Latest news with #economicempowerment
Russia Today
15 hours ago
- Business
- Russia Today
Fair trade is critical for Africa
Fair trade is essential for Africa's future, according to Irada Zeynalova, Russia's ambassador to Mauritius. She stressed that African nations must be empowered to build self-reliant economies instead of remaining dependent on foreign aid. In an interview with local weekly Bizweek on Sunday, Zeynalova stated that 'fair trade is critical,' as Africans should have the freedom to shape their own development, free from the constraints of post-colonial economic patterns. Reflecting on Africa's historical challenges, the ambassador said the legacy of colonialism continues to cast a shadow across the continent, adding that colonial rule stripped Africa of its people and natural wealth, and that today's generation deserves a chance at a better, sovereign life. 'The time of colonialism must end,' she went on to say. Zeynalova noted that poverty in Africa is not merely financial but deeply rooted in the lack of access to essential services such as education, clean water, and healthcare. Drawing on her experience in Sudan, where her son worked prior to the outbreak of conflict, she said sanctions crippled the agricultural sector despite the presence of the Nile, adding that 'People there survive on $2 a week.' People in Sudan, according to Zeynalova, have a clear demand: 'Leave us alone. Give us safety, medicine, education. We can develop our country ourselves.' The ambassador pointed to the role of the BRICS group as a platform for empowering the Global South. Unlike Western-led alliances such as NATO or the EU, BRICS promotes inclusivity and mutual respect without imposing strict conditions on its members. She characterized the group, which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, among other nations, as 'an open platform where countries are equal and respected.' Zeynalova also stressed that Russia has always viewed African nations as valuable partners rather than countries to exploit. Turning to Mauritius, the ambassador affirmed Russia's enduring commitment to the island nation's sovereignty and independence. 'Russia was one of the first countries to recognize Mauritius' independence and freedom,' she said, adding, 'In Russia, we remember everything.'
Mail & Guardian
5 days ago
- Business
- Mail & Guardian
Transformation Fund a ‘looting scheme', says DA
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lambasted the Transformation Fund proposed by the ANC as a sophisticated mechanism of 'looting' and economic capture that will only benefit the politically-connected elite. (Photo by Ihsaan Haffejee/Anadolu via Getty Images) The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lambasted the Transformation Fund proposed by the ANC as a sophisticated mechanism of 'looting' and economic capture that will only benefit the politically-connected elite. DA spokesperson for trade Toby Chance on Thursday said the party rejected the fund as another of the ANC's 'failed' broad-based black economic empowerment (broad-based BEE) schemes that 'enrich elites, not workers'. He told a media briefing that the DA'S submission to the department of trade, industry and competition presented an alternative vision of economic empowerment that transcends racial boundaries. The The ANC says its black empowerment drive aims to reverse the economic imbalances which favoured whites. On Thursday, Chance argued that the transformation fund would block growth by focusing on race and not on investment or job creation and that the DA backed 'real empowerment' through economic growth and striving to reach the United Nation's sustainable development goal targets. 'The department's concept document has attracted much attention, in terms of impracticality. Organised business and think tanks have all been vocal against the fund, as it will not deliver economic growth and job creation,' he said. He added that a recent survey showed South Africans were against the government continuing with broad-based BEE after years of failed implementation. He said the fund was a 'continuation of broad-based BEE policies which have failed to bring disadvantaged South Africans into the economic mainstream and have left eight million people unemployed, up from five million people in 10 years, while enriching a small elite'. The fund would not address barriers to foreign investment inherent in broad-based BBEE and 'other heavy-handed government policies'. 'Over a period of 20 years, the narrative and the orthodoxy around transformation has been corrupted. It's not real transformation. It's actually seizure of assets to the benefit of a small number of people'. DA national spokesperson Karabo Khakhau described the fund as 'an activated looting scheme'. 'Funnelling money to a select few in the name of transformation, is not transformation. In fact … it is an activated looting scheme that is always available for evil ones to manipulate,' she said. 'Prioritising funding for the same politically connected people or elites in the name of being pro black is not transformation. That is corruption, and that's what we need to be able to crack the whip on here, and that's why we're anti this, this whole idea that such funds are supposed to work. 'You take a Karabo, and on the basis of Karabo being black, you give her an opportunity for funding. She gets her success. And instead of moving on to [other candidates] …you take the same Karabo again, and you make her the same dipper of the same system. 'And then Karabo becomes loyal to you and your organisation in how she manipulates her tenders, in how she trades and who her trade partners are and she becomes a tycoon of a system that is only focused on one person, while black, coloured and Indian people who are supposed to be empowered … fall behind the line.' DA deputy spokesperson on trade Mlondi Mdluli said empowerment and redress were 'deep issues' that were sensitive and should be broached with 'compassion, clarity and effectiveness'. He argued that existing state-supported funds such as the Black Business Supplier Development Programme and the National Empowerment Fund had failed to address systemic economic challenges. Chance said the DA's alternative vision to the fund detailed in its submission emphasised creating an environment where 'everybody can grow', regardless of race. This includes investing in quality education, skills development, cutting bureaucratic red tape and fostering an inclusive economic growth strategy. True empowerment comes through growing the economy, not through redistributive mechanisms, he argued. Responding to a question on the narrative that the DA was anti-transformation, and whether the issue could destabilise the government of national unity, DA national spokesperson Willie Aucamp said ANC governments of the past had not empowered the majority of black people. 'Their policies were not pro black because it did not empower the largest amount of black people in this country,' he said. 'When the DA entered this government of national unity, we said that we've got two main aims. The one is to grow our economy, and the second one is to create jobs. And in everything we do, we ask ourselves whether what we are doing will contribute towards that, and if it's not, we won't do it. 'But we did not agree to be co-opted by the ANC, the Democratic Alliance is a party in our own right, and we will remain so. In most of the issues that come up in the GNU we do agree with each other, but where we disagree, we will not be a rubber stamp to just say yay and amen into whatever it is that the ANC does that we might differ with.'
