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(Bloomberg) -- South Africa is intensifying efforts across key institutions to secure the country’s removal from a global financial watchdog’s so-called gray list, which denotes nations with shortcomings in tackling illicit financial flows.

“The implications are too ghastly to contemplate should we not be able to be removed from the gray list within the 24-month period,” Unathi Kamlana, commissioner at the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, said in an interview with Bloomberg on Thursday. “Our focus is on getting ourselves off.”

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force placed South Africa on its watchlist in February, citing deficiencies in tackling illicit financial flows and terrorism financing. It gave the country until Jan. 31, 2025, to address the shortfalls.

The gray-listing followed an era of endemic government corruption — referred to locally as state capture — under former President Jacob Zuma that his successor Cyril Ramaphosa estimates cost the economy at least 500 billion rand ($26.6 billion). While the FATF’s decision hasn’t had an immediate impact on South Africa’s credit ratings, missing the 2025 deadline may damage investor sentiment toward South Africa, leading to capital and currency outflows.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-africa-ramps-up-coordinated-efforts-to-get-off-gray-list-1.1940885

Tony - Pensana will go ahead with the full support of the Angolan government from the president down , Such a shame the UK can not show the same level of government support for Saltend and the broader investment community to de risk the project as the Angolans will do for Longonjo.

Major shareholder FSDEA to provide an immediate US$15 million loan facility as part of a broader US$80 million investment (subject to due diligence and the finalisation of investment terms) to facilitate the development of the mine and to provide the equity component for the proposed project debt facility.

Saying that M&G could step up to the plate when needed for Saltend funding the same as the

FSDEA has done for Longonjo.

FSDEA has agreed to provide an initial US$15 million loan facility as part of a US$80 million investment to Pensana and which will be repaid out of the larger facility, for the US$200 million staged development.

The purpose of the proposed investment is to facilitate the immediate development of the Longonjo mine and to provide the necessary support for the proposed project debt facility.

The funds are required to be put in place between now and the end of the calendar year to meet the proposed construction and commissioning schedule with first production targeted in 2025.

FSDEA’s commitment towards funding has allowed for the continuation of onsite activities for which the earthworks contractor and electrical contractor have already been mobilised.

https://www.miningreview.com/energy/pensana-looks-to-achieve-first-production-at-longonjo-in-2025/?fbclid=IwAR1kvQxV5mWXdPFzING0I7Gx_Vj6qsTqkwIvNj546PTaVdrpd8w1t2_nhe0

All the signs are there for us to see that South Africa is on its trajectory toward being a failed state. At the moment, the country’s economic and political system is poorly performing. Hence, we will soon be living in what we call a failed state.

Many leaders of the ANC do not waste time defending the government they are in charge of when it is being labelled by opponents or commentators as a failed state, rightly or wrongly. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a failed state is a country in which the government is so weak that it has lost control of the structures of the state.

These are all the signs of a nation heading towards a trajectory of a failed state. We are almost there.

https://www.iol.co.za/the-star/opinion-analysis/sa-is-a-failed-state-b39e35cf-6c86-4ecd-bf6b-be27f1c193ca

Thursday 29 June 2023

Over a decade of worsening economic indicators has wreaked havoc on the African giant – and politics seems to be the root cause

South Africa is on the brink of collapse. After years of corruption, mismanagement and poor investment, the fruits of the once-promising country have turned rancid. As the country’s leaders grapple with the impending disaster on their hands, tensions are boiling over. On January 10, Tito Mboweni, the finance minister, launched a series of tweets underscoring the gravity of the situation: “If you cannot effect deep structural economic reforms, then game over! Stay as you are and you are downgraded to Junck [sic] Status!! The consequences are dire. Your choice.”

This will force fund managers with investment-grade mandates to dump their South African assets and make others rethink their own positions in the country, worsening already high investment outflows from the country

https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/south-africa-s-leaders-are-facing-impending-disaster-1.963586

RRE looking at more share dilution. shareholders hope that the CEO is correct in his production timeline. Then there's that processing intention in the US with K-Tech with unproven tech . Or, will it be China as the CEO stated in 2022? time will tell

Dumbpunter - You are busy today spewing your verbal dribble across platforms as a non holding TROLL with no financial interest in PRE, What a pathetic poor excuse of a human being you must be , Such a lonely existence you must have to spend your time this way showing your inadequacies.

Pensana Plc (LSE: PRE) is pleased to provide details of a revised financing and development strategy which will see the Longonjo operation fully funded into production.

A revised execution plan allows for staged mine development which will reduce the upfront Capex to US$200 million with US$105 million deferred until year three.

Major shareholder FSDEA to provide an immediate US$15 million loan facility as part of a broader US$80 million investment (subject to due diligence and the finalisation of investment terms) to facilitate the development of the mine and to provide the equity component for the proposed project debt facility.

ABSA Bank has been mandated to arrange a US$120 million project debt facility which together with the US$80 million funding will fund the mine and processing facilities into production.

