Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Fri, Jul 03, 2026 02:58 PM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Richard Calland

Associate Professor in Public Law, University of Cape Town

Richard Calland has for over 20 years been working in the fields of democratic governance and sustainable development in South Africa and beyond. Based at the University of Cape Town (UCT), Calland is also a Fellow of the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), working as a member of faculty on a range of customised leadership and strategy programmes for amongst others the World Bank, PWC, the African Development Bank, Nedbank, Namdeb, Network Rail and Tata. He is also the co-director of the African Climate Finance Hub and the governance advisor to the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST), an international initiative directed towards information disclosure in large public infrastructure projects. Amongst other corporate clients, he is a long-time retained consultant to Massmart, Africa’s largest retailer that was acquired by Walmart in 2011, advising on issues of politics, sustainability and governance, as well as providing regular political risk briefings to the investor clients of UBS and Citi Bank, and has recently established a new advisory organisation – The Paternoster Group: African Political Insight. His most recent book, Make of Break: How the next three years will shape South Africa's next three decades, was published in late 2016. He is also the author of Anatomy of South Africa (2006) and The Zuma Years (2013). His political column, Contretemps, has appeared in the Mail & Guardian newspaper since 2001. Before moving to South Africa in 1994, Calland practiced law for seven years at the London Bar.

Future of Coal Series

Gas isn’t a good alternative to coal – South Africa should focus on solar, wind and green hydrogen

Oct 08, 2024 07:23 am UTC| Economy

South Africa is immersed in a just energy transition from a fossil fuel-based energy system to a cleaner, low-carbon energy system. This new system will be based primarily on renewable energy, such as solar, wind and green...

Ramaphosa left with tricky choices as South Africa bungles Chief Justice appointment

Feb 08, 2022 03:38 am UTC| Politics

After a fraught and fractious week of public interviews that shed heat but little light on the four candidates eligible to become the next Chief Justice, South Africas Judicial Service Commission has recommended that...

The six mega challenges testing leaders at a time of national and global crisis

Mar 26, 2020 16:04 pm UTC| Politics Economy

The COVID-19 pandemic is an extreme crisis that puts government under severe pressure. It puts the political judgement of the president or prime minister under the most intense spotlight. Not since the height of the Cold...

Economy

Asian Currencies Rise as Dollar Weakens; Yen Holds Steady Amid Japan Intervention Watch

Most Asian currencies edged higher on Friday after the U.S. dollar retreated from a 13-month high following weaker-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, raising fresh questions about the Federal Reserves interest rate...

Asian Stocks Rebound as Tech Shares Rally on Fed Rate Cut Hopes and Easing Iran Tensions

Asian stock markets rebounded sharply on Friday as investors returned to technology shares following a week of heavy selling, while easing geopolitical tensions and growing expectations of Federal Reserve interest rate...

Oil Prices Slip as Oversupply Concerns and U.S.-Iran Talks Shape Market Outlook

Oil prices edged lower on Friday as improving global crude supplies and expectations of near-term oversupply continued to pressure the market, while traders reduced bearish positions ahead of the U.S. holiday weekend....

Gold Price Today: Bullion Heads for First Weekly Gain as Weak U.S. Jobs Data Eases Rate Hike Fears

Gold prices stabilized on Friday as weaker-than-expected U.S. nonfarm payrolls data eased concerns over additional Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, helping bullion recover after recently falling to an eight-month low....

China Services PMI Beats Forecasts as Strong Demand Supports June Growth

Chinas services sector expanded at a faster-than-expected pace in June, highlighting the resilience of the countrys economy despite ongoing challenges in domestic consumption. A private business survey released on Friday...

Politics

US Ambassador Prioritizes Cook Islands Critical Minerals, Warns of China’s Pacific Influence

The United States is placing greater emphasis on securing critical minerals from the Cook Islands, with newly appointed U.S. Ambassador Jared Novelly identifying the resource-rich nation as a key strategic priority while...

Air Force Investigates Officer After Capitol Protest Calling for Trump, Vance Impeachment

The U.S. Air Force has launched an investigation into an active-duty officer who publicly called for the impeachment of President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance during a protest outside the U.S. Capitol, drawing...

Venezuela Interim President Defends Earthquake Response as Death Toll Climbs

Venezuelas Interim President Delcy Rodriguez on Thursday strongly defended her governments response to the devastating earthquakes that struck the countrys northern coast, rejecting accusations that officials reacted too...

Taiwan Simulates Chinese Blockade and Invasion in Major Civil Defense Drill

Taiwan has stepped up its civil defense and military preparedness with one of its most comprehensive resilience exercises, simulating a Chinese blockade, cyberattacks, disinformation, infrastructure sabotage, a major...

US Appeals Court Limits ICE Detention Without Bond Hearings After 90 Days

A U.S. federal appeals court ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cannot detain migrants for more than 90 days without giving them an opportunity to seek release through a bond hearing, dealing a setback to...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Anthropic Tightens AI Access Controls After Reports of China-Based Workarounds

Anthropic is strengthening measures to prevent unauthorized access to its artificial intelligence services from China after discovering that several Chinese companies had allegedly bypassed its restrictions, according to a...

Kuaishou Stock Jumps as Kling AI Secures $2 Billion Funding Round

Hong Kong-listed shares of Kuaishou Technology (HK:1024) climbed more than 6% on Thursday after its spun-off artificial intelligence business, Kling AI, secured an initial $2 billion in venture capital funding to...

Meta CEO Zuckerberg Says AI Agent Development Has Slowed Despite Massive AI Investment

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg has acknowledged that the companys progress in developing artificial intelligence (AI) agents has been slower than expected, despite Metas aggressive investment in AI...

Kioxia Bets on AI Memory Boom With Next-Gen NAND Production in Japan

Kioxia is set to mark a major milestone on Friday with a ceremony at its manufacturing facility in northern Japan as the company prepares to begin mass production of its next-generation NAND flash memory chips. The move...

OpenAI Proposes 5% U.S. Government Stake Amid AI Policy Talks

OpenAI has reportedly proposed granting the U.S. government a 5% ownership stake in the artificial intelligence company as it seeks to strengthen ties with Washington and address growing political scrutiny over the rapidly...