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Banking, Finance and Insurance Wednesday, 14 Oct 2009 A product of Newsclip Media Monitoring. The information contained in this document is intended only for the recipient to whom it is addressed. Any retransmission or dissemination, electronically or otherwise, of information contained herein is prohibited. [email protected] Compiled by BANKING IN SHORT The following stories were among those that made headlines in banking today: The Trade Activity Index (TAI), which surged to 53 points in September, moved into positive territory for the first time since November 2007 and is expected to remain at this level in the short; trade conditions in South Africa surged above the neutral level last month for the first time in two years a business survey showed yesterday, but another survey showed that consumer vulnerability deepened during the third quarter of this year, in a trend likely to carry on for the next few months; SA was experiencing a mild, not a severe recession, and should be recovering by the end of the year or early next year, Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said last night; and the downward spiral in the residential building sector is probably close to a bottom, First National Bank (FNB) chief economist Cees Bruggemans said. SA trade activity moves into positive territory The Trade Activity Index (TAI), which surged to 53 points in September, moved into positive territory for the first time since November 2007 and is expected to remain at this level in the short term, as the trade environment comes to terms with more favourable trade conditions, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) reported yesterday. The TAI improved from 44 points in August and has seen a steady recovery from a low of 32 points in April. The sales and new orders sub-components of trade activity has also pushed forward in September, relative to subdued performances over the past year and a half, Sacci stated. The sub-index on sales volumes improved to 60 points, up from 45 points in August and outpaced the steady medium-term upward trend up to August, the chamber added. ENGINEERINGNEWS.CO.ZA NEWS REVIEWS Latest economic figures are ambiguous NATIONAL ECONOMY Trade conditions in South Africa surged above the neutral level last month for the first time in two years, backing hopes that the economy is emerging from the recession, a business survey showed yesterday. But another survey showed that consumer vulnerability deepened during the third quarter of this year, in a trend likely to carry on for the next few months. Consumer spending drives nearly two thirds of the economy, and has contracted for four quarters in a row, shrinking 5.8% between April and June - its steepest fall in 24 years. Retail and wholesale trade comprise about 14% of overall output, making it the economy's third-biggest sector. It has been shrinking for five quarters in a row now. The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) said its trade activity index (TAI) which covers wholesale, retail and foreign trade, rose last month by 9 points to 53 points. Rand and dollar report At 15:45 yesterday the rand was bid at R7.370 to the dollar from R7.322 at its previous close. It was bid at R10.902 to the euro from R10.811 and at R11.666 against sterling from R11.547. The euro was bid at $1.481 from $1.477. BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets Mobile fees cut may disrupt SA economy South Africa's biggest mobile phone operator Vodacom said yesterday that a dramatic reduction of cellphone charges will be disruptive to the country's economy and communications sector. The South African government is holding public hearings as part of plans to push mobile and telecom operators to reduce interconnection fees, in an attempt to lower telecoms costs that have impacted the country's growth. "A dramatic reduction of charges is likely to have a negative impact on government policy objective of universal access and would be disruptive to the economy and communications industry," Vodacom said in a submission to Parliament yesterday. ENGINEERINGNEWS.CO.ZA Trade opens on gold, platinum and crude oil For the first time on Monday, South Africans could trade in gold, platinum and crude oil. Discussing this new development on the JSE, Chris Sturgess, the General Manager of commodity derivatives at the JSE was featured on Moneyweb. Sturgess explained that it was their relationship with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group which allowed them to expand the commodity range. The CME is a combination of three of the large US exchanges. "We have three market makers up and running, and they are quoting on the contracts throughout the trading session. And therefore they are really tapping into the international liquidity," said Sturgess. SAFM - Moneyweb, MONEYWEB.CO.ZA Eskom's 45% hike will deal blow to economy Eskom wants 45% electricity tariff increases for each of the next three financial years, the second-biggest increase it has imposed in 32 years and which is likely to hamper the country's recovery from the recession and curb economic growth. Even with such a significant increase, the utility will still have a R30 billion shortfall on funding for its capital expansion programme, needed to broaden supply. Analysts said that the proposed increases would push inflation up by 0.4 percentage points over each of the next three years, keeping it above the 3% to 6% official target range. This would likely force the Reserve Bank to maintain interest rates higher for longer. Government bonds reacted