South Africa

A study released on Thursday revealed that a "perfect storm" of climate changes and La Nina weather patterns caused catastrophic flooding in southern Africa during the past month. The floods killed 200 people and affected hundreds of thousands more, according to the study. World Weather Attribution's report showed that extreme rainfall events have increased in intensity by 40% since preindustrial time. This is a clear indication that warming ocean temperatures, linked to greenhouse gas emission, are to blame. The current conditions of La?Nina also made things worse. The study stated that severe flooding has been causing havoc in Mozambique and...

Authorities in South Africa closed Kruger National Park to day visitors on Thursday after heavy rains caused a number of rivers to burst their banks. South African National Parks stated that tourists already staying in lodges within the park could stay there, except for areas around the Letaba?river, which were evacuated. The TV footage showed a vast area of the park being submerged in fast-flowing floodwater, with hippos swimming and trees poking through. Roads were closed. Climate change has made storms in Indian Ocean, which is adjacent to southeastern Africa, more powerful. This has led to more flooding in this...

Nestle has expanded its recall of certain batches of infant nutrition products beyond Europe. It now includes Africa, Americas, and Asia. Nestle recalled batches of SMA formula, BEBA formula, NAN formula, and Alfamino formulation because they may have been contaminated with cereulide. This toxin can cause nausea and vomiting. Health warnings have been issued in 37 countries including the majority of European states, Australia, Brazil and China. The recall puts more pressure on KitKat, Nescafe and its new CEO Philipp Navratil who is trying to restore growth with a portfolio review following management changes. Nestle shares are down 5.7% this...

Ghana has banned mining within forest reserves as part of environmental protections to protect water bodies and stop deforestation. Africa's leading gold producer, which is also the world's largest, is fighting a rise in small-scale mining, which is degrading forests, rivers and cocoa farms. It is also increasing sustainability risks to its mining industry, resulting in protests. Industrial miners have reported frequent incursions of illegal operators on concessions. This has forced key operators such as Gold Fields AngloGold Ashanti Newmont Asante Gold and Newmont to increase their investments in surveillance drones and community engagement programs. According to data from the...

Ghana has banned mining within forest reserves, as part of an environmental protection program aimed at protecting water bodies and halting the deforestation. Africa's leading gold producer, which is also the world's largest, is fighting a "surge" in?poorly-regulated small-scale mining, which is destroying cacao farms, degrading rivers and forests, and increasing sustainability risks for its mining industry, sparking protests. Industrial miners have reported frequent incursions of illegal operators on concessions. This has forced key operators such as Gold Fields AngloGold Ashanti Newmont and Asante Gold, to increase their investments in surveillance drones, security systems, and community engagement programmes. According to...

The South African financial system is resilient, despite rising debt risks and geopolitical tensions, said the central bank on Tuesday. Local markets are recovering from volatility, and fiscal conditions have improved. The South African Reserve Bank, in its biannual Financial Stability Review, said that global markets are showing strength, driven by technology stocks and artificial intelligence. South African equity markets also recovered after U.S. Tariff hikes in April. This month, the Johannesburg All-Share Index reached a record high of 114,000 points. The report revealed that government bond yields have fallen to their lowest levels in six years, thanks to improved...

British International Investment (BII), the UK's development financing institution, announced Tuesday that it would provide FirstRand in South Africa with a $150-million facility to help African companies reduce carbon emissions. FirstRand’s RMB and FNB business banks will channel the funding to high-emission businesses willing to adopt cleaner technology and lower-carbon practices. Transitional finance loans aim to assist heavy emitters in modifying their operations rather than restricting access to financing. According to the 2025 South African Climate Finance Landscape Study, in 2022-2023, the country raised an average annual amount of 188 billion rands ($10.4 billion). South Africa could require as much...

Brazil's president Luiz inacio Lula da Silva said that the G20 climate summit in South Africa, and the COP30 summit in Brazil, show that multilateralism remains alive despite attempts by U.S. Donald Trump to dismantle. "Trump is trying to preach against multilateralism and to reinforce unilateralism. "I think multilateralism is going to win," he said to reporters at the Group of 20 summit in Johannesburg. Lula said that Trump's absence from the summit "didn't really matter" to him. "The G20 is still strong." "We need to put the decisions we made into action," he said. He added that he was...

