(Reuters) &#8211; Billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX is looking to raise new capital at a valuation of about $44 billion, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GettyImages-1175368064-1110x740.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-361863"/><figcaption>SpaceX Chief Engineer Elon Musk speaks in front of Crew Dragon cleanroom at SpaceX Headquarters in Hawthorne, California on October 10, 2019. (Photo by Yichuan Cao/NurPhoto via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



The company is in talks with investors for raising about $1 billion at a price of $270 a share, the report said, adding that the round is unlikely to be completed within the next couple months and terms could change. (<a href="https://bloom.bg/32M8h2v">bloom.bg/32M8h2v</a>)



SpaceX did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.



SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule delivered NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station in May, marking the first U.S. space capsule to do so with a crew since 2011.



The private rocket company also raised $346.2 million in May at a valuation of about $36 billion.



Musk is also the chief executive officer of electric carmaker Tesla Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O">TSLA.O</a>).



Tesla on Wednesday posted a profit for four straight quarters, a condition for it to be considered for the stock index of the largest U.S. companies.

Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan

Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan. gettyimages-1155740300-594×594

African born Elon Musk’s SpaceX in talks to raise funds at $44 billion valuation: Bloomberg News

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s central bank cut its main lending rate by a further 25 basis points on Thursday, to a new record low of 3.50%, as the COVID-19 pandemic strangles the economy and keeps a lid on inflation.



The decision comes on top of 275 bps of rate cuts earlier this year and was in line with the prediction of 13 of 28 economists in a recent Reuters poll.



“The (monetary policy) committee notes that the economic contraction and slow recovery will keep inflation well below the midpoint of the target range for this year,” Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago told a news conference.



“Inflation is expected to be well contained over the medium-term, remaining close to the midpoint in 2021 and 2022.”



The central bank met after data last week showed that consumer inflation fell to 2.1% year on year in May, its lowest in more than 15 years, from 3.0% in April.



That is below the bank’s target range of 3% to 6%.



The central bank now expects gross domestic product to contract 7.3% in 2020, versus an earlier prediction for a 7.0% contraction.



South Africa has recorded the most coronavirus cases in Africa, with total infections just shy of 400,000 and rising by more than 10,000 a day in recent days.

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South Africa cuts rates further as COVID-19 strangles economy

KHARTOUM (Reuters) &#8211; Sudan’s amended budget for 2020 includes a currency adjustment programmme beginning in August that aims to reach a full currency float in two years, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday.



The country’s currency recently fell to a record low of 150 Sudanese pounds to the dollar on the black market, compared with 55 at the official rate. The black market rate was 140 pounds to the dollar on Wednesday.



A little over a year after a popular uprising that put Sudan on a shaky path towards democracy, its economy is at risk of freefall, hammered by an inflation rate of more than 100% and frequent shortages of bread and medicine.



The private sector will be allowed to import unlimited quantities of fuel to address shortages, which will lead to a “rationalization” of its price, Acting Finance Minister Hiba Mohamed Ali said, referring to a removal of subsidies to help meet the reform demands of international donors.



The government source said the sector would be allowed to import fuel using dollars at the free market price in August.



Fuel imports would be secured through a previously announced trade financing fund, Ali said. The fund has a $1 billion portfolio to be used for imports, Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok said in a speech on Wednesday. Resolving the country’s trade imbalance is a priority for the government, Hamdok said.



In an exception to the “rationalization” drive, subsidized fuel could still be sold to productive sectors like agriculture.



The reforms come as part of an adjusted 2020 budget to be passed by Sudan’s cabinet and sovereign council, acting in a parliamentary capacity, within days, the government source said.



Ali said a budget adjustment was necessary to reduce the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which had cut public revenue by 40%.



Khartoum is in desperate need of international financial help to reorganise its economy, and the government is printing money to subsidise bread, fuel and electricity. The finance minister said the government would continue to subsidize bread, medicine and cooking oil as part of the 2020 budget.



Foreign donor nations in June pledged $1.8 billion at a conference hosted by Germany to help Sudan ease an economic crisis hampering its transition towards democracy. Ali said that $484.7 million of that money has been set aside for a cash transfer programme to support poor families.