badly, with yields rising by up to eight basis points on the news. BUSINESS DAY (National), 5FM - News @ 6 BUSINESS DAY (National) Carry trade no longer fundamentally attractive The carry trade (referring to the investment strategy of borrowing in low-interest-bearing countries and investing in those with high interest returns) was probably no longer fundamentally attractive for the rand at this stage, CitiBank economist Jean-Francois Mercier said yesterday. Mercier said that were global or local macro and market factors to suddenly turn less favourable, the rand could suffer from a sudden downward correction as there is no obvious intrinsic "value" in the carry trade - irrespective of other fundamentals. BUSINESS DAY (National) Mboweni bows out SA was experiencing a mild, not a severe recession, and should be recovering by the end of the year or early next year, Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni said last night. Mboweni, patron of the South African Ballet Theatre, told the guests at a dinner in his honour that there had been sufficient "monetary accommodation and fiscal investment" to boost the economy. "Our forecast is that in the fourth quarter of this year or in the first quarter of next year (you) should see us coming out of recession." The Reserve Bank has cut its key repo rate by five percentage points to 7% since December. Mboweni's comments back the view that the rate-cutting cycle has ended. He has completed two five-year terms as governor and will hand over to former deputy governor and Absa chairperson Gill Marcus next month. Mboweni said that Marcus was "well-placed" to head the Bank as she had been deputy for 5 years. BUSINESS DAY (National) NATIONAL BUSINESS FNB, Draftfcb proudly South African First National Bank's 'Customer Game' - which rewards customers for card transactions, ATM withdrawals, as well as online banking services with double tickets to the 2010 FIFA World Cup - presented communications partner, Draftfcb Impact, with a major challenge: how to officially announce as many as 1 000 winners on a quarterly basis. The solution was a mix of far-reaching print media in the form of the national Sunday newspapers, and beautifully illustrated double, double page inserts. Vibrant and eye-catching, these drew on South African iconography, popular culture and local artistic influences to demonstrate First National Bank's Proudly South African status and highlight its commitment to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. NEWS REVIEWS ViaMobile Publishing Copyright 2009 © Via Mobile (Pty) Ltd. Compiled by Nicola Peinke Banking shares 'to boom' Residential building downward trend at bottom Structural growth opportunities could in the next five to seven years contribute R5.7 billion to R9.6 billion to bank's earnings, reckons a research report by RMB Morgan Stanley banking analysts. The analysts expect a significant repricing of the retail activities of the major commercial banks, in particular. RMB Morgan Stanley recently conducted an in-depth investigation into South African banks and found that the picture was not as gloomy as some analysts thought. Banking shares have been taking a breather in recent months after their strong run following record lows in March in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Since then results have reflected sharply rising bad debts and weaker growth in advances. The downward spiral in the residential building sector is probably close to a bottom, First National Bank (FNB) chief economist Cees Bruggemans said yesterday, adding that the normalisation of the de-stocking cycle of building at the retail level had resulted in improved demand experienced by building materials manufacturers. The FNB Building Confidence Index (BCI) improved to 32 points in the third quarter of 2009, compared with 30 points in the second quarter of the year. Three of the six subindices of the FNB BCI have improved, while the remaining three have seen quarter-on-quarter declines, FNB stated. Confidence levels among building contractors have improved by one point, among manufacturers by 23 points and among retailers by 13 points. FIN24.CO.ZA - FINWEEK Ramos to build houses ENGINEERINGNEWS.CO.ZA Absa group CE Maria Ramos will next week team up with more than 400 employees to build 100 homes for residents of Drieziek Extension 5, south of Johannesburg, as part of the bank's social responsibility programme. Absa said yesterday Ramos and bank staff would construct the houses in the week beginning 19 October and she would join Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to present beneficiaries with the keys to the new houses on 23 October. Cadiz Holdings sees improvement BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets BUSINESS DAY (National) Higher Eskom tariffs will make things difficult for businesses Consumers financial vulnerability worsens ArcelorMittal SA had a measure of understanding of the business and financial rationale underlying Eskom's application for a power tariff hike, a spokesperson said yesterday. "At the moment, electricity tariffs account for less than 10% of our cost base and Eskom's tariff increase will put pressure on our costs. It will drive us to focus on greater energy efficiencies in our production processes as well as producing our own power sources using excess gas generated in our steel-making process," said Sven Lunsche, spokesperson for ArcelorMittal SA. Hulamin CE Alan Fourie said that an increase of 45%, which was way above inflation, was "extremely unattractive". Neren Rau, CE of the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that