Rational Radio

Flash Briefing: Venezuela's end game; Absa's Ramos to retire; Saudis dump Tesla; US charges Huawei

In today's global headlines.... US prosecutors have filed a raft of charges against China’s tech equipment giant and national champion Huawei.  The end game is fast approaching for Venezuela’s embattled leader Nicolas Maduro with the US imposing sanctions on his last source of income.  Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is…

29 Jan 2019 4 min

Flash Briefing: Stanford world's top MBA; Worst mining disaster since 1966; Naspers spends big in Russia; Brexit hits London houses hard

In global news headlines..... Turnover in the London housing market has fallen to its lowest level since the Global Financial Crisis ten years ago and those who do sell have accepted 11% less than their asking prices. The world’s largest iron ore producer, Brazilian group Vale, is in the global…

28 Jan 2019 4 min

Maria Ramos: Absa's statement of intent in capturing Davos Promenade

We never chatted about it in this interview, but Absa CEO Maria Ramos is sure to allow herself a wry smile when reflecting on the latest rockets to hit her former bosses at Barclays. Because while Ramos was making a massive statement in Davos with the newly independent Absa, her…

27 Jan 2019 21 min

Naspers' Koos Bekker: Ultimate insider's view of Davos, Facebook, Multichoice and more

After I switched off my recorder, Koos Bekker suggested there was enough in our half hour chat in Davos this morning for me to edit it down to something usable. He was wrong. Despite strictly applying the old maxim of “when in doubt, leave out” it was impossible for me…

25 Jan 2019 34 min

Flash Briefing: Radical changes coming at Eskom; Soros attacks Xi; IMF warns on trade war; More money laundering scandals likely

In Davos yesterday, Finland’s former prime minister and EU presidential hopeful Alexander Stubb warned that more money laundering scandals are likely to be uncovered in the wake of the Danske Bank and Deutsche Bank investigations. Also in Davos, IMF chief executive Christine Lagarde identified the trade war between the US…

24 Jan 2019 3 min

Meet Durban's Skye Meaker, photographer extraordinaire, Davos 2019's youngest speaker

The subject of this episode had two bits of good fortune. First, to have parents who were mad about the bush. Second, to find his passion – wildlife photography – outrageously early, in his case even before he started attending school. Those twin pieces of fortune brought 16 year old…

24 Jan 2019 13 min

Sasol’s CEOs on Davos, Lake Charles and a firmer oil price

Two and a half years ago when the Sasol directorate appointed joint chief executives, there was a fair amount of discomfort among investment analysts. Having two captains has proven challenging for many similarly sized businesses. But Bongani Nqwababa and Steve Cornell have proved to be sparkling exceptions to that apparent…

24 Jan 2019 21 min

Investec's Stephen Koseff: How to recover the trillion rand Zumanomics cost SA

In this wide ranging interview from the deeply thoughtful Investec co-founder Stephen Koseff, he covers Brexit, geopolitics, the purpose of Davos, South Africa's promised rebound and his onw involvement in the recovery process. Koseff puts the overall cost of the nine years of Jacob Zuma's misrule at a staggering trillion…

24 Jan 2019 18 min

Meet Popo Molefe: Transnet's corruption-busting chair who wants Guptas back in SA

An oft heard refrain from those cynics of South Africa's clean-up is that nobody has been brought to account. That might be a consequence of the sheer scale of the corruption that took place in the past nine years - and the near daily uncovering of additional malfeasance. But even…

24 Jan 2019 27 min

Adrian Gore: Check the data - SA has already improved; better to come.

