South Africa is poised to reclaim its position as Africa’s largest economy, a title currently held by Nigeria. This shift in economic standings is attributed to a combination of South Africa’s consistent economic growth and Nigeria’s challenges in maintaining its rapid expansion. Over the years, South Africa has embarked on various reforms and initiatives aimed at boosting its economy. The country has seen substantial growth in sectors such as manufacturing, technology, and services. Investments in infrastructure and a focus on diversifying the economy have also played crucial roles
US investment bank Morgan Stanley on October 20 underscored India’s growing economic strength by upgrading India to “standout overweight.” The status is based on the country’s improving relative economic and earnings growth and the strength of the macro-stability set-up, which looks sufficient to withstand the higher real rate environment. The “dream” run of domestic flows continues and multipolar world dynamics are driving both FDI as well as portfolio flows towards the country, it said. Domestic equities top the brokerage’s global equity investment score with an overall sco
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) will start setting up Bharat Semiconductor Research Centre from next year in collaboration with the industry and academia, said Minister of State Rajeev Chandrasekhar on October 20. The centre aims to make India a global foundry supplier for semiconductors, packagers and integrated systems from design to products. A MeitY expert panel has recommended setting up a semiconductor research centre with an initial investment of around $8 billion (about Rs 66,500 crore) over the next five years. The panel submitted its report to the u
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 12 said that the unemployment rate in the country is at its lowest level in the last six years. In a video message to the Kaushal Deekshant Samaroh of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, the Prime Minister noted that new possibilities are being created for the youth as India’s economy is expanding. “The unemployment is decreasing rapidly in both rural and urban areas of India. It means the benefits of development are reaching both villages and cities equally, and as a result, new opportunities are increasing equally in both vi
Global technology companies in Israel may shift their business operations to India or other locations such as the Middle East or Eastern Europe, if the Israel-Hamas war intensifies, said a news report. Cited industry experts, the report said that the businesses may shift to locations with similar time zones and talent capabilities. According to reports, there are over 500 global companies in Israel. In addition to Microsoft, Intel, and Google from the US, firms such as Wipro and TCS from India have businesses in the country. These companies employ at least over 100,000 people. For a few
The Government of India has decided to rescind its earlier decision to impose restrictions on laptop imports. Trade Secretary Sunil Barthwal made this announcement on October 13. The original plan, which sought to implement a licensing system for laptop imports on August 3, was intended to ensure the entry of “trusted hardware and systems” into India. However, it faced a three-month delay due to opposition from the industry and criticism from other countries. Major tech giants like Apple, Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, and HP would have been significantly affected had the initial plan gone int
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched its first wind project of commercial size, making use of technology to exploit low wind speeds. The 103.5-megawatt project run by renewable energy firm Masdar is set to power more than 23,000 homes a year, spanning four locations. The project developed by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC – Masdar, demonstrates for the first time the latest technology and innovation to capture low wind speeds at utility scale, adopting advances in material science and aerodynamics to make wind power possible in the country. It marks the debut of cost-effecti
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 14 announced that the governments of India and Sri Lanka are working together on fintech sector connectivity by linking Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and Lanka Pay. The Prime Minister said this in his video message aired at the launch of ferry services between Nagapattinam in India and Kankesanthurai in Sri Lanka. PM Modi and Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe had signed an agreement on UPI acceptance in Sri Lanka during Wickremesinghe’s two-day visit to India in July this year. In 2022, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), th
India has allowed Nepal to sell the electricity generated by two of the Himalayan country’s hydropower projects in its real-time energy market, according to the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA). On July 31, India had opened the door to Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh to participate in its real time energy market by amending the ‘Procedure for approval and facilitating import/export (cross border) of electricity by the designated authority’ issued in February 2021. The Central Electricity Authority of India has allowed trading of 44 MW of electricity generated by the 19.4 MW Lower Mo
Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Aramco has increased the official selling prices (OSP) for November-loading Arab Light to Asia by 40 cents a barrel from October to $4 a barrel over Oman/Dubai quotes. The Kingdom on October 4 announced that it will continue with its voluntary output cut of 1 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) for November and until the end of December 2023. The price hike is in accordance with the market expectations of an increase of about 45 cents, and has pushed the price for the medium sour crude to its highest level this year. Saudi Aramco also raised the price for Extra L