I chatted with Coface chief Africa economist Aroni Chaudhuri about their June 2026 Economic Risk Review. Perhaps the most telling point was the lead point; eight countries downgraded; 45 sector assessment changes, of which 41 were downgrades vs just four upgrades. I also asked about South Africa as they reduce our expected to GDP to below 1% for this year and next.
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.
I had a great chat with AG Capital’s Casey Sprake about short sellers in the local market. Short selling is selling what you don’t own to make a profit from a falling price. This is common in markets the world over and the data is available from the JSE. She pointed out that some stocks; Truworths, Spar and Dis-chem had significant short positions and closing these positions could tale literally weeks. Creating real risk for the traders.
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.
We all know the frustration of technology that doesn’t do its job. A slow booting laptop or network that requires multiple steps to log in. I chatted with Altron Digital Business MD Craig Stewart about their new SA FSI Employee Technology Experience Index that tracks the impact and cost to business. No surprises that the cost can in places be massive.
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.
Reits continue to have a decent year, and I spoke with Ian Anderson of Merchant West Investments about the returns at the half-way stage of the year. After a strong June, the sector is ahead of both general equity and bonds in terms of returns. He’s expecting they should be able to have a continued good year as profits and dividends continue to grow.
You can also listen to this podcast on iono.fm here.