Business must unite to develop an action agenda after the election
With watershed elections in South Africa in a few weeks, it is not surprising the economy in general and business in particular feature prominently in the political campaign. It's the economy, stupid, as former US President Bill Clinton would say. Yet there are wider issues at stake. "Capitalism " is on the back foot, domestically and globally, with strong antibusiness sentiment apparent in several countries. Economic history tells us this is not the first time market-orientated economies have gone on the defensive, nor will it be the last. This the view of Prof Raymond Parsons form the North-West University Business School in the linked article written for and first published in Business Day.
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Jobs Fund head on employment, jobs and building an inclusive economy
The Jobs Fund is one of the most successful government programmes, says Agbiz CEO Dr John Purchase. "We have articulated as such in the Jobs Summit process, as well as in the ADA development process where we wish to follow similar principles."
Najwah Allie-Edries, Deputy Director General for Employment Facilitation at National Treasury's Jobs Fund, spoke to Fin24 in an edited interview about what goes on behind the scenes and how to build an inclusive economy.
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Is an IMF bailout for SA imminent post May 8?
Given that the election of 8 May is unlikely even marginally to change the South African social a
nd economic reality, spelling out IMF involvement becomes a post-election imperative, writes Denis Worrall,
South African ambassador in London.
"Like so many others I have listen
ed to several presentations on the likely results of the election and speculations on the respective voting performances at national and provincial level of the different parties. Something that has been missing in these exercises is that this election or more specifically its outcome is almost irrelevant to the state the country is in." Please
click here
for the article written for and first published on
News24.
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DAFF says FMD outbreak has been successfully contained
It has been 14 weeks since the first case of the foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak in the high surveillance area of South Africa's FMD free zone was detected. A joint statement issued by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the livestock industry, reports that there have been no new cases of FMD detected in the disease management area declared in Limpopo in the last ten weeks and thus, three incubation periods have lapsed. Intensive surveillance demonstrated that the virus did not spread and that the outbreak has been contained. Please click
press release to peruse.
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Intention meets regulation at the 2019 FERTASA conference
The 2019 Fertilizer Association of Southern Africa (FERTASA) Annual Congress kicked-off on Thursday 11 April with the beautiful backdrop of Spier's conference centre in Stellenbosch. There was a very strong focus on regulation as the speakers included Prof Nic Vink who spoke to the macro environment required for agricultural growth, Annelize Crosby from Agri SA who spoke about expropriation without compensation, Christi Venter from Global Gap, Michel Prud'homme from the International Fertilizer Association and Jonathan Mudzunga from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). Agbiz was fortunate enough to be called upon to speak about regulation in the industry, with a special focus on the draft Fertilizer Bill. Agbiz head of Legal Intelligence Theo Boshoff gives feedback in the
linked article.
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SA food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation accelerated marginally in March 2019
While South Africa's headline food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation accelerated to 3.1% in March 2019 from 2.9% in the previous month, the food category remained unchanged at 2.3% for the third consecutive month. This is on the back of lower meat prices, which continued to offset higher prices of grain-related products. However, this is a trend that is likely to change in the coming months as underlying data in the meat industry points to potential price increases in the near term. As a result, we still think South Africa's food and non-alcoholic beverages price inflation could average about 5% y/y in 2019.Agibz chief economist Wandile Sihlobo provides more insight in the
linked article.
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Lambert's Bay holds a few lessons about rural development in South Africa
It is easy to overlook the importance of the South African agricultural sector if one only views it from its share contribution to the GDP, which has declined from 4.2% in the 1996 to 2.6% in 2017. What is often not captured in this narrative, however, is the fact that the value of the agricultural sector has grown by almost 50%, from R50.5 billion to R75.2 billion over the same period. In other words, South Africa's primary agricultural sector is not becoming insignificant - it is only that other sectors, particularly the services sector, have grown at a faster pace. Read Wandile Sihlobo's views in the
linked blogpost.
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Mnangagwa makes right move on farms
When Emmerson Mnangagwa assumed office as president of Zimbabwe in late 2017, one of the immediate tasks he had was to rebuild an economy that had performed poorly for nearly two decades. At the heart of this process was a need to revitalise the agricultural sector, which collapsed after the ill-conceived land reform in the early 2000s. Wandile Sihlobo elaborates in the
linked article written for and first published in
Business Day.
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In the latest edition of
Keeping it Fresh , the Fresh Produce Exporter's Forum shares some of the recent relevant news and developments in a
summarised format.
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AFMA's newsletter out now
This AFMA e-News covers highlights of articles published in the latest AFMA Matrix magazine, as well as other news relevant to the wider industry and value chains. Please
click here to peruse.
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The latest news from BUSA
Please
click here for the latest edition of BUSAs newsletter -
The Bottom Line.
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All the latest news from PMA
For fresh news from the Produce Marketing Association (PMA), please click here for PMA's latest newsletter.
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Global Cherry Summit 2019
25 April 2019
| Monticello Conference Center | San Francisco de Mostazal, Chile
SA Large Herds Conference
3-5 June 2019
| The Boardwalk
| Port Elizabeth
2019 Cannabis Conference
Theme: The big business of cannabis
27-28 June 2019 | Emperors Palace Convention Centre | Johannesburg
More information
13th Agribusiness Africa Conference
10 July 2019 | Premier Hotel | OR Tambo Airport
More information
PMA Fresh Connections: SA Conference and Trade Show
30-31 July 2019 | Century City | Cape Town
Agbiz Grain 2019 Symposium
14 August 2019
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CSIR International Convention Centre | Pretoria
Agritech Africa
19-21 June 2019 | Kenyatta International Conference & Convention Center (KICC), Nairobi
| Kenya
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Why join Agbiz?
- Agbiz is the only organisation that serves the broader and common over-arching business interests of agribusinesses in South Africa.
- Agbiz addresses the legislative and policy environment on the many fronts that it impacts on the agribusiness environment.
- Agbiz facilitates considerable top-level networking opportunities so that South African agribusinesses can play an active and creative role within the local and international organised business environment.
- Agbiz research provides sector-specific information for informed decision-making.
- Agbiz newsletter publishes members' press releases and member product announcements.
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The Agbiz Newsletter may contain a few links to websites that belong to third parties unrelated to us. By making these links available, we are not endorsing third-party websites, their content, products, services or their events. Agbiz seeks to protect the integrity of its newsletter and links used in it, and therefore welcomes any feedback.
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