The Weekly Shyft: Episode 15

Standard Bank South Africa

It’s October 2021, and this is the fifteenth Audio Episode of “The Shyft Lift”, the regular news digest of the App for the globally-minded, based in South Africa.

Biotech firm Moderna plans to build a vaccine manufacturing facility in Africa, capable of producing up to 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines each year. (https://www.news24.com/health24/medical/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/opinion-south-africa-mrna-technology-hub-gives-hope-to-africa-20211015)

South Africa’s trade surplus widened to a record high in the April-to-June period this year. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP5a8WXoreA)

Direct investment into SA recorded a net inflow in the second quarter of the year, although the net outflow of capital increased from to R64.7-billion to R109.6-billion. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roE3196xNe0)

The three top performing shares on the JSE in September were Montauk Renewables (up 41%), Aspen (up 39%), and Sasol (up 27%). Overall, the healthcare industry recorded the best returns for the month, at 16.4%. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDQbhv5xTAQ)

Premiums received by life insurance companies have risen sharply. The quarterly figure for Q2 2021 is higher than ever before and 30% higher than the equivalent quarter in 2019. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFEhZDIBR9k)
The past few challenging years have had many South Africans – those privileged enough to be in such a position – weighing up their options in “greener pastures”. But, there’s a convincing argument why Mzansi might just be the best place to play the long game. We list seven reasons to be optimistic about what SA has to offer, financially – from equity returns averaging 7.2% a year between 1900 and 2020, to the rand’s position as the strongest emerging market currency.

Finally, we hear which brands are turning teens on (Crocs make an appearance https://finance.yahoo.com/news/3-big-surprises-in-how-teens-are-spending-piper-sandler-survey-202041027.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAbCqjhsakbw0Gqk4nk5YbP_GqzjlfCMNDMDr4IX9wMAUuaR8C7l9kftu) and how lockdowns have killed bureau de changes chain ICE (https://www.iata.org/en/pressroom/pr/2020-03-05-01/). We marvel at Mark Zuckerberg complaining about fake news (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npa4E1eumjs) and celebrate that MindLabs – a mental health app – has raised $3.5 million to help reduce anxiety, stress and loneliness. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGAtPE85T04)

Shyft is an app for global citizens, based in South Africa. It helps you buy, send, and store local and foreign currency - anytime, anywhere, directly from your mobile. Visit getshyft.co.za to download the app. SHYFT operates under the license of The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited, an authorised Financial Services Provider (FSP number 11287).

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