Banking and financial services

Carbon credits and green investing are catching on.

Carbon credits and renewable energy certificates can now be traded on Africa’s largest stock exchange, following the launch in 2023 of the JSE Ventures Voluntary Carbon Market. JSE Ventures is collaborating with US company Xpansiv, which has experience in global environmental markets. South Africa has had carbon taxes since 2019.

One of South Africa’s newer stock exchanges, the Cape Town Stock Exchange (which started life as 4AX), oversaw the listing of an initial tranche of preference shares of the Gaia Renewables REIT, a fund that caters to investors who want to have a stake in the burgeoning renewable energy economy. It is expected that more investors will want to be part of a sector that is showing enormous potential.

TymeBank is taking the concept of “retail banking” to another level. Having run banking kiosks within retailers such as Pick n Pay and Boxer for several years, TymeBank has signed a deal with TFG, a group that has a big presence all across South Africa. What used to be known as the Foschini Group has 34 brands, including Markhams, Totalsports, Jet and Dial a Bed, and 30-million customers. In the short term, TymeBank will have access to 600 TFG kiosks, taking the bank’s total in South Africa to 1 450.

Another relatively new bank is Capitec. Investment holding company PSG has reduced its holding in Capitec Bank from 32% to 4%, earning about R4-billion by selling those shares.

Discovery Bank reported in 2022 that it was signing up 750 new clients every day which puts it on course to achieve more than 600 000 customers by 2024. The bank, which launched in 2019, has already opened more than one-million accounts. Long-term insurer and asset manager Liberty has delisted from the JSE and has been integrated into the Standard Bank Group.

Financial services group Old Mutual received permission from the prudential authority of the South African Reserve Bank to apply for a banking licence. The bank will spend R1.75billion on setting up the bank and intends to launch in 2024.

Online Resources

Financial Sector Conduct Authority: www.fsca.co.za

Insurance Institute of South Africa: www.iisa.co.za

South African Institute of Chartered Accountants: www.saica.co.za

PHOTO: John Young

Sector Insight

The JSE has launched a carbon-trading market.

African Bank has signalled that it is ready to grow, with an agreement to buy Grindrod Bank and an R80-million deal to purchase lender Ubank. After going into administration in 2014, African Bank took some time to recover and is still halfowned by the Reserve Bank but it has materially added to its retail client base and the addition of more than 4.5-million clients with the purchase of the troubled Ubank, which had as its base mine workers, will further strengthen its position. The R1.5-billion purchase of Grindrod Bank gives African Bank a stronger position in business lending.

The South African state has promised a huge infrastructure drive and has established an entity called Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) to coordinate and encourage catalytic projects. The business and investment communities are also interested in infrastructure but in the context of climate change, the emphasis is increasingly on sustainability.

Sanlam, established in 1918 as a life insurer, is now a financial services company with five main divisions, including Corporate, Personal Finance and Emerging Markets. Santam focusses on shortterm insurance. With its headquarters in Bellville, Sanlam is Africa’s largest insurance company.

Sanlam Investments has launched a Sustainable Infrastructure Fund which primarily invests in senior or subordinated debt across a wide range of South African infrastructure assets, with the ability to invest up to 10% in equity.

Sanlam Group will invest R6-billion in the fund and aims to attract a further R5-billion from institutional investors. Investments will be made in housing, transport, health, water, waste, communication, conventional energy and renewable energy, a fast-growing sector with enormous potential.

Large-scale infrastructure projects like the Berg River Voelvlei Augmentation Water Scheme (BRVAS), pictured, are examples of the kind of projects that need to attract investment from a variety of sources. Even when National Treasury is the main funder, complications can arise. Managed by the Trans-Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA), the BRVAS project could only go ahead once offtake agreements had been signed. In October 2022, the City of Cape Town Council approved a R2.3billion Water Supply Agreement (WSA) with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS). ■

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