this is business briefing. i'm sally bundock. what is the outlook for the south african economy as its ruling party scrabbles to find a new leader. and will you pop in to a pop up shop? some of the worlds leading retailers hope so in the run up to christmas. we take you to new york to see how successful they are. and on the markets.... the penultimate week of the year has started really well in asia. south africa's ruling anc party is electing a new leader. deputy president cyril ramaphosa or nkosazana dlamini—zuma, a former cabinet minister and ex—wife of president zuma, will replace the current president.

but whoever wins faces a monumental challenge of reviving investor confidence in south africa and revitalising an economy which has been left in tatters by zuma. the current president inherited an economy in distress in 2009, but he also made it worse. under his leadership, which has been defined by corruption and the weakening of the country's institutions, south africa has endured two economic recessions in less than a decade. unemployment stands at a whopping 27.7%, the growth forecast for this year isjust 0.7%, and government debt is more than two trillion rand. the dire state of the economy

and its level of debt have led s&p and fitch to cut sa's credit rating to junk, while moody's is keeping it just above junk status, but on review. at the conference president zuma was bowing out gracefully. the fact that you gave me this responsibility, i would like to thank you and humble myself and say i tried my best. standing here, thank you and humble myself and say itried my best. standing here, i'm waiting for one leader to emerge who iam going waiting for one leader to emerge who i am going to call my president. with me is william attwell, senior analyst for sub—saharan africa at frontier strategy group. good to see you again. we were

speaking earlier about the significance of this, the change in leadership, et cetera. wejust heard president zuma. he did a long speech and talked about lots of issues that highlighted the fact that he feels a new era needs to begin in terms of people ‘s confidence in the anc. new era needs to begin in terms of people '5 confidence in the ancw has been hit in the past few years. after successive elections, the anc has lost support. a lot of that is tied to growing dissatisfaction and anger at the mounting corruption charges and other scandals that having got the administration. let's talk about the economy. i touched on a few elements but it illustrates the fact the economy is in a dire strait. it really is. investor confidence has drained from the economy during president zuma's term. a few months ago, he fired a quite respected finance minister and

send them, we had the downgrades to junk with the result that south africa's cost of servicing its debt has risen and that is causing problems for the budget. what do we know about the two candidates' economic policies then? nkosazana dlamini—zuma is more of a populist. she is vowing to continue and expand on mr zuma's radical economic transformation from which it had seen several controversial plans come into play including what was called a mining charter which involves handing stakes in big mining companies to black south africans and more radical land policies which is worrying to some businesses and is well increasing taxation for companies. as far as cyril ramaphosa's concerned, is he seen as a more cyril ramaphosa's concerned, is he seen as a more business friendly candidates? he is certainly the

market favourite. being a businessman himself. he has emphasised in his speeches that returning to growth is a priority. there are serious structural problems with the south african economy and the fact that part of his main constituency is trade unions, it will be quite difficult for him to push through reforms like privatising state enterprises or reforms of some such. it is assumed the announcement expected in a few hours off the leader of the anc could then become president in 2019. when it comes to corruption, whether the two candidates stand? cyril ramaphosa has certainly made fighting corruption are really core pa rt fighting corruption are really core part of his platform. if he manages

to do that, certainly the anc will see a big revival in support and i think they will win the 2019 election very comfortably. thank you for your impact. he is heading back to cape town for christmas. lovely to cape town for christmas. lovely to see you this morning. we will update you when we hear the announcement on who has become the leader of the anc party. moving onto other in business. japan's export growth accelerated in november,another sign of the steady economic recovery in the world's third largest economy let's go to our asia business hub where sharnjit leyl is following the story. how good are these numbers? almost unbelievable, sally, because it actually shows that japan is experiencing its second longest run of post war growth after years of deflation that we have been

reporting about and barely perceptible growth. it has now recorded a full year of gains. exports grew 16.2% in november and it is being led by robust demand for japanese products by china and the rest of asia. china, as we know, is japan's largest trading partner. they have counted 20% right —— 25% rise year on year. all of this is liquid—crystal displays and manufacture and other things. imports also rose, up by 17% and that was mainly oil and products from china like cellphones proved popular in japan. there from china like cellphones proved popular injapan. there is a meeting this week and we are keeping a close eye on it. with inflation stubbornly low, despite more than four years, we have seen aggressive monetary stimulus and many are expecting the central bank to keep rates near zero

at least for now. we are expecting the growth to continue into the future and that is because of the demand forjapanese future and that is because of the demand for japanese electronics future and that is because of the demand forjapanese electronics and products will help boost economic performance. 0k, sharanjit, thank you. an increasing number of brick and mortar stores are closing up shop as customers gravitate towards buying online. but this holiday season a growing number of big retailers are opening up temporary pop—up shops. that puts them in competition with the traditional vendors at seasonal holiday markets and could change the landscape of holiday shopping. samira hussain has more from new york. were two years ago, toys r us gave up were two years ago, toys r us gave up they are real estate but lo and behold, look who is back! toys r us

