Новости за 12.03.2024

South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF) and the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) have announced a joint programme to institute an international research network that will embrace South Africa, other African countries, and the UK. This network will be funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), through the International Science Partnerships Fund, to the amount of almost £25-million. This new network, which will also be supported by the NRF and the UK’s Institute of Physics (IOP), will involve two programmes. Читать дальше...

Poor-quality projects, site invasions and inadequate transformation are some of the key issues that will be addressed at the inaugural Built Environment Indaba, which will be held at the Gallagher Convention Centre, in Midrand, on April 4 and 5. “We have a lot of incomplete projects. We also have a lot of projects that are completed but of poor quality. The responsibility for that comes straight to our door as the built environment sector. It is our contractors and our built environment professionals who deliver those projects.

South Africa’s start-up ecosystem is a thriving hub of innovative and talented entrepreneurs with a desire to scale, and in support of this, telecommunications group Telkom is providing five small, medium-sized and microenterprises (SMME’s) the opportunity to attend the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC+Africa), being held in Cape Town this week. Saturated founder Mamello Mofokeng; Mapha Logistics founder Loyiso Vatsha; Horizontal Gravity, trading as Bang Capital, founder Benjamin Tshefu; Space... Читать дальше...

Financial services firm Access Bank South Africa has appointed Sandile Shabalala CEO to lead the bank into its next phase of growth and innovation. Shabalala has more than three decades of experience in the banking sector and has a proven record of driving growth and managing risk.

The impact of the construction mafia is starting to be felt higher up the food chain, with Black Building Council in the Built Environment (BBCBE) president Danny Masimene noting that executives were now also directly in the line of fire. “What is worrying is that the trend has changed. The target is no longer on construction sites. We have realised that, even those that take decisions, the accounting officers, CEOs and those people who are in the supply chain, they are also being targeted. Some of them have already lost their lives. Читать дальше...

DFA and its parent company Maziv are embarking on further expansion projects following its August announcement of a R400-million fibre network expansion project to deploy 800 Dry Underground Distribution Cabinets (DUDC) across areas with high network density in South Africa. The two additional infrastructure upgrades are set to enhance the DUDC project’s efficacy, improve network stability in dense areas, accelerate delivery of new services and future proof the network to provide for scale and sustainable growth.

Information and communications technology equipment distributor Rectron has partnered with remotely piloted or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) service provider NTSU Aviation Solutions to enable it to grow skills and infrastructure in this critical but under-resourced industry. Rectron's R650 000 investment will empower NTSU Aviation to invest into placing drone pilots, drone technicians and administrative and consultancy personnel, as well as critical training equipment, like laptops, projectors... Читать дальше...

Integrated resource group Tharisa has launched its Redox One business, which develops long-term energy storage solutions that incorporate the raw materials produced by Tharisa. The company says its solutions use proprietary proven technology developed over decades, including by the National Aeronautics and Space Agency in the US, to deliver a mine-to-megawatt solution at a fraction of the cost of competing technologies.

Eskom will implement Stage 3 loadshedding from 16:00 on Tuesday to 05:00 on Wednesday and will repeat this pattern for the next few days. The move to Stage 3 loadshedding is owing to the loss of three generating units and the delay in returning a further three units to service.

The Vopak Terminal Durban & Transnet Pipelines joint venture selected recently as the preferred bidder for a proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal at Richards Bay has issued an expression of interests (EOI) to test market appetite for booking capacity at the so-called Zululand Energy Terminal. In January, the State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) announced the selection of the joint venture to design, develop, construct, finance, operate and maintain the LNG terminal for a period of 25 years.

Dr Patrice Motsepe, the founder and chairperson of diversified mining company African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), has expressed confidence in the direction being taken by South Africa’s State transport enterprise Transnet. The executive head of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed ARM is also confident in the direction he believes that State electricity utility Eskom will take.

The key themes at the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA’s) 2024 World Cargo Symposium (being held in Hong Kong) were digitalisation, safety, and sustainability. (IATA was the global representative body for the airline industry, with some 320 member airlines which accounted for 83% of global air traffic.) “Air cargo volumes are now firmly back to pre-pandemic levels,” highlighted IATA Global Head of Cargo Brendan Sullivan in his address to the symposium, on Tuesday. “The challenge now... Читать дальше...

The Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC) and the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) have signed a R10-million agreement to support the local film industry and provide local infrastructure to promote the region as a film destination of choice. The ECDC will make available an initial budget of R5-million for the establishment of a film studio in Gqeberha, while the MBDA will make available the property, valued at R5-million, to set up the film infrastructure.

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said an anticipated improvement in electricity supply should see him out of a job by the end of 2024. The country, which has been plagued by crippling power cuts, will get an additional 6 000 megawatts of supply from State sources by the end of the year, Ramokgopa told an infrastructure conference organised by Ninety One Plc in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The economic potential of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is being constrained by restrictions on the region’s aviation sector. This was highlighted at the recent Southern African Industrialisation Forum, held in Sandton, Johannesburg. “We can talk about a free trade area and regional integration, but if people and goods can’t move efficiently, it’s all just empty promises,” highlighted SADC Business Council Tourism Alliance lead Natalia Rosa. “The current state of aviation in SADC... Читать дальше...

JSE- and A2X-listed real estate investment trust (Reit) Attacq has posted a higher distributable income per share (DIPS) of 36.9c for the six months ended December 31, 2023, compared with the DIPS of 35.9c apiece reported for the six months to December 30, 2022. CEO Jackie van Niekerk attributes the 2.8% year-on-year increase in distributable income to higher DIPS from Waterfall City, which increased by 13.8% year-on-year to 23.9c, compared with 21c in the prior comparable period, as well as increased... Читать дальше...

After increasing somewhat in December, the Ctrack Transport and Freight Index (TFI) declined notably in January to a level of 119.3 – a drop of 2.1% compared with December’s 121.9. The extent of the weakness is almost similar to the pressure the sector experienced during the KwaZulu-Natal looting and flooding episodes, notes the index report.

The latest method of electroluminescence (EL) testing of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels for large plants is a game-changer for business and industry in South Africa, Heather Dugmore writes.