JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The Foschini Group (TFG) is set to buy 371 stores and selected assets of Jet for 480 million rand ($28.7 million) from Edcon’s administrators, it said on Monday, allowing the South African retailer to expand into the budget apparel market.



Edcon, which also owns 91-year-old department store chain Edgars, applied for bankruptcy protection in April as it seeks to salvage parts of a group that has featured on South African shopping streets for nearly a century but failed to forge an effective e-commerce strategy and compete with international fashion chains such as Sweden’s H&amp;M and Spain’s Zara.



TFG, which owns 29 retail brands that trade in fashion, jewellery, accessories, sporting apparel, cellular, homeware and furniture, said that Edcon’s administrators have accepted the terms of its conditional offer.



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“This acquisition also allows TFG to establish a value retail pillar &#8230; that would be costly and difficult to replicate organically,” TFG said in its statement.



The proposed deal includes acquisition of the Jet brand, a minimum of 371 commercially viable stores, a distribution centre in Durban and certain stores in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Eswatini.



TFG will also buy the Jet Club membership programme and all existing stock holdings with a minimum stock value of no less than 800 million rand, it said.



The company also reported retail turnover down 43% for the three months to June 27, citing the impact of coronavirus lockdowns in South Africa, the UK and Australia.



($1 = 16.7292 rand)

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South African retail group TFG to buy Jet assets from Edcon

PRESIDENT MOURNS PASSING OF HER EXCELLENCY AMBASSADOR ZINDZI MANDELA   President Cyril Ramaphosa is deeply saddened by the passing of South Africa’s former Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark, Her Excellency Ms Zindziswa “Zindzi” Nobutho Mandela.   Ambassador Mandela passed away in the early hours of today, 13 July 2020, in a Johannesburg hospital at the age of 59.   She had been posted to Denmark in 2015 and had been designated to become South Africa’s Head of Mission in Monrovia, Liberia.   The President offers his sincere condolences to the Ambassador’s immediate family, the Mandela family at large, friends of the late Ambassador, and the Nelson Mandela Foundation.   The President’s condolences are extended also to the late Ambassador’s colleagues in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the diplomatic community in South Africa and Denmark.   Ambassador Mandela was the youngest daughter of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and Nomzamo Winnie Madikizela.   She was raised in Soweto and educated South Africa and Swaziland.   Zindzi Mandela spent many years involved in the liberation struggle and embraced roles in the arts, philanthropy and business.   In her political career she served as Deputy President of the Soweto Youth Congress, was a member of the Release Mandela Campaign, and was an underground operative of Umkhonto we Sizwe.   President Ramaphosa said: “I offer my deep condolences to the Mandela family as we mourn the passing of a fearless political activist who was a leader in her own right.   “Our sadness is compounded by this loss being visited upon us just days before the world marks the birthday of the great Nelson Mandela.   “Zindzi Mandela was a household name nationally and internationally, who during our years of struggle brought home the inhumanity of the apartheid system and the unshakeable resolve of our fight for freedom.   “After our liberation she became an icon of the task we began of transforming our society and stepping into spaces and opportunities that had been denied to generations of South Africans.   “Her spirit joins Tata Madiba and Mama Winnie in a reunion of leaders to whom we owe our freedom.”

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President Cyril Ramaphosa’s tribute to Zindzi Mandela

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) &#8211; Long after the funding for his project was frozen, Bilal Endris has kept a lonely watch over cemeteries in Ethiopia’s capital by slipping cash to gravediggers to alert his team to any sudden spikes in burials.Older tombstones are seen at the Protestant and Catholic cemetery, open for burials amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Wingate, North of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia June 29, 2020. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri



In a nation where fewer than 2% of deaths are registered, an increase in burials may be one of the first signs that a killer disease is on the loose.



The program was set up to monitor deaths related to HIV/AIDS a decade ago. Now doctor Bilal monitors for a spike in fatalities linked to COVID-19.



He has yet to see one, but projects like his are being set up in other African countries where many deaths go unrecorded, making it hard to assess the scale of a disease. In some cases, nations are dusting off programs set up during Ebola outbreaks.



Bilal himself has secured additional funding to restore the program to all 73 of Addis Ababa’s cemeteries from just 10 now.



