Rational Perspective

LONDON — South Africa is high up on the list of the heavy weights in the world when it comes to obesity. Our diet of ‘slap chips’, ‘pap and sheba’ and increasing reliance on fast foods at outlets where you do not even have to get out of the car to get your burger or fried chicken, is taking its toll. Some studies find that South Africa's obesity figures is the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa, others indicate that 69% of women and 41% of men are overweight and even though some of these figures can be disputed, it is undeniable that we have a heavy problem. South Africa has joined other countries trying to curb the use of excess sugar with a sugar tax, but a report by the medical journal, the Lancet says these measures are not enough to address obesity and are calling for a treaty against junk food similar to the anti-tobacco and climate change campaigns. – Linda van Tilburg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s global business headlines… Fault lines continue to widen between the United States of America and its traditional western allies. In Germany over the weekend, US vice president Mike Pence’s call to ratchet up pressure on Iran was brushed off by the Europeans. Brexit supporters are celebrating yesterday’s news that Citigroup is negotiating to invest $1.6bn in buying the 42 storey building it occupies in London’s Canary Wharf. Ride hailing software company Uber generated $3bn in sales during the three months to end December, 25% above the same period a year before. In South African related news, Eskom continues to dominate the headlines. Yesterday’s Sunday Times newspaper reported that the government is to deploy police and intelligence officers at Eskom power stations to protect against sabotage. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Marketers have long known that we listen more carefully to the advice of those we trust than messages from corporates trying to sell us their wares. So, for decades they’ve drawn on endorsements by celebrities, primarily movie stars and athletes, to generate additional sales for their clients. The digital age has ushered in a fresh army of influencers, authentically independent individuals including previously unknown youtube video heroes or twitter superstars (think Joe Sugg of Strictly Come Dancing). As their influence mushrooms, so has their ability to turn their newfound fame into full time careers.  Some South Africans were among the world’s first to spot what has now become a global trend. Five years ago, Webfluential was launched in Johannesburg – a business which now represents 35 000 global influencers with a reach into well over a billion people - including eight from SA who have become millionaires through their influencer marketing efforts. To find out how it all happened,  I caught up with Webf

In today’s global business headlines… Within three years European aircraft builder Airbus is to abandon its $16bn project which produces the A380, the world’s biggest plane. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s February got even worse yesterday when his group buckled to political resistance and dropped plans to build a new HQ in New York City. Chinese internet giant Alibaba’s financial services arm is to acquire UK-based money transfer company WorldFirst for $640m. In South African related news, president Cyril Ramaphosa has launched a charm offensive on Eskom’s trade unions, promising that the electricity utility’s proposed three way split is not the precursor to privatisation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s global business headlines… With just six weeks to go before Brexit is enacted, the European Union is reportedly preparing to make further concessions. Shares in iconic jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co are set to return to the public markets later this year, more than three decades after delisting. Israeli group Teva Pharmaceutials, the world’s largest maker of generic drugs, is moving into high-price biotech medicines in an attempt to revive its fortunes. In South African related news, the share price of construction group Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon took a 17% knock yesterday after it warned shareholders that 2018’s profits would be virtually wiped out. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s global business headlines… US share prices rose strongly last night, with the three major indices gaining almost 1.5%. After decades of steadfast support for the socialist regime in Venezuela, China is now hedging its bets on tyrant Nicolas Maduro. Italian energy group Enel SpA has been called in by the South African government to help sort out the country’s two new power stations which the country says have been “badly designed and badly constructed.” In other South African related news, the controversial Electronic Communications Amendment Bill, which proposed heavy state control over the sector, has been withdrawn. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LONDON — The Venezuelan people are bearing the brunt of the socialist policies of their President Nicholas Maduro. Images of people looking for food in the rubbish and telling the world of their plight can be seen daily on news outlets all over the world. But Maduro is blocking aid to the country to his starving nation saying that his people aren’t beggars and he doesn’t trust the United States. The Trump administration supported by some Western nations including the United Kingdom has recognised opposition leader Juan Guaido as the interim President of Venezuela in what some political commentators see as a ‘soft coup’. But Russia, China and Turkey are backing Maduro and South Africa has insisted that Maduro is the duly elected leader. In an interview with the former chief of the CIA’s worldwide operations, Jack Devine, who now heads the Arkin Group told Bloomberg that the Americans’ backing of Maduro could be seen as another proxy war with Russia. - Linda van Tilburg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy

