Business
Google promises 300,000 jobs in South Africa
South Africa’s official unemployment rate was last reported at 31.9%, with youth unemployment for those aged between 15 and 35 sitting at 44.6%, according to Statistics South Africa’s labour force survey for Q4 2024.
Google says its investment in data centre infrastructure in Johannesburg, part of a greater R18 billion investment in Africa, should help create 300,000 jobs and contribute R1.7 trillion to the South African economy by 2030.
Mybroadband reports that the tech powerhouse added that South Africa also has the unique opportunity to rapidly develop its nascent artificial intelligence sector to become an AI leader on the African continent and the global stage, given its youth bulge and high unemployment rate.
This is according to Google’s Europe, Middle East, and Africa President Tara Brady, who spoke during a press conference on Wednesday at the launch of the company’s Johannesburg cloud region.
“I do believe that when you have a large number of organisations willing to invest in training, you could leapfrog many other countries and become an AI leader,” Brady said. Brady was commenting on the 300,000 jobs Google said their infrastructure investment in Johannesburg would help create by 2030.
He added that Google has identified a unique advantage in South Africa due to its high unemployment rate, which is not seen in other countries around the world.
“When you have such high unemployment, it means that we can put those people to work, which is an opportunity that we don’t have in other regions,” Brady said.
“So if South Africa wants to, we are prepared to invest in AI together here.
South Africa’s official unemployment rate was last reported at 31.9%, with youth unemployment for those aged between 15 and 35 sitting at 44.6%, according to Statistics South Africa’s labour force survey for Q4 2024.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced in 2021 that the tech giant would invest $1 billion (R18 billion) over five years in digital transformation on the continent.
Brady said that while a “large chunk” of this was dedicated to the cloud region, it also focused on skilling people in Africa and aiding tech startups in the region.
South Africa’s minister of communications and digital technologies, Solly Malatsi, who did not attend the event but delivered a prerecorded address, emphasised the importance of these skilling initiatives in the country’s vision of a digital future.
Business
CBN: 60 newly recruits staff laments three years of waiting without engagement
The concerned staff appealed to the CBN Governor, President Bola Tinubu, and other stakeholders to look into their plights, as economic hardship has taken a toll on them after about three years of leaving their jobs.
• CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso
A group of newly recruited staff of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have cried out over delayed posting and onboarding into various positions since August 28, 2023.
The Guardian reported that according to the employees, the Apex Bank issued the offer, which was followed by an acceptance copy and instructions to resign from their previous places of work, where applicable, as part of documentation.
“We all tendered resignation letters to our former employers at that time to enable us to proceed with the CBN process,” one of the affected employees, Emmanuel Linus Dabo, who spoke on behalf of others,, told newsmen on Monday.
According to him, the application process started in April 2023, where their resumé were submitted to the Headquarters of CBN, and after some time, they received emails from the Human Resources Department for interview and aptitude tests.
“We did a medical examination at the bank’s medical clinic, where a code was given to individual applicants before we could access the hospital.
After the interview and medical and aptitude tests, the successful applicants were contacted by the HR manager to come to CBN Headquarters in Abuja to pick up their offer letter. We filled the acceptance letter without delay,” he said.
He further stated that there was a series of e-mails from the Human Resources office requesting that they forward their credentials for the online documentation, including their acknowledged resignation letters from their previous employers…
The concerned staff appealed to the CBN Governor, President Bola Tinubu, and other stakeholders to look into their plights, as economic hardship has taken a toll on them after about three years of leaving their jobs.
Business
KPMG, NRS settle rifts over new tax laws
In its newsletter on January 9, KPMG said there are “errors, inconsistencies, gaps, omissions, and lacunae” in the new tax laws that require urgent reconsideration to ensure the achievement of their stated objectives.
KPMG executives and Zaach Adedeji, chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), held a meeting on Monday following the disagreement over the new tax laws.
In its newsletter on January 9, KPMG said there are “errors, inconsistencies, gaps, omissions, and lacunae” in the new tax laws that require urgent reconsideration to ensure the achievement of their stated objectives
However, on January 10, the presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms committee pushed back against KPMG’s critique, noting that KPMG does not understand the laws.
The committee said a significant proportion of the issues described as “errors,” “gaps,” or “omissions” by KPMG are either the firm’s own errors and invalid conclusions, or matters not properly understood by the firm.
In a statement on Monday, the NRS said that Adedeji hosted a courtesy visit from the delegation of the tax advisory firm.
” During the visit, the KPMG team clarified that their earlier opinion on the new tax laws “had been misconstrued and expressed regret over the misunderstanding.
“They sought further clarity on the provisions of the laws and highlighted areas where recommendations could be made.”
The source said that the meeting ended with the delegation commended the NRS chairman for efficiently and promptly implementing the reforms.
Business
IMF to release January 2026 World Economic Outlook update on Monday
The January WEO Update is expected to provide revised global growth forecasts and insights into inflation trends, monetary policy direction, and key risks facing the global economy in 2026.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will release its January 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update on Monday, January 19, 2026.
The report will be presented during a press conference hosted at the National Bank of Belgium in Brussels.
The press conference is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. The Brussels time and will be streamed live via the IMF website and Press Centre, allowing journalists to participate both in person and virtually.
The IMF’s economic assessment will be presented by Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, Economic Counselor and director of the Research Department; Petya Koeva Brooks, deputy director of the Research Department; and Deniz Igan, Division Chief, Research Department.
The January WEO Update is expected to provide revised global growth forecasts and insights into inflation trends, monetary policy direction, and key risks facing the global economy in 2026.
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