| Retail sale growth slows – 14/10/2010 |
South African retail sales growth slowed to an annual 4.6 percent in August, almost half the pace in the previous month, undermining the recovery of Africa’s biggest economy, notes a Bloomberg report. Sales growth eased from a revised 8 percent in July, Pretoria-based Statistics South Africa said on its website today. The median estimate of eight economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 8.5 percent for August. Sales fell a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent in the month.
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Full Bloomberg report Bloomberg
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| Growth prospects lifted by WC success – 13/10/2010 |
Boosted by the success of the World Cup, Gauteng’s economy is expected to grow 2,5% this year, recovering from last year’s 1,7% contraction, according to the provincial economic review and outlook tabled by finance MEC Mandla Nkomfe at the Gauteng legislature this week. The forecast comes after the province unveiled an economic growth strategy that aims to focus on job creation and retention in order to build on this expected growth.
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Full Business Day report
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| Major boost for growth in government– 04/10/2010 |
Following the end of the 2010 World Cup in July, growth in government revenue declined significantly in August to 19.3% year-on-year from 23.4% in the previous month. The Times notes that government revenue had been boosted by stronger domestic consumption during June and July, which contributed to a significant rise in taxes on goods and services. Subsequently, taxes on goods and services declined from R22.1-billion in July to a more sustainable R19.6-billion in August. Despite this decline, analysts are encouraged by the significant double-digit growth in government revenues, pointing to a considerable recovery in domestic economic activity.
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Full report in The Times
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| WC spend shrinks – 23/90/2010spend |
Inflows related to the 2010 World Cup helped narrow South Africa’s current-account deficit to a six-year low in the second quarter, but households remained reluctant to spend due to job and debt worries, data showed. According to a Mail & Guardian report, the deficit shrank to 2,5% of GDP from a 4,6% gap in the first quarter, the South African Reserve Bank’s (SARB) September quarterly bulletin showed this week, easily beating forecasts of 3,2% from analysts in a recent poll. The rand firmed after the data to hit a two-and-a-half year high of 7 0225 against the dollar.
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Full Mail & Guardian report &
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| Disappointing GDP growth – 24/08/2010 |
Pushed lower by a slump in mining production, gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the second quarter of this year came in at a disappointing 3.2% from 4.6% in the first quarter, with economists saying the economy may have to make do with growth of less than 3% for the year as a whole. Fin24 reports that all figures are quarter-on-quarter, seasonally adjusted and annualised percentage changes, unless otherwise stated. The GDP growth rate is lower than an I-Net Bridge poll consensus of 3.6%, showing that the effect of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on growth did not fulfil expectations.
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Full Fin24 report
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| Government to review WC - 30/07/2010 |
Government is currently conducting a detailed assessment of the 2010 World Cup which should be completed by the end of September, President Jacob Zuma says. According to a report on the iafrica.com site, Zuma told a dinner hosted by the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Constructors at Ellis Park that ’from this review will emerge the lessons that will make us implement our new way of doing things even better in government.’ He said the most visible product of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup is the new infrastructure - roads, stadiums, airports, refurbished hotels and other buildings.
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Full report on the iafrica.com site
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| Afro-pessimism misplaced - 18/07/2010 |
While it is too early for hard data proving the 2010 FIFA World Cup was an economic success, business leaders agree that South Africa scored on several points, notes a Fin24.com report. ’This event demonstrated that Afro-pessimism had been misplaced,’ said Adrian Saville of Cannon Asset Managers while addressing a meeting at the Gordon Institute of Business Science. Gillian Saunders, a director of Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions, estimated that the World Cup had brought in as much as R8bn in foreign revenue. ’It is still too early and there is not yet any hard data,’ she said.
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Full Fin24.com report
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| R93bn boost for SA - 15/07/2010 |
Hosting the World Cup gave the country’s economy a boost of about R9bn, with further growth expected over the next few years as South Africa reaps the rewards of the positive image projected around the globe. The Pretoria News reports that the cash injection of almost R100m is the first estimate to come from Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and was based on the government’s assessment of the successful hosting of the tournament, spokesman Themba Maseko told a media briefing at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday.
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Full Pretoria News report
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| WC benefits some way off - 14/07/2010benefits |
It will take three to five years to see the economic benefits of the World Cup, a Human Sciences Research Council academic said on Tuesday. It was however too early to tell how great these benefits would be, Dr Udesh Pillay, said head of research on service delivery at the HSRC. However, he added that the economic benefits had been overstated. ’When compared to the economic benefits that government projected three to four years ago, figures have definitely been overstated.’
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Full FIN24 report
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| WC income ’shortfall of R27bn’ - 28/06/2010 |
South Africa will only directly recoup a fraction of the billions of rand spent on staging the World Cup but should reap long-term economic benefits through the re branding of a nation noted for violent crime. Sport24 reports that businesses in Africa’s biggest economy have reported booming trade, including increased hotel bookings, car rentals and sales of World Cup memorabilia since the start of the soccer spectacular on June 11.
