the south african government have to help eskom at this point?vernment have to help eskom at this point? i think there are quite a lot of tools available. 0bviously looking at operational and other issues, there are experts being brought in to improve the quality of supply at eskom to try and repair the damage. and then obviously looking to improve skills levels at eskom and dividing it into three separate culprits which could relieve pressure as well. looking at the finances themselves, the government is offering financial assistance to eskom. not enough to solve its debt problems and liquidity issues but to start doing that on a drip by drip basis to keep going until it can return to a profitable base and work its own debt levels down. what other pressing issues need to be addressed in terms of the south african economy? i think certainly the last key credit rating agency moody's and needing to provide a substantial financial allocation to eskom, moody's has said if we increase expenditure levels this could see a credit rating negative result.

the eskom situation is being closely monitored by ratings agency moody's.y analysts are predicting they mayjoin fitch and s&p, by downgrading south africa to ‘junk status‘ if the situation is not resolved soon. junk status means the cost of borrowing will be more expensive. however debt is not the only issue for south africa. the country is also trying to tackle a high jobless rate. last month the unemployment rate hit 27.1%, meaning 6 million potential workers were without a job. and the country's currency the rand has fallen 18% against the us dollar over the past year. this week alone it's down 6%, as international investors remain concerned over the issues at eskom. razia khan, head of economics, africa at standard chartered bank joins me now. they have few economic problems right now? at great deal resting on this urgent. usually we would be looking at revenue, spending, if revenue would be a bit data than last forecast, would spend even be less 7 last forecast, would spend even be less? but the real issue that you highlighted is what the government in

increases are one component of the financial stabilization of eskom. hand, we cannot have excessive increases because that has a negative impact on the economy. we cannot have no increases because eskom at the moment requires that revenue stream. a modest increase will be appropriate. of course, that is not in our hands. in south africa, we have an independent regulator which will look at all of these factors and that make this decision. -- and then make this decision. manus: the risk the markets, the rand, is between now and march 29. the central bank says the banking system has enough capital to withstand a downgrade . would you concur with that? strongbanking system enough to hold up if there is a downgrade and also, what pressure would come to bear on the currency? that is an issue but for the central bank and for the minister of finance to comment on. remember that south african had even a bigger challenge in 2008 and 2009 when the great recession had an impact on our economy. we had a drop of 50 billion rand in revenue at that time. the banking s

four point nine billion dollars bailout for the ailing state owned electric electricity has realty eskom to be spread out over three years as now owes a whopping estimated thirty billion dollars in interest payments and operating costs credit ratings agencies say eskom is the biggest threat to the economy that hasn't expanded or more than two percent since twenty thirty the south african economy needs to grow faster to tackle the country's rising unemployment which is now slightly above a staggering twenty seven percent and power cuts helped to little to spur manufacturing in the country so eskom is finally getting the bailout it needs let's check in with our south africa for us from the fund joins us now as it will this bailout help and what consequences will it have for the south african economy. slash for the south african credit rating and will it also help ramaphosa sway voters. well there was a help to keep the lights on i mean in a hospital we have seen that blackouts are in south africa that basically has come couldn't deliver the electricity any more so it is important that as t

wants the states to assume part of eskom stance of more than thirty billion dollars . meanwhile the south african rand weakened against the u.s. dollar following rama poses address a sign that investors aren't fully convinced by his economic prescriptions and that they expect new elections to bring added turmoil the round fell to a week low of thirteen point six six per dollar raising a recent search against the greenback the rand has been under pressure over the past year as risk investors flee emerging markets for safe havens like u.s. dollar assets. if you support the idea of a basic income to fight poverty for instance listen to this finance government has just revealed to the first findings from a two year basic income trial researchers say providing a basic income did not the unemployed to find work in january twenty seven thousand two thousand unemployed finn's became the first european citizens to be given a guaranteed basic income so a wage that would be paid regardless of whether they worked or not and they were also no requirement that they not. here in euro

dollars worth of debt and crumbling infrastructure that the situation at eskom now threatens to derail the government the government plans to lift the sluggish economy. is the factory manager at bottle princes one hundred thirty person strong industrial plastics and glass printing company in johannesburg. already navigating a recession in africa's most industrialized economy he must now contend with the load shedding mass blackouts that have returned to south africa after an absence of several years. the second time it's a protest this week because a major problem a production line basically outcome becomes a granny all for four hours. state power company s come blames the current situation on a backlog of maintenance and. pe work. they claim they must shut down parts of the grid or the country will face a complete power outage. i just which are not generate that there's no not going to happen running but the problem is that there's going to any runoff and are making. their capital outlay to have this to run out thank you just like you can only call but it's not the only infrastructure

sharing where it switches off different parts of the grid so prevent a full failure eskom supplies ninety percent of the country's electricity blackouts have rippled through the economy with south african rand on course to lose three percent of value for the week. so that's good news for now writes well the problems of the last week just a symptom of larger troubles the state expects to be bankrupt. by a probe meaning africa's most developed economy could suffer further blackouts unless action is taken but that won't be easy let's have a closer look at the company's problems most importantly eskom is sitting on a rather impressive pile of dead from thirty billion dollars worth of it that makes borrowing difficult which creates a problem for daily operations like maintenance and repairs and that means it's harder to keep the network in working order as comms ability to generate electricity has fallen over the years as the entire grid becomes more fragile so as a government bailout inevitable well south africa's state finances are not in the best shape either the country's debt load has alr