Only eight countries in Africa &#8211; Algeria, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa &#8211; record more than 75% of deaths, according to the United Nations.



In other regions, where official data is readily available, researchers have used the number of deaths from all causes that exceed the average for the time of year to help gauge the number linked to the coronavirus pandemic.



“In Ethiopia and everywhere across Africa &#8230; we go blind.” Bilal told Reuters. “I wanted to turn the health care system into one based on evidence.”



In the capital Addis Ababa, less than 20% of deaths occur in hospitals, Bilal said, so monitoring deaths requires talking to community leaders and burial grounds.



In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, media reports citing gravediggers alerted authorities to an undetected COVID-19 outbreak in the northern city of Kano in April, when deaths surged from a daily average of 11 to 43.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">COUNTING THE DEAD</h3>



Bilal’s project began tracking burials at all graveyards in Addis Ababa a decade ago.



But in 2018, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) froze its funding, as the country had started using other methods to track HIV mortality, according to a CDC spokeswoman.



Bilal scaled back his surveillance to 10 cemeteries and began working for free, paying sources with a tiny grant from Addis Ababa University &#8211; until May.



City officials called him for a meeting, desperate to know whether COVID-19 was cutting swathes through their city, he said. The Ministry of Health did not respond to requests for comment.



Although official figures are still low &#8211; 7,650 confirmed cases and 127 deaths as of Sunday night &#8211; Ethiopia’s outbreak is accelerating. The university has now given Bilal enough support to restart the program in all 73 graveyards.



“It used to be funded by the CDC but now it is funded by Addis Ababa University as everyone, including the government, thinks the program is very important,” said Dr Wondwossen Amogne, an associate professor in infectious diseases at Addis Ababa University and director of research at the university’s Black Lion Hospital.



Health minister Lia Tadesse confirmed the study was being used by the government to monitor any spikes in death.



As a separate initiative, New York-based public health initiative Resolve to Save Lives is working with five other African nations to set up similar programs, including Rwanda and Senegal. The other three don’t want to be named.Slideshow&nbsp;(4 Images)



They will establish the usual death rate by interviewing community leaders, then watch for spikes.



Deciding whether any excess deaths are due to COVID-19 could be tricky, however. People with other diseases are avoiding hospitals for fear of catching the virus, health officials say.



Bilal’s team has begun asking families at burials whether the dead had any possible COVID-19 symptoms, such as a cough or a fever.

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Counting the burials: African nations scramble to track COVID-19

Zindzi Mandela &#8211; the daughter of Nelson and Winnie Mandela &#8211; died in the early hours of July 13 in a Johannesburg hospital. She was South Africa&#8217;s ambassador to Denmark and a spokesman for DIRCO said she was the second to die in the pandemic. 



Zindzi grew up with her father in prison for most of her life and was a staunch activist. In 1985 she famously told the world that her father had rejected PW Botha&#8217;s offer of freedom. 



Zindzi Mandela, daughter of Nelson Mandela, has died &#8211; ANC spokesman &#8211; Reuters



“This is untimely. She still had a role to play in the transformation of our own society and a bigger role to play even in the African National Congress,” said ANC spokesman Pule Mabe.



South Africa&#8217;s foreign minister Naledi Pandor said that Zindzi was not just the child of two hallowed struggle activists &#8211; she was a struggle heroine herself.

Picture taken for the December 2014 cover of FORBES WOMAN AFRICA by Jay Caboz1

Zindzi Mandela dies aged 59

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand firmed early on Monday, helped by increased risk appetite as investors bet again on a global economic recovery.



The rand was 0.36% stronger at 16.7100 against the dollar at 0645 GMT, its best level since June 11, having gained steadily since opening above the 17.00 mark last Monday.



The gains have been driven mainly by global sentiment rather than domestic factors, with investors searching for high yields on hopes for a quick economic recovery despite a global surge in COVID-19 infections.



Emerging market currencies rose in unison, taking advantage of a dollar weighed down by the United States’ battle to contain the spread of the coronavirus as well as some investor caution ahead of data releases due in the world’s top economy.



Traders, however, expect the rand to face to some selling pressure later in the week, with power utility Eskom announcing that nationwide controlled blackouts would continue on Monday.



