Company News in Brief

G20 finance chiefs to meet under tariff cloud in South AfricaG20 finance chiefs will meet in South Africa on Thursday under the shadow of President Donald Trump's tariff threats and questions over their ability to tackle global challenges together.The club, which came to fore as a forum for international cooperation to combat the global financial crisis, has for years been hobbled by disputes among key players exacerbated by Russia's war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on Moscow. Host South Africa, under its presidency motto "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability," has aimed to promote an African agenda, with topics including the high cost of capital and funding for climate change action.The G20 aims to coordinate policies but its agreements are non-binding.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not attend the two-day meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors in the coastal city of Durban, marking his second absence from a G20 event in South Africa this year.Bessent also skipped February's Cape Town gathering, where several officials from China, Japan and Canada were also absent, even though Washington is due to assume the G20 rotating presidency at the end of the year.South Africa's Treasury Director General Duncan Pieterse said the group nonetheless hoped to issue the first communique under the South African G20 presidency by the end of the meetings. -REUTERS South Africa's Kganyago asserts Africa's G20 agenda despite tariffs and Bessent absenceSouth African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago said on Wednesday that an "African agenda" including climate change and cross-border payment systems was still due to be discussed by G20 finance chiefs amid fears that tariffs would overshadow the gathering.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent skipped the gathering in Durban, marking his second consecutive absence from G20 finance meetings and raising questions about its ability to tackle pressing global challenges.President Cyril Ramaphosa has sought to leverage Africa's first G20 presidency to promote the African agenda, which also included topics such as the high cost of capital."The African issues have been elevated, all of us are talking about those," Kganyago told Reuters as discussions were ongoing between deputies and other officials, before the two-day meeting gets officially under way on Thursday.Kganyago emphasized the push for a coordinated African payments system to facilitate trade across the continent, a move that could face scrutiny from U.S. President Donald Trump.Trump has threatened tariffs on BRICS nations for promoting "anti-American" policies, including advocating for payments in local currencies instead of relying on the dollar system. -REUTERS FlySafair faces pilot strike as negotiations hit a deadlockFlySafair, South Africa’s biggest airline, is facing a strike by its pilots after salary negotiations between the airline and its pilots, represented by the trade union Solidarity, collapsed after three months of talks.The airline’s final offer is for a 5.7% salary increase, along with some compensation adjustments, but it was rejected by the majority of union members.Solidarity attributes the breakdown not only to the offer itself but to what it describes as a deteriorating relationship between pilots and management.Issues surrounding a recently implemented shift roster system, which pilots argue negatively affects family life, have further contributed to the impasse. The roster dispute, although separate, could become the focus of additional strike action once the current salary issue is resolved, according to Solidarity.Pilots have also raised concerns over the airline’s leave and day-off policies, saying these policies fall short of acceptable standards.Strike rules are expected to be finalised on 17 July with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), after which a protected strike could commence following the legally required 72-hour notice period.Next hurdle for Canal MultiChoice takeoverThe Competition Tribunal will hear the proposed merger between French media giant Canal and South Africa’s MultiChoice Group on Thursday and Friday, 17 and 18 July 2025.Canal wants to acquire MultiChoice, which owns DStv, Showmax, SuperSport, and several other media assets, and triggered South Africa’s mandatory offer threshold of 35% ownership in early 2024.During the hearings, the Tribunal will consider submissions from the Competition Commission, Media Monitoring Africa, Pambili Media, and the merger parties themselves.South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry, and Competition will attend the hearings and is also expected to submit inputs.“The Commission has recommended to the Tribunal that the proposed merger be approved, subject to a package of public interest conditions,” the Tribunal said in a statement.The proposed merger reached a major milestone in March 2025, when South Africa’s communications regulator published an application to transfer the control of Orbicom’s licences to Canal .Orbicom is MultiChoice’s signal distributor, and the move to transfer control of its electronic communication and radio frequency spectrum licences is a crucial step in progressing the takeover.Orbicom submitted applications to transfer control of its various licences to Canal on 28 November 2024.

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-05

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Company News in Brief

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-05

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