Ghana has moved into the top five ranking in the Absa Africa Financial Market Index report, placing fourth with an overall score of 62 out of the maximum 100 score – a recognition of the positive strides in the development of the Ghanaian market.This is an improvement on last years’ sixth position with a score of 59.
Remarkably, Ghana scored 50 and above in 5 out of the 6 pillars measured. The policies and initiatives that contributed to Ghana’s improved performance include – adoption of and enforceability of standard master agreements, improved access to foreign exchange through forward FX auctions by the Bank of Ghana and market transparency works through daily publication of financial asset prices. Ghana’s weakest link however, is the Capacity of Local Investors where it recorded a score of 21.
The Absa Africa Financial Markets Index is produced annually by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF) – an independent think tank for central banking, economic policy and public investment through extensive quantitative research and data analysis in association with Absa Group Limited. The index, now in its fifth year, throws light on Financial Markets across Africa and benefits from continued engagement with policymakers, regulators, market participants and industry experts; providing the latest information about developments in the region
Source: Peacefmonline.com/ghana
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At their 7th meeting in Accra recently, trade ministers across Africa reaffirmed their commitment to commence trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area. Although outstanding issues around the rules of origin remain, Africa’s trade ministers believe that the implementation of the continental trade pact will go a long way to help countries.
MIAMI (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Miami have dismissed several criminal charges against an ally of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro due to assurances they made to Cape Verde over a year ago as part of a rancorous extradition fight.
Alex Saab now faces a single count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. If found guilty, ha faces up to 20 years in prison — the maximum allowed by the African island nation when it agreed to send Saab to the U.S. last month.
The case against Saab has further strained relations between Washington and Caracas, which considers the Colombian-born businessman a diplomat. It also has disrupted nascent talks between Maduro’s government and its opponents.
Saab, whose scheduled arraignment Monday was postponed for two weeks, is accused of paying bribes to siphon off $350 million from state contracts to build housing for Venezuela’s socialist government.
Maduro’s government has condemned Saab’s arrest as a form of kidnapping and spared no effort trying to block his extradition to the U.S. following his detention 16 months ago in Cape Verde while making a fuel stop en route to Iran.
It considers the 49-year-old a keeper of state secrets and has said any attempts to extract a confession could compromise Venezuela’s national security. It’s also rallied to its side Russia, which also considers his extradition illegal.
But it’s unclear what leverage the Venezuelans have in preventing Saab from cooperating with federal investigators in exchange for a lighter sentence.
Almost as soon as Saab was place on a U.S.-bound Department of Justice airplane, Maduro’s government suspended negotiations taking place in Mexico with Venezuela’s U.S.-backed opposition, accusing the Biden administration of seeking to sabotage the talks.
The two sides have been meeting since August in a bid to jointly address the country’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, which has led more than 5 million people to flee the country in recent years, and pave the way for a democratic opening starting with this month’s regional elections.
Maduro’s government also threw back into jail six American oil executives it accuses of corruption. They had been under house arrest in another politically charged case marked by allegations of wrongful detention.
Saab was indicted in 2019 on money-laundering charges for allegedly bribing Venezuelan officials and falsifying import documents to pocket more than $350 million from a low-income housing project.
On the same day as his indictment, he was sanctioned by the Trump administration for allegedly utilizing a network of shell companies spanning the globe — Turkey, Hong Kong, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates — to hide windfall profits from overvalued food contracts. Last month, his long-time business partner, fellow Colombian Alvaro Pulido, was indicted along with four others, including a former Venezuelan governor, that between 2016 and 2018 allegedly received more than $1 billion from Venezuelan state coffers for the purchase of food and medicine.
But Saab’s importance to Maduro’s government ran much deeper.
As the U.S. ratcheted up sanctions on Venezuela, he is believed to have emerged as the government’s main fixer with the international connections to circumvent the U.S. restrictions. His trip to Iran, described as a humanitarian mission by Maduro, was aimed at securing deals to sell the country’s crude oil in exchange for much-needed fuel and other goods.
The Biden administration has tried to downplay the political impact of Saab’s extradition while blasting Maduro for using it as a pretext to suspend negotiations.
The case however is being closely followed by the families of nine Americans imprisoned in Venezuela who see Saab’s future closely intertwined with the fate of their loved ones.
Those jailed include six oil executives who had been working for the Houston subsidiary of Venezuela’s state-owned oil giant PDVSA who were convicted and sentenced last year to long prison sentences for embezzling funds from a never-executed plan to refinance Citgo’s bonds. The families of the so-called Citgo 6 and the U.S. government have vehemently rejected the accusations and consider the men wrongfully detained.