these hikes would add to the difficulties already faced by businesses due to the recession. He said that there could also be new inflationary pressures. BUSINESS REPORT (National) FSB to investigate complaint about Simmers The Financial Services Board (FSB) has yet to decide whether it will investigate a complaint about manipulation of Simmer & Jack (Simmers) stock, which was laid by the company's executives last month. The Companies & Markets cited FSB spokesperson, Russell Michaels, as saying, "We are looking into the complaint, but have not decided to register an investigation yet." On 21 September, Simmers said that it had asked the JSE to investigate possible manipulation of the its share price. This was after an "unusual" amount of its shares were traded in the same week that it became aware of the distribution of a statement to certain shareholders seeking to remove its management. According to Simmers, on the same day, five directors resigned. "I don't think that anything will come of this," Peter Redman, senior technical adviser at the JSE, said yesterday. BUSINESS DAY (National), BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets, BUSINESS REPORT (National), CITIZEN, Citi Business OM launches senior bond Old Mutual announced yesterday that it has launched and priced a £500 million fixed rate senior bond. The bond is due 19 October 2016 with a coupon rate of 7.125% (semi-annual). The reoffer price is 99.323. Lead managers are Barclays Capital, Deutsche Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland and co-leads are Calyon, RBC Capital Markets and Societe Generale. The settlement date for the issue is 19 October 2009. The issue is being made under the company's £3.5 billion Euro Note Programme and will be listed in London in denominations of £50 000 and £1 000. The bond is senior and unsecured and is rated Baa1/BBB by Moody's and Fitch FSA stabilisation, OM said. FIN24.CO.ZA - FINWEEK , BUSINESS DAY (National) IDC seeks 'lead arranger' for domestic bond The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), which last raised a bond some 20 years ago, is seeking proposals from South African-registered banks and financial institutions regarding its planned domestic bond programme. The development finance institution (DFI) expects to approve R70 billion in equity and loan finance over the next five years and has indicated previously that it will need to raise its gearing from around R6 billion currently, to nearly R25 billion by 2013. In doing so, its debt-to-equity position will move from around 8% to 35%. In a recently published tender advertisement, the IDC formally requests proposals for a "lead arranger" to establish a domestic medium-term note, or DMTN. South Africa's financial services groups have battled for a profit over the past 12 months, but Cadiz Holdings appears to be recovering, with earnings up about 100% in the six months to last month. The specialist financial services group said in a trading statement that interim basic and headline earnings were anticipated to be 90%-110% higher than the 8.5c per share reported at the same time last year. The financial vulnerability of consumers worsened during the third quarter of the year, according to the latest results of the consumer financial vulnerability index, released by the Bureau of Market Research and FinMark Trust yesterday. The overall index increased from 5.17 in the second quarter to 5.49 in the third quarter, the index shows. BUSINESS DAY (National) Barnard Jabobs Mellet expect increased earnings Barnard Jacobs Mellet Holdings yesterday said it was expecting headline earnings per share for the six months ended September of 11c-14c compared to 10.9c in the same period a year earlier. Earnings per share are expected to be 14c-16c against 10.4c a year earlier. BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets Foreign investors flock to JSE Nearly R70 billion worth of offshore funds have flowed into JSE-listed companies this year, on a net basis, according to George Glynos, the managing director of market analysis firm ETM. Non-resident inflows already topped the R67.5 billion invested in the local stock exchange in the whole of 2007, Glynos said. And they follow a R57 billion outflow last year. Foreign inflows have helped push the JSE's all share index up 18% since the start of the year. BUSINESS REPORT (Star) GENERAL NEWS Former youth commissioners could face charges Western Cape Premier Helen Zille says she expects former provincial youth commission members to be criminally charged soon. A report by the Auditor-General shows there was irregular expenditure to the tune of over R4 million at the now-defunct commission. The Auditor-General gave the commission a qualified audit. Zille says her office will do all it can to address the issues raised in the report. "The acting director-general has given instructions that the money be recovered and that criminal charges be laid against members of the youth commission." EWN.CO.ZA Government department urged to achieve clean audit reports Auditor General Terence Nombembe says government departments need to follow the example of state institutions and achieve clean audit reports. Nombembe says about 80% of the National State Institutions received clean audits report. Nombembe said: "We've got close to, I think, about 77 of those state institutions at a national level that have got clean reports. So it's quite a high proportion and in fact if you translate it into percentages, close to 80% of clean reports are compositions of state institutions. So it means government departments constitute a lower