development

Passenger Rail Agency SA’s (Prasa) turn-around strategy as well as a report into its procurement and supply chain management by the Office of the Public Protector are both receiving the attention of the agency’s board and will be brought to the attention of Transport Minister Dipuo Peters.

This is according to the Prasa board‚ which met with Parliament’s Standing Committee on Appropriations in Cape Town on Wednesday. The meeting was called to discuss its financial and non-financial performance for the 2015-2016 financial year.

The rand has turned around after plunging on Tuesday in response to Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's legal woes. 

The currency fell further this Wednesday but it changed course and jumped up by 2% against the dollar on Wednesday afternoon.

After a one month low of R14.50, the currency strengthened dramatically to around R14 to the dollar before moderating again.

Japan will pour US$30 billion in investment in Africa by 2018, including US$10 billion in infrastructure development.

Speaking at the opening of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Nairobi, Kenya, .Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, explained that, “When combined with the investment from the private sector I expect the total real amount to be US$30 billion."

He adds: "This is an investment that has faith in Africa's future."

Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Jeff Radebe, has launched the National Development Plan (NDP) Communications Strategy and the unveiling of NDP 2030 Brand Identity.

Radebe says the unveiling of NDP 2030 Brand identity will help encourage people to identify with programme.

He is encouraging South Africans to use the new brand identity to strive towards the NDP's goals to reduce inequality and eradicate poverty by 2030.

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) has urged citizens and leaders across Africa to work to ensure that the continent’s development objectives are achieved in the next 10 years or risk slipping back into underdevelopment.

NEPAD chief executive, Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, in an interview after the recent World Economic Forum on Africa, made it clear that it’s time for African countries to have clear national and regional development plans and fast-track their implementation.

The African Union Commission (AUC) says the natural resources must contribute to shared prosperity of Africans.

The commission chairperson, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, says that industrialisation, value addition and the beneficiation of raw minerals are important in resolving the paradox of a rich Africa and poor Africans.

Dlamini-Zuma points out that, “If you look at all these big economies and medium-sized countries that have developed, they have developed because of mineral resources.”