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Sudan 2020 budget will adjust currency, aim for float in 2 years -government source

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; Corporate America is downsizing its real estate footprint as companies allow more employees to work from home, a growing threat to the bottom line of owners of traditional office buildings and a sign that companies are looking for ways to cut costs as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.



A Reuters analysis of quarterly earnings calls over the past week revealed more than 25 large companies plan to reduce their office space in the year ahead, a move designed to reduce the second-largest expense after payrolls at corporations.



Energy company Halliburton Co said it intends to close more than 100 facilities. Financial services company State Street Corp said it is going to nearly double the workers assigned to one office before adding additional space, based on the assumption that a significant portion of its workforce will continue to work from home even after a vaccine for COVID-19 emerges. Bedding company Sleep Number Corp plans to slow the growth of its total square footage as more consumers shop online.



“You should expect and hold us to a much lower footprint really starting quite soon,” State Street Corp’s CEO, Ronald Philip O’Hanley, said on the company’s July 17 earnings call.



Regions Financial Corp, meanwhile, told analysts: “Whether through increased use of hoteling, work from home or modified scheduling, we are confident overall office square footage will continue to decline,” as some workers share desks or stop coming into the building.



Analysts say the plans to cut back on real estate are likely the first wave of cost-cutting measures to hit office workers as companies try to maintain margins going into what may be a long recession. So far, the majority of the 14.7 million U.S. jobs lost during the pandemic have been in hard-hit areas such as restaurants, travel and retailers.



Reductions in office spending could likely be followed by layoffs and investments in technology that should help improve productivity with a reduced workforce, said Bill McMahon, chief investment officer of active equity strategies at Charles Schwab.



“Clearly, we’re seeing businesses starting to rationalize their physical plants and at some point they will turn to labor too,” he said.



Morgan Stanley in June forecast that work-from-home policies will increase vacancy rates in office buildings. Vacancy rates in New York will reach 10%-12% in the next two to five years from 8.7% now, while San Francisco will reach 7-9% from 5.8%, it predicted.



So far, concerns about declining office space use have not hurt commercial mortgaged-backed securities, with the iShares CMBS ETF up 4.4% for the year to date.



While companies tend to cut back on their real estate needs during typical recessions, the last four months of economic lockdown have shown that many workers can remain productive at home, said Danny Ismail, an analyst at independent research firm Green Street Advisors. As a result, the cutbacks that companies are making are more likely to be permanent, he said.



“Every company just went through a mass work-from-home experience and for the majority it was mostly positive,” he said.



Green Street Advisors expects that office demand will be reduced by up to 15% as a result of work from home policies once the coronavirus pandemic is contained.



That reduction in necessary space will most likely hurt real estate investment firms with large exposures in cities such as San Francisco and New York as workers are expected to be given more freedom by employers to live in lower-cost areas away from the coasts, Ismail said.



“Even before COVID-19, you’d seen a migration from majority coastal cities along the Northeast and West Coast to Sun Belt markets,” he said, referring to the region stretching from Florida to Southern California, collectively known as the Sun Belt. “We think that will accelerate in the future as the cost of living, quality of life and ability to keep your job is much better in a post-COVID-19 world than before.”

wall street

Who needs an office? US companies cut back

(Reuters) &#8211; Tesla will build its next factory near Austin, Texas, Chief Executive Elon Musk announced late on Wednesday.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="410" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594.jpg" alt="Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan" class="wp-image-351991" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594-300x207.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594-100x70.jpg 100w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-1155740300-594x594-218x150.jpg 218w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>Billionaire Elon Musk: I am not Warren Buffett’s biggest fan (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for E3/Entertainment Software Association)</figcaption></figure>



The 2,000-acre site on the Colorado River is about 13 minutes from downtown Austin, Musk said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.



“It’s going to be an ecological paradise &#8230; open to the public,” he said.



Musk said Tesla would consider site runner-up Tulsa, Oklahoma, for future production.



Musk and his team met earlier this month with officials in both states, which were competing to land the $1.1 billion plant.



Musk on Wednesday said the plant will build Tesla’s new Cybertruck and its heavy-duty Semi truck, as well as the Model 3 and Model Y cars for eastern North America.



Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement on Wednesday: “Tesla is one of the most exciting and innovative companies in the world, and we are proud to welcome its team to the State of Texas,” said Governor Abbott. “Texas has the best workforce in the nation and we’ve built an economic environment that allows companies like Tesla to innovate and succeed.”

How Elon Musk Took Tesla To Hell And Back With The Model 3

African born Elon Musk’s Tesla selects Texas as site for Cybertruck factory

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; Thousands of South African restaurant and bar owners placed tables and chairs on the streets outside their premises on Wednesday in a nationwide protest against lockdown restrictions that prevent them from selling alcohol or trading after 9 p.m.



The nation’s hospitality sector is one of the hardest-hit by government restrictions imposed at the end of March to curb the spread of the coronavirus.



At the end of June, restaurants were allowed to offer sit-down services again, but at limited capacity and without serving alcohol.



But that is not enough for Llewy Mateza, owner of The Local Grill in the Parktown North suburb of Johannesburg.



“I’d like the government to reinstate the sale of alcohol, which would then make my business sustainable to a certain extent. Alcohol in my restaurant accounts for 40% of my sales,” Mateza said outside his 150-seater steakhouse that has not re-opened since the end of March.



He has not laid off staff, but about 70% of them have not received any money yet from the government’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), which has been paying out COVID-19 relief payments to employees who cannot work as a result of the restrictions.



The Department of Employment and Labour has said the delays in payments have been due to a lengthy vetting process and adapting its systems to cope with a ten-fold increase in benefit payments.



Mxolisi Mhlongo, a waiter at The Local Grill, said he was selling fish and vegetables from his garden to fend for his wife and three children.



Waiter Devin Moyo, who works at nearby restaurant Rockets, said he had not been able to afford the smallest things for his family.



“Just to pay the bills has become a problem. The government hasn’t done enough in helping us with the UIF so most of the families are going to bed hungry,” Moyo said, holding a placard reading #JobsSaveLives.



Wendy Alberts, chief executive officer of the Restaurant Association of South Africa, said about 400,000 jobs have been lost in the sector since the end of March, with more businesses closing their doors permanently every day.



A recent survey by Esus-Group found about 67% of restaurants were receiving less than 20% of their usual monthly turnover compared to July last year, while 90% of fine-dining restaurants had stayed shut since the lockdown began.

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South African restaurants plead for end to ‘job-killing’ restrictions

FRANKFURT/BEIJING/DETROIT (Reuters) &#8211; Tesla Inc’s (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O">TSLA.O</a>) rapid rise to become the world’s most valuable carmaker could mark the start of a new era for the global auto industry, defined by a Silicon Valley approach to software that is overtaking old-school manufacturing know-how.



Tesla’s ascent took many investors by surprise. But executives at Daimler AG (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/DAIGn.DE">DAIGn.DE</a>), the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, had a close-up view starting in 2009 of how Tesla and its chief executive Elon Musk were taking a new approach to building vehicles that challenged the established system.



Daimler, which bears the name of the man who invented the modern car 134 years ago, bought a nearly 10% Tesla stake in May 2009 in a deal which provided a $50 million lifeline for the struggling start-up.&nbsp;&nbsp;



That investment gave Mercedes engineers an inside view of how Musk was willing to launch technology that wasn’t perfect, and then repeatedly upgrade it, using smartphone style over-the-air updates, paying little regard to early profitability.



Mercedes engineers helped Tesla develop its Model S luxury sedan in exchange for access to Tesla’s partially hand-assembled battery packs, but in 2014 Daimler decided to sell their stake amid doubts Tesla’s approach could be industrialized at scale.



Tesla would go on to pioneer new approaches in manufacturing, designs in software and electronic architecture which enable it to introduce innovations faster than rivals, leaving analysts to draw comparisons with Apple (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AAPL.O">AAPL.O</a>).



Three people directly involved with the Mercedes side of the collaboration said the brief partnership highlighted the collision of old and new engineering cultures: the German obsession with long-term safety and control, which rewarded evolution, and the Silicon Valley carmaker’s experimental approach which embraced radical thinking and fast innovation.



“Elon Musk has been walking on the edge of a razorblade in terms of the aggression with which he pushes some technologies,” said a former Mercedes engineer who worked on the partnership.