proportion of that, and therefore we need them to also follow suit." SABCNEWS.COM WC does not get a clean financial bill of health While the Western Cape has fared better than the national government, the province has fallen short of getting a clean financial bill of health from the auditor-general. Auditor-General Terence Nombembe said that most of the issues that led to the Western Cape not getting a clean report were because of material adjustments that should have been picked up before the audit was done. CAPE TIMES ENGINEERINGNEWS.CO.ZA ViaMobile Publishing Copyright 2009 © Via Mobile (Pty) Ltd. Compiled by Millions of loans from Ithala irrecoverable Residential building sector on downward spiral It has emerged that nearly R80 million in loans and advances from the Ithala Development Bank seem irrecoverable. In addition, several projects funded by Ithala's subsidiary, the KZN Growth Fund, have been great failures, having guzzled well over R88 million. This was revealed to the provincial standing committee on public accounts made in Pietermaritzburg yesterday by Ithala CEO Sipho Shabalala. Democratic Alliance's (DA's) John Steenhuisen expressed concerns about the revelations concerning the fund. The downward spiral in the residential building sector was probably close to bottoming out but the downswing in the non-residential building sector was still firmly in place, FNB chief economist Cees Bruggemans said yesterday. Bruggemans said residential building contractors expected business conditions and the growth in building activity to improve in the fourth quarter while non-residential contractors did not expect business conditions to deteriorate extensively in the quarter. MERCURY (Durban) BUSINESS REPORT (Star) Municipal accounts committee for City Property The Department of Local Government said that the eThekwini Municipality could have its municipal accounts committee in service before the end of November. This emerged after members of the eThekwini council's executive committee called for a progress report on the establishment of the committee yesterday. The proposal to form the committee was made by former Democratic Alliance (DA) caucus leader John Steenhuisen in December 2007, in a bid to improve oversight and accountability at local government level. Business Day featured a supplement of Property which included the following headlines: "Bill gives taxpayers a window of opportunity"; "Hi-tech Menlyn Maine gets going"; "Design Without Borders revamps Cape building"; and "Smaller office space in demand". MERCURY (Durban) INSURANCE Small businesses fail to insure against crime Crime is putting pressure on small and informal businesses to insure themselves as police statistics indicate that over 70% of robberies are targeted at them. The businesses are particularly vulnerable as many lack the resources to continue operating after an incident, compelling them to rely on loans, credit cards and money from family to keep going, or face closure. BUSINESS REPORT (National) Aon acquires Pinion and Pennant Aon SA, an arm of global risk management and insurance consultancy Aon Corporation, has acquired Santam's 100% stake in Pinion Insurance Brokers (Pinion) and Pennant Administrators (Pennant). The acquisition, effective from 1 October, will complement Aon's global Affinity business, which generates 30% of Aon SA's international revenue and supports Aon's development of its Affinity business. "We want to make better products available for our higher-net worth clients," said CEO Anton Roux. He said he could not disclose the acquisition price. BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets PROPERTY AND HOUSING Home-loan deposits shrink Banks' improved appetite for loans has had a favourable effect on the housing market, as new figures from the oobarometer indicate. Since all four of the major banks adjusted their loan criteria and are again offering 100% mortgage loans, the average deposit for an average house, costing R806 494, has declined to 12.5% in September from 23.1% in August. A year ago the average deposit required was 17.6% or R139 771. The average percentage for turned-down mortgage-loan applications has also fallen to 48.4%, from 52% a year ago. This was however higher than the 45.1% a month ago. The oobarometer's house-price index shows that prices were 1.8% higher in September than this time last year. FIN24.CO.ZA - FINWEEK Growthpoint looks to Australia Growthpoint, South Africa's largest listed property firm, expects rising costs and vacancies to cut profit margins in its home market, and is seeking growth in Australia, its Chief Executive said on Monday. Norbert Sasse said he plans to triple the market value of unit Growthpoint Properties Australia to A$1 billion through distressed acquisitions. The unit, bought in May, was previously named Orchard Industrial Property Fund. "The domestic market is probably offering less value than what the Australian market is offering right now ... because there isn't distress in South Africa," Sasse told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in London. FIN24.CO.ZA - FINWEEK, BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets Three Cities to take over Queensgate management Queensgate Hotels & Leisure yesterday signed a partnership agreement with hotel group Three Cities that will see the latter take over the management of all Queensgate's hotels with immediate affect. Queensgate has long searched for the ideal partner to run its hotels while allowing it to focus on its core strength of developing new properties through its subsidiary, Queensgate Business Development. This