“The rand juggled cautious sentiment &#8211; as coronavirus infections are surging across the globe and frustration hit as South African power utility Eskom switched off the lights &#8211; against a soft U.S. PPI (producer price index) release,” said analysts at NKC African Economics in a note.



Bonds also firmed, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 government issue down 2 basis points at 9.475%.

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South African rand firms as dollar wobble lifts emerging currencies

Why the Covid-19 crisis proves the power and promise of the AfCFTA







The African Continental Free Trade Agreement was ratified last year but this year’s onset of the covid-19 pandemic forced African Union leaders to postpone its taking effect. The disease has had a serious impact on the continent, having claimed prominent leaders and infecting 578,207 in confirmed cases as of July 12th according to the Africa CDC, Johns Hopkins and government data. The economic fallout has probably been even more severe; lockdowns and supply chain seizures to import dependent African nations have severely impacted incomes and livelihoods for Africa’s largely informal workforce. However, the crisis has focused the minds of African policy makers around the necessity to create a more resilient healthcare system and the need to manufacture more of its critical needs at home. This renewed focus on productive self sufficiency can be assisted significantly by implementing the AfCFTA.



Covid-19 has provided the previously missing urgency amongst leaders around developing the sort of coherent industrial policy necessary to get any benefit from a continental free trade zone. Africa manufactures very little at the moment and many critics rightly questioned the wisdom of liberalizing internal borders without having African produced goods to sell across them. There is still great risk that creating this internal free market gets exploited by existing low-cost producers in Asia and Europe, limiting the job-creating potential its architects intend. But the recent response to the novel coronavirus may offer a blueprint on how to ensure the realization of the AfCFTA dream.



The vast market created by AfCFTA will provide an immediate boon to nascent plans being guided by the African CDC, NEPAD and others to produce various critical healthcare items such as pharmaceutical compounds, PPE and ventilators in countries such as Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya. The sudden demand for these life saving products and the enormous logistical challenges African nations suffered attempting to secure supplies from East Asia and Western Europe has left a lasting impression. During the initial frenzy of procurement countries around the globe raced to stockpile PPE and ventilators, in many cases shutting individual African nations who lacked the financial firepower and sufficient order quantities to elbow into global queues for scarce supplies at mainly Chinese manufacturers.



In response, the African Union launched a pooled procurement online market place to aggregate the orders of African nations. Now leaders and businessmen are going a step further – setting up supply for this local demand on African soil. A range of textile firms, diaper manufacturers and equipment makers are adding additional lines and re-purposing existing capacity to produce PPE, medical equipment and ventilators. A surfeit of concessional finance, international donors and grants from African philanthropists such as Aliko Dangote and Mike Adenuga has bolstered the purchasing power of African health ministries, jump starting demand for new output.



AfCFTA’s implementation can help sustain the opportunity for new production capacity and demonstrate the power of the shared market to would-be entrepreneurs in other sectors. The key deciding factor for the success of the continental free zone will be Africa’s indigenous business community rising to the occasion – manufacturing for the needs of Africa’s 1.2 billion consumers. To encourage those entrepreneurs and investors African governments and supranational indigenous bodies like the African Union should build on the lessons they have learned in rapidly coordinating to intervene in the covid-19 response. The same tools and institutional structures being pulled together to rapidly promote the production of healthcare items and vaccine delivery should immediately be expanded and adapted to FMCG, automotive assembly, apparel and other heavily consumed items across the African continent. It is only with this emphasis on local production that Africa will enjoy the dividends of the AfCFTA: jobs for its young, growing population and meaningful wealth creation for its business community and their investors. Franklin Olakunle Amoo is the managing partner of Baylis Emerging Markets, an investment firm focused on African industry and manufacturing. Baylis is a founding partner of the Africa Pandemic Response Alliance, an African led initiative coordinating the response to the covid-19 pandemic on the continent

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COMMENT: AfCFTA  is economic medicine Africa needs to recover from the covid-19 pandemic

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Around 200 people employed to pick crops at a farm near Malvern in England’s West Midlands region have been told to self isolate after 73 of them tested positive for COVID-19, Public Health England (PHE) and Herefordshire Council said on Sunday.