<h4 class="wp-block-heading">RELATED COVERAGE</h4>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-singapore/tesla-hiring-servicing-staff-in-unsupportive-singapore-idUSKCN24N0EF">Tesla hiring servicing staff in &#8216;unsupportive&#8217; Singapore</a></li></ul>



By contrast, Mercedes and other established automakers are still not comfortable about releasing a new technology, such as partially automated driving, without years of testing.



Tesla did not respond to requests for comment.



Investors favor the Tesla model, in an industry undergoing fundamental and dizzying change even though the U.S. carmaker will face an onslaught of competing electric vehicles from established automakers during the next few years.



They are putting their money on Musk and his company, even though Mercedes-Benz alone sold 935,089 cars in the first half of 2020, dwarfing the 179,050 delivered by Tesla in the same period.



Today, Tesla is worth nearly $304.6 billion, more than six times Daimler’s 41.5-billion-euro ($47.7 billion) market capitalization.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://graphics.reuters.com/AUTOS-TESLA/NEWERA/bdwvkerrkvm/img/tesla.JPG" alt=""/></figure>



GRAPHICTesla electrifies the auto industry’s new era



TWO CULTURES COLLIDE &nbsp;



Daimler and Tesla began collaborating after Mercedes engineers, who were developing a second-generation electric Smart car, bought a Tesla Roadster. They were impressed by the way Tesla packaged batteries, so arranged a visit to Silicon Valley to meet Musk in January 2009 and ordered 1,000 battery packs.



The collaboration expanded. At a joint press conference in the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart in May 2009, Tesla said the partnership would “accelerate bringing our Tesla Model S to production and ensure that it is a superlative vehicle”.



For its part, Mercedes wanted to use Tesla’s batteries to power an electric version of its compact Mercedes-Benz B-Class. The Tesla Model S would hit the road in 2012. An electric B-Class, arrived in showrooms two years later.



Despite having batteries supplied by Tesla, the Mercedes had a shorter operating range after Daimler engineers configured the B-class more conservatively to address their concerns about long-term battery degradation and the risk of overheating, a second Daimler staffer who worked on the joint projects told Reuters.



German engineers found that Tesla engineers had not done long-term stress tests on its battery. “We had to devise our own programme of stress tests,” the second Daimler engineer said.



Before starting production of a new car, Daimler engineers specify a “Lastenheft” &#8211; a blueprint laying out the properties of each component for suppliers. Significant changes cannot be made once the design is frozen.



“This is also the way you can guarantee that we will be profitable during mass production. Tesla was not as concerned about this aspect,” the second Daimler source said.



Daimler’s engineers suggested the underbody of the Model S needed reinforcing to prevent debris from the road puncturing a battery pack, the first Daimler engineer said.



To quash doubts about safety and security, following a series of battery fires, Tesla raised the ride height of its vehicles, using an over-the-air update, and a few months later, in March 2014, said it would add a triple underbody shield to new Model S cars and offered to retrofit existing cars.



Musk was able to make adjustments quickly thanks to Tesla’s ability to burn through more cash during development.



“At Mercedes you can make such adjustments every three years at best,” the engineer said.



The Model S, a four-door electric sedan would go on to outsell the flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class in the United States in May 2013, and outstrip S-Class deliveries globally by 2017.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">MUSK: INNOVATE OR GO</h3>



Musk&#8217;s relentless focus on innovation explains, in part, why he has disrupted the traditional auto world. In an interview&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp8smJFaKYE">here</a>&nbsp;at the 2020 Air Warfare Symposium, published on YouTube, he was asked about the importance of innovation among his employees.





“We certainly need those that do advanced engineering to be innovative,” Musk said. “The incentive structure is set up &#8230; such that innovation is rewarded. Making mistakes along the way does not come with a big penalty. But failure to try to innovate at all &#8230; comes with a big penalty. You will be fired.”



Established automakers are playing catch-up to Tesla, designing their own software operating systems and dedicated electric cars.



Mercedes will release its EQS next year &#8211; a four-door limousine built on a dedicated electric vehicle platform, with an operating range of 700 km. A new version of the Mercedes S-Class, which will have combustion and hybrid powertrains and semi-autonomous driver assistance systems, is due this year.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



From an investor perspective, traditional players face billions of dollars in restructuring costs as they transform product lines and factories to move away from internal combustion technology



“No one is going to give an OEM (established automaker) a five-year window to say &#8230; you can totally retool your business, and I am going to buy in and fund this journey,” said Mark Wakefield, co-leader of automotive and industrials practice at consulting firm AlixPartners.



