Africa Business, Author at AfricaBusiness.com

20Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech

Bill Payment Trends in 2021

Of all the technology sectors to have prospered amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the online payment space has emerged as one of the most influential, following the call for social distancing and demand for contactless payment solutions. “In fact, the Global Payments Report for 2020 published by McKinsey & Co. found that the digital payments sector experienced half a decade’s worth of growth and development in just a few months[i],” explains Andrew Hardie, Chief Executive Officer at Pay@ - a leading payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions. “Both in South Africa and abroad, this coincided with a significant increase in the use of online payment gateways and platforms for businesses and consumers alike who were looking to stay safe while socially distancing.” Yet, looking a...

20Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

How to make your business more ‘circular’

Something is made, it’s used and then disposed of. Read that again. Something is made, it’s used and then disposed of. We go to all the effort of manufacturing objects, only to discard them as rubbish. Worse still, they end up as trash in landfill or incinerated. After some thought and repetition, the entire process sounds absolutely nonsensical, doesn’t it? But that’s what has traditionally happened to the things we buy. They come to the end of their useful life (to us!) and are simply thrown away. However, the good news is that this can and will change – organisations and businesses all over the globe are thinking differently and taking a new approach to their operations as a means to being more ‘circular’; looking at the goods and services they provide and innovating for sustainable suc...

How Optimized Energy Management Delivers Reliability, Efficiency and Sustainability at the Fekola Mine in Mali

18Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Mali News

How Optimized Energy Management Delivers Reliability, Efficiency and Sustainability at the Fekola Mine in Mali

Op-Ed By Luke Witmer, General Manager, Data Science, Wärtsilä Energy Storage and Optimization Since B2Gold first acquired the Fekola gold mine, located in a remote corner of southwest Mali, exploration studies revealed the deposits to be almost double the initial estimates. A recent site expansion has just been completed, and while the existing power units provide enough power to support the increase in production, the company sought to reduce its energy costs, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and increase power reliability. The addition of a 35MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and 17MW/15MWh of energy storage to the existing 64MW thermal engine plant was decided. This new energy mix is anticipated to save over 13 million litres of fuel, reduce carbon emissions by thirty-nine thousand tons pe...

14Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Events

DRC Mining Week June 2021: Returning in safety and in numbers

2021 is set to be a solid year for DRC’s mining sector. The mining community is prepared to meet in Lubumbashi between June 15-17 for the annual DRC Mining Week expo and conference, according to Emmanuelle Nicholls, the Group Director, Mining and Natural Resources at Clarion Events Africa. She also said that DRC’s mining sector did well within this ongoing pandemic caused by COVID-19. Demanded elements like copper, cobalt and gold are extracted well and will be part of the discussion. DRC supplies 70% of the world's cobalt resource which is crucial in making lithium-ion batteries and in the manufacture of magnetic, wear-resistant and high-strength alloys. Responsible mining is growing in relevance as more mining companies take steps to reach out to the local communities in regions they ope...

TradeDepot highlights smaller packs and increased food spending as top trends that will shape Nigeria’s retail sector in 2021

12Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Nigeria News

TradeDepot highlights smaller packs and increased food spending as top trends that will shape Nigeria’s retail sector in 2021

TradeDepot, the B2B eCommerce platform for consumer goods in Africa, has today released new insights from its market data that highlights the trends that will shape Nigeria’s retail sector in 2021. According to TradeDepot, the impact of the pandemic, rising inflation, border closures and other issues drove significant changes in behaviour for retailers, distributors and manufacturers in 2020. As the sector settles into the new year, TradeDepot predicts that some of the main trends that shaped 2020 - particularly smaller packaging for consumer goods and increased spending on food and essential goods due to dwindling disposable income and people spending more time at home - will continue to influence behaviour across the market. The retail sector is the third largest contributor to Nigeria’s...

