BizNews Radio
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Author, extreme athlete, adventurer, myth-buster, story-teller Kim van Kets's bucket list challenge: running Africa from top to tail.
This year's BizNews conference will be opened by lawyer-turned-extreme-athlete Kim van Kets who personifies South Africa's deep potential. Best known for having completed the first 'triathlon' of SA's 6 762 border in 148 days, in this fascinating podcast with Alec Hogg she explains that when her daughter finished school, her…
BBB Ep 26 - Equities take a breather; Oil slips below $100; Coal booms, Thungela profits rocket; China's facing a foreign debt crisis
After going gangbusters in July, share markets in the US (and SA) took a breather yesterday easing back a few points. On the local market, a trading update from coal producer Thungela Resources revealed a 20x jump in its profits for the six months to end June, supporting a surge…
BBB Ep 25 - Stocks end strongly, making July best month since April 2020; Arcelor Mittal's appeal for investors; Crypto back in favour; China fears pr..
While the Western World celebrates July as the best month for stock markets since April 2020's Covid lockdown bounce, China is seeing ominous signs of social unrest in the wake of massive property development company defaults. Also in this episode of the BizNews Breakfast Briefing, investors jump back into crypto…
Gloves off in FMF fracas: Chairman Judge Rex v Schalkwyk says Leon Louw has been fired, "simply isn't telling the truth", warns him to stop telling su..
There is no affection between Free Market Foundation president Leon Louw and those who still serve the organisation. After an emotional BizNews interview where co-founder Louw called for funders to end their association with the organisaton that he calls "my life's work", in this podcast FMF chairman Judge Rex van…
Meet Dr Joanna Moncrieff – the psychiatrist who capsized our erroneously entrenched understanding of depression
The link between depression and serotonin, that depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, was first posited in the 1960s. To this day, this hypothesis has reigned supreme as scientific fact with, perhaps, one of the most significant consequences being the widespread use of antidepressants. Earlier this…
Securing SA’s ‘porous borders’ falls to the new Border Management Authority
The man at the helm of the newly established Border Management Authority (BMA), Dr Nakampe Masiapato, is under no illusion as to the challenge that awaits him in securing the 4,772km borderline of South Africa. The BMA is currently incubated within the Department of Home Affairs but will be exiting…
BBB Ep 24 - Amazon zooms, Apple jumps after quarterlies; Rand, Gold, Bitcoin rise again; Unpacking ANC's Taliban; US technically in recession
Amazon shares surged 13.5% higher in the after-market as the group's quarterly results surprised on the upside. There was a similar reaction to Apple Inc, with its share price gaining 4.5% after the official close, despite a double digit percentage drop in profit. This buoyancy came after a fourth successive…
Moving beyond a mere awareness of SA’s mental health crisis
Earlier this week, Afrika Tikkun Services released a statement highlighting the severity of the mental health crisis facing South Africa’s youth. The statement indicated: “Young people are hungry for hope. They are starved for vision and a guiding hand to show them how to prosper.” In order to find out…
Investment insight: Arcelor Mittal shaping up as perfect geared bet for promised SA economic rebound after 2024
After enjoying a sustained run recently, steelmaker Arcelor Mittal's share price fell 12.5% on the release of interim results today. CEO Kobus Verster says the pullback was largely because of anticipation among investors that the company's turnaorund would be capped by a return to dividend payments. Verster explains in this…
A-Plus Show - Ep 13 - CR's sweeping power reforms, 2024 coalition prospects, informal economy booms
BizNews A-Plus Show duo Alec Hogg and Michael Appel are back with episode 13 of their weekly round-up of business, investments, news and politics banter you need to know. In focus this episode: President Ramaphosa this week announced sweeping reforms to SA's energy sector; the former CEO of the IRR,…
Anti-dumping tariff could send tyre prices skyrocketing by 40%
Several organisations are warning that an application to the International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) to impose additional duties of up to 69% on passenger, taxi, bus and truck vehicle tyres imported from China could send tyre prices skyrocketing. The application is being opposed by the Tyre Importers Association of South…
Cost of transporting goods has risen 22% because of fuel hikes, inflation shock coming - Naude Rademan of Linebooker
The 47% surge in fuel prices translates into a direct increase of 22% in the cost of goods says Naude Rademan, CEO of Linebooker, SA's 'Uber for Truckers'. In this interview with Alec Hogg of BizNews he explains how consumers have been shielded from the inpact of this cost increase,…
BBB Ep 23 - Shares rocket despite Fed's 0.75% rate hike; Rand rises strongly; BN favourites report - Spotify jumps 12%; Meta falls 6%; Dr Frans Cronje..
US share prices rose strongly last night after Fed chairman raised interest rates 0.75% as anticipated, but said the world's largest economy had definitely not entered recession. With the Nasdaq gaining 4% and the S&P500 2.6%, in the session July is shaping up as equities' best month in a long…
Petrol price deregulation - be aware of the pitfalls
The energy department's recent announcement that it plans to deregulate the fuel price by imposing a price cap on 93 octane petrol could have a major unintended consequence. If the price of fuel exceeds the market cap, there is no incentive to import or produce product at a loss. In…
How not to get caught up in the power generation story - Thiago Almeida, Nedbank CIB
Bronwyn Nielsen spoke to Thiago Almeida, Sector Lead Power and Infrastructure at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking, about the tendency to get caught up in the power generation story to the detriment of focusing on distribution and transmission. Almeida stated that while the continued focus on power generation is a…
Dr Frans Cronje: SA economy on brink of post-ANC rejuvenation, 'was optimistic a year ago, am very optimistic now.'
For over a decade, Dr Frans Cronje was SA's party pooper. The former CEO of the IRR was perceived as an arch pessimist, a man guaranteed to prick bubbles of optimism before they could inflate. He regarded himself merely as a realist, sharing the harsh truth because anything else would…
How to clear the mental block against maths in SA - Thembaletu Mbangcolo
Statistics charting the performance of South African learners in maths is staggering. In the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, they consistently scored in the bottom three countries over a range of tests. Fingers are being pointed at teachers in another study by the 2030 Reading Panel, indicating that newly…
BBB Ep 22 - Wall Street sells on rumour, buys on fact with Microsoft, Google; SA's electricity sector watershed; IMF slashes world growth forecast
Good news from a weak Wall Street session with the share prices of tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet (aka Google) surging in the after-market despite both reporting lower numbers than analysts had expected. This suggests that after almost two weak years for equities, expectations may have over-shot on the downside…
Clem Sunter backs GG Alcock, applauds township entrepreneurs, tells Malema they're lighting a path to true economic freedom
Clem Sunter is in a league of his own. The former head of Anglo's Gold and Uranium Division (when it was the world's #1), the Oxford-educated futurist and prolific best-selling author is passionate about encouraging entrepreneurship. Particularly those resilient beings who overcome incredible odds by operating successfully in South African…
Ramaphosa's power reform plan - SA can be 'cautiously optimistic'
President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement of sweeping reforms to stabilise the power grid and get the country quite literally out of the dark has been welcomed as a necessary and urgent step in the right direction. Connie Mulder, head of the Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) told BizNews the crux of the…