Cyril Ramaphosa, the South African president, said that Sunday's Leaders' Declaration of this weekend's Group of 20 Summit reflected "a renewed commitment to multilateral co-operation". Ramaphosa was the host of the Johannesburg Summit and pushed the declaration through despite the objections of the United States which boycotted this event. Ramaphosa, who addressed the summit's final ceremony, said that the declaration demonstrated the world leaders' "shared objectives outweighed our differences". Donald Trump, the U.S. president, boycotted the summit on November 22-23 because of the allegations that have been widely discredited - the government in the country with a Black majority persecutes...

The Turkish president Tayyip Erdoan praised the deal that was reached on Saturday with Australia to host the U.N. Climate Summit next year, calling it a significant achievement for multilateralism. After a long standoff, both countries have agreed that Turkey will be the host of the COP31 Summit in 2026 and Australia will lead the negotiations. Ankara, Canberra and both had bid to host the conference in 2022 and refused to back down since. Erdogan said at an event on Saturday night in Johannesburg, "Considering that multilateralism in recent years has lost ground, I consider this agreement we reached with...

The leaders of the Group of 20 largest economies gathered in South Africa for a summit boycotted by the United States on Saturday. They were seeking a deal over a draft statement drafted without U.S. involvement in a surprising move described by a senior White House Official as "shameful". G20 envoys agreed on a draft declaration of leaders ahead of the weekend's summit in Johannesburg. Several of the main agenda items will be about climate change. Four sources with knowledge of the matter told us on Friday that this draft was drafted without U.S. consent. One of these sources confirmed...

Four sources with knowledge of the situation said that G20 envoys had agreed on a draft declaration for leaders ahead of this weekend’s summit in Johannesburg, without U.S. involvement. The Trump administration has announced that it will not attend the summit due to disagreements with South Africa, the host country. Some analysts saw an opportunity in South Africa's hosting the G20 despite Trump's anti-multilateralism. No one has revealed the contents of the declaration. On Thursday, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that South Africa is in talks with the United States about its possible participation The White House denied that this was...

BHP Group, the mining company, has renewed its takeover bid for rival Anglo American, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. This comes just months after BHP and Teck Resources, the Canadian miner, agreed to merge to form a global heavyweight in the copper industry. Anglo American refused to comment. BHP didn't immediately respond to an outside normal business hours request for a comment. Bloomberg News, citing sources familiar with the situation, reported that BHP made overtures to Anglo American recently. The report added that discussions are still ongoing and a deal is not certain. Anglo American has...

The prices of the main grades in seaborne thermal coal have been recovering modestly from their four-year lows. However, the gains come at the expense of volume as major importers reduce demand. According to analysts DBX Commodities, China, India and South Korea are on course for lower coal arrivals in September than October. The prices of the main Australian and Indonesian grades have been rising since early June after a downward trend that began in October 2023. The lower prices in July and August did increase import demand, but the higher prices are now causing buyers to pull back. DBX...

Open Interest (ROI), your indispensable source of global financial commentary, is Open Interest. The prices of seaborne thermal coal have been recovering modestly from their four-year lows in Asia, but this is at the cost of volume as major importers reduce demand. According to analysts DBX Commodities, China, India and South Korea are on course for lower coal arrivals in September than October. The prices of the main Australian and Indonesian grades have been rising since early June after a downward trend that began in October 2023. The lower prices in July and August did increase import demand, but the...

According to delegates, no consensus was reached in Geneva during the talks on the first legally-binding treaty for combating plastic pollution. "South Africa regrets that this session was unable to reach a legally binding agreement and the positions are still far apart", its delegate said at a meeting on Friday morning. After a failed meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in South Korea at the end of last year, more than 1,000 delegates gathered in Geneva to begin the sixth round. The United Nations Environment Assembly established the INC in 2022. Its mandate was to create a global, legally-binding treaty...

