KwaZulu-Natal Business 2023-24

OVERVIEW
Banking and financial services
TymeBank is spreading its wings.
The Competition Tribunal has unconditionally approved Tyme-
Bank’s purchase of Retail Capital, a fintech SMME funder.
TymeBank, which is majority owned by Patrice
Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital, has been moving
beyond its basic banking model recently and this purchase
indicates another broadening of the scope of the bank’s
ambitions. Having run banking kiosks within Pick n Pay and Boxer
stores for several years, TymeBank has also signed a deal with TFG,
a group that has a big presence in KwaZulu-Natal.
What used to be known as the Foschini Group has 34 brands,
including Markhams, Totalsports, Jet and Dial a Bed, and 30-million
customers. In the short term, TymeBank will have access to 600 TFG
kiosks, taking the bank’s total in South Africa to 1 450.
The launch by Sanlam Investments of a Sustainable
Infrastructure Fund is a sign of the times. The South African state
and the Provincial Government of KwaZulu-Natal has promised
a huge infrastructure drive but in the context of climate change
caused by the use of fossil fuels, the investment community is
increasingly putting emphasis on sustainability.
The Brics New Development Bank has made a $200-million loan
for the expansion of the container terminal in Durban. The busy port
is currently stretched beyond capacity and waiting time for trucks
can be extremely long.
Activist groups in Durban’s southern suburbs are opposing
the loan and the expansion, saying that further development will
increase pollution in the area and lead to even more dangerous
traffic congestion.
Up the coast at Richards Bay, the World Bank’s International
Finance Corporation (IFC) has committed $2-million to a feasibility
study on the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage
and regasification terminal. The study’s costs are shared with Transnet
and a private investor will be sought if the feasibility study is positive.
Aspen Pharmacare is a speciality pharmaceuticals company with
a presence in more than 50 countries and nearly 9 000 employees.
The company’s headquarters are in La Lucia Ridge north of Durban.
Aspen’s decision to register a second listing on one of South Africa’s
ONLINE RESOURCES
Association for Savings and Investment South Africa: www.asisa.org.za
Financial Sector Conduct Authority: www.fsca.co.za
South African Institute for Chartered Accountants: www.saica.co.za
SECTOR INSIGHT
Sustainability has a
financial component.
newest stock exchanges (the
primary listing remains on the
JSE) was a boost for A2X, which
set out to attract secondary
listings.
Of the four new exchanges
that South Africa has seen since
2017, ZARX has been suspended
and 4AX has rebranded as the
Cape Town Stock Exchange.
Equity Express Securities
Exchange (EESE) trades in Black
Economic Empowerment (BEE).
Together with real estate
and general business, the
financial sector in KwaZulu-
Natal accounts for 18% of gross
domestic product (GDP). ■
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