FIRSTRAND plans to grow its asset management business as it widens revenues from business segments that require less regulatory capital.
Group CEO Sizwe Nxasana said on Thursday in an interview the asset management business already had assets under management and administration of about $100bn.
The plan was to progressively grow these assets in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa over the next few years, Mr Nxasana said at the conclusion of FirstRand’s annual general meeting in Sandton.
The asset management business was being run through Ashburton Investments, a unit of FirstRand.
"We have about R100bn in assets under management or administration. It is a business we think there is opportunity to create more scale by leveraging on the internal skills we have," Mr Nxasana said. "We want to originate business in various asset classes such as equities, real estate and infrastructure in South Africa and Africa," he said.
Mr Nxasana would not say what the target value of assets under management was for Ashburton over the next few years. "We have a base from which to start growing the business but this is a journey rather than a process," he said.
Mr Nxasana also said FirstRand would next year prefer to concentrate on investing in the businesses it had or planned to establish outside South Africa.
"We have projects in Mozambique, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia and India which gives us more than enough to focus on," he said.
Speaking at the annual meeting, FirstRand non-executive chairman Laurie Dippenaar said the group’s remuneration strategy was neither excessive nor did it reward failure.
Group executives were paid on the basis of them achieving targets such as creating shareholder value by increasing return on equity.
Mr Dippenaar said in FirstRand’s annual report released at the meeting that some global banks produced return on equity that was well below cost of capital but paid executives and staff up to 80% of the return. FirstRand’s return on equity was on the other hand about 20% and it paid out 45% of that to executives and staff.
Source: Business Day
Showing posts with label Tanzania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tanzania. Show all posts
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Africa: Border Disputes Do Not Help Africa
MALAWIAN President Joyce Banda made encouraging remarks at a news conference in Lilongwe. She said that her country will not go to war with Tanzania over the ongoing Lake Nyasa border dispute. She explained that negotiations on the matter are still going on between authorities of Malawi and Tanzania, but noted that even if the ongoing diplomatic efforts fail, other channels will be used exhaustively to resolve the matter.
Ms Banda stressed that the dispute is not a good reason and will never be, for the brothers and sisters of the two countries to go to war. The border dispute erupted last year when Malawi issued a licence to a British firm, Surestream Petroleum, to prospect for hydrocarbons. Tanzania claims a portion of the 29,600 square kilometres lake, but Malawi cites a colonial-era agreement dating from 1890 that stipulates that the border between the two countries lies along the Tanzanian shoreline of the lake.
The dispute between Tanzania and Malawi over Lake Nyasa, which is known as Lake Malawi in Malawi, is yet another of African headache brought about by the colonial division of the continent. In drawing up the boundaries between their "possessions" in Africa there was little precision in the process
Problems with borders are commonplace in Africa. Sources show that the continent has more than 100 border disputes brought about by its former colonial rulers. Arbitrary lines drawn on maps by colonial powers sitting at the Conference of Berlin in 1884 have left countries with meaningless boundaries that are now the source of conflicts.
These have led to countless disputes, some leading to war, others to years of diplomatic and legal wrangling. It is hoped that Tanzania and Malawi are going to give diplomacy the chance in amicable resolution of the dispute over Lake Nyasa and continue living as brothers and sisters.
Both countries have many problems at present including poverty and diseases that need to be overcome as soon as possible. Wars will never take the two countries anywhere and should not be an option since they will make things worse. Let the leaders and experts meet and resolve the dispute.
Source: All Africa
Ms Banda stressed that the dispute is not a good reason and will never be, for the brothers and sisters of the two countries to go to war. The border dispute erupted last year when Malawi issued a licence to a British firm, Surestream Petroleum, to prospect for hydrocarbons. Tanzania claims a portion of the 29,600 square kilometres lake, but Malawi cites a colonial-era agreement dating from 1890 that stipulates that the border between the two countries lies along the Tanzanian shoreline of the lake.
The dispute between Tanzania and Malawi over Lake Nyasa, which is known as Lake Malawi in Malawi, is yet another of African headache brought about by the colonial division of the continent. In drawing up the boundaries between their "possessions" in Africa there was little precision in the process
Problems with borders are commonplace in Africa. Sources show that the continent has more than 100 border disputes brought about by its former colonial rulers. Arbitrary lines drawn on maps by colonial powers sitting at the Conference of Berlin in 1884 have left countries with meaningless boundaries that are now the source of conflicts.
These have led to countless disputes, some leading to war, others to years of diplomatic and legal wrangling. It is hoped that Tanzania and Malawi are going to give diplomacy the chance in amicable resolution of the dispute over Lake Nyasa and continue living as brothers and sisters.