Durban - The Institute of Risk Management South Africa’s (Irmsa’s) latest report has raised concerns over growing social unrest in the country, with social and economic factors fuelling protests and riots.

“Economic challenges, including stagnant growth, high unemployment, and persistent inequality, have consistently ranked among the major risks facing the country. Concerns over corruption, governance, the rule of law, and breakdowns in public service delivery have also been recurring themes.”

The report said the country had experienced a surge in social unrest, with protests and riots fuelled by issues such as inadequate service delivery, poverty, inequality, unemployment and political corruption.

“If left unaddressed, the consequences of the poly-crisis could lead South Africa toward becoming a failed state, or worse a mafia state.”

https://www.iol.co.za/mercury/news/risk-reports-warning-of-growing-unrest-in-the-country-a735a9df-fe4b-4e5a-a2db-56969cbe217b

Eloro- Neither are you but your constant whinging in a stock you apparently own defies logic, you obviously want PRE to fail which is backed up with your posts, if you are not ok with it sell up and move on simple.

Tony - Eloro - Do us all a Favour and sell out, instead of whinging like a couple of old clowns., for God's sake grow a pair and man up, you both are typical gutless keyboard warriors with nothing to offer but your negative noises and self-opinionated dribble.

THURSDAY JUNE 22 2023

South Africa’s perceived ‘friendship’ with Russia is already severely hurting the southern African country economically – with potentially full-blown United States sanctions not yet ruled out.

The Americans are still considering what to do about South Africa allowing a specifically sanctioned Russian cargo vessel, the Lady R, to dock at the Simonstown naval command near Cape Town, there allegedly loading weapons, or weapons-related cargo, early last December.

Last month, the US ambassador made an extraordinary public allegation that the South Africans had not only allowed a sanctioned vessel to dock but had further violated international sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine by supplying Russia with unspecified military equipment, believed likely to include electronic components for high-tech weapons systems.

The subsequent diplomatic row triggered a crisis in US-SA relations, that rift still not having been resolved, despite several missions to Washington by various South African delegations, one sent by President Cyril Ramaphosa, another by the opposition Democratic Alliance.

Even without further direct sanctions from Washington over the Lady R saga, the impact of South Africa’s perceived leaning towards Russia put severe negative pressure on the South African currency, which plunged to its lowest-ever value against a basket of currencies including the dollar and the euro.

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/rest-of-africa/sa-economic-crisis-deepens-as-friendship-with-russia-spurs-4279382

21 JUN 2023

Governance collapses when the state retreats

Pinpointing when the state lost its way has become something of a chicken-or-the-egg situation.

Some will say it started with state capture — a period easily identified as the start of governance collapsing, sending the economy into freefall. Others might say that state capture was the inevitable result of a public sector already stripped of its ability to ward off an economic coup. The state was ripe for the picking.

But those same people will say that there is no way South Africa’s government could see anything of that scale through — that it will be choked by mismanagement and corruption before it even takes its first breath.

The reason for raising this self-distrust is that it is at the heart of our country’s governance problem. At some point, the public sector stopped trusting itself to govern and so decided to outsource this crucial function. Given that governments are meant to be shaping their economies, this is very dangerous.

The ability of governments in Africa to govern has long been viewed with scepticism. This scepticism has been the basis of the “guidance” given to African policymakers by the likes of the World Bank, whipping their economies into shape.

In April, in response to a parliamentary question, Minister of Public Service and Administration Noxolo Kiviet said that 166 365 public sector posts were vacant. The vast majority of these unfilled posts (109 894) were in education and healthcare. There are also considerable shortages in government departments, including employment and labour; higher education; justice and constitutional development and water and sanitation.

A dearth of people and skills leaves the public sector vulnerable to mismanagement or worse. It also leaves it strapped for good ideas — alternatives to the stale, often impractical and sometimes unimplemented, policies that have been foisted upon us.

https://mg.co.za/thoughtleader/analysis/2023-06-21-governance-collapses-when-the-state-retreats/

Smartpunter - You cannot offer any links to your pathetic ramblings of a imbecile, and by the way Dumbo Th will be a great byproduct of the future.

A country of 60 million is on the verge of “collapse” amid rolling blackouts and warnings of “civil war” scale unrest.

South Africa is on the verge of “collapse” amid rolling blackouts and warnings a total power grid failure could lead to mass rioting on the scale of a “civil war”.

Western embassies including the United States and Australia have advised their citizens in the country to stock up on “several days' worth” of food and water and be on high alert during extended blackouts sweeping the country.

https://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/world-economy/stockpile-food-and-water-south-africa-faces-civil-war-conditions-if-power-grid-collapses/news-story/231d976d93e9a34ef8dfaf0ac3db6582

A collapse of economic freedom has driven South Africa's unemployment rate to 42 percent.

After more than a year of enterprise-killing lockdowns, and a decade of declining economic growth, South Africa was gripped by violence and looting in July.