Start-ups, however, get time from investors to learn, make mistakes and grow, he added.



Investors are betting on Tesla’s ability to scale up manufacturing just as they once backed Toyota Motor Corp (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/7203.T">7203.T</a>), which defined the auto industry’s last era with its mastery of highly efficient, high-quality lean production.



Toyota overtook the market capitalization of former industry leader General Motors&nbsp;(<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/GM.N">GM.N</a>) in 1996, though it wasn’t until 2008 that it sold more vehicles than its Detroit rival.



The Japanese giant also cultivated ties with Tesla, with the U.S. startup helping it design an electrified RAV4 compact sports utility vehicle under a 2010 deal.



Toyota was impressed by the speed with which Tesla came up with the new design, but ultimately decided Tesla’s methods were not suitable for mass production by a mainstream manufacturer when Toyota’s standards for product quality and durability were applied, two company insiders familiar with the partnership said.



Toyota said the joint project involved cooperation on the development of electric cars, parts and production system.



“Toyota accomplished what the project set out to achieve, and it ended in October 2014 after Tesla delivered roughly 2,500 electric powertrain systems over three years” for an electrified RAV4 crossover SUVs, a spokeswoman said.



Both the Toyota and Daimler collaborations were agreed before the Volkswagen (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VOWG_p.DE">VOWG_p.DE</a>) emissions-cheating scandal in 2015, which prompted a global regulatory backlash and forced carmakers to step up investments in electric cars.



“That was all before dieselgate, which changed the economics of electric and combustion-engined cars,” a senior Daimler manager said. “Tesla has a lead. Let’s see if they can scale up.”

Elon Musk At SpaceX Headquarters

How Tesla and Elon Musk defined a new era for the global auto industry

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African rand weakened early on Wednesday as investors took profits after a rally that took the currency to a one-and-a-half month peak.



The rand was 0.5% weaker at 16.4950 per dollar at 0730 GMT, having reached 16.3600 overnight for its best since June 10 in a broad rally spurred by a landmark European Union economic rescue package.



The EU will pump at least 750 billion euros ($865 billion) into a package aimed at helping the hardest-hit economies. Part of that stimulus is expected to spill into emerging market investments.



But with COVID-19 infections continuing to climb locally and abroad, and keenly watched United States initial jobs claims data due on Thursday after South Africa’s central bank decides on lending rates, investors opted to pocket gains from the recent rally.



The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) concludes its three-day policy meeting on Thursday, with lending rates expected to be cut by 25 basis points.



But with inflation dipping below the bank’s target range of 3-6% for the first time in two decades and fellow emerging market banks continuing to ease policy there is growing probability of a deeper cut, analysts say, keeping big bets at bay.



Bonds prices were also softer in early trade. The yield on benchmark 2030 government paper was up 2.5 basis points at 9.33%.



($1 = 0.8671 euros)

ArcelorMittal South Africa fined R3.64 million over hydrogen sulfide emissions

South African rand softens after rally as investors await data signals

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) &#8211; Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan have agreed to resume talks to break a deadlock on the Grand Renaissance Dam reservoir on the Blue Nile, the leaders of the three countries said on Tuesday.



The announcements made separately by Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed, Sudan’s Abdalla Hamdok and Egypt’s presidency, followed a virtual mini-African Union summit that was called after they failed to reach an agreement earlier this month.



“The extraordinary meeting&#8230; concluded with all parties reaching a major common understanding which paves the way for a breakthrough agreement,” Abiy’s office said in a statement which was posted on Twitter.



South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chaired Tuesday’s online meeting of the AU, confirmed there would be further negotiations.



“The trilateral negotiations remain on track,” Ramaphosa wrote on Twitter.



Sudan and Egypt both fear the $4 billion hydroelectric dam could lead to water shortages in their own countries.



The project has raised concerns in Egypt that already limited Nile waters will be further restricted. The Blue Nile is a tributary of the Nile from which Egypt gets 90% of its fresh water.



