Tag Archives: South Africa

Resilient SMEs will thrive in 2023

By Garth Rossiter Chief Risk Officer, Lulalend The past year has not held much for the SME sector to celebrate, but I expect 2023 to be a year of growth and recovery. 2022 saw the end of COVID-19-related restrictions but, at the same time, we also experienced some of the worst levels of load shedding […]

South African Small Construction Companies are Bracing for 2023 and Making Preparations to Rebuild and Thrive

The South African construction industry has been remarkably resilient in the face of the pandemic, managing to rebound as quickly and effectively as possible. Now, as businesses and individuals alike begin to look forward to 2023, it is essential that everyone starts setting themselves up for success in the coming year. For small business owners […]

South Africa: The latest developments in Just Energy Transition

Kieran Whyte, Partner and Head of the Energy. Mining & Infrastructure Group, Baker McKenzie, Johannesburg During the World Leaders’ Summit at COP 27 in November 2022, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the new Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) for South Africa. It was at COP 26 in November 2021, that it was […]

Female Venture Capitalists are pioneering South Africa’s Silicon Valley

By Paula Mokwena, CEO at Fireball Capital The global venture capital (VC) ecosystem is no stranger to the common challenge that female entrepreneurs face – lack of funding. Research by the World Bank shows that for every $1 invested in women, $25 goes to men in the African startup space1. This is the case across all regions […]

Local delivery service experiences 100% growth in demand and adoption

 According to Deloitte’s most recent Digital Commerce Acceleration report, the growth of online shopping in South Africa is on the rise. Accompanying it, is an increasingly discerning online shopper, who chooses their online stores based on a few key features, such as low delivery costs and clear and simple return or refund policies. In fact, companies with […]

Investing in software development skills is a strategic imperative for all sectors

Rather than being concentrated in certain industries, coding is crucial across the economy By Jessica Hawkey, Managing Director of redAcademy The highest unemployment rate in the world, where almost three in five youth are unemployed, and a crippling skills shortage – especially in the technology industry – exist side by side in South Africa creating […]

As SA’s ICT sector looks to globalise, employers and practitioners are in search of the right skills

The number of South African employers reporting they are recruiting ICT skills overseas has increased dramatically in the past year – up from 38% to over 50%. This is a key finding in the 2022 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey – the 12th to carried out by Wits University’s Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) in partnership […]

South Africa: The unintended consequences of Most Favoured Nation Clauses in Tax treaties

By Francis Mayebe, Candidate Attorney, overseen by Virusha Subban, Partner and Head of Tax, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg Background Bilateral tax treaties are mainly based on the principle of reciprocity. Under this principle, one state negotiates better treaty terms with another in exchange for making a particular concession. As is clearly seen in most protocols, the […]

Using the power of technology to assist in breaking the silence in South Africa’s gender-based violence crisis

In the fourth quarter of 2021, South Africa’s rape figures were up by 13.7%. There were 1300 more rapes compared to the same period in the previous year. 10818 rapes were reported in the first three months of 2022, with 4635 rapes taking place at the victim’s home, or that of the rapist. Attacks on women and […]

Africa’s Largest B2B AI Focused Trade Event Celebrates 5th Anniversary & Announces Johannesburg Programme

AI Expo Africa, the largest business-focused Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Intelligent Automation (IA) trade event in Africa and celebrates its 5th Anniversary Edition on 19-20 September in the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa. Uniting 100s of buyers, suppliers, investors, innovators, SMMEs and global tech brands in the region, AI Expo Africa focuses on real-world applications […]

Crypto assets: Are you prepared for the taxman?

South African taxpayers must realize that the time to regularise their cryptocurrency assets with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has come, says Diane Seccombe, National Head of Taxation at Mazars. “While tax compliance in the crypto space has been a murky area until now, SARS and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have followed […]

Is your building energy efficient? Tsebo Energy Management can give you the data you need to find out

The ongoing issues surrounding electricity supply in South Africa – not to mention climate-related discussions around the viability of the energy sector in general – has many businesses and building owners reconsidering whether those precious kWh units are going to waste unnecessarily. And just in case the obvious waste of money and energy that bad […]

Zero – R100 Million in One Year: A New Industry is Born

In the space of a single year, targeted social media advertising has helped South Africa’s estate agents notch up hundreds of millions of Rands in residential sales – with numbers set to increase tenfold in the next few years. This social media boom has changed the way the South African property industry finds leads and […]

Property scams continue to rise at alarming rates

Investing in property is one of the biggest financial decisions a person is likely to make. New and increasingly sophisticated scams and incidence of fraud are on the rise and affect developers, buyers, sellers, estate agents, conveyancing attorneys, and other property professionals. “As property transactions typically involve substantial sums of money, they are a natural […]

Developments in the South African automotive industry creating optimism for manufacturing sector

By Prenisha Martin, Advanced Associate, Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg The amended Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP) regulations, legislated in Schedule No.3 of the Customs and Excise Act, were released by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) just over a year ago, on 5 February 2021. The APDP is essentially South Africa’s long-term masterplan to […]

AURA launch inaugural crime trend report to better understand and prevent SA’s high crime rate

AURA, South Africa’s leading security and medical response marketplace has released its inaugural Crime Trend Report, providing new and unique insight into South Africa’s crime stats in key categories from armed robberies to attempted hijackings and gender-based violence. The report gathered data over the past year from AURA’s nationwide network of over 250 private security […]

New UK-South Africa Partnership Launched to Tackle Poverty, Unemployment, and Inclusive Economic Growth Through Innovation

South Africa has been ranked as the 13th biggest carbon dioxide emitter in the world[1]. For the country to help bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050, it will need to cut its emissions by approximately 60% to 75%[2]. Not only will this benefit the planet, but the people of South […]

Africa is leapfrogging into the future of retail

The bi-annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), which is a study of the global retailing landscape has revealed Africa is poised to move away from traditional retail models and become the fastest-growing, richest, and most sophisticated market in the world. Prashaen Reddy, a partner at management consulting firm Kearney says that this is thanks to the […]

Are Brick Houses a Good Investment in South Africa?

Clay bricks are created using the same formula that has been used to build many famous structures. They are a long-lasting, visually beautiful construction material that works effectively over time.  The final combination of raw materials provides clay brick its particular features, such as sturdiness, resilience, dimensional stability, and durability, as well as fire and […]

Why the sector is fertile ground for South African entrepreneurs

By Catherine Wijnberg, CEO of Fetola South Africa needs entrepreneurs to reverse our shrinking economy and high unemployment rate. And while they face numerous barriers in almost every sector, there is one industry that offers them the key to success: The circular economy. Only about 1% of micro-enterprises[1] in South Africa, starting with one to five […]

ESG obligations leading to the risk of increased litigation for African businesses

By Darryl Bernstein, Partner and Head of the Dispute Resolution Practice at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg As African businesses begin to recover and build the resilience needed to successfully navigate COVID-19 disruption, a focus on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) strategies is proving to be essential for long-term success. In order to stay competitive, organisations […]

2021: The year of the online payment

As the world moved indoors two years ago, the online payment space flourished. These are the biggest developments in 2021, and a brief look ahead. This year, South Africans embraced e-commerce, mobile commerce and digital payments like never before – all four major banks have seen massive increases in these payment methods since the start of the […]