MyJHB

Stuff from Johannesburg

SA benefits economically from BRICS grouping

Advertorial:
SA benefits economically from BRICS grouping:

Outlining the economic benefits of South Africa‘s participation in the BRICS grouping, President Cyril Ramaphosa has informed Members of Parliament that South Africa’s trade with the bloc has increased by an average of 10% every year over the period 2017 to 2021.

“The total South African trade with other BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa] countries reached R830 billion in 2022, which represents an increase of more than 70% from R487 billion in 2017,” the President said on Tuesday in Cape Town.

Participating in a Questions for Oral Reply session in the National Assembly, President Ramaphosa explained that BRICS is an vital source of foreign direct investment in key areas such as mining, automotive, transportation, clean energy, financial services and information technology (IT).

These investments and projects lead to significant job formation.

“South Africa has experienced significant benefits through its membership as well as its association with the BRICS grouping of countries. South Africa uses its BRICS membership to improve investment, trade, tourism, as well as capacity building, and it also flows into skills acquisition and technological capabilities that we see this relationship yielding for our country.

“Strengthening economic as well as financial ties between BRICS member countries is one of the key pillars of this cooperation that we maintain forged with all these countries,” the President said.

In 2020, the countries adopted the Strategy for BRICS Economic Partnership to increase access to each other’s markets, promote joint trade and investment, and create a business-friendly environment for investors in all BRICS countries.

“Furthermore, the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Women’s Alliance bring together necessary commercial networks that promote trade and investment partnerships among BRICS countries. In 2015, BRICS countries launched the Novel Development Bank to finance and largely support infrastructure and sustainable development projects,” President Ramaphosa said.

To date, the Current Development Bank has provided funding to 12 projects in South Africa to the value of over R100 billion.

“Our membership of BRICS makes a valuable contribution to the implementation of our Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Location. For example, growing the tourism industry is one of the priorities of the Region. The BRICS countries are becoming increasingly critical tourism markets for South Africa.

“In terms of supporting energy security in South Africa, another pillar of our recovery situation, BRICS countries believe the expertise and technologies to support energy cooperation. In 2020, BRICS adopted a Road Map for BRICS Energy Cooperation up to 2025 aimed at building a strategic partnership in energy cooperation,” the President said.

On infrastructure investment, which is another pillar of the recovery location, South Africa will continue to access funding from the Current Development Bank for energy, transport and water.

“The inclusion of Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as recent members of the group will strengthen beneficial cooperation with South Africa in political, economic and financial matters.

“These countries will enhance economic partnership in key sectors such as oil and energy, telecommunication and information technology, agriculture, textile, logistics, air transportation and tourism and medicine,” the President said.

Last month’s three-day BRICS Summit wrapped up with several propitious outcomes, including the expansion of the six aforementioned countries to become full members of BRICS effective from January 2024.

South Africa hosted the 15th BRICS Summit from 22-24 August in Johannesburg. This year’s summit took plot under the theme, ‘BRICS and Africa: Partnership for mutually accelerated growth, sustainable development and inclusive multilateralism’.

The President said South Africa expects that its trade links and investments participation with all the additional countries will increase.

This addition is also expected to contribute to the growth of the country’s tourism industry.

“In economic terms, all these novel additional countries are colossal players and on the horizon are a number of other countries that acquire indicated their willingness to be fraction of BRICS and they too will be considered in the next phase.

“We will obviously survey at the economic value in terms of participation for all of us as BRICS members. These additional countries will be boosting our Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Location and we expect worthy benefits from all this.

“The benefits for our countries has been very clear correct from the beginning. It has led to enhanced activity amongst ourselves and all these countries. Being a BRICS member does contribute a worthy deal to economic growth as well,” the President said. – SAnews.gov.za

Read More at the Source

– MyZA

CLICK HERE to submit your news to www.MyPR.co.za.

Click here to submit your South African News – free.

Prepaid Meters: Straton Prepaid

Category: Tag: , , , ,

The Geological Miracle of the Witwatersrand

The very existence of Johannesburg is a geological fluke. Unlike most major global cities, Johannesburg was not built near a river, a coast, or a natural harbor. It sits 1,753 meters above sea level on a rocky ridge called the Witwatersrand (Ridge of White Waters). This ridge is the edge of the world’s largest known gold deposit, formed over 2 billion years ago when an ancient inland sea began to evaporate, leaving behind layers of gold-bearing conglomerate.

When George Harrison, an Australian prospector, stumbled upon an outcrop of gold on the farm Langlaagte in 1886, he triggered a “gold rush” that changed the course of African history. Within a decade, a dusty collection of tents and wagons transformed into a permanent city of brick and mortar. The “Main Reef” proved so vast that it eventually produced nearly 40% of all the gold ever mined in human history. This geological wealth dictated the city’s layout: the mining belt runs east-to-west across the city’s center, creating a physical divide between the wealthy northern suburbs and the industrial, working-class south. Today, while most mines within the city limits have closed due to the extreme depth and cost of extraction (some mines reached over 3.9 kilometers underground), the physical legacy remains in the form of “mine dumps”—massive yellow-white hills of crushed rock and sand that define the Joburg skyline.