Chamber initiative supports youth employment and conservation
In partnership with the Youth Employment Service (YES) and implementation partner Youth@Work, the initiative will place 17 unemployed youth in conservation-focused roles.
The participants will work with the Zwartkops Conservancy, Friends of Van Stadens and the Sustainable Seas Trust (SST).
These placements aim to provide practical experience while supporting ecological resilience in the metro.
This initiative forms part of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chamber's broader risk management strategy, which seeks to identify and address social and environmental risks that affect both communities and businesses.
Chamber chief executive Denise van Huyssteen emphasised the importance of collaboration across sectors.
'This programme reflects our commitment to integrated, long-term solutions that extend beyond job creation.
'It's about building resilience — economically, socially and environmentally,' Van Huyssteen said.
'Through our risk management desk, we've focused on tackling the root causes of vulnerability in our region.
'This initiative brings that vision to life by empowering young people to become active participants in restoring ecosystems and shaping their futures.'
She said they viewed this initiative as a model for how business, civil society and development partners could collaborate to unlock potential, reduce risk and promote sustainable development.
Spearheaded by the chamber through its risk management desk, the initiative is funded by Hollard.
Hollard's head of environmental, social and governance (ESG), Deanne Bezuidenhout, said c reating value for business and society should not be mutually exclusive, adding this initiative proved that.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mail & Guardian
2 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
Lesotho aims for 10% tariff on exports to US
Thetsane industrial area in Maseru is home to many garment factories. Archive photo: Sechaba Mokhethi The Lesotho government has committed to continuing with negotiations to further reduce tariffs on its exports to the United States. This comes after the US revised its crippling 50% tariff on all Lesotho exports down to 15%, effective from 7 August. 'While we had negotiated the revision to at least 10%, which was applied to all countries, this rate [15%] will ease the burden to our exporters, particularly the textile and apparel industry,' Minister of Trade, Industry and Business Development Mokhethi Shelile told a media briefing last Friday in Maseru. The textile industry was among the hardest hit after the US announced sweeping The US had temporarily reduced the tariff to 10% for a 90-day negotiation period that ended 31 July. Shelile said during this time Lesotho had made a multi-pronged effort that included direct talks with the US embassy in Maseru, lobbyists in the US who highlighted how increased tariffs would lead to higher prices for American consumers, and a final push led by Minister of Finance Retselisitsoe Matlanyane and the Lesotho embassy in Washington DC. 'We are still committed to continuing negotiations so that our exports can enjoy the minimum tariffs that the US applies,' Shelile said. Until April, Lesotho had enjoyed duty-free and quota-free access to US markets through the African Growth and Opportunity Act. That preferential agreement helped Lesotho's textile sector grow to employ thousands of people. 'The US remains one of our main trading partners … and this relationship needs continuous nurturing,' the minister said. A new South African Development Community-US Dialogue Forum is expected to be launched at the Southern African Development Community summit in Madagascar, which runs until 18 August. This article was
Mail & Guardian
2 hours ago
- Mail & Guardian
How Trump's tariffs exposed South Africa's strategic trade failures
The Trump' administration's trade tariffs have shaken the rand. Photo: File The United States' 30% tariff on South Africa — set to take effect on 1 August 2025 but pushed back seven days — is a grave blow for those diligently modelling costs, yet a distant abstraction for many South Africans who are yet to grasp its economic gravity. Regrettably, in South Africa global economic shocks typically register as background noise, their causes unexamined, their consequences only recognised when unavoidable. Before dissecting our strategic missteps, let's make these abstract forces tangible. Consider first how US President Donald Trump's threats of tariffs shook the rand's foundations in July alone. The currency exhibited heightened volatility, opening at R17.59 before plunging 2.6% to R18.04 by month-end, as markets priced in the impending tariffs. Three distinct phases can be identified: the initial 7 July drop to R17.74 (-1%) on Trump's Brics surcharge threat, a mid-month slump to R17.89 as exemption hopes faded and the final 1.5% 24 to 31 July drop when tariff implementation became certain. Let's also appreciate trade and industry in this context. The South African Revenue Service's Cumulative Trade Report for January to June 2025 revealed that SA exported R68.8 billion worth of goods to the US. Trump's tariffs will probably disproportionately target critical sectors like vehicles and transport equipment (R11.4 billion); machinery (R3.8 billion); iron and steel products (R10.9 billion); chemicals (R4.8 billion) and plastics (R644 million). Despite exempt categories, such as precious metals and iron ores, several mineral categories will suffer, including processed steel, machinery components and industrial chemicals, risking R31.5 billion in vulnerable exports. If these impacts remain abstract, consider the tangible consequences — currency depreciation and trade disruptions will send prices of basic goods soaring, devastate jobs in the auto and mining industries, deepen inequality, shutter factories at an alarming rate, fuel inflationary fires and ignite political instability as economic hardship erodes public trust. Clearly, these repercussions span economic, political and social spheres, raising pressing questions about whether the state could have taken stronger measures to mitigate the coming storm. The evidence suggests decisive action was both possible and necessary. While competent trade negotiation reflects able governance, truly strategic trade diplomacy remains an elusive art — one whose absence we feel acutely in these turbulent economic waters. A few months back, while Washington's theatrics over South Africa's land reform policies dominated headlines, the real tragedy unfolded quietly – that is, the country's mineral baiting approach to trade talks which ultimately ought to have been seen by our government as doomed from inception. Why so? Because Trump's global trade warfare primarily stems from geopolitical anxiety over dwindling US hegemony, not sound economic logic. In such a context, no mineral concessions could sway Washington. Rather than this futile approach, we should have been aggressively pursuing market diversification, accelerating regional industrial partnerships and building shock-absorbent trade architectures. Far from wishful thinking, this has been a deliberate strategic pivot by pragmatic emerging economies. For example, shortly after Trump announced reciprocal tariffs, Southeast Asian states like Cambodia aggressively diversified trade partners through South-South cooperation and the 'China+1' strategy, transforming tariff threats into opportunities. These nations retain their edge as export manufacturing hubs, where labour cost advantages outweigh protectionist headwinds. Regrettably, this was a storm we might have weathered — had we possessed the strategic foresight to act early. Instead, we'll spend the coming quarters, perhaps years, paying for missed opportunities, while our trade and diplomatic machinery scrambles merely to recover lost ground. Siseko Maposa is the director of Surgetower Associates Management Consultancy. The views expressed are his own.
The Herald
2 hours ago
- The Herald
Shoprite plans to exit Ghana and Malawi
South Africa's biggest grocery retailer Shoprite Holdings said on Tuesday it is selling its operations in Ghana and Malawi, marking another step towards consolidation of its activities across Africa to focus more on its home market. The supermarket retailer had expanded extensively in Africa, surpassing rivals such as Pick n Pay and Walmart-owned Massmart to become the continent's leading food retailer in 15 countries. But forays into markets such as Angola and Nigeria were marred by currency volatility, double-digit inflation, high import duties and dollar-based rentals. On Tuesday it said Shoprite Malawi signed an agreement on June 6 to dispose of five trading stores, pending certain conditions, including approval from the Competition & Fair Trading Commission and the Reserve Bank of Malawi.