Both countries have many problems at present including poverty and diseases that need to be overcome as soon as possible. Wars will never take the two countries anywhere and should not be an option since they will make things worse. Let the leaders and experts meet and resolve the dispute.
Source: All Africa
Monday, February 8, 2010
Arms deal details consigned to dark
THE murky details of SA’s multibillion-rand arms deal are unlikely ever to come to light after weapons maker BAE Systems last week cut a deal with UK and US officials to plead guilty and pay fines on some charges in exchange for the dropping of probes on others.
Europe’s biggest weapons maker pleaded guilty to gross control failures in its international operations and was slapped with a £30m fine by the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and an additional fine of 400m by the US justice department on Friday. “This is a first (multijurisdictional deal) and it brings a pragmatic end to a long-running and wide-ranging investigation. No further prosecutions will be brought against BAE Systems in relation to the matters that have been under investigation by the SFO,” fraud office director Richard Alderman said at the weekend.
BAE Systems opted for a settlement by admitting to control failures in the way it ran its business in many parts of its operations around the world in the recent past. In the US, the company w ould plead guilty to one charge of conspiring to make false statements to the US government in connection with certain regulatory filings and undertakings. However, the agreements only concern the company’s 1999 deal for air-traffic control equipment in Tanzania . This means there will no longer be an investigation by British authorities into other BAE Systems contracts such as its aircraft deals with SA and the Czech Republic.
The South African deal involved the £1,6bn sale of Hawk aircraft in 2001 as part of SA’s multibillion- rand arms procurement. Allegations of bribes paid to senior African National Congress figures have dogged both former president Thabo Mbeki and President Jacob Zuma . Critics of the government’s behaviour over the so-called arms deal were furious. “We have been shafted by the decision to reach a plea bargain agreement and not to prosecute BAE,” opposition Democratic Alliance spokesman David Maynier said yesterday. “The details of the various investigations will remain hidden as a result of the plea bargain agreement and nobody — whether they bribed or whether they took bribes — will be held to account.”
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, whose dossier before Parliament detailed allegations of wrongdoing in the deal, said that by deciding to no longer investigate further allegations of wrongdoing in countries such as SA and Romania, the UK had lost the moral authority to talk about good governance and fighting corruption to other world leaders. “They are no better than any of the rogue leaders in Africa who have used funds from bribes in arms deal to stay in power,” she said.
Arms deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne said the government could still cancel the rest of the contract and save about R30bn and millions more that would be incurred from future services and repairs. The contract allowed any of the parties to cancel it if one was found guilty of corruption, according to the Prevention of Corruption Act. Government spokesman Themba Maseko said the government would not comment at this stage.
Alderman said his office had taken account of BAE Systems’ implementation of substantial ethical and compliance reforms and welcomed its “declared commitment to high ethical standards”. BAE Systems chairman Dick Olver said in an e-mailed statement the company “very much regrets and accepts full responsibility” for its past shortcomings. It was the first time BAE had admitted publicly to a crime in its payment of undisclosed commissions to third parties as part of its international arms sales business, an unidentified US justice department official told Bloomberg.
Friday’s deal also means the British fraud office would no longer investigate allegations of wrongdoing by BAE Systems in the course of its Al-Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia. The fraud office scrapped an investigation into BAE in 2006 over bribes allegedly paid to win deals in Saudi Arabia after then-prime minister Tony Blair said charges might harm relations between the two countries, posing a threat to national security. In connection with the sale of a radar system to Tanzania in 1999, Olver said the company had “made commission payments to a marketing adviser and failed to accurately record such payments in its accounting records”.
Olver said the company also failed to scrutinise these records adequately “to ensure that they were reasonably accurate and permitted them to remain uncorrected”. London-listed BAE’s shares closed 1,6% higher on Friday.
Source: Business Day
Europe’s biggest weapons maker pleaded guilty to gross control failures in its international operations and was slapped with a £30m fine by the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and an additional fine of 400m by the US justice department on Friday. “This is a first (multijurisdictional deal) and it brings a pragmatic end to a long-running and wide-ranging investigation. No further prosecutions will be brought against BAE Systems in relation to the matters that have been under investigation by the SFO,” fraud office director Richard Alderman said at the weekend.
BAE Systems opted for a settlement by admitting to control failures in the way it ran its business in many parts of its operations around the world in the recent past. In the US, the company w ould plead guilty to one charge of conspiring to make false statements to the US government in connection with certain regulatory filings and undertakings. However, the agreements only concern the company’s 1999 deal for air-traffic control equipment in Tanzania . This means there will no longer be an investigation by British authorities into other BAE Systems contracts such as its aircraft deals with SA and the Czech Republic.
