South African Economy- A Haven of Natural Resources

The South African economy is the largest in the continent of Africa. It accounts for almost 24% of its GDP in terms of purchasing power. The World Bank has ranked its economy as an upper-middle income one, making it the fourth African country to suit the category, with the others being Mauritius, Gabon and Botswana. The country shifted from primary and secondary economy to one that is primarily driven by the tertiary sector, in the middle of 20th century. Today, it is these sectors that earn about 65% of the GDP. Its economy is divided between mining, agriculture, fisheries, food processing, vehicle manufacturing, textiles, energy, telecommunications, business and financial services, transportation, tourism and retail and wholesale trade. Hence, with this diverse economy, South Africa procurement is certainly not a bad idea.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

The industry of agriculture formally employs about 10% of the country’s population, and provides work to casual laborers as well. The sector contributes about 2.6% to the country’s GDP. The figure is not very impressive because much of the land in South Africa is arid, allowing just 13.5% to be used for cultivation. And within this 13.5%, only 3% is considered to be the most arable. Unfortunately, even this much land cannot be used to its optimum level due to farm attacks, a common crime in the country.

Maize is the most important crop of South Africa. It is a staple food as well as an export crop. Besides, the nation also exports peanuts, beans, sunflower seeds, soybeans, sugarcane etc. Fruits like grapes, which is used for wine-making, is also a popular export item of the nation.

Mining has been one of the main reasons behind the development of Africa. In fact, it is the most-developed and richest sector in its economy. Ever since the discovery of a diamond on the banks of the river Orange, Africa did not look back as far as the sector of mining is concerned. Hence, if you have been thinking about South Africa procurement, getting mined products from them can be a profitable idea. However, South Africa presently is not at its all-time best position in gold and diamond production, but the country still maintains the fifth position in the world’s leading gold manufacturers. The nation is also the largest producer of iron ore, platinum, manganese, chrome, vanadium, vermiculite etc.

The country exports coal, gold, diamonds, platinum, machinery, devices etc.

Industries and Exports

With a figure of 15%, the manufacturing industry does not contribute much to the country’s GDP. Though its labor costs are low, it is not as low as that of the emerging markets; besides, the expenses related to communications, transport and general living are much higher.

The automotive industry employs almost 36,000 employees; it accounts for about 10% of its export items, contributing around 7.5% to the nation’s GDP. South Africa’s major automobile export partners are Japan, Australia, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

Besides, the country also earns from the industries of iron and steel, chemicals, food and beverages etc.

South Africa procurement, thus, basically comprises maize, gold, diamond, fruits, sugar, wool, metal and minerals. And it deals majorly with countries like U.S.A, Japan, China, Germany, U.K., Spain etc.

What do Investment Consultants do?

Investing money in any project requires a lot of thinking and planning. Even after all the careful planning, an investor still finds it vulnerable to risk. When in any such situation it is advisable to seek professional investment services. These services are provided by investment consultants who are highly professional and guide their clients through the process by helping them in deciding the best way there is for them. This way the clients do not need to worry about the best investing in addition to their other personal and professional responsibilities. These consultants are the reason behind so many businesses flourishing; investors decide to take calculated risks and these service providers make the process easier for their clients.

These investment services work two ways: either they take the entire responsibility of their client’s investing ventures and report to them about how things are going, or they offer advisory services where clients can seek their help before deciding to invest money in any of their ventures. Investment consultants ask their clients about their objectives and the risk they are prepared to take when taking responsibility of the project. As for the advisory services, they help clients save their time thinking and re-thinking about the investing.

Their experience in the field makes investment consultants dependable as they have an instinct about ways that things may go right or wrong for their client. If one is starting up a new business, taking professional investment services can help them from planning the business to recruiting the staff. These professionals help their clients in making decisions about any changes they want to make after the staff has been hired and any benefits the client might want to offer to their employees. These consultants are well-connected and know a lot of people in different areas; this may be another reason for an investor to seek their services.

Even if one has hired professional investment services, for active or advisory services, they must keep themselves updated with the progress of their consultant. Investors must be clear on the goals they want to achieve. They must keep their investment consultants informed about how far they plan to take their investing venture. As for consultants, they should co-ordinate with their clients so both are satisfied with the outcome of the investment. The best investment consultant manages to cater to the needs of the client even when the client makes changes according to their requirements.