is here but only temporarily and only for the holidays. and it's not just toys r us. it needs and old navy —— tiffa ny‘s just toys r us. it needs and old navy —— tiffany's and old navy. just toys r us. it needs and old navy -- tiffany's and old navy. the holiday season provides us an opportunity to touch so many more people. we know we will hit tourists, the people of manhattan, the other boroughs and all in the heart of new york city. nowhere else better to do a pop—up. heart of new york city. nowhere else better to do a pop-up. it takes the question. why notjust open up a store ? question. why notjust open up a store? the answer, of course, has to do with money. brick and mortar retail is expensive. take new york city's famous grand central station. it is in midtown manhattan where retail space can cost nearly 99% more than the space in this holiday

market. that is because pop—up shops only have to pay rent temporarily. fro craft and jewellery maker like the blue count, best all in this market is critical to their bottom line. this holiday market, six weeks, it probably represents 50— 60% of our yearly. 0ne weeks, it probably represents 50— 60% of our yearly. one of the main reasons is that the location. we could never afford a store in midtown manhattan. shopping in america is in a state of flux. with consumer habits changing, all retailers are thinking their approach to the holidays. —— rethinking. there is a buying mentality when it comes to the stock markets in asia. they are up, up and away. a record close friday. at asian markets following the trend injapan at the

moment. up over 1%. we will see how long the spending spree lasts four. i will be back very soon. —— we will see how long the spending spree lasts for. tens of thousands of people may be putting themselves at increased risk of dying early from heart attacks and strokes because they're mis—using anabolic steroids. the british cardiovascular society has issued the stark warning amid concern steroids are now being used by more people than ever before, especially by young men under pressure to have the perfect body. dan whitworth reports. as well as heart attacks and strokes, people who take anabolic steroids also risk health problems like in fertility and mood swings. but those risks aren't putting the user ‘s offer. but those risks aren't putting the user 's offer. everything we do in life carries the risk of heart

attack, cancer, whatever it is. so whatever it is, i'm going to get those risks and the way selector is not to do certain things and this is what i choose for my lifestyle instead. i don't go out drinking and smoking but i take steroids. when it comes to the law, anabolic steroids are legal and legal to possess right across the uk. what is illegal is supplying them unless you are a doctor and if you are caught, you could face a prison sentence of up to 14 could face a prison sentence of up to 1a years. anabolic steroids cause an imbalance of hormones which can damage many different organs but in particular, the heart. but that doesn't stop this man who spoke on condition of anonymity from dealing them. there is a broad spectrum of people who used steroids. it is ranged from 18 —year—olds, just starting out and training and looking to bulk up for maybe a summer holiday. a summer holiday? or they just want to attract the girls. these are the guys that you need to inform better. make them more aware of the risks and dangers. according

to public health experts, hundreds of thousands of people are now using steroids. the government figures show there are just 25 prosecutions in england and wales were supplying them in the last two years. the group which advises the government on drug misuse is in the middle of a big review of anabolic steroids and due to report its findings next year. coming up at 6am on breakfast — charlie stayt and naga munchetty will have all the day's news, business and sport. this is the briefing from bbc news. the latest headlines: south africa's governing anc is voting to choose a new leader to succeed presidentjacob zuma. nearly 5000 delegates are expected to take part. deputy president, cyril ramaphosa appears to be leading the nominations. the united nations has warned the leaders of myanmar could face charges of genocide over the persecution of rohingya muslims. some 650,000 have fled

to bangladesh since august. austria's new coalition government of conservatives and the anti—immigration freedom party will be sworn in today. it makes austria the only country in western europe with a far—right party in power. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines in media across the world: we begin with the telegraph and comments from uk international development secretary penny morduant who said saudi arabia has "no excuses" for blocking food and fuel shipments to yemen and could be in breach of inter—national humanitarian law. the guardian focusses on brexit and the conservative rebels who defeated the uk government in a vote last week. they are now urging theresa may to reach out to labour mps and form a cross—party alliance for a soft brexit. the gulf news looks at us tax

reform saying the overhaul could help to further lift already record high us equities. earnings could exceed 15% a year when the corporate tax rate is phased in. the ft says bitcoin mania has re—ignited a race to launch an exchange—traded fund in the us that would track the volatile crypto—currency. finally the times has an article on facebook on its front page saying the social media giant has finally conceded that social media can harm mental health. however facebook also proposed that users could improve their well