‮‮”‬‬It was agreed, at the conclusion of the summit, to continue negotiations and focus for the time being on giving priority to developing a binding legal agreement on the rules for filling and operating the Renaissance Dam,” a statement issued by the Egyptian presidency said.



Ethiopia, which says it needs the dam to generate electricity for its people, has already achieved the first year of filling its dam due to the rainfall season in the area, the statement from Abiy’s office said.



“The dam under construction is already overtopping,” it said, adding that Ethiopia was committed to a “balanced and win-win” negotiation that ascertains that the river will benefit all the three countries involved.

Bridges_across_the_Blue_Nile_Gorge

Talks on the Nile in attempt to solve Renaissance Dam deadlock

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African government has not committed to fund a restructuring plan for struggling South African Airways (SAA), Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said in court papers seen by Reuters on Tuesday.tit



Administrators took over SAA in December after almost a decade of financial losses, and last week creditors approved the restructuring plan, which requires at least 10 billion rand ($600 million) of new funds, on the understanding the government would find the necessary cash.



Mboweni said in an affidavit filed in the High Court that funding options the government might explore included approaching institutions for investment of pension funds, private equity or other partners who might want a shareholding in a restructured SAA.



The minister was responding to a court case launched by opposition party the Democratic Alliance, which wants to block Mboweni from using emergency powers to channel more public funds to rescue the airline.



Mboweni and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan sent a letter last week to SAA’s administrators committing to “mobilising funding” for the plan.



Mboweni said in his affidavit that no definitive decisions had been taken on how funds would be sourced for SAA. He said he had not used his powers to authorise using funds from the National Revenue Fund, nor was such a move imminent.



The finance ministry has not responded to a Reuters request for comment.



SAA’s administrators need certain conditions to be met by Wednesday for their restructuring plan to work.



One of them is that the government finds money for the plan, which envisages scaling back the airline’s fleet and shedding jobs before gradually ramping up operations as COVID-19 disruption eases.



In a document sent to trade unions over the weekend giving the rationale for the planned job cuts, the administrators said SAA had made a net loss of 5.5 billion rand in the year to end-March, with further losses incurred since.



The administrators plan to have terminated all SAA’s aircraft leases by the end of July, leaving it with nine Airbus A340 planes which are on sale, Louise Brugman, spokeswoman for the administrators told Reuters.

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - MARCH 16: Finance minister, Tito Mboweni briefs the media on the details of government interventions in various sectors of the departmental portfolios on COVID-19 at DIRCO Media Centre.

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South Africa has not committed to fund SAA rescue plan, finance minister says

One of the unintended consequences of the misery of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it could boost Africa’s chances of attracting foreign investment from the northern hemisphere as central bankers slash interest rates..



This was the word from former British prime minister Tony Blair who spoke to CNBC Africa from London in an exclusive interview.



Blair said African nations should use this pandemic to reform their economies and build infrastructure to ripen them for foreign investors. He said African nations should look for foreign investors in sector where the continent to add value to its resources before export.



The economic woes, brought on by COVID-19, dragging down the wealthy economies of the northern hemisphere, could also benefit African nations.



“There is vast pool of capital in the west because interest rates are very low and they are looking for an outlet. You look at Japan alone, its pension fund has a trillion dollars in it,” says Blair.



“You will get that investment if you build infrastructure and make it the right environment for investors. My advice to African nations is get that investment in , in the value added sectors, &nbsp;to build their capacity, so you are in a position to start exporting your own intellectual capital.”

Tony Blair Gives Pro-Eu Keynote Speech

Tony Blair: How the misery of COVID-19 could mean more investment into Africa.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand firmed early on Tuesday, with demand for riskier emerging market currencies boosted after European Union (EU) countries agreed a rescue package for their coronavirus-hit economies.



At 0720 GMT the rand was 0.63% firmer at 16.5175 per dollar compared to a close of 16.6225 overnight.



“The EU stimulus package is reported to be worth 750 billion euros, which would have a significant impact on economic activity in Europe,” said economists at ETM Analytics.



“That will ultimately spill over into the emerging market space too, if not directly, then through improved sentiment and demand for EM exports.”



The EU was slow to coordinate its initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic but the rescue fund is likely to shore up sentiment as investors worry about the surge of infections.