The Major Advantages And Disadvantages of Discount Stock Brokers

Discount stock brokers are an outstanding choice particularly if you are a knowledgeable investor who may not need to take benefit of all of the added research tools selections provided by a full – service stockbroker. Discount stockbrokers can be used to conduct your simple trades on a daily basis while saving you a lot of money.

It must be noted nevertheless that not every trader will be best helped by the services of discount stock brokers. For the utmost part discount stockbrokers are the greatest selection of knowledgeable traders who know how to conduct their own research and market analysis. If you are fresh to stock trading and are not aware with all of the workings and difficult strategies of stock market investing in you must possibly stay with using full-service stockbrokers. For those of the trading for limited years nevertheless, discount stockbrokers may be an outstanding choice. There are numerous platforms being made by several companies that develop the trading experience.

One of the main disadvantages to discount stock-broker active for the maximum part you have no help when you want it. Discount stock brokers do not provide any type of live person-to-person advice, research and more complete analysis. Indeed, most of them provide flat-rate regular packages or no maintenance costs related to your brokerage account. This is somewhat that you will need to keep in mind when you are considering into discount stock-broker. The advantages as well as disadvantages of stockbrokers will need to be considered. Discount stockbrokers have a different amount of knowledge than other qualified financial professionals. This absence of training and knowledge can at times lead a person to get a stockbroker at a discount rate. Some of the trading companies employees these discount-stock brokers in order to act as a central man for the person wanting to promise the trade. The broker acts purely on orders that they are given as to what they are to do with a certain trade.

This is both a curse and a blessing in the point that you save money while not receiving any of the tools that a consistent stock broker will offer you. Discount-stock brokers are not always a wicked thing; several people find that they serve a valuable determination in the fact that they can do the things that must be done containing a trade without any of the other troubles. If you are new to the markets nevertheless, then the use of discount-stock brokers might not be good for you. However, the use of discount-stock brokers can be a very unsafe choice unless you are fully prepared to do all the additional work related to the trade that is usually done by the brokers at a full-service stock brokerage firm.

Choose American Express Cards For Rewards And Points

If something is given for free then we all love to get it. Small children are often asked to do something or take part in competition if they want to get a gift. Elders give them the gift which can be a chocolate, candy or any toy or trip if they successfully complete the task given to them. These companies do the same thing with their clients and customers. The credit card issuing company gives out rewards and points on expenditures done by the card user while using the card. These rewards and points are redeemable and can be redeemed to get services, gift cards, cash back, or discount on any given merchandise or any product.

These rewards can be of various types depending on the type of the card you have like:

American express cards also come with great reward points which are quite beneficial for the customers who are using it. There are various credit cards available with the Amex card company provided by Value Plus financial company. These can be used by people belonging to different groups like students, home makers, business owners, travelers and likewise. If you are a home maker and want to buy a credit card which can facilitate you while making payments for household items then American express ChoicePlus credit card is the right thing for you.

With this card you will get great credit opportunities like just 2.99 percent annual percentage rate for first 12 months. Moreover you will be rewarded with 2 points for every dollar spent on selected outlets which you can redeem when they reach a redeemable limit. As a welcome gesture your card will be rewarded with 7,500 points on your first purchase. For acquiring this Amex Canada card you need to have a good credit status.

ValuePlus financial company also has MBNA credit cards along with American express credit cards, on which you can get attractive reward points as well. If you want to get information on MBNA online then you must visit .

Axis Bank Keeps Service Standards High

Axis Bank, formerly known as UTI Bank emerged at the end of 1993 with operations starting in 1994 as a consequence of the Indian Government’s decision to allow the formation of new private banks. They were the first to get a license under the new RBI guidelines and also the first Indian bank to offer secure debit card payment with IVR (interactive voice response). Focusing on expansion, Axis Bank covers a network of over 1300 branches with more than 5900 branches in India. Their central office is in Mumbai while the registered office is in Ahmedabad and the rest of their branches spread across more or less 850 towns and cities. They also make their presence known in countries such as Hong Kong, Dubai and Shanghai with hopes of further international expansion.

