News 16:00

BULLETIN 19 May 4 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Business Leadership South Africa hopes this week’s budget balances fiscal prudence and growth support
# Eskom plans to deploy satellite surveillance to detect unregistered solar systems
# And tennis: Paolini and Gauff climb in the world rankings after reaching the final in Rome

# Business Leadership South Africa says urgent reforms and a credible budget are needed to rescue the ailing economy. In her weekly newsletter, CEO Busi Mavuso says this week’s revised budget must balance spending without adding more debt. Mavuso warns that tax revenue is down, and government must cut non-essential programmes to protect core services. She welcomes ratings agency Standard and Poor’s positive outlook for South Africa, but says continued reforms are key to improving investor confidence.

# Union Giwusa is calling on the Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee to drastically cut interest rates to the lowest rate of 3.5-percent. Union leader Mametlwe Sebei says this will help in addressing the decline in manufacturing activity and growing unemployment. He says the organised working class must force the central bank to slash interest rates:

# Eskom has announced plans to utilise satellite imagery to identify unregistered rooftop solar installations across South Africa. This move follows concerns over the impact of unregistered systems on the national electricity infrastructure. The initiative aims to ensure compliance with regulations requiring all grid-tied solar systems to be registered, even if they don’t feed electricity back into the grid. The power utility says by leveraging satellite technology, it intends to enhance its registration drive and maintain grid stability.

# Tennis: Italian Jasmine Paolini and American Coco Gauff both improved their world rankings after reaching the final of the Italian Open. Paolini is now fourth after becoming the first local women’s champion in 40-years, while losing finalist Gauff is now second behind Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. American Jessica Pegula improved to third and former number one, Iga Swiatek of Poland, went from second to fifth. In the doubles, Paolini and compatriot Sara Errani are joint sixth after winning the title in Rome yesterday.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-4-cents and the euro at 20-rand-33-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-13-cents and Bitcoin trades at 102-thousand-471-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-240-dollars-57-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 64-dollars-50-cents a barrel.

# And finally: A new artificial intelligence skills readiness study has revealed that 90-percent of African businesses are experiencing negative impacts from not fully utilising A-I. The impact includes project delays and missed growth opportunities. The study also indicates that 60-percent of companies consider A-I skills extremely important for success in the coming year. However, software company SAP’s Nazia Pillay highlights that a significant skills gap persists, with 85-percent prioritising A-I development expertise and 83-percent focusing on generative A-I capabilities:

Stay tuned for more news………….