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Full report on the Sport24 site
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| WC creates 50 000 permanent jobs - 28/06/2010 |
The 2010 World Cup could create up to 50 000 sustainable jobs and for those who secure temporary work the experience gained could be invaluable for getting work in the future. According to Busihness Report, Gillian Saunders, the principal of Grant Thornton Strategic Solutions, said that between 20 000 and 50 000 sustainable jobs could be created in South Africa as result of the World Cup. This is in line with the 50 000 jobs created during the 2006 event in Germany.
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Full report on the Business report site
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| SA economy gets $200m boost - 23/06/2010 |
The advertising economy in South Africa is set to receive a massive $200m boost this year as brands such as Nike plough millions into targeting World Cup fans, notes a Mail & Guardian report. Nike, which is not an official sponsor of the World Cup, has just unveiled a campaign on Africa’s largest digital advertising screen on a 30-storey building in Johannesburg, which displays messages sent by fans via Facebook and Twitter (#NikeFuture) that will appear alongside digital images of football stars signed to the brand.
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Full Mail & Guardian report
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| SA reaping rewards of WC – 21/06/2010 |
The hosting of the World Cup presents an economic turning point for South Africa, says Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. The Cape Times reports that international communities were not only watching their countries fight for the cup, but were witnessing a South Africa that continued to emerge as a competitive 21st-century economy, the consultancy said in a paper entitled ’2010 World Cup, a turning point for South Africa’.
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Full Cape Times report
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| Recession blamed for low turn-out - 31/05/2010 |
Tourism organisations blamed the global recession and high airfares for the lower than expected turnout of World Cup tourists. ’We believe that under a different economic climate, demand would have extended to areas outside the host cities and to the wide variety of non-hotel accommodation options available in South Africa,’ said the Federated Hospitality Association of Southern Africa (Fedhasa) and the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) in a joint statement.
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Full Fin24 report
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| Foreign soccer players to pay SA tax – 17/05/2010 |
One local instititution set to win from the country’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup is the South African Revenue Service (Sars). Fin24 reports that while Sars has granted certain tax concessions on the supply of goods and services relevant to hosting the tournament, foreign soccer players will not be exempt from tax, and measures have been put in place to ensure their taxes are collected.
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Full Fin24 report
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| WC visitors to stay longer – 21/04/2010 |
South Africa, which hosts the 2010World Cup in 50 days, will receive 23% fewer foreign fans for the tournament than originally forecast, though they’re likely to stay longer and spend more, Grant Thornton LLP said. About 373 000 foreigners will attend the world’s most watched sporting event, compared with the 483 000 estimated in 2008, notes a Bloomberg report. The cost of long-haul flights and accommodation has deterred some fans, leading the government to cut its estimate for the number of visitors to between 250 000 and 300 000 from 450 000.
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Full Bloomberg report
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| WC economic impact of R93bn expected - 21/04/2010 |
Fifty days before the kick off of the 2010 World Cup global audit and advisory firm Grant Thornton said that the gross economic impact of the event is expected to reach R93bn, with 62% expected to be generated pre-2010, and 38% during the course of the year. According to Business Report, Gillian Saunders, principal of Grant Thornton said foreign tourism will account for 16% of the gross impact. The majority of economic spend comes from the national government’s spend on infrastructure and some operational expenditure.
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Full story in Business Report
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| 200 SMEs for the WC – 07/04/2010 |
Government will send 200 Small and Medium Enterprises to the 2010 World Cup in a bid to improve the country’s economy. Speaking at a business seminar at Harvest House International, the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Cde Sithembiso Nyoni, encouraged the people of Bulawayo to fully utilise the opportunity. ’Businesspeople in the city should take up this chance so as to boost their businesses and the country’s economy at large. We are doing all we can to make sure that this is a success,’ said Minister Nyoni.
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Full Sunday news report
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| WC to test stability of Rand currency - 23/03/2010 |
The rand will probably test its recent highs against major currencies in the weeks running up to the 2010 World Cup and could weaken afterwards, according to Nedbank group chief economist Dennis Dykes. According to Business Report, he said the appreciation ahead of the major sporting event would be due more to ’expectations than actual activity-based currency transactions.’ And the depreciation thereafter would have more to do with ’some growth disappointments in the global economy and, therefore, heightened risk aversion rather than any deterioration in local conditions.’
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Full story in Business Report
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| SA may break even on WC – 19/03/2010 |
South Africa could possibly break even on the expenditure of the 2010 World Cup, but only in a best-case scenario, estimates Human Sciences Research Council executive director of the Centre for Service Delivery research programme Dr Udesh Pillay. Engineering News reports that he explains that the country’s expenditure on the event has been R63bn, which is 6,4% of the 2010/11 gross domestic product (GDP). Currently, the only known revenue is R2bn from FIFA and it is estimated that the event’s contribution to the GDP will be 0,5%.
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Full Engineering News report
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| WC eases effect of downturn - 12/03/2010 |
The 2010 World Cup has helped ease the effects of the global economic downturn in the South African transport, communications and media sectors, says information and communication technology (ICT) consultancy BMI-TechKnowledge (BMI-T) enterprise research business manager Lesley-Anne Dos Santos. She said that the economic downturn has had a greater effect on the ICT spend of some industries than on that of others.
