Africa leads the world in opening new businesses

VIOLENT protests over the total allowable catch (Tac) for the West Coast Rock Lobster have been slammed as “premature, misplaced and misleading”, because a decision had not yet been taken on the matter.

Disgruntled small-scale fishers in the Western Cape went on the rampage this week and torched property to “demonstrate their anger” over a recommendation that the Tac from the previous fishing season be reduced.

Details of the recommendation were not clear, because Siphokazi Ndudane, the deputy director-general of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, who is mandated to speak on the matter, could not be reached for comment.

Small-scale fishers have argued that attempts to reduce the Tac would threaten their livelihoods, because they depended solely on fishing for survival. They also accused the department of kowtowing to big fishing companies in the allocation of fishing quotas instead of prioritising them.

The department, however, hit back at the small-scale fishers, saying their actions were misleading, because no decision had been taken yet on the Tac for crayfish for the 2017/18 fishing season.

“A consultation is under way, based on a recommendation to reduce the Tac from the previous fishing season. This process is the normal one followed to determine the annual Tac, and the recommendation does not constitute a decision,” said department spokesperson Carol Moses.

She said the fishing season for crayfish started on October 1 for the Northern Cape and November 1 for the other areas, and the department would announce the Tac for the coming season “shortly”.

The department said it recognised the “legitimate grievances and demands” by small-scale fishing communities, and was attempting to address them.

“The department is concerned that the recent protests linked to a rumoured reduction in the Tac are premature. The department appeals for calm and urges law and order to be maintained to prevent destruction to lives and property.”

A small-scale fisherman yesterday posted on Facebook: “The reasons for the violence in the fishing villages are due to the fact that the fishermen’s livelihood has been taken away. The quotas have been allocated, and only 406 people were successful of the over 3 890 entrants.”

The fisherman claimed that over the years the size of quotas had been decreasing, while levies and fees had shot up. ALTHOUGH Africa has the highest share in the world of adults starting or running new businesses, the continent’s real (after-inflation) growth in gross domestic product (GDP) slowed to 2.2% last year, while southern Africa struggled even more, with growth of only 1.1%.

These were some of the statistics presented yesterday by Trevor Hardy, the chief executive of The Future Laboratory, at the annual congress of the South African Council of Shopping Centres at the new extension of the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

In his presentation on “The new retail consumer”, Hardy looked at attitudes and preferences of a new kind of consumer, and what this would mean for the retail sector in the coming years.

Hardy said the global retail market was set to grow in the next three years, with total retail sales rising to more than R367.7 trillion in 2020, up from an estimated R300.221trln. However, in the African context, although industrialisation was continuing, African economies were now reflecting global struggles, with the continent’s real GDP growth slowing to 2.2% last year.

“Growth is expected to rise to 4.3% in 2018, however. Africa has the highest share in the world of adults starting or running a new businesses.”

Hardy said Millennials were set to dominate retail spending in China, and by 2024 the total annual income of that generation, about 415-million strong, was set to reach R4.3trln, or double the size of the UK’s current GDP.

“They spend 14% of their incomes on non-food shopping, the highest rate in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Another market Hardy highlighted was the global Muslim population – a relatively untapped commercial market. The Muslim middle class was expected to triple in size, from an about 300m in 2015 to 900m by 2030.

He said the global halaal market alone was worth R20trln annually and was increasing by more than R6 billion annually.

On technology, he said: “Typing, tapping and swiping will decline as input mechanisms on devices as voice-recognition gains ground.”