a four point nine billion dollars bailout for the ailing state don't elect electricity as a latina eskom to be spread out over three years as now owes a whopping estimated thirty billion dollars in interest payments and operating costs credit ratings agencies say eskom is the biggest threat to the economy that hasn't expanded or more than two percent since twenty thirty the south african economy needs to grow faster to tackle the country's rising unemployment which is now slightly above a staggering twenty seven percent and as comes to power cuts helped to little to spur manufacturing in the country so eskom is fun.

but eskom declined to speak to us. south africa's environment ministry is looking to phase out coal long-term in favour of renewables. in the meantime, the ministry wants german firms and banks to participate not only in building power plants but also in reducing the pollution those plants cause. >> i think there has to be an improvement. if we are going to be investing, doing any assistanan at all, t e coal industry should be looking at mitigation of the problems associated with that. there has to be an improvement on that side. >> south africa is seen as a third world place where you can dump parts of your business that are not acceptable in your own country but makes financial sense for some investor or for some bank, which is unethical approach to another country. >> munnik points out that germany has closed many of its own mimines in favour of impmpd coal, thereby trtransferring te environmental burden to others. germany does indeed import up to ten percent of its coal from mines in south africa. here at this disu

the rating agency moody's has already warned it will further downgrade the country if it bails out eskom so where do things stand president obama pose a hazard and also plan to restructure the company and he says the government will indeed provide more financial help here's what he told parliament on thursday it has become clear that indeed it has come does need to be i says that by the state so that it can stabilize is fine because doing so also means that we are stabilizing the economy of our country. now here's a roundup of some of the other business stories making headlines today. global sales of german comic of folks foreign dropped almost two percent in january compared to last year company blamed weak demand in the u.s. which cancelled out sales growth in other regions. british billionaire richard branson says he's organizing a concert to raise money to help the people of venezuela he said the event could take place next week in colombia branson is hoping the public city will pressure socialist president nicolas maduro to allow much needed aid into the country. a body representing

seven percent and as comes to power cuts helped to little to spur manufacturing in the country so eskom is finally getting the bailout it needs let's check in with our south africa for us funded a fund joins us now as it will this bailout help and what consequences will it have for the south african economy slash for the south african credit rating and will it also help ramaphosa sway voters. well there was a help to keep the lights on i mean in a hospital we have seen that blackouts are in south africa that basically has come couldn't deliver the electricity any more so it is important that as they are obvious they are also to minimize the said this is not a bail out we're just supporting them and ask them need to retain the money back but it is important of course to at least not and so that becomes upset that they don't have electricity now also to get investors that she said the credit rating agencies have been very worried i mean as i finance and as well that they have to have very difficult talks with them and that he hopes and plans are and how will reassure at least their rating

state electric utility eskom well now the nation's experience at least four days of rolling blackouts engineered by eskom in order to somehow meet demand while staving off a collapse of the entire grid the move was taken on sunday and reportedly is officially termed a stage for a load shedding what a term and the power crisis reportedly has today even as the political debate remains hot earlier today president ramaphosa told the south african parliament committed to breaking up eskom a move which he denied as a prelude to a feared privatization it's unclear how that would work out. and to it turning to the international dirty money beat we told you about the european commission's report decision to add saudi arabia to a list of nations accused of failing to take action to prevent financial crimes well now the commission has raised even more are in washington by adding the u.s. territories four of them to the list american samoa guam the u.s. virgin islands and puerto rico all officially unincorporated terry is territories of the states they were added to the money laundering blacklist

it is a fairly easy step from what is happening at eskom, a power utility in south africa, massivelyependent on coal. it is its largest input in terms of the business. steve wallace joins us to talk about the news out of the mining sector today. bigs pivot from eskom, a kind of cold company in south africa -- kind of coal company in south africa. demand to capg to it. reporter: i think what it shows is that even the most hardened lovers of coal, and i think you can put glencore in that category, is realizing they can't ignore it anymore. it is extraordinary how anyone at this company for any length of time that has heard anything their executives have said, and they are right. there is demand for coal. there will continue to be demand for coal. -- investors are with investors in western markets are saying we need evidence that you are going to back away from this. it had thears, fastest demand grows of any fuel on the planet. that is just a function of the fact that it is cheap and abundant. it is also terrible to burn. it is really, really bad for the world. this is a step in the ri

the trouble around the power cuts i'm sorry state of south africa's eskom energy company put the spotlight on an issue that is plaguing economies all over the continent a reliable energy supply but if you think that's a problem only developing economies think again germany for example is about to get a brand new pipeline to pump millions of tons of gas from russia to germany it's called north stream too and it's highly disputed. russian gas has been flowing directly to germany since twenty eleven. through north stream one now a second pipeline is being built the north stream two was scared to come online by the end of this year europe believes it needs the gas to meet its growing energy needs but the united states fears europe is going to dependent on gas from russia. and the government of the new putin. last week u.s. president mike pence even discussed the issue of america's opposition to the project with chancellor merkel saying we cannot strengthen the west by becoming dependent on the east with me in the studio now is us host got an investigative journalist from denmark who has writte

