News 11:00

BULLETIN 26 January 11 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# Ramaphosa says South Africa’s momentum of economic recovery is gathering pace
# Prime minister Carney says Canada is not pursuing a free trade deal with China
# And tennis: Defending champion Madison Keys is knocked out of the Australian Open

# President Cyril Ramaphosa says there are several indicators that the country’s collective efforts to rebuild the economy are bearing fruit. In his weekly newsletter, he highlights the economy has posted four consecutive quarters of growth, South Africa has exited the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list, and the levels of poverty and inequality have declined considerably. Ramaphosa says while these signs of progress are encouraging, there is no time to rest. He adds the country must seize this momentum to achieve long-term gains for the economy. 

# Government has welcomed the World Economic Forum’s decision to once again entrust South Africa with hosting the WEF Africa summit next year. The summit was last held in Cape Town in September 2019, but has been paused since the Covid-19 pandemic fallout the next year. Government acting spokesperson, Nomonde Mnukwa, says hosting the summit will provide a significant boost to the tourism sector, support economic growth, and create opportunities for job creation across hospitality, transport, logistics and related value chains:

# Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya has dismissed accusations the metro is dragging its feet on blacklisting controversial tenderpreneur Edwin Sodi. This is in relation to the Rooiwal wastewater treatment plant scandal. A Sunday Times report suggests the metro had failed to act decisively and appeared indifferent to delays to blacklist Sodi. The mayor’s spokesperson, Zintle Mahlati, says the process has been slowed by legal and procedural challenges rather than a lack of urgency:

Moving abroad:

# Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney says his country has no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China. This is in response to US president Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100-percent tariff on Canadian exports if Ottawa makes a trade deal with Beijing. Carney says under the free trade agreement with the US and Mexico, there were commitments not to pursue free trade agreements with non-market economies without prior notification:

# Tennis: American Jessica Pegula has knocked out defending women’s singles champion and compatriot Madison Keys to reach her fourth Australian Open quarterfinal. She will next face compatriot Amanda Anisimova, who defeated China’s Wang Xinyu. In the men’s draw, Lorenzo Musetti is into his first quarterfinal in Melbourne, after beating American Taylor Fritz. The Italian will face record ten-time champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia, who reached the last eight when Czech Jakub Mensik withdrew due to injury.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-3-cents and the euro at 19-rand-1-cent. One British pound costs 21-rand-90-cents and Bitcoin trades at 87-thousand-848-dollars. Gold sells at five-thousand-and 93-dollars-89-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 65-dollars-55-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….