Economic news of the week: SONA 2020

Loading player...
In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we look at some key business and economic takeaways from President Cyril Ramaphosa’s state of the nation (SONA) delivered in Parliament on Thursday.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined in studio by Annabel Bishop, chief economist at Investec and Nema Ramkhelawan-Bhana, head of global markets research at Rand Merchant Bank to discuss the issues.

The conversations starts with struggling power utility, Eskom, an issue that the President quickly admitted in his speech was dire and need to be address.

The panel agrees that President Ramaphosa was quite upfront in addressing the problems the country faces, and that it was encouraging that he chose to address the power country’s power generation struggle head on.

The discussion then moves to the issue of public finances. How will these government programs be finance?

Ramkhelawan-Bhana and Bishop also highlight references made sovereign wealth fund and a state bank, together with statements about the ease of doing business in SA.
14 Feb 2020 English South Africa Business News · News

Other recent episodes

CCI's ambitions for growth in SA's competitive BPO market

SA’s effort to grow its place as a hub for business process outsourcing (BPO) for international businesses is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Mithum Singh, chief services officer at CCI South Africa. Topics of discussion include: CCI’s history and business…
19 May 39 min

Tackling water, energy and food security through tech in SA

Technology driven solutions for water, energy, and food security is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Deerosh Maharaj, executive head for energy, infrastructure and mining at Standard Bank SA’s business and commercial banking unit. Topics of discussion include: the nexus of…
16 May 42 min

Disruption in SA’s mover logistics industry

One company’s effort to change how people in SA move homes and furniture is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Chante Venter, founder and CEO of Wise Move. Topics of discussion include: Wise Move’s founding and business model; competition; size of…
14 May 41 min

Unpacking the commerce media trend

The use data and technology to increase return from advertising spend is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Gil Sperling, co-founder and co-CEO of Flow. Through the discussion, the economist highlights: trends in tech based advertising; evolution of digital marketing techniques;…
12 May 47 min

Improving economic picture for SA households on shaky ground

The improving economic picture for SA households is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight. Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Dr Roelof Botha, economic adviser to Optimum Investment Group. Through the discussion, the economist highlights: Afhri index components and research methodology; key findings from the index results;…
9 May 29 min