News 14:00

BULLETIN 21 April 2 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# South African business confidence declines, owing largely to the Middle Eastern conflict
# Ethiopian Airlines expands its fleet with six more Boeings
# And tennis: Alcaraz’s French Open participation hangs in the balance due to a wrist injury

# The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Business Confidence Index declined slightly by 1.8 index points to 131.4 in January, but recorded a better level of 134.6 in February. Last month, the BCI lost 3.3 index points to measure 131.3. SACCI CEO, Alan Mukoki, ascribes the decline mainly to the weaker rand, lower JSE share prices and lower global precious metal prices due to the Middle Eastern conflict:

# The DA says it will fight vehemently against the draft Public Procurement regulations. The regulations state that companies that wish to do business with the government must demonstrate that a large percentage of their prior procurement was with majority black-owned businesses. The DA says when public procurement does not focus primarily on value for money, poor South Africans suffer the most. It says what the country needs are laws and regulations that address the problems, not ones that exacerbate poverty and inequality.

Meanwhile, Solidarity says its court case to challenge the constitutionality of the act is of critical importance to every taxpayer and service user. Solidarity’s Theuns du Buisson says the legislation holds direct consequences for prices, service delivery, and the country’s infrastructure:

Moving abroad: 

# Africa’s largest carrier, Ethiopian Airlines, is buying six additional Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner jets as it looks to expand its long-haul flights across Africa and to the US, Europe and Asia. Group CEO Mesfin Tasew told Reuters after a signing ceremony at Boeing’s headquarters near Washington it was converting six options to firm orders after previously ordering 20 new 787’s, including nine in January. Tasew also discussed with US officials his company’s 204.7-billion-rand construction of Africa’s biggest airport which will be completed in the town of Bishoftu in 2030.

# Tennis: World number two Carlos Alcaraz of Spain says he would rather miss defending his French Open title than rush treatment on his wrist injury. The seven-time Grand Slam champion picked up the injury during his first match in the Barcelona Open earlier this month before withdrawing from the tournament. Alcaraz says he is waiting on the results of medical tests before determining whether he will be able to play at Roland Garros, where he is the two-time defending champion. He says he remains hopeful and patient.

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 16-rand-34-cents and the euro at 19-rand-24-cents. One British pound costs 22-rand-10-cents and Bitcoin trades at 76-thousand-553-dollars. Gold sells at four-thousand-782-dollars-98-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 90-dollars-85-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….