The number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases across Britain each day has been falling from a peak of more than 6,000 in April to 650 in the latest figures released on Sunday, despite wider availability of testing.



However, there have been local outbreaks, with a significant number linked to meat packing plants.



The AS Green and Co farm site has been placed in lockdown to try to contain the outbreak, which follows other clusters of cases at food producers, PHE and Herefordshire Council said.



During the harvest season, workers who pick and pack vegetables, live in mobile homes based on the farm.



Katie Spence, PHE Midlands Health Protection Director, said the company had put infection control measures in place to try to reduce the risk of staff becoming exposed to COVID-19.



“Despite these measures, a small number of workers became symptomatic earlier this week and they and a few close contacts among the workforce were tested initially and found to be positive,” she said.



“As we have seen a global trend of large food producers being subject to outbreaks, as a precautionary measure, the decision was made to test the entire workforce.”



She said the initial results showed a significant percentage of positive cases, despite the individuals being asymptomatic.

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More than 70 workers test positive for COVID-19 on an English farm

Reuters) &#8211; Tesla Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O">TSLA.O</a>) cut the price of its sport utility vehicle Model Y by $3,000, just four months after its launch, as the U.S. electric carmaker seeks to maintain sales momentum in the COVID-19 pandemic.



The reduction follows price cuts in May on Tesla’s Model 3, Model X and Model S.



The company headed by Elon Musk this month posted a smaller-than-expected fall in car deliveries in the second quarter, resilient results despite the pandemic that hit the global auto industry.



The Model Y now starts at $49,990, down nearly 6% from its previous price of $52,990, according to the carmaker’s website.









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



The company started deliveries of the Model Y in March, promising a much-awaited crossover that will face competition from European carmakers like Volkswagen AG (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/VOWG_p.DE">VOWG_p.DE</a>) rolling out their own electric rivals.



In April, Tesla had said the Model Y was already profitable, marking the first time in the company’s 17-year history that one of its new vehicles turned a profit in its first quarter.

Elon Musk At SpaceX Headquarters

African born tycoon Elon Musk Tesla slashes prices as pandemic weighs heavily

Booze manufacturers are likely to be fuming as President Cyril Ramaphosa shut down South Africa&#8217;s lucrative alcohol sales for the second time this year.



President Ramaphosa is under pressure to take decisive action as the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to kill up to 50,000 South Africans and ismonths away from its peak. Already it has seen 276,242 cases &#8211; with more than 100,000 in Gauteng alone and 80,000 in the Eastern Cape &#8211; with 4079 people losing their lives.



In his address to the nation from the Union Buildings in Pretoria, President Ramaphosa said many of the cases that came into hospitals were related to the consumption of alchohol that justified a ban on sales forthwith. He said this would also be strengthened by a curfew between 9 PM and 4 AM daily. as the state of national disaster was extended to August 15.



&#8220;We have to make sure there are sufficient beds in hospital and they are not occupied by people who are there because of alcohol,&#8221;says Ramaphosa. 



It is only a matter of weeks that the ban on the sale of alcohol was lifted after the national lockdown of the entire economy in March.



The ban not only gave rise to a thriving black market, but also cost the drinks companies billions that it was starting to recoup with the resumption of sales. 



Distell, the maker of the Savanna, Hunter’s Dry and Nederburg brands, says it saw a spike in demand as restrictions on selling of alcohol have eased. Even then volumes were down a bout a quarter year on year.



From July 1 2019 to the end of June 2020, its South African revenue was down by 18.3% and volumes by 25.6%, the liquor group said in a trading statement.



Many more losses are likely for the drinks companies in the months ahead as South Africa battles with a pandemic that looks far from over.

COVID-19: No more booze for now says Ramaphosa

Between 40,000 to 50,000 South Africans could die this year as the pandemic heads towards its peak. 



This was the word from President Cyril Ramaphosa as he said the wearing of cloth masks was going to be enforced. He also extended the national state of disaster to August 15. 



&#8220;Änyone going into any building for work or whatever must be wearing a cloth mask,&#8221;says President Ramaphosa. He said taxis taking long trips were going to be forced to travel at only 70 per cent capacity and ensure all passengers wear masks.



