Category: The Outlier
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Copper hits new highs as demand, including for renewables, soars
Copper prices have hit new highs over the past month as demand for the metal grows and experts predict a shortage in years to come. Copper is a key material in sectors including telecoms, power generation and construction. It is used in wiring for broadband networks and for transformers and generators in the power production…
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ZA inflation steadies
Annual consumer price inflation was unchanged at 5.2% in May in line with some expectations, Statistics SA reported on Wednesday. The annual inflation rate of goods last month was 5.7%, unchanged from April, and for services, it was 4.7%, up from 4.6%. Food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation remained steady at 4.7% in May, unchanged from…
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Poll shows SA’s workforce is surprisingly enthusiastic
Anyone who runs a startup or small business understands the value of highly engaged employees. These individuals drive high performance and innovation, which are essential for business growth. However, Gallup’s latest State of the Workplace report shows that fewer than one in four (23%) employees globally are engaged. In the Sub-Saharan African countries included in…
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Nigerians face crippling food price increases
Nigerians are facing steep increases in food prices as inflation figures hit record highs. In May 2024 food inflation increased to 40.66%, an almost 16 percentage point increase on the May 2023 inflation rate of 24.82%, Punch reports. Headline inflation (covering all consumer goods) increased to 33.95% according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).…
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Internet access still lags in Africa despite massive mobile uptake
African countries have leapfrogged fixed-line technology and gone straight to mobile. There are 89 mobile phones for every 100 people living in sub-Saharan Africa, but fewer than one landline (0.6) per 100 people. Some countries are well over the world average of 108 mobile phones per 100 people. South Africa has about 167 per 100…
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MultiChoice’s shrinking subscriber base
MultiChoice has lost 11% of its total customer base, ending its financial year with 20.9-million subscribers. The group’s South African subscriber base has fallen by 8% to 8.6-million, according to its latest results. The JSE-listed company has, until now, managed to consistently grow its customer numbers, holding steady through the trials of Covid-19. It blames…
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Job trends: Telecoms keep at it, hospitality workers move fastest
The average South African employee spends 3 years and 1 month in their job before moving on, according to a recent report by online jobs portal Pnet. Roles with higher expertise demands, such as those in business and management, tend to see people staying longer in their jobs (4 years and 10 months on average).
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How Eskom and other state-owned companies drain the government’s coffers
In its Budget Review 2024, the Treasury included a section titled ‘How state-owned company support has become a drain on the fiscus’. It showed how in 2020, support given to these companies, which include Eskom, South African Airways (SAA), Denel, the Post Office and Transnet, reached R59.8-billion and has not dropped below that level since.…
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30 years of HIV: A public health success story
The HIV epidemic took a heavy toll on South Africa. The signs were there in 1994, when an estimated 380,000 people were newly infected with HIV. Six years later, new infections had risen to over half a million a year. All the while deaths from Aids were steadily increasing from an estimated 32,000 in 1994…
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SA’s Olympic sprint hopeful in fine form
When South African sprinter Akani Simbine won at the Oslo Diamond League meeting on 30 May, it was his sixth 100m victory in six races. His winning time of 9.94 seconds was his first official sub-10 performance of the season. Outshining Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs, who came 4th with a time of 10.03, the South…