Their services contain, but are not limited to large and mid-corporate banking, SME banking as well as agri-banking, international banking and retail banking. In 2008 Axis Bank launched India’s first EMV chip based card, the Platinum Credit Card. They also offer Speed Banking with Internet, Mobile and SMS banking. To cover their wide scope of clientele efficiently, Axis Bank has various avenues for lodging complaints and queries in line with their Grievance Redressal Policy. These avenues include specific lines of communication for retail, overseas customers and large, mid-corporate banking respectively. A complaint against Axis Bank can be lodged with the Axis Bank Customer Care Department. If a complaint is not dealt with to the customer’s satisfaction, there is an option of escalation to the Central Bank. Their policy adheres to the Bankers Fair Practice Code. The Bankers Fair Practice Code is adopted voluntarily by Axis Bank to provide their clients with a guaranteed commitment to dealing with complaints against Axis Bank in a fair and thorough manner. Their staff is trained to be sensitive and professional when dealing with client enquiries and complaints and to always provide information regarding the rights and responsibilities of their customers in a manner that is clear and forthcoming. The bank also undertakes to reverse bank charges that apply as a result of error on their side.

Complaints are to be directed to the relevant branches Complaint Handling Officer either verbally or in writing via letter, facsimile or email. According to their Grievance Redressal Policy the Complaint Handling Officer has seven days after receipt of the complaint to resolve the matter. In the case that the client is not satisfied with said resolution, the matter may be taken up with higher levels of authority such as the Central Office. Their solid infrastructure for dealing with complaints extends even further with the Complaints Management team dedicated to larger clients known as High Net Worth Clients. This is specifically for matters that are unresolved due to a complex nature and applies to corporate clients who conduct many transactions over short periods of time. With all the necessary policies and departments in place to make sure that clients are treated fairly, Axis Bank strives towards total customer satisfaction while maintaining as high a standard of service as possible.

Contract Loan Processing Business Cost Cutting Strategy

Mortgage institutions are closely monitored by the government via laws and regulations. They face inevitable challenges that are brought about by policy changes that occur in the real estate industry. These institutions also face managerial challenges that require extra budget allocation. With all this happening, most businesses will do everything to reduce their costs even if this means dismissing some workers. Nowadays contract loan processing is a cost-cutting strategy that several companies are using to solve their problems.

Contract loan processing is about outsourcing or delegating portions of your company’s mortgage processing work to a third party. By doing this you can either dismiss your in-house loan processors or shift them to other company departments. Outside processors normally undertake the entire origination responsibility and they deal with all providers of mortgages. Whether you are a broker, bank or any other lending institution, these companies will serve you. Contract loan processing will involve a contract between your company and the independent contractor.

The contract will include all the terms and conditions you will both agree on. Generally, an independent contractor is paid on each borrower file they attend to and the terms of payment are incorporated in an agreement. This agreement may be short-term or long-term depending on what you prefer. Many good companies can be used for an entire year without problems. It is extremely imperative to make sure that a contract loan processing company is duly licensed to operate in the U.S mortgage industry. Any licensed mortgage processor has to meet the industry rules and regulations.

Most of these contract loan processing organizations can do a lot for your business. They can handle the most time-consuming and strenuous task of loan origination very quickly. On your behalf, an independent mortgage processing company will receive and record applications forms using its huge data entry team. After this it will call each borrower requesting them to submit scanned copies of their documents by email or fax to speed up things. This self-governing team will also carry out your loan underwriting duties. Loan underwriters perform very difficult tasks to make sure that lenders accept to extend credit for purchasing a home. They are given the responsibility of deciding if a borrower’s file deserves to enter the approval stage.

To do this a contract loan processing team may validate the paperwork provided by a borrower once again. They do it manually and electronically with software. If they are not convinced that a borrower has the ability to refund the credit, they send the file back to the loan processing department. Underwriting also involves a search for the property title, a process that can be quite lengthy. Outsourcing enables you to concentrate on winning more customers through proper advertising methods.

One thing you need to know is that this type of a company does not do a similar business as yours. It helps you carry out your business. You absolutely have no reason to worry that a contract loan processing service provider will ask for your customers’ business. Even so, you have a responsibility to choose the best company that has a positive track record.

Becoming Thinking About The Principles of Quick Credit Repair

In this world of speedy fixes we are always looking for the quickest and also easiest way of getting things completed. A person is asking themselves will this apply to working with your credit report. Is quick credit repair attainable? That is based on anything you consider being fast. You will find a few means of repairing credit score which have been found to be fast, even so aren’t lasting and maybe even illegal. Use caution of any person presenting most of these quick credit repair strategies.