President Ramaphosa also said that the sale of alcohol was going to be suspended with immediate effect. He also said a curfew would be put in place between 9 PM and 4 AM from July 13. 



&#8220;These measures put unwelcome restrictions on people&#8217;s lives and movements but they are necessary to see us through this pandemic,&#8221;says Ramaphosa. 



President Ramaphosa also admitted that there was a shortfall of 12000 healthcare workers. Despite this there were 28000 hospital beds as well as 37000 private quarantine beds for those unable to isolate at home, along with 1700 ventilators.



The president also warned that the peak of infections was far awsy with 276,242 recorded cases resulting in 4079 deaths.He said there were nearly 100,000 cases in Gauteng alone with the peak of infections expected before the end of September. He also said that three premiers, including Gauteng Premier David Makhura, had been diagnosed with COVID-19. 



More than two million South Africans had been tested for the disease, he said.

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Up to 50,000 South Africans could die this year of COVID-19

KHARTOUM (Reuters) &#8211; Sudan will permit non-Muslims to consume alcohol and strengthen women’s rights, including banning female genital mutilation (FGM), its justice minister said late on Saturday, in a reversal of almost four decades of hardline Islamist policies



About 3% of Sudan’s population is non-Muslim, according to the United Nations.



Alcoholic drinks have been banned since former President Jaafar Nimeiri introduced Islamic law in 1983, throwing bottles of whisky into the Nile in the capital Khartoum.



The transition government which took over after autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled last year has vowed to lead Sudan to democracy, end discrimination and make peace with rebels.



Non-Muslims will no longer be criminalised for drinking alcohol in private, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari told state television. For Muslims, the ban will remain. Offenders are typically flogged under Islamic law.



Sudan will also decriminalise apostasy and ban FGM, a practice which typically involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia of girls and women, he said.



Women will also no longer need a permit from male members of their families to travel with their children.



Bashir extended Islamic law after he took power in 1989.



Sudanese Christians live mainly in Khartoum and in the Nuba mountains near the South Sudan border. Some Sudanese also follow traditional African beliefs.



The transition government led by Abdalla Hamdok runs the country in an uneasy coalition with the military which helped remove Bashir after months of mass protests.

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Sudan’s 37 dry years are over for its non-Muslims

One of the most influential fathers of electricity generation in Africa has died in early hours of July 12 aged 90.



Ian McRae, a consummate public servant was born in Germiston, Johannesburg, on September 24 1929 . He joined Eskom, South Africa’s national power generator and the biggest generator of electricity in Africa, as an apprentice fitter and turner in 1947.



McRae qualified with a degree in mechanical engineering and worked his way up to the top of the company in nearly half a century of service laying down the bedrock of the power supply that South African business took for granted for decades. He oversaw the construction of the country’s big six coal-fired power stations, in the 1970s: Kriel, Matla, Duvha, Tutuka, Lethabo, Mathimba, Kendal and Majuba; as well as the country’s three hydro-electric stations: Gariep, Vanderkloof and Cahora Bassa, plus South Africa’s nuclear plant at Koeberg, near Cape Town. McRae was head of operations from 1977 to 1980, head of engineering from 1980 to 1984 and chief executive from 1985 until his retirement in 1994.



Sadly, McRae, a gregarious man-of-the-people, spent his last four months isolated in a home in Edenvale in Johannesburg because of the COVID-19 lockdown.



 McRae’s remarkable courage came through in his meetings with the ANC in 1988, his promotion of equal opportunity during the height of the apartheid era, and his legendary “electricity-for-all” electrification campaign. These initiatives helped Eskom pre-empt and adapt to the social changes of the 1990s and on retirement McRae left the power generator in good order producing a plentiful supply of some of the cheapest electricity in the world; power that gave birth to a large smelting industry in South Africa. He was also an energetic member of the World Energy Council and the World Association of Nuclear Operators.



“There is no doubt that his integrity, credibility, drive, inherent humility and care for people, also profoundly helped to motivate Eskom staff during many difficult times. In addition, his tenacity of purpose and commitment as a team player enabled Eskom to achieve its strategic goals in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and to survive unscathed through the political transition period of South Africa,” says writer Peter Adams, a former Eskom spokesman, who ghost wrote a biography of the man.



