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Opportunities created by Cyril's investment summit pledges.

When we ask residents what they make of the position by COGTA, in the draft Revised #WhitePaper, to the effect that gov can’t significantly increase the allocation to municipalities without economic growth first, 33% of respondents reject it, and say government must adequately fund municipalities. 47% say gov must amend the budget to enable adequate funding. The takeaway? Residents know what’s up, and they are not pleased. Here are few further comments they make;

Criminally so!

This department allocates the least resources to municipalities, and they expect them to do miracles with a pittance. When their solutions dont work, they pull off sorts of stunts to impress the IMF and credit agencies.

There is, but I doubt that Sputla would encourage it.

What about Marupini?

It has been clear as daylight that the National Treasury is playing politics.

@Uncle_Thaps Many of the leaders in Africa have latent envy for South Africa and believe that it is this way because of whites. You can see with their voting in international forums, always voting against us, including our closest neighbours. That's why they negotiate separate trade deals.

There’s a direct line between the South African Reserve Bank’s policies and the anger against immigrants. First, the SARB has been running a very strict monetary policy with high interest rates and a low inflation target for a quarter century now. This has suppressed investment, raised borrowing costs, weakened job creation and deepened economic stagnation. Second, because South Africa already has structurally high unemployment, tight monetary policy naturally compounds it and when you have a population experiencing joblessness and declining living standards, it needs somewhere to direct its frustration. This is where migrants become competitors for a shrinking pool of jobs and services. And whenever an economy that could be generating more jobs doesn’t do that because the policymakers choose to do what the Reserve Bank has been doing, it opens the door for political scapegoating. Even the government itself gets in on the victim act, complaining about how money shortages are causing them not to deliver services. Now, the officials at the SARB and National Treasury know that migrants are not the cause of the country’s high unemployment poor service delivery. They understand that it’s their restrictive macroeconomic environment that’s doing all of that. But foreigners are visible and vulnerable in a way that the repo rate and budget cuts are not, and the economic technocrats are counting on the public’s anger being focused on this.

The underlying idea is that monetary policy affects the entire productive economy, not just inflation expectations and bond markets. So instead of an MPC dominated by orthodox financial-sector thinking, you create a committee that reflects South Africa’s actual economic structure

Ousmane SONKO a tenu un discours patriotique, responsable. Il montre encore une fois à ses détracteurs que seul le Sénégal l’intéresse. @SonkoOfficiel est un grand HOMME.

Kenya is about to be molested.

He watched it happen and did nothing.

“On ne peut pas faire du Pastef sans Pastef. Pastef, c’est unique au monde, est à la fois majoritaire dans l‘opposition et au pouvoir. On ne peut pas être dans une situation d’hyper-présidentialisme au Sénégal.” Sonko lors de son discours d’ouverture. Les hostilités sont lancées.

Not to the ANC.

If you have time, tune into this SCOPA session with the Masilonyana Local Municipality. It is in distress. The session may give you an insight into the deep challenges that need a systematic intervention throughout local government. youtube.com/live/ito_ylfse…

What is the cost benefit? That's what should matter.

Just listen to Mamdani explain in easy language what austerity affects the most and why taxing the rich is the only solution

Ghana’s new e-Visa system is a good idea but charging USD $260 for a standard single-entry visa is not. Across West Africa, these are E-Visa charges from our neighbors:
Benin 🇧🇯 : ~€50
Côte d’Ivoire 🇨🇮 : ~€73
Togo 🇹🇬 : ~€39–€100
Guinea 🇬🇳 : ~$80
Liberia 🇱🇷 : ~$102
Nigeria 🇳🇬 : ~$160 (US applicants) Meanwhile, Ghana is charging $260 standard and up to $796 for expedited multiple-entry visas. How do we say “Ghana is open for business” while pricing ourselves above the sub-region? Digitizing visas should make travel easier and more competitive, not turn Ghana into one of the most expensive entry points in West Africa. @GhanaMFA & @S_OkudzetoAblak kindly look into this again!

JUST IN: Tanzania has officially integrated the Port of Dar es Salaam with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network, directly linking the port to the inland logistics hubs of Nala Dry Port in Dodoma and Kwala Dry Port in the Coast Region. The new connection is expected to accelerate cargo movement by up to 80% compared to transit timelines currently experienced across competing regional trade corridors. The country’s long-term logistics strategy aims to position Dar es Salaam as the fastest and most efficient maritime gateway in East and Central Africa. By 2028, the SGR line is expected to extend to Isaka Dry Port in Shinyanga, while full rail connectivity to the borders of Rwanda and Burundi is targeted by 2030. Once completed, Tanzania intends for transit cargo moving through Dar Port to reach destinations across the East African Community (EAC) corridor in less than 48 hours. The transformation follows more than $1 Billion in modernization and expansion investments at Dar es Salaam Port led by DP World. As a result, annual cargo throughput capacity has now increased from a minimum of 27.7 million tonnes toward a projected 50 million tonnes. Performance figures for the 2025/26 financial year already indicate strong growth momentum across the port ecosystem. Container volumes surged by 55%, roll-on/roll-off (RORO) traffic increased by 20%, general cargo rose by 25%, while dry bulk cargo expanded by 22%.

VISA FREE: President Denis Nguesso of the Republic of Congo has announced that African nationals will no longer require visas to enter the country from Jan. 1, 2027.