Tim Cohen

Johannesburg

Editor at Large for Daily Maverick. Senior Editor at https://t.co/ApBguvjOmd. Views my own. Obvs. Blogs at https://t.co/KmD2txfBf3

Articles

Zero tariffs, high stakes: China courts Africa as US retreats

5 days ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

China’s decision to offer duty‑free access to 100% of tariff lines for goods from 53 African nations is welcome, but it’s unlikely to entirely fix the unbalanced trade relationship, say economists. The decision, announced last week, is a “very well-timed and very well-calculated move”, says Brendon Verster, an economist at Oxford Economics Africa.
A R650m media mystery: Hunting the RAF’s billions

1 week ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

Internal documents suggest the Road Accident Fund (RAF) has spent a mammoth R650m over the past two years on media and advertising, an expenditure so large it has politicians speculating that some of the money could have been used to boost spending in the 2024 election campaign.
Inside Paystack’s local play - Currency News

1 week ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

What’s it like running a Nigerian payments business in South Africa? Not without its challenges. But not impossible either. Since launching in 2021, Nigerian-born payments leader Paystack has quietly amassed “thousands” of South African clients, including Cape Town start-ups, mid-sized retailers and a growing roster of e-commerce brands. It’s the kind of success quietly proving that the Nigerian group is becoming established in a blisteringly competitive field of local alternatives.
Why Fourie may be right on South African unemployment

1 week ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

South Africa’s official unemployment rate sits at a dismal 32.9%, with the “expanded” rate topping 41.9% – a figure routinely cited as the highest in the world. It’s the kind of statistic that has become political shorthand for failure, repeated in headlines, debates and investment risk briefings.
African debt markets: ‘Not junk, just misunderstood’

2 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

After a decade of fluctuating sentiment and volatile currencies, Africa’s equity and debt markets are quietly mounting a comeback – in some cases, thrashing the returns made from some less obviously risky jurisdictions. From an unassuming office in Cape Town, Randolph Oosthuizen and his co-manager Cavan Osborne have been managing the Old Mutual African Frontiers Fund (equity) since 2012, and more recently, a flexible fixed income fund focused on African sovereign debt.
How to play Africa’s satellite revolution

2 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

It used to be said that you needed to follow the cables to find the internet in Africa. Now, increasingly, it’s a case of following the satellites. While South Africa is fussing about BEE requirements, a quiet revolution is unfolding overhead as low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite broadband networks – led by Elon Musk’s Starlink – beam high-speed internet across the continent.
I.am.not.making.this.upđź’Ą Citizenship Is a Right, Not a Favour: A Quietly Radical Judgment

2 weeks ago | timcohen.co.za | Tim Cohen

One of the many downsides of today's smaller newsrooms is that some important issues just donâ€™t get the coverage they deserve. Iâ€™ve always thought legal reporting has been generally poor in SA; with a weaker press, it's got worse. A good example is the recent case of Democratic Alliance v Minister of Home Affairs.
From Mars to Msanzi: Elon, Come Home!

2 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

Dear Elon,It’s with more than a little schadenfreude that we notice you are having a few political problems back home, involving your pal, US president Donald Trump. We make no judgement on the end of the Big Beautiful Bromance, except to say that it’s a huge win for any schoolgirl worried that she acted like a complete psycho during her last breakup.
I.am.not.making.this.up: đź’Ą BEE or Bust? SAâ€™s Empowerment Dilemma in the Starlink Spotlight

3 weeks ago | timcohen.co.za | Tim Cohen

If the Starlink debate has done anything, it has rekindled South Africaâ€™s long-running, anguished and contested debate about Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and affirmative action. Confronted with either â€śequity equivalentsâ€ť or equity-stake BEE, the South African government will effectively be choosing between implementing modern technology providing an increasingly vital service to rural people on the one hand - or sticking to its BEE guns on the other.
Stress and ‘controlled trauma’: Africa’s debt markets in flux

3 weeks ago | currencynews.co.za | Tim Cohen

Egyptian debt issuer Afreximbank, a key lender to African governments, was downgraded by credit ratings agency Fitch this week to one notch above junk, raising questions about the sustainability of the debt burden on African governments. Countries across the continent are grappling with high debt levels, rising servicing costs, and constrained access to external financing. Yet economists say that overall, government debt levels are still improving after a decade of steep increases.