Bonds were also firmer, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 government issue down 5.5 basis points to 9.405%.

South Africa’s rand firmer as EU rescue deal boosts risk demand

NEW YORK/SEOUL (Reuters) &#8211; Convinced of Tesla Inc’s (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O">TSLA.O</a>) imminent meteoric rise, Orestis Palampougioukis, a Netherlands-based software developer, took out a 43,000 euro ($49,000) loan in early October to invest it all in the electric carmaker, which at the time was trading at around $230 a share.FILE PHOTO: Tesla electric vehicles for test driving are parked in Hanam, South Korea, July 6, 2020. Picture taken on July 6, 2020. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo



Since then, Palampougioukis’ bet has paid off as Tesla’s share price has increased more than six-fold, trading around $1,500 on Monday and surpassing every rival to become the world’s highest-valued automaker. After investing an additional 14,000 euros in personal funds, he has pocketed around 10,000 euros in profit to date, even when accounting for the 7% interest he pays the bank.



“To me it didn’t feel like a bet because I studied what Tesla does very closely and it’s simply inevitable that it would dominate,” Palampougioukis said, adding that he plans to own the shares for decades.



He is not alone. Retail investors around the world, staunch believers in the company&#8217;s mission to lead the auto industry into a battery-powered future, have invested their personal money, and at times their parents&#8217; retirement funds, in Tesla and reaped handsome rewards. 



Tesla reports second-quarter results on Wednesday after the close of trading. While analysts polled by Refinitiv on average expect the company to report a loss, a surprisingly strong vehicle delivery report boosted hopes among many retail investors for a profitable quarter.



Discussions about Tesla on online retail investor forums have surged, with users debating whether to hold their shares in hopes of even higher returns or cash out. (Graphic:&nbsp;<a href="https://tmsnrt.rs/3jmlmWr">tmsnrt.rs/3jmlmWr</a>)



While the total number of Tesla retail investors is not known, around 75% of the company’s stock is owned by large institutional investors and Tesla executives, including Chief Executive Elon Musk, according to Refinitiv data.



Tesla shares are among the most popular on U.S. retail investor platforms, such as Robinhood Markets Inc and TD Ameritrade (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/AMTD.O">AMTD.O</a>). The number of users holding Tesla stock on the Robinhood trading app increased more than 400% from the first two weeks of July 2018 to the same point this year, according to data from Robintrack.net, which compiles data on the investing platform.



In South Korea, where Tesla has become the latest craze among tech-savvy professionals, the company is the most-traded overseas stock, with Koreans buying $3.2 billion worth of Tesla shares so far this year, up nearly 13-fold from all of 2019.



Choi Jong-wan, the former head of Korea’s Tesla owners’ club, borrowed money to invest in Tesla after the company unveiled its Model 3 in 2016. He also bought Tesla stock for his seven-year-old son, taking advantage of Korean inheritance tax breaks.



Choi, who bought a Model S, said the company’s shares are supported by its many fans buying stock. Convinced of Musk’s vision, Choi bought when Tesla shares tanked in the past.



“I am getting more confident about Tesla,” he said. “I will sell Tesla stock when other automakers introduce better electric cars than Tesla at competitive prices.”



Some investors have invested their stock proceeds in the company by buying its vehicles. David, a marketing specialist from Oakland, California, who asked that his last name not be used, bought a Tesla Model 3 last August after selling some of his Tesla shares.



He bought his first Tesla shares for a couple of hundred dollars right out of college in 2010. The company had just listed publicly, with the shares trading around $29.



David has since invested about another $40,000 and currently holds 180 shares.



“Tesla has treated me well so far. I believe in their vision and I believe in Elon Musk,” he said. “But the house we bought needs a new roof and I’m thinking to just sell a few shares to pay for that.”



Musk’s own net worth has soared even higher thanks to the latest share price rally. The outspoken Tesla boss is within reach of another share-based payday potentially worth as much as $2 billion. Including previously vested tranches, Musk would own options for about $4 billion worth of Tesla shares.

African born Elon Musk’s Tesla share rally propels early fan investors to riches

LAGOS (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s central bank held its benchmark lending rate at 12.5%, the central bank governor said on Monday.