Within hours of Saab’s extradition, security forces returned the oil executives to the infamous Helicoide jail where they’ve been held on and off since being lured to Caracas in 2017 for a meeting at which they were arrested by masked police who stormed a conference room where they were gathered.
Also at the prison is former U.S. Marine Matthew Heath, who is awaiting trial on weapons charges tied to a supposed plan to sabotage refineries, and two former Green Berets Caracas has tied to a failed cross-border raid from Colombia to overthrow Maduro.
As citizens slowly return to the workplace, there is a renewed focus on issues such as discrimination and harassment in the workplace. This poses the question – what liability does an employer have if one of its employees is found guilty of sexually harassing a fellow employee?
Employment law experts at Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr say that in terms of a recent decision of the Labour Court, while employers are legally obligated to eliminate unfair discrimination in the workplace, an employee who is subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace must comply with internal policies relating to the reporting of sexual harassment and ensure that incidents are reported as soon as possible.
While the court stressed at the outset of the judgment that sexual harassment is “heinous and horrendous conduct since it undermines the dignity of women and the values enshrined in our Constitution”, it did not uphold the employee’s claim, which sought to hold the employer liable for the acts of sexual harassment perpetrated by two of its employees.
“The case turned on the application of section 60 of the Act, which the court viewed as a codification of the common law principle of vicarious liability i.e. where the wrongful acts of an employee during the course and scope of employment are attributed to the employer,” Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said.
“Based on the undisputed evidence of the employee, the court found that the employee had been sexually harassed by two of her managers.”
Having made this finding, the court then considered the circumstances under which an employer is deemed to be a perpetrator of unfair discrimination under section 60 of the Act, notwithstanding the fact that an employee committed the sexual harassment and not the employer.
The court set out the steps of a section 60 claim as follows:
Allege a contravention at the workplace,
Report the contravention immediately,
Prove the alleged contravention,
Allege and prove the employer’s failure to take the necessary steps.
“If an employee proves all four, they are entitled to a deeming order of liability. In order to escape liability, an employer must prove that it took the necessary and preventative steps,” Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said.
Reporting obligations and timing
Having found that the employee was subjected to sexual harassment, the court considered the second step and the employee’s reporting obligations.
In terms of section 60, there is an obligation to ensure that there is an “immediate bringing to the attention of the employer”.
“As soon as allegations of sexual harassment have been reported to an employer it has an obligation to eliminate the conduct, said Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.
“Given this resultant obligation on the employer, the court found that an employee must act with the necessary haste. In this instance, there was a dispute as to whether the employee reported the contravention immediately.”
The court referred to a previous Labour Appeal Court decision in Liberty Group v M.M in which the court suggested that the word “immediate” must be afforded what it termed a “sensible meaning”, and that a limited delay in reporting would be acceptable. In this case, it was one or two months.
The court found that, on the employee’s own version, she only brought the managers’ conduct to PRASA’s attention on 28 November 2016 when she lodged a formal grievance.
This was some two to three years after the sexual harassment took place. The court found that this could not be construed as a limited delay, as contemplated and found to be acceptable in Liberty.
“In this instance and given the delay, the court found that PRASA had been deprived of its statutory duty to eliminate unfair discrimination. The sexual harassment was not immediately brought to the attention of PRASA within the contemplation of section 60(1) of the Act. As a result, the employee failed to demonstrate step two as set out above.”
In all of the circumstances and while the employee had been subjected to sexual harassment, the court found that PRASA had not contravened section 60, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said.
“The employee had failed to bring the sexual harassment to PRASA’s attention immediately and PRASA had taken reasonable steps to eliminate the conduct when it was finally brought to its attention.
“This case is an important reminder to employees who are subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace to comply with internal policies relating to the reporting of sexual harassment and to ensure that incidents are reported as soon as possible. In the absence of such steps, an employer can be prevented from discharging its statutory obligation to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace.”
Commentary by Gillian Lumb, Taryn York and Kelebogile Selema of law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr.
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Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Ahmed Abdelaziz Ghandour talks to the press during a joint news conference with Qatar’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Khartoum, Sudan March 11, 2018. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah
KHARTOUM, Oct 31 (Reuters) – Ibrahim Ghandour, head of Sudan’s former ruling National Congress Party and a former foreign minister under deposed President Omar al-Bashir, has been released from prison, a family source told Reuters.
Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Editing by Giles Elgood
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
South African private-sector workers are set to receive an average pay rise of 5.5% in 2022, which is a cautious improvement over the 4.7% average increase paid this year, according to salary research from global advisory Willis Towers Watson.
