data driven systems that deeply analyse stocks and investments, independent from any sentiment type decisions. Why a Local Focused Fund is a Good Move? To understand the dynamics behind the decision to go with a fund that supports local developments, I ask Rupert to explain the rationale. “At the top level”, Hare says, “we see ourselves as financial engineers, and what we’re designing here is…
Business & Tech News Electrification Plans for Africa: Africa holds the awkward distinction of being the continent with the highest number of people without access to electricity. The impact of this is a large number of people without the means of modern agriculture, limited access to communication, information and effective healthcare facilities. The number of people without electricity in Africa is 300 million according to the World Bank and an ambitious plan, dubbed “Mission 300” to connect homes to power by 2030 was launched by the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) in April last year. Yesterday saw…
UD Trucks, held its annual press briefing at the Cradle Hotel in Muldersdrift this morning, where Filip Van den Heede, Managing Director of UD Truck South Africa, unpacked some of the developments in the company and trading environment. Technology Driving Massive Changes Filip believes that 2025 is an important year for the group and comments that there is much change, with a lot of new technology that only came into the picture in the last two years. Particularly with regards AI and the development towards autonomous, self – driving vehicles, that UD Japan has been investing deeply in over the…
South Africa could learn many valuable lessons from Argentina and its economic revival at the hands of President Javier Milei. In Particular there should be much to learn from the significant cuts in Argentina’s public spending that has recently delivered a budget surplus in a country once thought to be doomed to bankruptcy and economic delinquency. South Africa’s budget deficit is currently projected to be around 5% of GDP. The 2024/2025 financial year saw a tax shortfall of R22.3 billion. Despite electricity production becoming more stable with fewer energy blackouts during the period. Overall economic growth for the year Is…
Business & Tech News Indian Court Case Against OpenAI Gets New Momentum: Reuters have reported that the digital news units of Indian billionaires Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani, and other outlets like the Indian Express and the Hindustan Times, have mounted a legal challenge against OpenAI’s improper use of copyright content. This follows an original case brought by local news agency ANI, alleging copyright infringements by the global leading AI company. Now, additional parties such as NDTV and Network18 have filed a motion in a New Delhi court to enable them to join the original lawsuit against the ChatGPT. They believe…
SanlamAllianz Re Ltd (SAZ Re), the reinsurance company with a market presence over 45 countries in Africa, has announced that ratings agency, AM Best, has assigned a Financial Strength Rating of A- (Excellent) and a Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” (Excellent) to the company. The outlook assigned to these credit ratings is stable, reflecting the robust performance and strategic positioning of SAZ Re. Ilyes Hassib, CEO of SanlamAllianz Re, expressed his satisfaction with the ratings: “We are honoured to receive this esteemed recognition from AM Best. The A- (Excellent) rating is a testament to the strength of our balance…
None of the global top ten lowest corporate tax rate nations, occur in Africa, and that may be one of the key reasons Africa is lagging behind in terms of global investment rates. While International corporate income tax rates vary, the average rate of corporate tax sits at around 23.45%. There are extremes, with a few countries such as the Caribbean, offering a 0% rate, while the small African nation of the Union of Comoros has the unwanted reputation of being the nation with the highest corporate tax rate, sitting at an economically suicidal rate of 50%. The interesting factor…
Business & Tech News Mozambique Debt to Income Ration Causes Concern: Mozambique’s external debt-to-GDP ratio has dropped to 66.2% from 72.1% and with multiple delays in the development of its liquefied natural gas fields, has resulted in concerns that it will be some time, before its external debt service can benefit from the expected gas exports. Their international bonds tumbled earlier this week after a news report that the new government in Maputo is weighing a debt restructuring following months of post-election turmoil. The government debt has been on the increase over the past decade, partly due Islamist insurgency in northern Mozambique that…