Peabody Energy announced on Monday that if it is not satisfied with the resolution of issues surrounding Anglo American's Moranbah North Mine, then they may terminate their pending agreement to purchase some Australian steelmaking coal assets from this British mining company. Peabody shares rose over 4% at the opening of trading. An underground fire at Anglo American’s Moranbah North Coal Mine, located in Queensland, Australia's Bowen Basin, has caused the suspension of production. The assets agreement signed by the two companies last year includes the mine. Peabody has informed Anglo American that it has sent a Material Adverse Change notice...

Anglo American, a global miner, reported on Thursday a 15% drop in its production of copper for the first three months of the year. However, the company left the yearly forecast unchanged. The London-listed company said that copper production dropped to 169,000 tons in the first quarter of this year. It attributed the drop in production in Chile. The copper production in 2025 is expected to range between 690,000 - 750,000 tonnes. As the world shifts to cleaner energy sources, it is expected that metals will be used more for electric vehicles and renewable facilities. Prices for industrial metals have...

Eskom, South Africa's power utility, has restored six power units after the highest level of controlled power cut early on Sunday. This was after several failures occurred at Majuba and Camden Power Stations over the weekend. Eskom cut power to the grid by 3,000 megawatts on Saturday. "Of the ten units we lost over night, we have returned essentially six units," Dan Marokane said to reporters on Sunday. He said that five to six units would be expected to come online during the day to add to the 3,200MW recovered over night. He said that Eskom will consider reducing its...

Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad stated on Monday that the company is working hard to maximize its value in case a new M&A bidder comes along. He also expects significant progress on a much-anticipated spin-off of De Beers' diamond business this year. Anglo American, a London-listed company, rejected a hostile bid of $49 billion from BHP in May. BHP was focusing on Anglo’s copper assets. Anglo has since streamlined its operations by selling coal assets and agreeing on the separation of its platinum business. It still needs to find partners for the UK fertiliser project, which requires massive amounts of...

South Africa's mining market reported 42 deaths last year, the lowest number to date and a 24% improvement on the previous year, official stats showed on Thursday. The stats did not include deaths from prohibited mining. Mines Minister Gwede Mantashe repeated the government's. position that unlawful mining is a criminal activity and not part. of his department's remit. Recently the bodies of 78 miners were pulled from an. unlawful gold mine after a heavily-criticised authorities operation. lasting numerous months that attempted to require them to the surface. Of the deaths caught in last year's official stats,. 11 were in the...

South African utility Eskom on Thursday reported a higher fullyear loss of 55.0 billion rand ($ 3 billion) since of a oneoff charge linked to the separation of its transmission system, but it anticipated a. revenue for the fiscal year ending March 2025. State-owned Eskom is being split into three business that. will individually manage electrical energy generation, transmission and. circulation, as part of a reform plan revealed by President. Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019 to make the energy more efficient. The business made a loss after tax of 26.1 billion rand in. the year to the end of March 2023....

South African coal miner Exxaro Resources stated on Wednesday its board had actually placed CEO Nombasa Tsengwa on preventive suspension pending an independent probe into allegations related to work environment conduct and governance practice. The Board takes any such allegations and resultant examinations very seriously but makes no presumption as to its conclusion. The company will be assisted by the result of examination before taking the proper action, if any, Exxaro stated in a declaration. Tsengwa was not instantly readily available for remark. Exxaro said that the inquiry will be performed by law office ENS, including that the business's long-time...

The UK's FTSE 100 index edged higher on Wednesday as investors evaluated the fallout of U.S. Presidentelect Donald Trump's tariff dangers, while reducing federal government bond yields supported interest ratesensitive real estate and property stocks. The blue-chip FTSE 100 and the midcap FTSE 250 both increased 0.2%, stabilising after the prior day's. sell-off on Trump's threat of large tariffs on a few of its secret. trading partners. Housebuilders and real estate. stocks climbed 0.9% and 1.5%, respectively, as UK government. bond yields was up to their least expensive considering that Finance Minister Rachel. Reeves announced her first budget on Oct....