You wonder how some people find the time to achieve as much in a day as the rest of us need a week for. Discovery Group co-founder and CEO Adrian Gore is one of these supercharged human beings. Apart from building a multinational group that, with its global partners is…

24 Jan 2019 15 min

Fascinating Davos moments with "healthy ageing" scientist Constantinos Demetriades

The primary advantage of regular returns to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos is the way one gets to witness broad global trends imposing themselves - or fading away. In recent years, the science of ageing has been moving ever higher on the agenda, aligned perhaps with the…

24 Jan 2019 19 min

Flash Briefing: SA more popular; New Venezuelan "leader" recognised; Ramaphosa off-piste again

South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa announced in Davos yesterday that the country would hold a second Investment Conference this year, to progress the plan to raise $100bn in new fixed investment in five years. While the first day was dedicated to global environmental threats, on Wednesday challenges posed by the…

23 Jan 2019 3 min

Flash Briefing 23 Jan: From Davos - Prince William, Attenborough, Bolsonaro, Pompeo, Du Toit.

In today's global headlines.. Sustainability was high on the agenda in Davos yesterday, with Britain’s Prince William’s professional interview with film-maker David Attenborough stealing the show. The focus on ESG – Environment, Social and Governance – was also a theme of the first foreign address by Brazil’s new president Jair…

22 Jan 2019 4 min

In Davos: Investec CEO Hendrik du Toit flexing brainpower. Must listen.

It’s been my privilege to have known the subject of today’s episode for many years, almost since the day arrived 27 years ago at a then small banking company with an idea of starting an asset management business. Deciding to back this one man and a briefcase was one of…

22 Jan 2019 27 min

Flash Briefing: Zim prez joins Davos no shows; AU backtracks on DRC; Edelmans 2019 Trust Barometer

Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa joined an already long list of Davos no shows that have taken a lot of shine off the 2019 annual meeting which kicks off tonight. The Ellermans Trust Barometer, which will be officially released in Davos tomorrow, shows a continued worsening of trust in governance institutions…

21 Jan 2019 5 min

Flash Briefing: Historic AU move on DRC; Intu woes grow; Netflix adds 8.8m; US/China war cooling.

IN TODAY’S GLOBAL HEADLINES… The African Union today broke with an appeasing stance by Cyril Ramaphosa-led SADC, to strongly condemn the official results of the DRC presidential election. Hopes are growing that the trade war between the America and China, which threatens global economic growth, will be resolved during high…

18 Jan 2019 4 min

Flash Briefing: Jack Bogle dies; Mrs May deals; SA holds DRC presidential key; Goldman sets aside $500m for 1MDB

IN TODAY’S GLOBAL HEADLINES… Jack Bogle, the father of index investing and a crusader for private investor’s rights, has died. He was 89. Theresa May’s Conservative Party government narrowly survived a vote of no confidence last night, thanks to the support of the ten members of its Northern Irish ally,…

17 Jan 2019 4 min

True confessions of a 40-bagging Bitcoin Surfer

Peter McCormack is proof that there's a novel waiting to be written in every life. An advertising entrepreneur who fell into Bitcoin because of his terminally ill mother, he bought early, enjoyed a 40-fold return on investment, but stayed too long at the fairground. He shares this cautionary tale that…

16 Jan 2019 21 min

Flash Briefing: May won't resign; VW/Ford join forces; Big Bank CEO loses job; DRC election scandal grows

IN TODAY’S GLOBAL HEADLINES… Reports from inside the UK cabinet say British Prime Minister Theresa May was persuaded to withdraw an offer to resign after yesterday’s crushing defeat of her Brexit plan. Once fierce rivals Volkswagen and Ford, the world’s second and fifth biggest motor manufacturers, are joining forces to…

16 Jan 2019 4 min

Flash Briefing: More New Look misery for Brait; New gold giant created; Death knell for Brexit plan; Fresh peak for China's US trade surplus.

IN TODAY’S GLOBAL HEADLINES… British Prime Minister Theresa May’s impassioned plea ahead of a key Parliamentary vote this evening appears to have fallen on deaf ears. US president Donald Trump is sure to draw additional support for his trade war on China after last night’s news that the 10% tariffs,…

15 Jan 2019 4 min