SADC nations reconsider taking part in endangered species deal
Maltza said while the country’s economic conditions had put pressure on consumer spending, HomeChoice has capitalised on its understanding of the power of the informal economy.
“People may not be formally employed but they have a saloon, work in a tavern or whatever other informal engagement. We are using a first-world categorisation of unemployment which does not reflect the South African situation,” she said.
Retail sales increased by 18.9 percent and FinChoice, the financial service offering, achieved a 30 percent increase in loan disbursements to R853m. Operating profit increased by 14.4 percent to R374m.
Credit on digital channels was up 54.7 percent to 39.1 percent of all credit, while cash generated from operations climbed 37.9 percent to R240m.
Financial services grew revenue by 13 percent and Ebitda by 15.9 percent, supported by a 30 percent increase in loan disbursements.
“Good growth in insurance revenue and strong adoption by customers of our mobi-wallet concept, MobiMoneyTM. A notable 86 percent of loan customers are registered for FinChoice’s digital platforms,” Maltz said.
HomeChoice shares closed at R39.80 on the JSE yesterday. SOUTHERN African nations, where the bulk of the continent’s wildlife lives, are reconsidering their participation in a global pact to protect endangered species.
The 16-member Southern African Development Community objects to rulings against applications made by its member states to ease restrictions on the trade of ivory and white rhinoceros products as well as the banning of exports of wild African elephants. The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or Cites, in Geneva.
“The time has come to seriously reconsider whether there are any meaningful benefits from our membership to Cites,” said George Simbachawene, Tanzania’s environment minister, in a statement released yesterday on behalf of SADC.
The group argues in the letter that decisions approved by Cites are increasingly driven by “protectionist ideology” upheld by largely Western non-government organisations rather than by conservation models based on science.
“Foremost among these motifs now dominating Cites is the unfounded belief that all trade fuels illegal, unsustainable trade, ignoring clear evidence to the contrary,” Simbachawene said.
Zimbabwe, which has the world’s second-largest population of elephants and will no longer be able to ship the pachyderms to China under new Cites rules, said earlier this year that it was considering withdrawing its membership. The cash-strapped country had lobbied for the suspension of a ban on the ivory trade so that it could earn from the sale of its ivory stockpile.
Botswana, the southern African nation with the world’s largest elephant population, has also repeatedly expressed its frustration over what it sees as foreign interference with its domestic conservation policy. Amid an international outcry, the government this year reversed a ban on wildlife hunting, because its elephants are destroying crops and often pose a danger to people.
In Geneva, Cites increased protection of giraffes and restricted trade in rhino products, banned the export of wild elephants outside of their natural habitat and refused to allow a once-off sale of ivory stockpiles.
Many of the measures were praised by international conservation organisations, including Humane Society International.