The Gibbons Report: 2 November 2026

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A little-known firm is planning to build what could be Africa’s largest data centre and – if it goes ahead – it will be in the Coega Special Economic Zone.

That’s according to a report on News24 over the weekend, which says Vexa SA is in the pre-feasibility stage of developing the 556MW plant and has already made a preliminary presentation to the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

There’s still a long way to go, but the data centre would be bigger than all the rest in South Africa combined.

Coega has confirmed it’s in exploratory discussions with Vexa but can’t provide further information because of a non-disclosure agreement.

One potential problem: very little is known publicly about Vexa SA. News 24 reports that it describes itself as the local arm of the broader Vexa International Group, but again little appears to be known about that entity either.

HEINEKEN MAY STRUGGLE TO SELL S.A. WINE BUSINESS

We reported last week that Heineken confirmed its South African wine business – formerly Distell – is under review.

Two local analysts say that if the Dutch brewer decides to sell, it may struggle to find a buyer.

Otto1890 senior equity analyst Alec Abraham and Opportune Investments Chris Logan fear that the global wine sector is already mature and has been steadily losing market share to beer and ready-to-drink products such as spritzers and spirit mixers. Abraham says he can’t think of an obvious local buyer.

Logan describes the wine sector as a train smash – alcohol has been under pressure, he adds, and wine even more so.

MARKETS DOWN ON TECH SELL-OFF, OIL EASIER

On Friday evening, as we went into the weekend, the JSE tracked global markets down, sparked by a big sell-off in technology shares.

The All Share ended the day down 2.2% – the Top 40 down 2.4%.

London’s FTSE was just above flat, while in New York, the Dow closed 1.1% adrift, the S&P 500 down 1.8% and the Nasdaq down nearly 3%.

The sell-off looks to have eased somewhat: Tokyo is down 0.3% this morning, Hong Kong up 0.2% and Sydney down 0.7%. 

 The US dollar is unchanged at $1.12 to the euro; the rand is R16.71 to the dollar, R18.67 to the euro, and R22.37 to sterling.

Gold – $3,901 – platinum $1,438 – Bitcoin – just under $78,600 and Brent Crude oil – easier – back down to just over $110 per barrel. Oil has pulled back on a report that US President Donald Trump wants to give diplomacy more time, instead of launching a fresh wave of attacks on Iran.

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