“A key theme of the book is leadership, and in particular the kind of leadership Dr. McRae practiced at Eskom during its phases of both growth and then downsizing. This was essentially one of empowering people within a framework of a clear and inspiring vision. The book is also about McRae the man – his strength and weaknesses, his sense of serving others and Eskom. This is thus the story of a person who has served his fellow man, his company and his country with distinction and humility, using his God-given skills of leadership. In several places in the book, Dr. McRae mentions how being a good mentor is one of the attributes of the outstanding leader. Having benefited himself from good mentorship, Dr. McRae helped to establish the strong culture of mentorship that exists in Eskom today.”



McRae’s wife Jess predeceased him last year, his daughter Heather, died in 2018. His son, Donald, who has written books on boxing and South African rugby, survives him and is a journalist living in London.

Ian McRae

One of the influential fathers of power in Africa dies aged 90

Veteran Zimbabwe farmer Ben Freeth poured cold water on a plan that’ll see trainers from the former Soviet republic of Belarus train a thousand farmers to till the soil in the former breadbasket of Africa.



This month a huge load of farm machinery is on its way across the Indian Ocean, in the bowels of a transport ship, on its way to Zimbabwe. A $58 million deal six grain harvesters, 100 tractors, 16 seed drills, five fifth wheel trucks, five semi-trailers are on their way from Belarus to the ports of Beira in Mozambique and Durban in South Africa. The shipment is expected by the end of July. Fourteen grain harvesters and 36 units of seed drills are already in Harare. Ships will bring another 20 grain harvester, 340 tractors and 138 seed drills to Zimbabwe by December 2020.



“Belarus is not known for its agricultural productivity.&nbsp; Their climate, soils, crops, pests and diseases and systems of production are different to ours.&nbsp; It’s difficult to believe how effective they will be in teaching us to farm,” says Freeth, &nbsp;the &nbsp;executive director of the Mike Campbell Foundation and a former regional executive officer of the Commercial Farmers’ Union, in Zimbabwe.



“Belarus tractors have never been known for their quality or power.&nbsp; They were never bought by Zimbabwe farmers in the past. Training up 1000 Zimbabwe farmers isn’t the answer.&nbsp;&nbsp; There are thousands of brilliant Zimbabwe farmers already.&nbsp; What we need is property rights and the rule of law.&nbsp; Sadly this Belarus scheme will fail the same as every other scheme has failed because property rights and the rule of law are so insecure and tenuous.”&nbsp;



The idea has been nurtured by the consul general for Zimbabwe in Belarus &#8211; Alexander Zingman. He is the head of AFTRADE DMCC and spends much time travelling between Zimbabwe and the country of his birth. The project is being financed through the Development Bank of Belarus supported by The Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank. The export credit facility has been provided on a long-term basis with competitive interest rates.



&#8220;The aim is to totally mechanize agriculture in Zimbabwe using a comprehensive set of machinery &#8211; tractors, planters, harvesters and trucks &#8211; to cultivate and harvest maize and wheat. This will prevent the harvest losses that Zimbabwe normally faces. It will boost Zimbabwe&#8217;s food security and save the country valuable foreign currency. We will train each farmer who uses this modern equipment. More than 1,000 farmers will get special training courses in Zimbabwe. 10 specialists from Zimbabwe will also be sent to Belarus for two months for training at our manufacturing plants, “he says.



Ten trainers from Belarus are also in Harare, with five more on the way, in a year of training of farmers in Zimbabwe that is hoped will kick start a struggling industry that was once the pride of Africa.



The irony is that 30 years ago such a programme would have been looked upon as an agricultural equivalent of teaching your grandmother to suck eggs. In the 1980s and for most of the 90s Zimbabwe was the breadbasket of Africa with a small, efficient, band of mostly white farmers who fed Southern African and exported food to Europe. It couldn’t last amid the lack of a clear plan for organised land reform and growing political pressure.&nbsp; &nbsp;



When the farm invasions were unleashed by the people in power in 2000, it led to bloodshed and random confiscation that reaped a bitter harvest of lost production and exports that persists until this day. That year, with all of its fumbling fury, fuelled with the idea that to get rich you merely had to own a farm, is always seen as a turning point for the industry. It created a large slice of the country’s GDP and as it fell, so did the fortunes of Zimbabwe.