In the decade up to 2019, South Africa's GDP growth averaged 1.4 percent. The credit rating is currently at junk level, and the government's debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to breach 100% in the next few years. This would add further pressure on the private sector, and the government will become ever more desperate to control any and all possible sources of revenue.

chief executive of SAPOA (SA Property Owners Association) shopping malls and retail outlets in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng suffered more than R20 billion ($1.4 billion) worth of damage. About 800 stores were looted and 100 malls were either burnt down or suffered significant fire damage. Further, the eThekwini Economic Development and Planning Committee indicated that about R1.5 billion in stock ($102 million) had been lost, over 50,000 informal traders lost their livelihoods, and approximately 1.5 million people lost their potential to earn an income. Some 150,000 jobs are at risk.

https://fee.org/articles/south-africa-descends-into-looting-and-violence-amid-economic-turmoil/

Southern Africa’s relationship with Russia amid the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine is difficult to discern. Since the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), a trade and economic union of 16 countries, has assumed a neutral position.

While some member states are committed to not taking sides, South Africa is a different story. The regional powerhouse of 60 million people, with Africa’s second-largest economy, has a cozy relationship with Moscow even as Pretoria claims neutrality.

Earlier this year, South Africa hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and participated in military drills with Russia as part of a series of events coinciding with the anniversary of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. This has had diplomats in Pretoria scrambling to defend such actions. President Cyril Ramaphosa also put forward a peace initiative in which he and other African leaders visited Kyiv and Moscow on June 16-18 and met respectively with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

South Africa’s true intentions came under further suspicion when United States Ambassador Reuben Brigety in May accused Pretoria of loading weapons and ammunition on a sanctioned Russian vessel docked at Simon’s Town naval base near Cape Town in December 2022. The government initially denied the allegations and claimed that Ambassador Brigety had apologized for his public statement. However, due to both local and international pressure, the government launched an independent investigation into whether arms and ammunition were being sent to Russia on the vessel.

South Africa’s governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), has its hands full as the Russian crisis is becoming controversial domestically, adding to the woes of a party that struggling to deliver services to the nation and address the scourge of corruption that has engulfed the country’s politics.

https://www.gisreportsonline.com/r/south-africa-russia-war/

Average salaries in South Africa declined last month as rising inflation, low business confidence levels and rolling power cuts continued to weigh on the labor market, a BankservAfrica report showed.

The average nominal monthly salary measured in the BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index slipped 2.7% to 14,457 rand ($785) in May from the year before, while take-home pay adjusted for inflation fell 8.8% to a record low.

“An environment of such low confidence is not conducive for job creation or comfortable wage increases,” said Elize Kruger, an independent economist.

South African business confidence has slumped for five consecutive quarters and is at its lowest level since a lockdown instituted during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, surveys conducted by Rand Merchant Bank and the Bureau for Economic Research show. The mood has been soured by the state power utility’s inability to meet demand for electricity, which has resulted in a series of outages.

The country is also contending with a 33% unemployment rate and the nation’s economic outlook remains bleak.

https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/south-african-salaries-dip-amid-declining-confidence-power-cuts-1.1936116

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) has awarded a loan to Angola’s Ministry of Energy and Water to deploy two large-scale solar power plants.

EXIM has agreed to provide $900 million in funding to Angola's Ministry of Energy and Water for the deployment of a 500 MW of utility-scale PV capacity.

“This transaction not only aligns with President Biden’s PGII initiative, but also advances EXIM’s efforts to promote clean energy exports, strengthen the US-Africa commercial relationship and support U.S. exporters and American workers facing foreign competition,” said EXIM President Reta Jo Lewis.

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/06/09/us-export-import-bank-provides-900-million-for-500-mw-of-solar-in-angola/

Global intelligence analysts, political risk consultants, and members of security establishments are warning of the “probability” of Russia interfering in South Africa’s election next year.

“The goal of the interference would be to ensure that a pro-Russian government is elected in one of the world’s most resource-rich nations, and that means the Kremlin-funded Internet Research Agency (IRA) could be used to influence voting in South Africa,” said Brendan von Essen, an international relations expert and political and security risk analyst based in Johannesburg.

The date for South Africa’s polls is yet to be confirmed but several government sources told The Epoch Times it would be in April 2024.

Von Essen told The Epoch Times: “South Africa’s very important to Moscow. It’s the second-largest economy in Africa, with its gold and platinum mines and lucrative financial sector.

“Make no mistake, Moscow is heavily invested in making sure that South Africa stays firmly in the Russian camp,” said Von Essen, who gives advice to multinationals, foreign governments, and others about political and security risks in South Africa.

In recent months ANC ministers have made several unexplained visits to Moscow, and have also been keynote speakers at Russian “security conferences.”

Electricity and water outages lasting days, sometimes weeks, are common. Violent crime is rampant, with South Africa now having the third-highest murder rate in the world.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/wagner-group-set-to-launch-information-war-to-keep-south-africas-anc-in-power-say-analysts_5320874.html