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Full Engineering News report
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| How much will SA gain from WC? - 02/03/2010 |
While FIFA has promised to give R9bn to global football from the profits of this year’s World Cup, the organisation will pocket over R25bn in total from this year’s showpiece, with little clarity on how much cash South Africa stands to gain from the event. Based on figures from the 2006/07 financial year, the profit from this year’s event promises to be far in excess of what was made during the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
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Full IOL report
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| Absenteeism during WC to cost R750m– 02/03/2010 |
The 2010 World Cup is expected to cause a spike in absenteeism resulting in a hefty R750m price tag for South African employers, but there are things that can be done to combat workers skiving off. According to Toska Kouskos, head of health management solutions at Alexander Forbes Health, one of the inconspicuous costs of the World Cup is the high numbers of people skipping work to watch football.
’What we have seen from other World Cups is that typically one in three workers take a day off during the event,’ Kouskos said in a statement. ’If you add that up, it comes to an estimated loss for the economy of R750m in a four week period over the World Cup.’
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Full FIN24 report
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| 2010 WC to boost SA economy - 17/02/2010 |
South Africa’s economy is expected to grow by 2.3% this year, boosted in part by the 2010 World Cup, after contracting by 1.8% last year, said Finance Minister, Pravin Gordhan. He said earlier forecasts predicted the gross domestic product would grow by 1.5% this year, notes an Insing.com report. The 2010 World Cup, which kicks off in June, has fuelled an overhaul of South Africa’s shoddy infrastructure and helped shore up the economy during last year’s recession, the first in 17 years.
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Full Insing.com report
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| Jitters subside over stadiums - 12/01/2010 |
SA’s 10 stadiums are ready to host the 2010 Soccer World Cup — now the fans need to come to the party, say the organisers. And no expense is being spared to make sure that Africa’s first World Cup will be a success. The national government will have contributed R11,7bn to the construction of five new stadiums, and the upgrade of five existing stadiums, says Treasury spokeswoman Thoraya Pandy.
The previous finance minister, Trevor Manuel , said in 2007 that R8,4bn had been set aside for stadiums.
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Full Business Day report
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| Signs of hope for car industry - 10/01/2010 |
There were signs of hope in the South African car sector for modestly better domestic sales in 2010, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) said on Friday. It also forecast higher levels of production on the back of continued recovery in demand in export markets. Moreover, the Fifa 2010 World Cup would boost demand in the car rental industry, promote tourism and spending and support further economic recovery, it added. ‘Also reduced cost pressures on the back of the exceptionally strong rand should facilitate stable new vehicle pricing for some time.’
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Full FIN24 report
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| 2010 boost for property prices – 06/01/2010 |
The outlook for property for 2010, while still mild, was far better than 2009, auctioneers Alliance Group said Wednesday. “In 2010 people will start spending more as the stock market continues to rally and the economic outlook improves,” said chief executive Rael Levitt. Keeping the show on the road over the last 18 months of turmoil had been a true test for many developers, brokers and banks . “In 2010 the challenge will be to refocus on the long term and what the post-World Cup period will bring. “ 2010 may well be a tale of two halves,” Levitt said, adding that the impact of the World Cup in the first half of the year could not be overestimated.
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Full report in The Dispatch
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| 2010 to boost wine sales – 06/01/2010 |
South Africa’s wine industry expects increased global sales in 2010, although a strong and volatile rand currency threatens its long-term prospects, a senior official said on Wednesday. The sector expects the 2010 soccer World Cup to boost sales hurt by a global economic crisis and weakened economies in key export markets across Europe and in the US, said Su Birch, chief executive officer of Wines of South Africa (Wosa). WOSA represents all of South Africa’s major wine exporters, including Distell and KWV.
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Full FIN24 report
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| Nedbank: Credit demand to rise in 2010 – 05/01/2010 |
Credit demand tends to lag improvements in the real economy and will start rising convincingly only in the second half of 2010, Nedbank’s Economics analysts believe.
’However, the low base and some improvement in household demand for credit should mean that nominal growth will resume early in 2010.’ ’The approaching 2010 FIFA World Cup, lower interest rates and more stable employment conditions will help a gradual pickup in credit extended to households. In contrast, companies are unlikely to require much in the way of additional finance,’ the group said in economic comment note.
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Full Business Report article
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| Keen interest in 2010 fuel supplies – 31/12/09 |
The Competition Commission’s handling of the fuel industry’s application for exemption from certain provisions of the Competition Act will make for an interesting case study. The industry, through the South African Petroleum Industry Association (Sapia), wants room to enter into agreements and engage in activities that are in contravention of the act. Business Day reports that the oil industry’s application comes shortly after fuel reserves at OR Tambo International Airport dropped to just two days’ worth in August.With the kick off of the 2010 World Cup only months away, SA can ill afford fuel supply security jitters. For the duration of the event, the margin for error for will be minimal.
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Full Business Day report
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