The World Bank Zimbabwe production figures for maize – that used to feed the region – tell the story. In 1996 Zimbabwe was growing more than 2.5 million mt of maize; by 2016 that figure had dropped to a mere 500,000 mt of maize. A further sign of lean times, according the World Bank, is that the fertilizer industry was at 75% capacity before 2000 and as low as 30% now. In the halcyon days of 1996, many Zimbabweans would have been incredulous at the idea of trainers and combine harvesters making their way half round the world to teach them farming. In difficult times for the Zimbabwe and its economy almost anything is worth a try.

Belarus equipment reaches Zimbabwe 1

Veteran Zimbabwe farmer pours cold water on $58 million mission from Belarus with love.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s rand recovered in afternoon trade on Friday, after sliding earlier due to concerns about rising COVID-19 cases both at home and abroad.



At 1505 GMT the rand was 0.42% firmer at 16.7800 per dollar, bouncing back from a session low of 16.9725 hit earlier.



“Given all the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic and global economic recovery prospects, market sentiment continues to switch between risk-on and risk-off in a matter of seconds,” said market economists at ETM Analytics.



“If the market really bought into the economic growth optimism and recovery narrative, it wouldn’t be hedging its bets with gold purchases. Markets may well be positioning for additional monetary and fiscal stimulus measures in the months ahead.”



The United States on Thursday reported the largest one-day increase in coronavirus cases by any country since the start of the pandemic, while cases have jumped in major cities such as Melbourne, Tokyo and Hong Kong.



Locally, confirmed COVID-19 cases are also on the rise.



The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) slipped as investor optimism about a market recovery was overshadowed by continued worry over coronavirus.



The benchmark FTSE/JSE All Share Index dropped by 0.64% to close the week at 55,431 points while the FTSE/JSE Top 40 Companies’ Index closed down 0.74% to 51,154 points.



The benchmark index rose 1.67% this week.



Bonds firmed, with the yield on the benchmark 2030 government issue dropping 15.5 basis points to 9.495%.

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South Africa’s rand recovers but caution remains, stocks slip

Billionaire Musk&#8217;s net worth zooms past Warren Buffett&#8217;s &#8211; Bloomberg News &#8211; Reuters



(Reuters) &#8211; Elon Musk’s net worth soared past Warren Buffett on Friday as the chief executive officer of Tesla Inc (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/TSLA.O">TSLA.O</a>) became the seventh richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.



Musk’s fortune rose by $6.07 billion on Friday, Bloomberg News said, following a 10.8% jump in the electric carmaker’s stock.



Buffett’s net worth dropped earlier this week when he donated $2.9 billion in Berkshire Hathaway (<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/BRKa.N">BRKa.N</a>) stock to charity, the report added.



Tesla’s shares have surged 500% over the past year as the company increased sales of its Model 3 sedan.



The blistering rally also puts Musk in reach of a payday potentially worth $1.8 billion, his second jackpot from the electric car maker in about two months.



The stock is up about 38% since the close on July 1, a day before the company reported its quarterly delivery numbers.



Tesla’s solid delivery numbers heightened expectations of a profitable second quarter, which would mark the first time in its history that it would report four consecutive quarters of profit.

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 Billionaire Elon Musk’s net worth zooms past Warren Buffett’s

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; The South African government is “on course” to provide a funding commitment for the restructuring of loss-making South African Airways (SAA), a senior official said on Friday.



The comments by the acting director-general of the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) will ease concerns at the airline after the finance ministry told lawmakers last week it would not provide any new money.



SAA’s creditors are due to meet on July 14 to vote on a restructuring plan that envisages scaling back the airline’s fleet and shedding jobs but requires at least 10 billion rand ($592 million) of new funds to work.



If the government has not made a commitment on funding soon after the vote, the plan could have to be reworked or rescue efforts abandoned.



“The first thing we need to do is give an indication to the business rescue practitioners by the 15th that we are in a position to provide funding,” the DPE’s Kgathatso Tlhakudi told Reuters. “That we are on track to be able to achieve.”



