investments

The southernmost tip of Africa is home to a nation on the rise - a place where a warm-spirited and inventive people, great natural wealth and breathtaking landscapes come together to create fresh opportunities and new ways of doing things.

Global software corporation Microsoft buys 12 percent of newly listed South African company Blue Label Telecoms, providing Blue Label with an opportunity to increase its global footprint.

MIH Internet, a wholly owned subsidiary of South African media group Naspers, has made a £946-million (about R13.1-billion) offer to acquire London-listed Tradus, which operates online trading platforms and other related internet service websites in 12 mainly Eastern European countries.

MIH Internet, a wholly owned subsidiary of South African media group Naspers, has made a £946-million offer to acquire London-listed Tradus, which operates online trading platforms and other related internet service websites in 12 mainly Eastern European countries.

China's largest bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, has purchased a 20% stake in South Africa's Standard Bank for US$5.5-billion, representing the largest foreign direct investment in the country to date.

Mauritius-based Safal Investments, which owns steel-coating facilities in eastern and southern Africa, plans to build a US$100-million plant in KwaZulu-Natal, marking the company's third investment in South Africa.

With South Africa's tourism industry registering healthy growth and the 2010 Fifa World Cup still to come, it's little wonder that local hospitality groups are attracting increasing attention from foreign investors.

South Africa is to set up and host the Permanent Court of Arbitration for Africa, a branch of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, to help resolve inter-state and non-state disputes on the continent.

Investing in South African equities is "a paying proposition by a huge margin," says a local unit trust marketer, but South Africans seem to be missing the boat.

South Africa's Industrial Development Corporation has partnered with the European Union to launch a R450-million credit facility for emerging small businesses in the country.