Latest news with #NextAfrica
Bloomberg
10 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
The World's Biggest HIV-Treatment Program is Under Threat
By and Janice Kew Save Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it's headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. The abrupt halt to billions of dollars of US funding for foreign health programs is wreaking havoc.
Mint
6 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Watchdog Probes Illegal Use of Starlink Service in South Africa
(Bloomberg) -- A South African regulator started a probe into allegations that Elon Musk-led SpaceX's Starlink internet-satellite service was operating in the country illegally. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa has formally engaged with SpaceX and is awaiting a response, it said in a statement Wednesday. 'Should the investigation yield any breach with regulatory and legislative frameworks, the authority will explore the applicable enforcement actions within its disposal,' Icasa Chairperson Mothibi Ramusi said. That may include 'lodging a formal complaint with the International Telecommunication Union,' he said. Starlink — which has more than 5 million users globally — delivers broadband internet beamed down from a network of roughly 7,500 satellites that SpaceX started deploying in 2019. South Africa is among several nations on the continent that haven't licensed the service. Pretoria-born Musk has sought approval to operate Starlink in the country, but has objected to legislation that seeks to boost Black participation in the economy, accusing the government of having 'openly racist ownership laws.' South Africa introduced the rules after the end of apartheid, an era in which the majority of people were excluded from the formal economy by the ruling White minority. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Solly Malatsi of the Democratic Alliance, the second-largest party in the nation's governing coalition, last week proposed amending rules to allow companies like Starlink to enter South African without sharing ownership, a move that lawmakers challenged in parliament this week. Meanwhile, South Africans have found ways around the current restrictions by registering the kit and services in other nearby nations that allow the service and then using the roaming option to access it in their home country. Malatsi issued the directive two days after President Cyril Ramaphosa met US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington to mend strained relations. Flashpoints include Trump's false claims that White Afrikaner farmers face a genocide in South Africa, a statement also made by Musk, who attended last week's gathering in the White House's Oval Office. Starlink's technology would be a potential game-changer for South African users who've historically faced expensive or unreliable internet options. Only 2.7% of rural households have access to the web, according to a 2024 survey compiled by the local statistics agency. The regulator reiterated its 'uncompromising position against any form of non-compliance within the South African regulatory environment.' Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter, and subscribe to the Next Africa podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. More stories like this are available on
Bloomberg
27-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
New Head at Top African Development Bank Faces Funding Squeeze
By and Antony Sguazzin Save Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it's headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. The next leader of the African Development Bank faces a formidable task: pivoting the continent's biggest multilateral lender away from its reliance on the US and Europe, and securing billions of dollars of funding from other sources.
Mint
26-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
South Africa Has Too Many Retail Stores, Pick n Pay CEO Says
(Bloomberg) -- South African retailers are opening too many new stores, putting their financial viability at risk, according to Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Sean Summers. The top five retailers in Africa's most-industrialized economy opened more than 700 stores last year, according to company filings. They have set up 230 already this year. 'South Africa is about to equal, or squeak past, the US on the square meter per capita of retail,' Summers said in an interview after unveiling the company's earnings. 'If you've got retailers who are prepared to just open stores at any cost, then a shopping center works. But I would question the medium-to-long-term wisdom' of the strategy, he said. The National Treasury last week lowered its economic growth forecast over the next three years to an average of 1.6% from 1.8% previously for the continent's biggest economy, partly due to the trade turmoil unleashed by US President Donald Trump. 'Sales densities in South Africa must be much lower than in the US because obviously per capita spending in South Africa is well below the US,' said Charles Allen, a London-based analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. 'It does make you wonder how people eventually are going to justify the return on the investment.' Pick n Pay, which just completed the first year of multi-year recovery plan, is also trying to grow its business by targeting the lower-income market. The grocer has closed numerous outlets where there was no prospect of them returning to profitability, even as competitors such as Shoprite Holdings Ltd. sustain the pace of new store openings. While annual sales at Pick n Pay's discount Boxer outlets rose 13%, revenue for its core Pick n Pay South Africa segment, which accounts for about two-thirds of group sales, increased only 1.9%, the company reported earlier Monday. Sign up here for the twice-weekly Next Africa newsletter, and subscribe to the Next Africa podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen. More stories like this are available on
Bloomberg
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Ramaphosa Looks for Positives After Trump Showdown
Welcome to Next Africa, a twice-weekly newsletter on where the continent stands now — and where it's headed. Sign up here to have it delivered to your email. Cyril Ramaphosa downplayed the ambush Donald Trump laid for him at their explosive talks in the Oval Office this week.