Quick credit repair: the “clean slate” option. In the event that a company advertises something such as “Quick credit repair — build up kinds rating within twenty-four hours”, don’t buy it. This is what happens next is often a new comprised credit report is defined in your legal name below some other “social protection number”. Yet it’s is really not a SSN; it’s an EIN (Employer Identification Number) that contains the identical 9-digit structure as being a SSN and can be incorrect for this reason. Employing this fresh number upon credit and also other applications, making sure this new report is most likely the one that are certain to get ordered. The top setback to the quick credit repair trick is always that it’s against the law. Untruthfulness in terms of information which is personal is actually fraud. When you are caught, you can actually be charged with substantial fees and penalties or prison time.

The following problem of this quick credit repair course is that often it’s very suspicious. Should you, at this point in your life, you should have a reliable credit report yet alternatively possess a an alternative one with nothing at all in it — that won’t do any thing for the scores. Furthermore, simply no credit rating is usually in the same way damaging as a damaged credit ranking.

Lenders need to examine a reputable credit rating track record that will proves versions creditworthiness ahead of they permit to be able to loan a person their money. Really, zero credit rating = hardly any loan.

Quick credit repair: the rapid rescore strategy. Usually you’ll find firms that will acquire one’s report re-calculated in a short time but you will need to go by way of a regular mortgage loan officer or financial institution to get it done. Rapid rescoring is supposed to help you possible customers instantly improve their credit history rates so as to be able to get a home loan using the better interest levels.

Although rapid rescoring will be a competent and as well as quick credit repair technique, the results are actually short-term. Fine, rapid rescoring works by doing this, the company can dispute the harmful items and also inaccuracies having a local credit reporting agency where you live. The bureau will get rid of the items briefly if they identify them as legit reasons and also the documentation pertaining the conflicts are legal and good.

Temporarily getting rid of these bad items, after that recalculating your credit score along with rating may give your own score a considerable boost. One can find genuinely simply no additional legal or long-term quick credit repair methods. Effective, long lasting credit repair can be accomplished, but it really will need a while and also persistence. You may take credit repair endeavours into your individual hands as well as other errors and unintended items by yourself. Or possibly you will employ a third-party credit agency who is able to obviously get things done quicker as compared to if you did it all on your own.

Cash Flow Finance

Cash flow is the monetary movement in and out of a business, in form of receiving and expenditure of money in a certain project or a business deal. In other words, cash flow defines the money left after the subtracting amount given out as payments from the amount that is to be received after successful completion of a project.

Cash flow finance, also known as cash-flow loan is the debt given by some financiers, depending on the value of expected cash flows of the borrower company. Here no collateral is needed from the company for approving the loan. The repayment period also depends on the schedules of that company’s projected cash flows shown to be in future. Cash flow enables a company to meet all its expenses and pay its bills, for completing a special project. So this type of loan maintains and also improves the cash flow of the company. The loan agreement depends on the sufficient growth of the levels of income before paying interests, taxes, regularly paying off the debt, and depreciation of the value of the loan. These loan financiers also look whether the interest level is manageable by the borrower company.

Loans may be of various maturity durations, from 3 months to 3 years, depending on the purpose of taking each loan, but generally these short term loans are taken for maximum up to 6 months of duration. The loan amount can vary from $10,000 to $1,00,000, given out for good business reasons. This loan is mainly taken by the companies to fund their projects or make some important purchases for their business purpose. The financier is given a part of the money received by the borrower company, at the end of their project or sales. An agreement is duly signed by both the parties in this regard.

Therefore the companies can use this borrowed capital to keep their usual cash flow, in spite of meeting the extra expenses of a project or a sales order. This loan is a temporary solution to the regular financial expense problems, raised due to a sudden business demand; but if the problem continues for a long time, then it is better to find a permanent solution to this persistent economic problem by improvement of their cash conversion cycle and asking their regular customers to pay them faster. The cash flow of a company should always be monitored very carefully through the cash-flow statement, which is a mandatory report to be maintained by all companies and checked by all investors and financiers by giving any financial support to these companies.