JOHANNESBURG — The recent announcement by energy company TOTAL that it had discovered a major oil and gas find off of South Africa's southern coast sparked a lot of excitement recently. There's been talk that the find contains up to 1 billion barrels and economists have already started calculating the potential economic benefit to the country. But while the discovery is exciting and there's the further prospect of more oil and gas being found in that part of the ocean, it could still take almost a decade before any production starts. This is according to Adelwale Fayemi, who is the MD of Exploration & Production in SA for energy company TOTAL. In an interview with us at BizNews, Fayemi explained what exactly the find could entail in years to come. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s global business headlines… Wall Street investment bank Morgan Stanley yesterday announced its biggest acquisition since the global financial crisis with the $900m purchase of Canadian-headquartered Solium. While the debate about the impact of global warming continues to rage, ports around the US aren’t taking any chances after the government’s national Climate Assessment concluded that the sea level will rise significantly. Link sharing internet website Reddit has been valued at $3bn in a successful fund raising issue to inject $300m into the company. In South African related news, credit rating agency Moody’s says president Cyril Ramaphosa’s plan to fix Eskom is not enough to address the problem. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

LONDON — If anybody doubted the seriousness of Eskom's crisis, there was another dark reminder in the form of Stage 4  load shedding. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a range of measure that he is considering to switch on  the lights; more details will be in the budget speech. To get the overseas perspective on the state owned entity’s prospects, we spoke to the Managing Editor of Debtwire CEEMEA, Chris Haffenden on the measures that Eskom could take to shed its debt load. He suggests that foreign investors may be interested in investing in transmission and distribution, if Eskom is split in three pieces. – Linda van Tilburg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

JOHANNESBURG — Well known South African comedian and director Kagiso Lediga is starting to carve out a seriously successful film career. Coming hot on the heels of his Netflix debut 'Catching Feelings' (another must-watch SA film), he's now involved with the smash box office hit Matwetwe, a movie that puts Breaking Bad-type twist on selling marijuana in South Africa. Beautifully shot and cleverly scripted, the film is getting rave reviews and has been apportioned more theatre space across the country. In this interview, Lediga tells us the backstory to his latest success. - Gareth van Zyl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CAPE TOWN — Unless Eskom gets the tariff hike they’re asking for, the power utility will have to ask government for another R83bn in three to five years’ time, says its new CFO, Calib Cassim. In the most revealing interview yet, Cassim admits to Chris Yelland, one of the country’s top energy journalists, that Eskom is currently “using one credit card to pay off another –unsustainable under any circumstances.” Municipal arrear debt amounts to R18bn, growing at about R450m per month, while Soweto arrear debt adds a further R17bn, growing at about R50m per month. In total, arrear debt is growing by R500m per month. From the horse’s mouth, these numbers. Here’s a Cassim quote that could either have you fast-tracking or cancelling your immigration plans, depending on the lenses you wear. “If we go down, we bring down the sovereign and the economy. For me, the best thing that has ever happened is the presidential task team, and the fact that we have the ear of the president who understands the urgency. He used the

In today’s global business headlines… Wall Street analysts are pointing to a raft of technical indicators suggesting the stock market has re-entered a bull trend just four months after September’s sharp reverse. Brazil is embarking on sweeping free market reforms including an overhaul of pensions, radical tax reform and wide-scale privatisation. Graca Machel, widow to the first democratically elected presidents of Mozambique and South Africa, has weighed in on her homeland’s mushrooming Tuna Bond scandal. In South African related news, Bloomberg reported over the weekend that MTN is planning to list online retailer Jumia in New York, raising an estimated $600m to help reduce the group’s $5bn debt. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In April last year I did a sponsored interview with Rory O’Hagan, former private banker who switched to selling super homes for estate agency Chas Everitt. He showed me around his prized project, a R100m plus palace on Johannesburg’s Houghton Ridge called Gatsby. I made a mental note to revisit the project, and hopefully discover what kind of a person would make such a massive personal investment in South Africa’s commercial capital at such uncertain time. This week I duly caught up with Gatsby’s creator Steve Pellerade whose company of the same name is the go-to place when South Africa’s super rich are looking for new homes. He didn’t drop any names – in this business discretion is absolute – but did share enough to give us a useful insight into the lifestyle of an African billionaire, that point one percent of the one percent… We kicking off by exploring the back story to the mansion he named after the central character in F Scott Fitzgerald’s legendary novel… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in