APIP-Guinea announces the inaugural Guinea Investment Forum (GUIF)

12Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Guinea News

APIP-Guinea announces the inaugural Guinea Investment Forum (GUIF)

The Private Investment Promotion Agency (APIP-Guinea), the organisation responsible for promoting private investment and implementing the Government's policy for investment development today announced the inaugural Guinea Investment Forum (GUIF) to take place on 24-25 February 2021 at the Sheraton Grand Conakry. Given the current pandemic, this event will be a hybrid event with attendees joining the event either on a virtual platform or in person. Nampry Camara, Managing Director, APIP-Guinea said: “The Guinea Investment Forum will be the first transactional platform for key investment actors, including: Guinean government, national, regional and international development partners in the Republic of Guinea to consider and discuss project opportunities in Guinea. Attendees will benefit fro...

HONOR 10X Lite – the Choice of Millennials

12Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

HONOR 10X Lite – the Choice of Millennials

HONOR 10X Lite Combines Outstanding Photography with Stylish Looks and Long Battery Life to Create a Smartphone for the Always-On Generation Global technology brand, HONOR, has created the smartphone of choice for millennials, the feature-packed HONOR 10X Lite. With 48MP AI Quad Camera Camera, 6.67” HONOR FullView display, 128GB of storage and GPU Turbo 3.0, all backed with an exceptionally long batter life, the HONOR 10X Lite is the perfect smartphone to meet the demands of the busy digital lifestyles of the millennial generation. The HONOR 10X Lite is designed to be the ideal device for the always-on, always-connected millennial, providing advanced camera technology for exceptional multimedia performance, supported with superior features and stylish looks. Available in three colors - Mi...

AVEVA achieves Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and Silver Cloud Platform, Data Analytics, and Data Center competencies

11Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

AVEVA achieves Microsoft Gold Application Development competency and Silver Cloud Platform, Data Analytics, and Data Center competencies

AVEVA earns distinction and market leadership through demonstrated technology success and customer commitment. AVEVA, a global leader in engineering and industrial software today announced it has attained a Gold Application Development competency and Silver Cloud Platform, Data Analytics, and Data Center competencies, demonstrating a ‘best-in-class’ ability and commitment to meet Microsoft Corp. customers’ evolving needs in today’s mobile-first, cloud-first world and distinguishing itself within a small percentage of the Microsoft partner ecosystem. A portfolio of competencies showcases that AVEVA is committed to focusing on on-demand, business solution areas, along with ensuring it can meet the evolving needs of our mutual customers. To earn a Microsoft competency, partners must successfu...

Ventures Platform Foundation launches applications for Gov Labs

10Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Nigeria News, Startups

Ventures Platform Foundation launches applications for Gov Labs

VPF & National Endowment for Democracy call for tech solutions to protect Nigerians’ human rights during COVID-19 response Ventures Platform Foundation (VPF), the social impact arm of Ventures Platform Hub, has launched a call for applications for its latest incubation programme, Gov Labs - a 12-week programme for tech solutions implementing accountability and transparency within the Nigerian government’s COVID-19 response. Created with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the new initiative will support Civil Society Organizations from across Nigeria as they build innovative solutions promoting good governance and wide scale access to public services. From the pool of applicants, five organisations will be selected and will each receive a $2,500 grant as well as ac...

10Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Fighting Fraud in 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a drastic impact not only on people’s health and wellbeing, but on that of businesses too. This was especially poignant for many companies that had to venture into the online world for the first time. Unsurprisingly, the uncertainty that coincided with the sudden digital migration created the perfect opportunity for fraudsters looking to capitalise on the confusion. In fact, South Africa has the third most cyber victims worldwide, losing R2.2 billion a year, with low investment in cybersecurity and immature cybercrime legislation making the country the ideal target.[i] So, what can companies do to ensure that their business is safe from cyber-fraud in 2021? “The first step towards insulating your business from cyber-crime and fraud is to make sure you’re using...