The South African deal involved the £1,6bn sale of Hawk aircraft in 2001 as part of SA’s multibillion- rand arms procurement. Allegations of bribes paid to senior African National Congress figures have dogged both former president Thabo Mbeki and President Jacob Zuma . Critics of the government’s behaviour over the so-called arms deal were furious. “We have been shafted by the decision to reach a plea bargain agreement and not to prosecute BAE,” opposition Democratic Alliance spokesman David Maynier said yesterday. “The details of the various investigations will remain hidden as a result of the plea bargain agreement and nobody — whether they bribed or whether they took bribes — will be held to account.”
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, whose dossier before Parliament detailed allegations of wrongdoing in the deal, said that by deciding to no longer investigate further allegations of wrongdoing in countries such as SA and Romania, the UK had lost the moral authority to talk about good governance and fighting corruption to other world leaders. “They are no better than any of the rogue leaders in Africa who have used funds from bribes in arms deal to stay in power,” she said.
Arms deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne said the government could still cancel the rest of the contract and save about R30bn and millions more that would be incurred from future services and repairs. The contract allowed any of the parties to cancel it if one was found guilty of corruption, according to the Prevention of Corruption Act. Government spokesman Themba Maseko said the government would not comment at this stage.
Alderman said his office had taken account of BAE Systems’ implementation of substantial ethical and compliance reforms and welcomed its “declared commitment to high ethical standards”. BAE Systems chairman Dick Olver said in an e-mailed statement the company “very much regrets and accepts full responsibility” for its past shortcomings. It was the first time BAE had admitted publicly to a crime in its payment of undisclosed commissions to third parties as part of its international arms sales business, an unidentified US justice department official told Bloomberg.
Friday’s deal also means the British fraud office would no longer investigate allegations of wrongdoing by BAE Systems in the course of its Al-Yamamah deal with Saudi Arabia. The fraud office scrapped an investigation into BAE in 2006 over bribes allegedly paid to win deals in Saudi Arabia after then-prime minister Tony Blair said charges might harm relations between the two countries, posing a threat to national security. In connection with the sale of a radar system to Tanzania in 1999, Olver said the company had “made commission payments to a marketing adviser and failed to accurately record such payments in its accounting records”.
Olver said the company also failed to scrutinise these records adequately “to ensure that they were reasonably accurate and permitted them to remain uncorrected”. London-listed BAE’s shares closed 1,6% higher on Friday.
Source: Business Day
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Pirates 'seize UK yacht couple'
A search is being carried out for a British couple who are feared to have been taken captive by Somali pirates while sailing near the Seychelles. Paul and Rachel Chandler, aged 59 and 55, of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, were heading for Tanzania in their yacht, the Lynn Rival. They sent a distress signal on Friday but have not been heard from since. BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said his sources believed they were being taken to Somalia. He said it was thought the couple and their yacht were headed for the port of Haradheere. A pirate called Hassan told the Reuters news agency: "The British couple are in our hands now. We captured them as they were touring in the Indian Ocean." The two captives were healthy and ransom demands would follow, he added.A Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) spokeswoman said it could not confirm whether pirates were involved. We are in touch with the family in the UK and the Seychelles coastguards which continues to monitor the situation and has conducted a search of the area," she added.A spokesman for the Seychelles Coast Guard said they had not heard from the couple, who were out of reach by satellite phone. He said: "There have been reports that they were hijacked by pirates but no one can prove that. We don't know what has happened and cannot speculate." The couple's niece Leah Mickleborough said she last saw the couple at her wedding in September. She told BBC Radio 5 live they were experienced sailors who had lived on their yacht for several years. She said the family were told on Friday that the distress signal had been set off but switched off again, as if it was an accident. They were expecting the couple to come into a dock on an island where they could make contact, but were warned by the FCO on Monday that there would be reports of a kidnapping in the media. "We were fairly confident that maybe it was just an accident," she said. "All of us in the family are extremely upset by what's happened and we're very distressed. "We all hope they are OK and this can be resolved easily." Britain's Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said the couple's distress beacon was activated at 2300 BST on Friday.
They were on a 150 nautical-mile passage south-west to the Amirante Islands, en route to Tanzania when they used the Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. The route would have taken the couple near Somali waters which are notorious for pirate attacks on ships and smaller boats. It is understood that there had been pirate activity in the area earlier in the day. Earlier this year Seychellois officials requested help from the international community to defend their waters.
The Chandlers previously wrote of "the Somali pirate problem" that delayed other voyages to Tanzania. In a post on their blog in June, the couple wrote: "The seas around the Seychelles are now too rough for the pirates to operate in."
Nick Davis, Merchant Maritime Warfare Centre, said the waters around the Seychelles had become one of the most dangerous areas in the world for piracy since warships had moved into the Gulf of Aden to protect merchant ships. In the past few weeks pirates have taken a fishing boat, container ship and cargo dry bulk carrier.
Source: BBC
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