news is welcome in light of Queensgate's trading update published last month in which it warned that headline earnings a share for the year to end of August was likely to fall short of its forecast published in July, largely due to a softer performance from the group's hospitality division. BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets Game City to undergoes revamp Game City Shopping Centre in Greyville, Durban would get a R15 million makeover to modernise the building and improve parking, the mall owner Growthpoint Properties said yesterday. The 42 200² retail shopping centre would be renamed City View because of the 360º views of the city from the top of the building. The revamp started in August and would be complete in December. BUSINESS REPORT (Star); FIN24.CO.ZA - FINWEEK OIL NEWS Opec sees oil demand rising to 84.9m bpd A recovering global economy, spurred on mainly by China and other developing states, is expected to boost global oil demand by slightly less than 1% next year, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) said yesterday, while warning that the pace of recovery remains far from certain. In its October Monthly Oil Market Report, the 12-state cartel that supplies over 35% of the world's crude, said that demand was expected to increase by 700 000 barrels per day (bpd) to average 84.9-million bpd. That represents a 200 000-barrel-per-day rise from last month's report. "Given the recent improvement in the economic performance of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) and China, oil demand is expected to be better than forecast earlier," Opec said. However, it said that the economic recovery would be "slow and weak" next year. BUSINESS DAY (National) Oil Report In London, Brent crude rose 51c to $71.87 a barrel (R3.32 a litre) in the afternoon. Sweet crude gained 62c to $73.89 in New York. BUSINESS REPORT (National) GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS Financial stability ratings - Britain sinks The UK has been hit so hard by the recession it now sits below developing countries like Nigeria and Panama in the financial stability rankings, says a report by the World Economic Forum. Out of 55 global economies, the UK ranks 37th for financial stability, just above the US at 38th, according to the Forum's second annual Financial Development Report. Overall, the UK claimed the top spot as the world's leading financial system, displacing the US, which dropped below Australia to third place, hampered by dire economic stability scores and a weak banking sector. Kevin Steinberg, Chief Operating Officer at the World Economic Forum, warns that stability is the key issue, not overall scores, "The United Kingdom and US may still show leadership in the rankings, but their significant drops in score show increasing weakness and imply their leadership may be in jeopardy." ALLAFRICA.COM - ALL AFRICA MEDIA Stock markets recovery questionable The stock markets are likely to move sideways for many years, according to investment manager Allan Gray and its international asset management partner Orbis. "The recent rise in stock markets appears to imply a strong recovery in earnings is ahead. The big question is whether these earnings will materialise and if they do, to what extent," Mahesh Cooper, head of Orbis Servicing in SA and a director of Allan Gray, said yesterday. This rise in global stock markets over the past 12 months has resulted in many questions around whether a bull market is beginning and the recession is behind us, but developed markets are up 24% in US dollars and emerging markets up more than 60% in US dollars. BUSINESS DAY (National) BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets ViaMobile Publishing Copyright 2009 © Via Mobile (Pty) Ltd. Compiled by UK inflation rate at lowest in five years Russia, China sign $4 billion deal Britain's inflation rate dropped by more than economists forecast last month, to its lowest level in five years as the recession curbed cost pressures throughout the economy. Consumer prices rose 1.1% from a year earlier, compared with August's 1.6% the Office for National Statistics said yesterday in London. On the month, prices were unchanged for the first time in September since this series of records began in 1996. This month Bank of England policy makers stuck to their plans to spend £175 billion of newly printed money on assets to foster growth. The UK might not have escaped recession in the third quarter, and the banks should consider buying more bonds to secure the recovery, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said yesterday. Russia and China signed agreements worth $3.5 billion yesterday, but the former rivals-turned-strategic partners are still working on a major energy deal, a top Russian official said. The deals were signed during a visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to bolster energy, political and military ties. