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Hotel boom for Cape Town CBD
I n the face of economic uncertainty , a weak rand and the threat of a possible ratings downgrade , Cape Town ’ s hotel industry is bucking the trend by showing booming growth .
Several hotels worth billions will reach completion by the end of the year or early next year .
The Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has ambitious growth plans for Africa , particularly South Africa , aiming to build 20 hotels by 2020 .
The group operates 1 370 hotels in more than 110 countries and has targeted Africa as its key global investment region .
The group announced that three new hotels would open in South Africa soon , two in Cape Town and the other in Polokwane , which will create 1 500 new jobs in the next 12 months . An additional 3000 jobs will be created across the continent in the next 36 months .
Speaking at the group ’ s Radisson Blu hotel in Granger Bay yesterday , Marc Descrozaille , area vice president for Africa and the Indian Ocean , said the expansion into Africa started at that hotel 16 years ago .
Other hotel developments include Tsogo Sun ’ s R680m SunSquare and StayEasy hotels currently being built in the CBD , and Century Square .
Municipal electricity costs raise cost of living
Municipal electricity tariffs have increased by a massive 86.5 percent since the beginning of 2008 and contributed to the deterioration in the affordability of home running costs , according to First National Bank ( FNB ).
John Loos , a household and property strategist at FNB , said the electricity affordability component was “ the most troublesome part ” of the municipal rates and tariffs bill .
Loos said more upward pressure in this component was expected because Eskom continued to annually press for more above inflation hikes as electricity demand declined .
The municipal rates and tariffs / per capita disposable income index had deteriorated by 31.8 percent from the start of 2008 until the first quarter of this year , with major upward pressure exerted by high electricity tariff inflation .
Loos said the water and nonelectricity tariff / per capita disposable income index had deteriorated by a more moderate 13.2 percent from 2008 until this year , the home maintenance and repairs / per capita disposable income index had actually declined or improved by 9.1 percent over this period .
Brexit sends rand diving worse than Nene firing
T he rand plunged more than the day President Jacob Zuma fired former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene on Friday as the UK voted to leave the European Union ( EU ).’
The rand dropped over 7.8 % from midnight to Friday morning at 6:30 from R14.33 to R15.45 , according to Adam Phillips of Umkhulu Consulting .
The rand plunged just over 5 % when Nene was fired , with millions of rand wiped off the markets .
By 08:30 , the rand was 6.77 % down at R15.57 to the dollar . The rand was up 1.52 % against the pound at R21.23 .
“ Remember that the UK now has two years to finalise everything with the EU , so I am sure there are going to be plenty of meetings and new decisions from it ,” he said . “ As it stands this is a disaster for all emerging market currencies .”
RMB analyst John Cairns said on Thursday that a leave vote “ would generate bedlam . Our guess would be for GBP / USD to drop 12 % to 1.30 , while USD / ZAR spikes 4 % or more , well into the 15.00 + area . Volatility would be extreme .”
The pound collapsed to a 31- year low and currency , equity and oil markets went into freefall on Friday as projections showed Britain has voted to leave the European Union .
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6 JULY 2016 SA Real Estate Investor www . reimag . co . za