The group’s data shows that the proportion of businesses expecting to freeze pay altogether is also set to fall from 12% this year to 5% in 2022.
“Businesses are navigating a tentative recovery from the pandemic, and it is encouraging that many are planning to offer more generous pay rises,” said Melanie Trollip, director of talent and reward at Willis Towers Watson South Africa.
“The thaw in pay freezes will be welcome, and many people can expect next year’s pay rise to be an improvement on this year.”
The research, which includes responses from over South African 320 firms, also shows that some industries plan to be more generous than others when it comes to increases.
Average pay rises in 2022 are set to be higher in:
Medical technology (+7.1%);
Pharmaceutical (+6.1%);
Consumer product (+6%).
By comparison, workers in the following sectors can expect a below-average increase:
Business consulting (+3.7%),
Energy and natural resources (+4.1%),
Construction (+4.2%)
The war for talent has continued despite the pandemic. In 2021, South African businesses tried to motivate and retain the top performers by giving them a pay rise that was 2.5 times greater than for staff on average performance ratings, said Trollip.
“The pandemic’s economic onslaught has hit some business sectors harder than others, so some are better placed to offer more. The pharma sector stands out as one of the most generous, while rises in the energy and construction sectors may not even match inflation.
“Even though Covid wreaked havoc on our economy, firms still had to compete to attract and retain the top performers, and higher pay rises were part of that strategy. Now that we may be entering a recovery phase, these high performers are especially important for driving business growth.”
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Chief economist at the Efficient Group, Dawie Roodt, has published a series of graphs showing how South Africa’s economy has steadily declined over the last three decades.
While Roodt noted that it was the job of economists to measure things over time, it was less common to directly compare two countries – or in this case, South Africa and the rest of the world.
“The single most important variable, as far as I am concerned, is life expectancy,” Roodt said.
“Life expectancy correlates with everything that is good: Low levels of crime, quality education, wealth, and so much more. Although I have used these variables, I have also considered a few others.”
Roodt noted that, globally, citizens have never had it this good – with improvements seen in nearly every area of their lives over last 30 years.
“The past two years were a bit of a hiccup, but the trends remain firm. Income, crime levels, war, child mortality. Just about every variable is either at its best levels ever or getting better. Even the giant panda is not critically endangered anymore,” he said.
However, the same can not be said for South Africans.
“The only conclusion that I can draw is that the ‘reason’ for our dismal performance has to do with the destructive ANC government. Today, the ANC – in fact, the whole tripartite alliance – is a giant blob that lives off of the state. And the results are there for all to see. But let the numbers paint the picture that is worth a thousand words.”
GDP
Since 1994, South Africa’s per capita GDP, compared to the rest of the world, deteriorated by approximately 20% in relative terms, Roodt said.
“In 1994, our per capita GDP was close to 85% of the world’s per capita GDP. Today, it is closer to 60%.”
“Even when compared to the rest of Africa, we have deteriorated. In 1994, our per capita GDP was 2.6 times that of the rest of Africa. Today, we are still much richer than the rest of Africa, but less so than in 1994.
In 1994, South Africa’s per capita GDP was 4.5 times that of China. China’s GDP is now double that of South Africa’s, Roodt said.
Power
The shocking power statistics explain a lot about South Africa’s inferior economic performance, said Roodt.
He noted that in 1994, South Africa generated more electricity on a per capita basis than the rest of the world. Today, the country generates close to 60% of the world’s average – indicative of a catastrophic collapse.
“In 1994, we generated nearly six times as much electricity on a per capita basis as China. Today, we generate half of theirs. Is our economic performance surprising then?”
Lifestyle
Life expectancy typically correlates with ‘everything that is good’, Roodt said.
“In 1994, our average life expectancy was close to the world’s average. Today, it is about 85% of the world’s average. But take note of the trend: Because of the ANC’s disastrous AIDS policies under Mbeki, there was a dramatic fall in life expectancy. This was turned around by Zuma – probably the only good thing he did as president.”
“Compared to Africa, our life expectancy today is lower than that of the poorest continent in the world.”
Perceptions
Roodt noted that South Africans are not ignorant of the mismanagement, corruption, and incompetence of the ANC and its governance – pointing to a steady decline in perceptions over the past 10 years.
“On the last graph, we see that the middle 1990s was a time of political upheaval and violence. After 1994, there was a dramatic improvement but, in recent years, political instability has returned.
“My picture-story does not show a successful country with a diligent, responsible, and effective government. And despite all the promises of a ‘new dawn’, I do not see things changing. But as they say, a country gets the government it deserves,” he said.
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