Tlhakudi said the DPE, the ministry responsible for SAA, was currently “socialising the idea” within government that it needed to do the initial heavy-lifting to clean up SAA’s balance sheet.



“There are very few investors that will want to come and clean up, deal with the legacy issues, so in our engagements within government we are getting that position across.”



SAA has already taken more than 20 billion rand in bailouts in the last three years alone.



Tlhakudi said the DPE was cognisant of the country’s fiscal constraints and was speaking to potential investors to try to ease the burden on public finances.



The government has been approached by a major airline interested in working with SAA, but those discussions are at an early stage, he said, giving no details on what sort of partnership was under discussion. There was also interest in SAA’s maintenance, catering and cargo operations, he said, without elaborating.



He said observers should not read much into the slide in a finance ministry presentation that said no more funds would be provided to SAA. “We should rely more on statements that have been made by cabinet, because that’s where ultimately the call will have to be made.”



The cabinet said last month that it supported efforts to restructure SAA and mobilise funds from a variety of sources, including equity partners.



($1 = 16.8943 rand)

Airbus_A330-200_South_African_AW_(SAA)_F-WWYL_-_MSN_1223_-_Will_be_ZS-SXX_(5838450879)

South Africa set to make SAA funding commitment, official says

A tribute to Cote d&#8217;Ívoire Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly by Akinwumi A. Adesina, Président, African Development Bank



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-table"><table><tbody><tr><td>July 8 was all like every normal day, focused on work. I had no inkling there would be a storm, even though we have weathered many storms and floods in Abidjan in recent times. Like a jolting bolt of thunder, everything changed when my wife, Grace, called my attention to a news item that the Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly had died. I told her this couldn’t be true as he just came back and as far as I knew he was fine. I quickly went to look at the news. I had not seen any official confirmation. I made frantic calls. Alas! Amadou Gon had died indeed. What a tragedy! This was a storm with massive lightening like no other. I couldn’t control my sadness. This man who had served his nation so loyally and with such dignity has passed on, while at work. My thoughts went to his dear wife and family who have been thrown into sorrow, suddenly. My mind went to President Alassane Ouattara, to whom he was a beloved son, a loyal partner and confidant for some 30 years. My mind went to the government of Côte d’Ivoire, and the nation where I lived for 5 years in the 1990s and now for another 5 years so far as President of the African Development Bank. A beautiful nation whom Amadou Gon served dutifully, diligently, passionately and faithfully until his last breath. Amadou Gon was an exemplary leader. He was my friend. I remember calling him while in Paris. I was concerned about him and although we had exchanged messages, I still was not satisfied. I wanted to hear his voice. We spoke. I was very happy he was well. Amadou Gon deserved to be well. He was such a great champion of programs to accelerate the development of his country. He carried the vision of the President and the government wholeheartedly into every meeting, into every discussion. We met very often, and every time I was always amazed at how this very humble and serious minded public servant always put the development of his country first. He worked very closely with the African Development Bank. He visited the Bank several times and took great interest in all matters that affect the Bank. He worked so hard with the Bank and several development partners to bring life to the social development policy of the government. A humble man. A selfless man. A faithful man. A shining light. We met and spoke together on several forums around the world: on the plane, at airports, in high level forums and summits. My impression of him was the same: calm; wise; insightful. A man of few words, whose every word was always well honed for impact. He spoke always from his heart. An he had a heart of gold. My heartfelt condolences go to his dear wife and family, and his aged mother. May God comfort them. My heartfelt condolences go to President Allassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire. Mr. Président, you have lost your closest ally and confidant, who served you and his nation faithfully until his last breath, working for the good of Côte d’Ivoire. May God comfort you, the government and good people of Côte d’Ivoire. My dear brother, Amadou Gon, thank you for your friendship. I was looking forward to us meeting again, in our usual warm brotherly embrace, to chat on your favorite topic: development of Côte d’Ivoire. But Alas! That is no longer to be. I guard emotions and memories of your life &#8211; your great life; and dedication and contributions to your nation. Thank you Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly. Thank you my dear friend and brother, Amadou Gon. Rest well. You will be sorely missed.</td></tr></tbody></table></figure>

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