the heavily indebted state firm eskom has slashed thousands of megawatts from the national grid — aftere. fixing the struggling firm presents a big challenge for president cyril ramaphosa — who faces elections in may. all taxi and private hire drivers here in the uk could face additional criminal record checks under new government proposals. a consultation has been launched on new licensing guidelines to better protect vulnerable passengers. last year a government report found that current laws regulating drivers were not fit for the modern world. girls as young as five years old are learning about cybersecurity with help from the girl scouts of america. scouts can earn badges and patches by participating in various activities. the bbc‘s cody godwin joined some of the girl scouts of northern california as they earned their first cybersecurity patch. these are some of the first girls to earn our patch. 0ne these are some of the first girls to earn our patch. one of the girls is nine years old and has been a girl scarred for five years old. didn't know about cyber security when i came her

company into three entities generation transmission and distribution he said this was necessary because eskom had not been properly managed in its current form unions fear the move could pave the way for privatization and job losses this fall misled the thirty billion dollars of debt following years of mismanagement outages and threaten to derail south africa's economy. that's all from me and the business africa. website for more. quadriga international talk show for journalists discuss the topic of. next week's the ballots in the host a conference on sexual abuse by clerics francis is trying to restore faith in his sacred institution. joining as we discuss the catholic church's darkest secrets on point. sixty minutes. and on demand. language courses. video or you know. any time anywhere. w. music terms. this is the news africa coming up in the next fifteen minutes the elusive preacha ports on fill the black panther sightings have long been rumored in kenya scientists have confirmed animals presence there with a serious offer a images. and the calls from candidate will make the nigeria teache

company into three entities generation transmission and distribution he said this was necessary because eskom had not been properly managed in its current form unions fear the move could pave the way for privatization and job losses as paul misled the thirty billion dollars of debt following years of mismanagement i'll see just how it's threatening to derail south africa's economy. that's all from me on the business africa team you can always go to our website for more let's. let's watch. once upon a time there was a young girl. with a burning ambition. to become a conductor. ever is a very curious child and very excited and in love with music and i would go to concerts with my parents and. yearn for being on stage with the musicians and being part of that magic it wasn't difficult from that first girl so she was told to become conductors but this girl had other ideas and one day she really did become a world famous conductor playing along to the above. us . to. start feb eighteenth on t.w. . crofts against humanity. civilians become with the six of clubs. their recorded images travel around

restructuring plan worth roughly five billion dollars over three years as we previewed here on the program eskom is now slated to be split into three smaller units including a separate transmission company which will all be loosely grouped under one new calendar of managing eskimos accumulated debt less difficult even if that's true experts say the bureaucratic transition will take some time. and across the atlantic a french court has fined swiss bank u.b.s. nearly four billion euros privy to it pursuant to a conviction on tax fraud when damages are added the total hit on u.b.s. is a bottom line is expected to tell a four point three billion euros or almost five billion u.s. dollars while the fight is large french prosecutors had originally sought an even larger one of roughly six billion dollars u.b.s. was found by the court to have helped wealthy french clients conceal billions of euros from two thousand and four to two thousand and twelve the bank says it will appeal the ruling u.b.s. stock on the news of the fine but it has managed to tick up slightly in trading today. and seeking a fountain

you demonstrators are opposed to of and restructuring at the state and electricity company called eskom employees nearly fifty thousand people unions say the government's plan to privatization and job cuts. the organizers said fifteen thousand people would come with probably only about a tenth of that the congress the south african trade union supporters dwindled over many years one of the reasons a little bit members think its leaders haven't been very effective at lobbying the government of the african national congress to actually pass legislation that helps workers. see needs the support of the trade unions. in general elections in may the president's iran opposes research trying to please big business and foreign investors to i want to start off in his state of the nation address last week he promised economic growth and jobs. of the republic you cater to different constituencies. realizes that is as much as they can claim to be leftist. they do need business and i think everyone realizes that the majority of new jobs that have to be created created by the private sector. it's toug

it's to rescue the state power company eskom. milton nkosi looks at how we got here.d rolling power cuts to avert a total collapse of the electricity grid. as it did in 2008 and 2014. of the electricity grid. as it did in 2008 and 201a. it of the electricity grid. as it did in 2008 and 2014. it is the latest threat to an already struggling economy. veronica has been selling ice cream to supplement the income she makes from her vegetable stand. but over the past few days she has run ata but over the past few days she has run at a loss. she has had to throw away more than ten litres of milk. she tells me she is frustrated and she is losing money. every time the power goes off, she is having to turn away customers. there are a number of reasons for the power crisis, among them to interlink coal supplies, a shortage of fans and delayed maintenance. we are in an emergency, we are in a crisis mode and today you begin to feel the effects of state capitol on the one hand, but also the reality that you have very old power stations operating. among the emergency plans announced