Any financier will check the financial background of the borrower company and its cash flow record and the track record of earlier debt payments, before the short term loan sanction to that company. Generally the banks do not ask for any collateral, if the business owner’s personal credit record is good enough to approve the loan. But other financiers may ask for security like a property or any assets, depending on the value of which they can lend the capital amount. This short term loan has higher interest rates, though fixed, than the longer term ones; still it is better to ask for short terms as total interests cost much less.

Investing in The Stock Market

Investing in the stock market is neither child’s play nor a heroic operation. Therefore it is strongly suggested that all those who are wetting their feet in the stock market should not take their investment lightly and focus on developing a successful investment strategy. For both, beginners and expert knowing the right stocks to invest in and the options they have, is very essential. This article will enlighten the readers about the kind of investment group they should anchor with.

First off, it is imperative to understand at what level you stand. To assess self rank an individual should ask himself about what he does not know and go for options that suits his awareness and experience the best. Those who are not aware of any investment strategies should hire the services of firm that offer numerous strategy plans along with the regular facilities such as; market updates, administrative assistance, favorable tax regimes, regulated onshore funds, wide scope for investors of all categories and a catered platform. A good example of one such investment group is Luxif based in Luxemburg.

There are 2 main branches of stock investment, which divides into further strategies. The first is “Hedge Fund” whereas the second is “investment fund”

Hedge funds are combined investment gathered by a group of investors. After the collection, this fund is invested directly/indirectly in shares. For this kind of investment a fund managing group is mandatory because managing it is inviting hassles, risks, miscalculations and other hurdles. Paying the little fee is quite worth the effort a fund manager does. This opportunity is the best for those who are looking to start investing in the stock market. The year 2012 is predicted to be the best time for investing in these funds, i.e. in the time span of 9 years. It is because since then the market’s average profit rates have been increasing immensely. Last year the America’s hedge fund’s profits surprisingly boomed high to +10%.

Investment Funds: This option is advisable those who know how to analyze the market and scan for ups and downs. Due to the high volatility in the evolving economic stage it is not easy for the beginners to predict the far future. But those who choose an investment group that takes care of this part as well can enjoy the high profits of investment funds as well. Regardless of the economical condition, there is no investment that is foolproof. There are equal chances of loss and profit.

All in all, the center of profit for these investment strategies and investing in stock market is the fund managing group you hire. Because there is no such investor who can save this expense, it is important to spend it wisely by picking the one that offers multiple services for a single fee. Going with any service provider that only has a single or a couple of services to offer is a waste of money and time. Research well and invest in the best!

Mechanism Against Bad Credit Payday Lending Process

Pay day loans are instant cash financing scheme with minimum hassle and paper formalities. Bad credit pay day loans are kind of cash loans available with speed of time, but then this loan comes with a promise to maintain the regularity in making the payment.

The liquidity crunch forces the borrowers in need of cash at the time of emergency situations when the other sources deny giving you cash then the bad credit personal loans are the last resort for getting immediate cash.

Future is uncertain and we never know that what will happen and when? So, we should always get our self ready for proactive contingency plan. It is always prudent advice to save a percentage of owns income as saving. It is always advisable by a financial consultant that as a good saving technique, one should have a practice to save at least 25% or 1/4th of income as savings. Savings are the buffer arrangements for the emergency situation to handle but the amount of cash that calls for an emergency is never known. It may happen with someone that one very day he met with an accident, and a major surgery has to be made in order to save the life of the individual, then the person savings which were in terms of FD’s and bonds were prematurely withdrawn, but still if the amount is not sufficient to meet the operation fees, and even the medical insurance could not cover the operation charges, then the last resort is to take loan. And traditional bank will not provide loans so fast. It is then the pay day loan which is the last chance to get immediate finance so fast.

Online lenders for pay day loans is available in abundance now a days where the borrowers gets the advantage to select their lenders according to their flexibility, and terms of borrowing. There are loan quotes posted by different lenders, where from the borrower can choose any one among the many in numbers, then apply for loan, if the lender finds your details are true in value, then confirming your identity and location authenticity, they will themselves contact you and then after negotiating the price you can apply for the loan at lowest price. The reason you get an edge in negotiating the rate of interest on such loan is due to the reason that there are perfect competition playing in the market of online lenders.

These pay day loans work as a signature loan where the borrower will be just filing an e-application form, make a signature as an acceptance against the loan and gets the amount of cash immediately in his /her active bank account.