RMB Archives - B2B Central

21 Jun 2021

After Eskom & SAA, RMB CEO urges government to grasp nettle of further reforms

By Staff Writer

RMB CEO James Formby has commended government for finally taking the steps needed to tackle persistent power outages - but noted that it was an opportune time to capitalise on the move by taking further action on South Africa’s biggest economic challenges.

12 May 2021

Property post COVID: Innovation trumps location

By Staff Writer

It used to be location first second and third when it came to picking a good property but as a result of Covid-19, innovation is likely to be just as an important factor for years to come. Riyaad Khan, Transactor in the Real Estate Investment Banking team at RMB, said the full extent of Covid-19 on the South Africa real estate sector in the long term is unknown.

05 May 2021

Rapidly rising food chain costs raise inflation worries

By Staff Writer

Rapidly rising agricultural producer price inflation, as reflected in last week’s PPI (Producer Price Inflation) for March, poses a conundrum for food manufacturers about whether to absorb these cost increases or try and pass them on to financially constrained consumers, fanning inflation worries.

23 Apr 2021

Social Bond issuance to hit R4bn in SA within the year

By Staff Writer

The market for bonds issued to meet environmental and social outcomes is expected to grow exponentially in South Africa within the next year. Social Bonds are expected to feature prominently, as the country looks to “build back better” post Covid-19.

02 Apr 2020

RMB: Partnerships now vital to keep SA’s business wheels turning

By Janice Roberts

Banks, businesses, government, regulators and the broader financial services sector need to pull together like never before in a constructive partnership to help guide South Africa through what will be an extremely difficult economic period, the full scale of which is as yet unknown.

01 Apr 2019

Moody's decision 'welcome'

By Janice Roberts

“The surprise decision by Moody’s not to update SA’s sovereign credit rating at this stage is welcome, as it gives the country further breathing space to get its economic and fiscal house in order,” says NWU Business School economist Prof Raymond Parsons.

26 Oct 2018

Winners announced at the 17th annual JSE Spire Awards

By Janice Roberts

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is proud to announce the winners of the 17th prestigious Spire Awards. The annual award ceremony is seen as the benchmark for the South African Capital Markets as it recognises and celebrates achievements voted for by the market.

02 Oct 2018

SA fintech launches app to send Bitcoin cash to contacts on your phone

By Janice Roberts

Today Centbee announced the beta launch of a Bitcoin cash wallet that makes it easy to send Bitcoin cash to friends. The app has been in alpha testing for several months and users confirm its most useful feature is the ability to send Bitcoin cash to friends by simply selecting from their phone’s contacts list....

13 Jun 2018

Business confidence retreats in second quarter: RMB/BER

By Janice Roberts

By Ettienne Le Roux, chief economist at RMB. After surging from 34 to 45 in the first quarter, the RMB/BER Business Confidence Index (BCI) deteriorated to 39 in the second quarter of 2018. This means that close to three fifths of respondents now regard prevailing business conditions as unsatisfactory – a disappointing outcome, yet probably...

14 Dec 2017

Slowdown in civil construction activity deepens in Q4

By Janice Roberts

· After falling to a 17-year low in 3Q2017, the FNB/BER Civil Confidence Index gained 4 points to register a level of 19 in 4Q2017. · Despite the slight uptick in confidence, growth in construction activity slowed further. · The survey results suggest that the outlook, especially for activity, remains downbeat.

23 Aug 2017

Building wealth through entrepreneurship

By Janice Roberts

A common discipline that high-net-worth individuals share when building and sustaining wealth for future generations is the appreciation for entrepreneurship.

27 Oct 2016

Was the MTBPS enough to avoid a ratings downgrade?

By Janice Roberts

I was rather tired when I headed back to Johannesburg from Pretoria after attending the media lock-up for the National Treasury’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) on Thursday. While the Minister of Finance (presently Pravin Gordhan) makes the MTBPS speech in Parliament in Cape Town and most economics writers attend the lock-up there, for...