Michael Avery, Forbes Journalist Profile

Articles

MICHAEL AVERY: The Malta Job part II - the wild horses of Malta

1 week ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

Badger After last week’s column on MAS Real Estate’s aborted €291m transaction with Prime Kapital, I expected some blowback (“The Malta job: how to hollow out a company’s independence and value (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2025-04-29-michael-avery-the-malta-job-how-to-hollow-out-a-companys-independence-and-value/)”, April 29).
MICHAEL AVERY: The Malta job: how to hollow out a company’s independence and value

2 weeks ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

There are inside deals, and then there is what just nearly happened at MAS Real Estate. A €291m sweetheart transaction that reeked of self-dealing and strategic capture was seconds from execution, quietly camouflaged under corporate boilerplate about “simplifying structures” and “enhancing liquidity”. If it weren’t for a few brave analysts, some agitated shareholders and a faint pulse of conscience somewhere in the system, it would’ve gone through. ..
The Tek bloom of spring 2025: innovations reshaping our world

3 weeks ago | coastalview.com | Michael Avery

As the vibrant blooms of spring 2025 usher in a season of renewal, the world of Teknology is also experiencing a fresh wave of innovation. From artificial intelligence breakthroughs to sustainable energy solutions, this year’s technological advancements are transforming industries and improving daily life. Here’s a look at the most promising developments that are making headlines this spring.
MICHAEL AVERY: Dismantle the ministry of small talk

3 weeks ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

It was 2014 and the air in Pretoria was thick with promise and the sounds of backslapping. The department of small business development was born in a flurry of speeches and ribbon-cuttings, the latest in a long line of bureaucratic interventions meant to rescue SA’s sputtering entrepreneurial engine. At last, small businesses would have their own champion in the government, a seat at the cabinet table, a mandate to unlock growth, a ministry that understood the little guy.
MICHAEL AVERY: You can’t grow an economy on a foundation of municipal failure

1 month ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

BADGER Last week my partner’s parents returned from a week in Eswatini, where a tyrant king can at least keep the lights on and the water flowing, to their home in a tree-lined, high-end suburb just five minutes from the JSE. What they found was not the comfort of home but a stinky reminder of just how far the rot of state failure has spread. No power from Wednesday to Sunday afternoon. No hot water, no refrigeration.
MICHAEL AVERY: DA needs to live to fight another day in the GNU

1 month ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

A bastardised spreadsheet formula that divides the US trade deficit with each country by its imports, adds some voodoo and spits out a number that now threatens to implode global trade. US President Donald Trump has declared economic war on the world, as promised, and our leaders are arguing over VAT decimal points. If there’s one good thing that might come from Tariff Man’s trade war timing, it’s that it could force some common sense into our politicians. ..
Tek is revolutionizing personal taxes

1 month ago | coastalview.com | Michael Avery

Welcome to tax season. Like so many Americans, you may find yourself grappling with piles of receipts, confusing forms and the ever-present worry of making costly mistakes. However, thanks to the rapid advancement of Tek, personal tax management has never been more efficient or accessible. From artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to user-friendly tax software, Tek is transforming how individuals approach tax preparation, filing and compliance.
MICHAEL AVERY: When an SA diplomat plays suicide bomber

1 month ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s grip on his party, and its alliance partners, appears as feeble as his handle on the economy. Watching ejected US ambassador Ebrahim Rasool’s return to SA, staged like a triumphant homecoming, must have been particularly galling given his orders to tone it down just days before. Red carpets, fists raised, revolutionary slogans recycled from a script that should’ve been shredded in 1994.
MICHAEL AVERY: The economics of stagnation

2 months ago | businesslive.co.za | Michael Avery

BADGER Finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s revised budget has landed with all the grace of ANC first deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane trying to pick up the rand, a feeble and ineffectual attempt to course-correct an economy the ANC has spent the past two decades merrily gutting. The lying since, about the DA’s alleged demands and horse-trading, underlines how duplicitous the ANC is. And yet the real debate is not about VAT.
Beyond Tek: my life seeking truth

2 months ago | coastalview.com | Michael Avery

You will find this month’s column will take you down a totally different path than my previous columns. Let me begin with, I cannot believe that this month I am writing my 43rd column sharing my thoughts, knowledge and experience with Tek and life. It all started when I mentioned to Coastal View News’ Robin Karlsson that I thought a technology column might be a good idea and I would be happy to provide one if it fits.