Africa Business, Author at AfricaBusiness.com

Zebra Technologies improves worker productivity with its first individually assigned Enterprise Mobile Computer

27Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

Zebra Technologies improves worker productivity with its first individually assigned Enterprise Mobile Computer

New Zebra EC5x series provides sleek yet durable smartphone-style design with an enriched software suite, enabling greater collaboration, individual performance and productivity Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced the EC5x series, a new category of individually assigned mobile computers designed to keep workers connected and informed while improving individual productivity, collaboration and the customer experience across multiple industries. Featuring the look and feel of a consumer smartphone with the Android™10 operating system (OS), an optional integrated scanner and a robust software suite specifically designed for front-line workers, the durable EC5x seri...

27Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

SA’s Transport sector in the age of Covid: A Roadmap to Economic Recovery

The South African transport sector entered the age of Covid already beset by several major challenges. Ageing infrastructure; a lack of impartial regulatory bodies; an unfriendly environment for private sector collaboration; over-reliance on roads for both public transport and freight; and a skewered subsidy model are a few of the structural obstacles that were present. Covid-19 has both highlighted and exacerbated these hurdles and must force the industry out of complacency. The challenges it faces must be viewed as opportunities with the problem areas providing a guide as to the solutions that can be delivered with maximum impact, where they’re most needed. A study conducted in partnership by Business for SA and global management consultancy firm, Kearney found that the already beleague...

The challenges and opportunities of big businesses in developing countries – From Storeroom to Boardroom

27Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Nigeria News

The challenges and opportunities of big businesses in developing countries – From Storeroom to Boardroom

What does it really take to succeed in big multinational businesses in the developing world? One man’s remarkable journey from a rural Nigerian village to a top job in a global corporation describes the challenges, the opportunities and the issues we must all face up to if we are to create positive organizational and societal impact, equality and equity in global businesses. Babs Omotowa has written From Storeroom to Boardroom to share his insight on the challenges and opportunities of big businesses in developing countries including on, climate change, oil spills, corruption, transparency, culture, government relationships and societal (community and capacity) development. Babs Omotowa has spent his life rejecting the status quo. His own career disproves the unthinking perception that Af...

Wingcopter raises $22M to advance technology leadership in drone delivery, announces serial production

25Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Malawi News, Tech

Wingcopter raises $22M to advance technology leadership in drone delivery, announces serial production

Wingcopter, the German developer, manufacturer and operator of unmanned delivery drones for commercial and humanitarian applications, has secured $22 million in Series A funding. Wingcopter will use the funds to strengthen its leadership in drone-based logistics, with a special focus on healthcare-related applications, including the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. At the same time, Wingcopter is well-positioned and ready to establish more partnerships worldwide centering around other fully automated delivery applications. The financing round was led by Silicon Valley-based Xplorer Capital, a key investor in autonomous technologies, and Futury Regio Growth Fund, a Germany-based growth capital fund focusing on investments in globally scalable business models. In addition, Futury Ventures ...

25Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News

Leading financial firms call on governments to step up action on climate risk reporting, boost adaptation finance

UNEP’s Adaptation Gap 2020 report released last week found that with annual adaptation costs in developing countries alone estimated to reach $130-300 billion per year by 2030, public and private finance for climate change adaptation must be stepped up urgently. Financial institutions have the power to direct investment and project finance to help the world adapt to climate change but they need to first understand and measure the risks and opportunities for their businesses. Ten financial institutions convened by UNEP FI are calling on governments to encourage adaptation finance by making climate risk disclosures mandatory, ensuring the availability of robust data, and developing standards to guide the finance industry. The financial institutions are the European Bank for Reconstruct...

54gene unveils world-class scientific research laboratory in Lagos State, Nigeria

23Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Medicine, Nigeria News, Science

54gene unveils world-class scientific research laboratory in Lagos State, Nigeria

54gene has unveiled its new lab in Lagos State, Nigeria, capable of human whole genome sequencing and a variety of other scientific investigations. Hosting a suite of world-class molecular genomics capabilities, including the Illumina Novaseq 6000 and NextSeq 550Dx the lab is part of 54gene’s mission to enable Africans to conduct genomics research and will be fully operational from January 2021. The new lab, recently inspected by the Commissioner of Health for Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, is geared to crucially expedite internal and external research projects designed to facilitate precision medicine for Africans and the global population. 54gene is currently conducting research to discover novel biological insights based on genetic modifiers, by deriving information from its unique a...

SMMEs primed for growth as economy slowly takes steps to recover

23Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

SMMEs primed for growth as economy slowly takes steps to recover

While South Africa’s economy took a series of blows over the last year, business owners remain confident that things will slowly start to stabilise in 2021. This was reaffirmed with South Africa's SACCI business confidence index rising to 93.4 in November of 2020 from 92 in October, above pre-pandemic levels. According to Trevor Gosling, Co-founder and CEO of Lulalend, a large part of the country’s growth this year will be dependent on SMMEs. “Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the remarkable ability of these businesses to adapt to change has helped them evolve and ultimately survive. Companies were resilient, optimistic and innovative, trusting that, although the situation will not improve considerably in 2021, it will be able to at least start stabilizing.” Gosling says that t...

AVEVA’s Third Digital Conference Assembles Environmental Sustainability Experts to Discuss how Technology Is Helping to Lower Carbon Footprint

23Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Tech

AVEVA’s Third Digital Conference Assembles Environmental Sustainability Experts to Discuss how Technology Is Helping to Lower Carbon Footprint

AVEVA World Digital Conference Convenes Industry leaders to Discuss Emerging Trends, Meeting Sustainability and Business Goals, and The Role of the Connected Workforce in Accelerating the Digital Journey AVEVA, a global leader in engineering and industrial software, announced its third AVEVA World Digital (AWD) conference, themed ‘Accelerate Your Digital Intelligence' which will take place from 26-28 January 2021. The online event will explore how leading companies are embracing innovation and applying intelligent software to reshape their industrial operations. It will demonstrate how emerging technologies such as AI, Cloud, Digital Twin, Visualization and data & analytics are supporting advancements in sustainability, and enabling organizations to make significant changes to improve ...

23Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Business, South Africa News

High-Impact Entrepreneurs Raise 4x Capital Year-On-Year

Endeavor empowers entrepreneurs for business growth Despite prolonged global market uncertainty, Endeavor South Africa has reported significant growth in their portfolio of disruptive tech businesses. The local chapter of the global non-profit organisation, which supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets, reported collective raises of R2bn in 2020 alone amongst the portfolio of 29 businesses, compared to R1.3bn combined during 2018-2019. A number of these businesses delivered strong results, one of which achieved a 300% uptick in volume. Capital Markets Lead Antonia Bothner attributes this acceleration in capital raising due to the growth stage nature of these businesses and the strong underlying performance of the businesses in the tech or tech-enabled space. The portfolio is...

20Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

The Role Of Painting Robots

For a long time, the most common form of industrial painting required the use of human specialist coating teams, and typically, these jobs included the painting of warehouses, machinery or automobiles. It is a large-scale process that demands high levels of safety measures and protective gear and is prone to errors that waste resources, time, and money. Today, advancements in the world of industrial robotic solutions have paved the way for painting robots. These sophisticated machines offer large-scale manufacturing operations, a customised automation solution that boasts precision, efficiency, programmability, and safety, particularly in the automotive industry. Globally, the implementation of painting robots is well-established and still steadily growing. In South Africa, we have seen t...