Godwin Emefiele said eight of the 10 monetary policy committee members voted to retain the rate and two voted for a rate cut.



The bank unexpectedly cut the rate by 100 basis points, to 12.5% from 13.5%, in May. It was the largest rate cut since 2015.

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Nigeria’s central bank holds benchmark lending rate at 12.5 pct

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; British clothing and food retailer Marks &amp; Spencer (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/MKS.L">MKS.L</a>) said on Monday it planned to cut 950 jobs as part of a restructuring, dealing a further blow to a sector that has already seen thousands of redundancies during the COVID-19 crisis.



M&amp;S said it had started a consultation with its employee representative group and had set out its intention to first offer voluntary redundancy to affected workers across central support functions, central operations and property and store management.



The cuts form part of M&amp;S’s plan to move to a “leaner, faster retail management structure,” it said.



Britain’s retailers, already struggling with high rents, business taxes, tight margins and online competition, were particularly hammered by the coronavirus lockdown.



Earlier this month health and beauty chain Boots (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WBA.O">WBA.O</a>) announced 4,000 job cuts, while department store chain John Lewis said it would likely shed 1,300.

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Britain’s M&S plans to cut 950 jobs in restructuring

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand weakened early on Monday as a global surge in COVID-19 infections put the brakes on risk-taking.



At 0700 GMT the rand was 0.19% weaker at 16.7300 per dollar compared to Friday’s close of 16.6975.



The rand had rallied to a one-month best in mid-week before facing technical resistance around the 16.50 mark.



Investors demand for yield was tempered by growing coronavirus cases locally and abroad, as well as resurfacing diplomatic tensions between Washington and Beijing.



“We start the trading week on a subdued risk negative footing as the surging number of COVID-19 cases once again weighs on markets,” TreasuryOne currency trader Andre Botha said.



More than 14 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 595,459​ have died, according to a Reuters tally.



Locally, positive cases approached the 340,000, with nearly 5,000 deaths.



Bonds opened flat, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 paper up 0.5 basis points to 9.415%.

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South African rand retreats as virus surge weighs on sentiment

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa is considering an independent board for its ailing national airline, with a shareholder structure similar to that of part state-owned telecoms firm Telkom, a senior government minister told the local eNCA news channel on Sunday.



Debt-ridden South African Airways (SAA) has been in a form of bankruptcy protection since December. Its creditors approved a rescue plan last week that involves scaling down its fleet, shedding thousands of jobs and a commitment of over 10 billion rand ($599.6 million) from the government



“Telkom is an interesting model that we could actually look at as we go forward,” Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said, adding that the new SAA cannot be run by a “bunch of amateurs”.



He did not specify if the revamped airline will be a listed entity.



Telkom SA (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TKGJ.J">TKGJ.J</a>), among the top three telecom service providers in Africa’s most industrialised country, is run independently and not bound by government guidelines set up for most South African sate-owned enterprises.



The government directly holds a 37% stake in the listed entity and state-owned fund manager Public Investment Corp. owns around 15%. The rest is owned by institutional investors and the public.



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Gordhan said the government was still trying to secure the 10 billion rand required for the business rescue plan to succeed. “Now where it comes from, what form it comes in is something is still being worked on.”



The public and finance ministries committed to finding the funds in a letter to the airline’s administrators seen by Reuters last Thursday. This is in addition to more than 16 billion rand the finance ministry set aside in its February budget to repay SAA’s guaranteed debt and debt-service costs.



He reiterated that the restructured airline will have a strategic partner, professional aviation managers and a more simplified salary structure.

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Economy

African born Elon Musk’s SpaceX in talks to raise funds at $44 billion valuation: Bloomberg News

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Sudan 2020 budget will adjust currency, aim for float in 2 years -government source

Who needs an office? US companies cut back

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South Africa has not committed to fund SAA rescue plan, finance minister says

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South Africa’s rand firmer as EU rescue deal boosts risk demand

African born Elon Musk’s Tesla share rally propels early fan investors to riches

Nigeria’s central bank holds benchmark lending rate at 12.5 pct

Britain’s M&S plans to cut 950 jobs in restructuring

South African rand retreats as virus surge weighs on sentiment

Revamped South African Airways could be run independently, says Gordhan

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