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov told reporters that Russian and Chinese businessmen and officials signed the agreements, including $500 million loans from the China Development Bank to its Russian equivalent VEB, and from the Agricultural Bank of Chine to the state-controlled VTB Bank. Other deals included Chinese companies making investments in construction industry facilities in Russia, Zhukov said. "Naturally, the Chinese are interested in getting (ownership) stakes," he said without giving any details. BUSINESS DAY (National) FIN24.CO.ZA - FINWEEK Bear Stearns duo's trial starts Dollar and inflation help increase gold price Former Bear Stearns fund managers Matthew Tannin and Ralph Cioffi went on trial yesterday in a high-profile case that will decide if the men misled investors about the health of the two hedge funds that collapsed in 2007. They are two of the first financial executives to face charges since the global financial crisis began, and face 20 years in prison if convicted. The trial has implications for the industry and its outcome could spark scores of civil lawsuits against funds said to have misled investors. The two were either responsible for triggering a $1.4 billion hedge fund implosion or were scapegoats for a US government eager to affix blame for it, analysts said before the trial. The price of gold rose to a record in New York and London yesterday amid fears that a weakening dollar and faster inflation will boost the appeal of the metal. The dollar has fallen 6.6% this year against a basket of six currencies compiled by Bloomberg. December gold futures gained 0.8% to $1 066.10/oz on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal has risen 20% this year. In London the spot price of bullion traded up to 1.1% higher at $1 068.63/oz, beating last Friday's high of $1 061.55/oz. It later went down to $1 062.85/oz. BUSINESS DAY (National) INTERNATIONAL ECONOMY & BUSINESS Aus to aid Zim farmers Australia has partnered with the World Bank to provide support to poor Zimbabwean farmers, the Australian High Commission in Pretoria said on Monday. In a statement, the High Commission said Australia would provide $7 million to the World Bank Global Food Crisis Response Program to expand maize production and food security in Zimbabwe during the 2009-10 summer cropping season. The programme would distribute quality certified maize seed to more than 300 000 poor small-holder farmers across Zimbabwe. Australia's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, John Courtney, said Australia's contribution to the programme was part of a co-ordinated donor community effort that was an important first step to support the recovery of Zimbabwe's grain production. IAFRICA.COM - BUSINESS 'I'm not to blame' - Gono Zimbabwe's Reserve Bank Chief Gideon Gono, who presided over the collapse of the local currency, insisted he was not to blame for "killing" the nation's economy. He again rejected calls for his resignation after President Robert Mugabe's unilateral decision to appoint him to a new five-year term last year, one of the major disputes facing the eight-month-old unity government. "The immorality and irrationality of the whole argument is that 'Gono must go because he printed money and he killed this economy.' That's a white lie because no single individual can harm or kill an economy," he said. Gono's tenure at the helm of the Reserve Bank saw inflation soar from already staggering four-digit figures when he took office in 2003 to numbers estimated in many multiples of billions last year. BUSINESS DAY (National) Recession refocuses demand The demand for professional services has changed sue to the global recession as companies focus on cash, cost and control, says Barry Robinson, tax markets leader for Ernst & Young's combined practices in Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. There is now a demand for company restructurings, tax services and internal audit as organisations cut costs and retrench employees. Initially there was concern that the professional services firms would be hit hard by the global recession. However, Robinson said there was a demand for other types of services in the current market. BUSINESS DAY (National), Companies & Markets INDICATORS Rand - Dollar $ Rand - Sterling £ Rand - Euro € JSE Allshare Gold Platinum Brent Crude Oil 7.3535 11.6524 10.8927 25670.2 1057.50 1340.0 71.8 (- 0.0145) (- 0.0685) (- 0.0398) (+ 40.13) (- 1.25) (+ 16.00) (+ 0.51) The figures quoted are from the close of business yesterday, along with any movement, either up or down, from the previous day. NEWS24.COM - NEWS 24, BUSINESS DAY (National) Africa pushes for autonomy in EU-funded projects The financing of a joint Africa-EU development initiative could be headed for an operational shift as leaders press for an independent Pan-African kitty to bankroll projects launched under it. African leaders want the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) funded through a distinct scheme in place of the current system where it relies on contributions from other supporting kitties by the European Commission. "It is our strong conviction that a dedicated Pan African envelope is now not only necessary but also a top priority that will go a long way in facilitating and ensuring effective implementation of the strategy," John Shinkaiye of the African Union Commission said in a statement ahead of Wednesday's joint 13th AU-EU ministerial troika meeting in Addis Ababa. ALLAFRICA.COM - ALL AFRICA MEDIA Nigeria's AGOA challenge The African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), a US Trade Act meant to enhance US market access for sub-Saharan African countries, is a special economic growth and development initiative. It was predicated on the understanding of the US that African nations are at a comparative disadvantage in global trade because of their lack of capital, poor infrastructure, corruption, political and economic mismanagement. The Act, which presently allows 39 sub-Saharan African countries including Nigeria access to US market, was in operation for eight years between 2000-2008, but amendments by former President George W. Bush in 2007 extended its life to 2015. ALLAFRICA.COM - ALL AFRICA MEDIA ViaMobile Publishing Copyright 2009 © Via Mobile (Pty) Ltd.