Finextra
6 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Block rolls out bitcoin payments on Square
Block is adding real-time bitcoin payments to its Square point-of-sale terminals. 0 The new feature - set to start rolling out later this year - leverages the Lightning Network to enable merchants to accept bitcoin payments directly through their Square hardware. To make a payment, customers scan a QR code at checkout, with the Lightning Network protocol ensuring near-instant settlement while Square's integration handles real-time exchange rate calculations and confirmation notifications. The native Bitcoin For Businesses offering builds on Block's Bitcoin Conversions feature launched in 2024, which allows qualified merchants to automatically convert a portion of their daily sales into bitcoin. Miles Suter, bitcoin product lead, Block, says: 'When a coffee shop or retail store can accept bitcoin through Square, small businesses get paid faster, and get to keep more of their revenue. This is about economic empowerment for merchants who like to have options when it comes to accepting payments.' Under bitcoin-fan founder Jack Dorsey, Block has embraced crypto with a range of services, including Cash App's bitcoin buy, sell, and transfer capabilities, the Bitkey self-custody bitcoin wallet, and the Proto suite of bitcoin mining products and services.
The Herald
7 days ago
- Business
- The Herald
SA will continue to use race-based terms until all are equal: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has insisted that race-based terminology still serves a purpose and will continue to. This is despite many questioning the need in post-apartheid South Africa to divide citizens into categories such as African, Khoi San, coloured, Indian and white. But Ramaphosa believes the terms are valuable in legislative areas covering land reform, employment equity and economic empowerment. 'South Africa belongs to all those who live in it and we all have an equal claim to this country. As we work to overcome the racial divisions of the past, we have put in place legislation and other measures to redress the effects of discriminatory laws, practices and conventions that took place in the country. 'If we are to affirm and advance the position of people who were previously disadvantaged, and held back, we use these terms. We need to use for them for this purpose alone, as they are associated with our apartheid past. Not only is the use of such terms necessary to redress, it is also useful to gauge the progress that we are making, and reduce the stark difference between different population groups in our country.' The president was responding to a question from Patriotic Alliance MP V Daniels in parliament, who asked why racial classification was necessary 30 years into democracy. Despite placing emphasis on its current use in legislation, Ramaphosa conceded that given the country's segregated past, the discussion was a difficult one to have. 'The use of race-based terminology will always be difficult for our country as we work to put behind the racial injustices of the past. However, until we have reached our goal where there is equality for all people in our country, there will be circumstances where we need to use such terminology. Our responsibility is to ensure that our use of such terms ultimately makes the differences they refer to less and less important, until they are rendered meaningless and no longer serve any purpose.' He said finding alternative terms that would be accepted by the entire population would not be straightforward and would be bound to spark a debate. Despite the controversy that lingers around the topic, the president reassured MPs that the country was on the correct path. 'We are on a journey of moving away from the shadow of our horrible past which defined us as separate groups and separate entities. What is important is for us to see ourselves first and foremost as Africans, as it constitutes our being as South African. We need to rid ourselves of those divisions. It will take us time but we are on a journey,' he said.
Gizmodo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
tpwrtrmnky.bsky.social
The Trump administration has reportedly used its tariff negotiations to pressure countries into fast-tracking deals with Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink. South Africa does not appear willing to play the game. According to a report from Bloomberg, lawmakers are calling bullshit on Starlink's attempts to bypass the nation's laws that require companies to have 30% Black ownership to operate within its borders. Last week, a member of South Africa's second-largest governing party proposed a rule change that would allow companies like Starlink to get an exemption to South Africa's economic-empowerment laws. Under the proposal, a company could offer an 'equity equivalent,' including investment in the nation's information and communication technology sector. Such alternatives already exist for the automotive industry in the nation to account for multinational companies that want to do business in South Africa but can't directly sell off a share of ownership to meet South Africa's standards. But other members of the South African government aren't willing to give in that easily. The African National Congress, the country's largest governing party, criticized the plan for 'leaving an opportunity for international players to come through the back door' and usurp the country's own companies working in the space. Sixolisa Gcilishe, a member of the Economic Freedom Fighters party, likewise took issue with the proposal and insisted, 'We are not going to accept a situation where our laws are going to be rewritten in Washington,' per Bloomberg. The proposal came as Starlink was looking to enter South Africa's internet market and was made in advance of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's visit with Donald Trump, as an attempt to ease tensions between the two nations while they work through trade negotiations. Those tensions stem in large part from the Trump administration's insistence that the South African government is seizing the land of white farmers and committing genocide against its white population, a claim that is not remotely true. Nonetheless, the Trump administration has welcomed dozens of white South Africans as 'refugees.' Musk, notably a white South African, has attacked his home country on multiple occasions for what he calls 'racist ownership laws.' He also claimed during a recent interview with Bloomberg that the reason Starlink can't operate in South Africa is because he is not Black, which is also not an accurate description of the nation's laws. Musk has gotten used to getting his way with Starlink, in part because the Trump administration has reportedly been using tariff negotiations to grease the wheels around the world for the company. In the months since the tariffs were announced, Starlink has gotten fast-tracked in a number of nations as Trump officials have encouraged them to do deals with American internet companies. It probably irks Musk quite a bit that South Africa is one country that won't just roll over for him.
