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Developing countries that are the most vulnerable to climate change are angry about a new text released at COP29 on Friday, which says developed countries must pay $250 billion a year until 2035 for climate action.(Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

SA’s R210 billion grid dilemma hits pause on load-shedding fix

Renewable energy could close the gap between demand and supply, ending load-shedding. But out-of-pocket Eskom must find money to upgrade its transmission infrastructure first

National director of public prosecutions Shamila Batohi. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Alaister Russell)

NPA must move fast for SA to escape grey list’s grasp

The National Prosecuting Authority is ready to act on state capture crimes but whether it has the ability to do so has been questioned

The country’s financial systems, especially international transfers, must be fit for purpose in the digital age. Photo: File

Despite progress, South Africa’s greylisting is in black and white

Financial Action Task Force noted the country made ‘a high-level political commitment’ to work with the watchdog to tackle money laundering

Rands and sense: African Bank chief executive Kennedy Bungane says it is on target to realise its aim of being a broad-based black bank, set out nearly 60 years ago. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

African Bank is daring to dream big

With the tagline ‘the audacity to believe’, it will need to be ambitious to be seen as a real competitor

‘Prepare for the worst’: 85% chance that SA will land on grey list

If the government is seen to be making serious efforts to comply with anti-money laundering requirements, the country’s greylisting might not last long

Rautenbach’s retail track record put him in good stead — and inadequate succession planning helped too. But critics have questioned the appointment of a white man.

Absa’s Arrie Rautenbach long game can’t save bank from transformation critics

Rautenbach’s retail track record put him in good stead — and inadequate succession planning helped too

Off target: Capitec Bank took on short-seller Viceroy, whose founder Fraser Perring is pictured, and whose report on the bank was subsequently found to be false. (Photo: Guillem Sartorio/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Capitec Bank flies high above Viceroy’s arrow

The bank took a knock after being labelled a loan shark by the short seller, but this has not stymied its growth

New era: Standard Bank’s new business model  includes it being a platform for other services and partnerships. Photo: THEGIFT777

Banks battle for relevance in the platform era

While Standard Bank and FNB ward off fintech disruptors, their digital-only competitors battle on the fringes

Bullish: Transaction Capital’s David Hurwitz says defensive sectors are resilient in the wake of the pandemic. Photo: Elaine Banister Photography

Transaction Capital finds trust among used-car salesmen

The firm believes the second-hand vehicle business will thrive in a post-Covid world

Pillaged: Workers clean up the Shoprite supermarket at the Naledi Mall in Vosloorus, Gauteng, after looters emptied the shelves. The mall was set on fire after shops had been emptied and vandalised . (Andy Mkosi)

Destruction hits business confidence

An already low sentiment will be set back by the Covid-19 pandemic, thin reforms and this week’s violence

Banking on the future

Savings rise amid Covid fallout

Low interest rates usually encourage spending, but uncertainty created by the pandemic has driven people to save their cash in hard times

(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Investment bonds: ‘The outcome is not measured by money but by impact’

Social impact bonds focused on decreasing youth unemployment and improving early childhood learning have delivered positive outcomes the government can replicate to establish…

Unions have previously called for higher earners’ salaries, such as those of ministers, to be cut. But the assessment has shown that increases in remuneration have been the fastest for employees on the lowest salary levels and slower for top earners.

Public wage bill is impeding SA’s growth prospects — Busa

Business Unity South Africa is eager to talk to its social partners at Nedlac about how the spiralling public-sector wage bill can be tamed. And the organisation says these talks…

Balancing act: Finance Minister Tito Mboweni (centre) (Dwayne Senior/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

Mboweni faces taxing decisions

The finance minister must tread a tightrope to fix the economy as he prepares for next week’s budget speech

Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said he had hoped for a different outcome, but acknowledged the rating action by Moody’s with a heavy heart. (Reuters)

Moody’s stays mum on SA status

The ratings agency did not make a decision on South Africa’s rating leaving some analysts asking just when the axe will fall