In a week dominated by Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SONA), another explosive piece of news hit the headlines: Total have struck a major oil and gas deposit off the Southern Cape. As a net oil importer, South Africa has long sought its own oil and gas deposits, but after the fracking debacle in the Karoo, it looked like a hopeless cause. The Total discovery changes all that. With a billion barrels of oil equivalent, the deposit could transform SA’s energy future – especially if it encourages more exploration and development. Alec Hogg and Felicity Duncan discuss the implications of this discovery and what it means for SA’s future. They also dive deep into the strange story of Jeff Bezos’ compromising selfies. Bezos broke the internet this week with a blog post detailing what appears to be an extortion attempt by Trump cronies at the National Enquirer, who threatened to embarrass the billionaire if he doesn’t retract accusations of politically motivated meddling by the tabloid. Suffice it to s

LONDON — It has been a tough year for Snap, maker of the photo messaging app, Snapchat as it lost users to competitors like Instagram. It didn’t help when a Kardashian influencer tweeted that she did not open Snapchat anymore. The company managed to stem the flow by the three months to end December with the latest results beating Wall Street estimates. Losses were curtailed to $192m on revenue of $390m. This compared favourably with a loss of $360m on revenue of $286m a year before. Forecasts of Snap’s premature demise were obviously overdone, and shares jumped 25% on the numbers. Technology columnist Shira Ovide explained to Bloomberg’s Lisa Abramowiscz and Paul Sweeney why Snap managed to turn it around… - Linda van Tilburg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s global business headlines…… South Africa’s wait for a meaningful oil and gas discovery ended yesterday when the consortium headed by Total announced a gas find of about a billion barrels of oil equivalent with four more exciting prospects in the pipeline.  Twitter yesterday reported its first full year of profitability and record quarterly revenue of over $900m for the three months to end December, but even so the share price fell 10% to just over $30.  The UK has drawn up a secret plan to boost the UK economy in the event of a no deal Brexit. In more South African related news, the world’s leading shared office business WeWork has announced it will be opening in Rosebank, Johannesburg during the third quarter of the year.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Reports released last night show that recent years are the hottest ever measured – and that there is worse to come. US tech stocks have rebounded strongly in the past month and a half, taking the Nasdaq index to its second fastest reversal of a 20% decline – the definition of a bear market. US president Donald Trump last night nominated senior Treasury official David Malpass to take over as CEO of the World Bank. In South African related news, ambitious pan African banking giant Atlas Mara has made its first foray into the continent’s most sophisticated financial market. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s global business headlines… US president Donald Trump’s struck a more conciliatory tone in his 82 minute State of the Nation address last night. The 14 nation oil cartel OPEC said it wants to strike a formal pact with a 10 nation Russian-led group of producers. Executives at Saffer-heavy global commodity trading group Glencore will be celebrating this morning’s news that Goldman Sachs will join other Wall Street banking giants who have cut or closed their commodities trading units. In other South African related news, peace may break out to the north where embattled Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa has launched a détente initiative with the political opposition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In today’s global business headlines…… Alphabet shares fell 3% in after-hours trading after the company which owns Google last night delivered quarterly results with disappointed. The celebrated career of 74 year old fixed interest market guru Bill Gross has come to an ignoble end. British Prime Minister Theresa May heads for Northern Ireland today in a two day effort to arrange an acceptable divorce with the European Union. In South African related news, owner of five star Mabula Game Lodge in Limpopo, apparent billionaire Vijay Mallya, has lost his battle against being extradited from the UK to his native India.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.