South Africa News Archives - Page 15 of 72

27Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

The NHI Bill has just been passed – what does that mean for medical aid members?

By Jeremy Yatt, Fedhealth Principal Officer The passing of the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill by the National Assembly on 13 June has sparked widespread debate among everyone from private medical scheme members to healthcare providers to the general public. While the predominantly negative reaction and feelings of uncertainty are completely understandable, I don’t believe that there is any immediate cause for alarm. The NHI is still years away from being implemented, and medical aid members should not expect any changes to their membership in the foreseeable future. Although the NHI Bill certainly raises serious concerns, Fedhealth recognises the need for structural change to improve healthcare for all South Africans. We believe this should leverage the strengths of the key eleme...

20Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

We can solve Youth Unemployment with Access over Opportunity

by Pieter Twine, General Manager: MySchool MyVillage MyPlanet Youth Month is often used to highlight career opportunities for young people in South Africa. My aim for Youth Month 2023 is that we don’t simply highlight opportunities, but rather focus on improving how we can give young people access to those opportunities. According to the National Business Initiative, youth (people aged 15-34) in South Africa make up around 36% of the country’s total population, but represent approximately 75% of total unemployment – with 4.9 million in total, unemployed, according to the Q1 2023 Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). Just over 1 million young people exit the education system every year, but 43% of these become discouraged from seeking employment within just 6 months. Within a year of lea...

Africa’s Bright Future: Experts to Discuss Smart City Solutions for the Continent

10Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News, Tech

Africa’s Bright Future: Experts to Discuss Smart City Solutions for the Continent

The 6th annual African Smart Cities Summit and co-located industry events take place this June Smart cities are the future of urban development, using digital technologies to improve lives, optimise access to resources and fuel economic growth. By 2050, the World Economic Forum predicts that 7 out of 10 people will live in cities. Some 2.5 billion people will move to urban areas, and 90% of this trend will take place in Africa and Asia[1]. A truly smart city leverages technology in an intelligent manner to improve service delivery, reduce pollution, improve safety, and tackle a myriad of local challenges. The sixth annual African Smart Cities Summit, the continent’s only dedicated conference on smart city development, will highlight the potential of smart cities to solve many of Africa’s...

Beyond Traditional Savings: Unconventional Investments for a Diversified Portfolio

9Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

Beyond Traditional Savings: Unconventional Investments for a Diversified Portfolio

Humans are living longer than ever, making retirement planning more and more important, not to mention more and more complicated. It’s never too early or late to start planning for retirement, but it is important to plan actively. This begins with identifying your retirement income goals, considering your likely expenses, setting up some sort of savings programme, and managing your assets and risk. In doing so, most people with the means will make contributions to a compulsory (retirement) savings product, either a pension or provident fund if you’re an employee of a company, or a retirement annuity fund if you’re self-employed or your employer has no retirement arrangements. Compulsory products have a number of advantages. You deduct up to 27.5% of your retirement savings contributions ...

5Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Business, South Africa News

How private investors can access offshore equity and commodity markets safely

Structured products enable diversification into offshore markets while controlling risk. Any investor worth their salt understands the importance of diversification, particularly in a contemporary economic environment characterised by such volatility and uncertainty. Spreading investments across industries, asset classes and geographies is a key component of risk reduction in an investment portfolio, as should one investment fare poorly, the others should ideally offset this, resulting in consistent return. This is fundamental to achieving long-term financial security. Bearing in mind that JSE-listed stocks represent merely 1% of the total listed equity market capitalisation in the world, investing offshore can help you gain exposure to investment opportunities and markets that may not b...

29May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

Cloud revolution enables businesses to leverage cloud while using on-prem systems

By Udhveer Sookraj, Data Integration Specialist at Insight Consulting Moving to the cloud certainly makes sense from an African business perspective, despite some serious challenges and risk factors unique to these shores. However, not all businesses can take the plunge. Some businesses are reliant on expensive legacy systems that work well for them, while others are dissuaded from the move because of budgetary and compliance concerns. Luckily, a revolution in how cloud computing is approached means businesses not quite ready to migrate to the cloud fully can extract the benefits of being in the cloud while still using their own on-prem systems, which effectively redoubles security efforts and removes legislative compliance headaches. Before we get there, let’s take a look at the contex...

Resilience and collaboration among top themes at the sixth Hotel & Hospitality Show

25May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Africa Travel, South Africa News

Resilience and collaboration among top themes at the sixth Hotel & Hospitality Show

The African hotel and hospitality market has immense resilience and potential. Recognising this and facilitating a platform for African hospitality to thrive, the Hotel & Hospitality Show, hosted by dmg and Kaoun took place at the Sandton Convention Centre last week to foster growth and collaboration within the sector. “The Hotel & Hospitality Show connects brands and bolsters networking opportunities across Africa’s hospitality market,” said Evan Schiff, Group Event Director at dmg events. “The turn out this year indicates confidence in the industry and the desire to keep doing business, better than ever.” Gugu Sithole, Chairperson of the Johannesburg Tourism Company discussed the drive to promote Johannesburg as a top destination in Africa, with a globally competitive edge. “If...

Hello, Joburg? The 90s called, they want their parking payment machines back

25May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Hello, Joburg? The 90s called, they want their parking payment machines back

How digital solutions are revolutionising parking in South Africa By Joshua Raphael, Founder and CEO at Parket Major South African cities have long harboured dreams of becoming smart cities. In the case of a city such as Johannesburg, this means building an urban environment that is connected, intelligent and safe, as well as creating a sustainable and liveable city amongst others. It also means smart mobility, though these aspirations are thwarted by hugely inefficient parking for most parts of the city. It's true; parking is once again becoming a nightmare as parking lots around the city edge closer to pre-pandemic levels. As a result, there are motorists driving up and down - wasting time and fuel - looking for parking while right next to them might be buildings with vacant bays that...

More resources, more problems: Understanding the African mining landscape

23May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

More resources, more problems: Understanding the African mining landscape

By Arjen de Bruin, Managing Director at OIM Consulting The African continent is richly endowed in natural resources, with platinum, silver, gold, copper and cobalt some of our best-known commodities. We’re also abundant in green commodities, such as uranium, phosphate and vanadium. As a result, the mining sector is a key contributor to the continent’s economies, responsible for a significant portion of Africa’s exports, fiscal revenues, and, of course, employment. Yet in almost equal proportion, we’re a continent rich in problems – which, in turn, impacts the same sector we so heavily rely on – mining. Macro-economic challenges In South Africa, load shedding has dealt the sector a sharp blow, with hours of downtime and wasted capacity, while ongoing transport challenges see mines stru...

How innovative payment solutions are shaping South Africa’s retail sector

23May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

How innovative payment solutions are shaping South Africa’s retail sector

By Shaun Holley, Deputy CEO & Head of Innovation & Rory Bosman, Sales & Marketing Executive at Ecentric Payment Systems Today’s consumers have access to a myriad of convenient experiences through mobile apps and online platforms, and they expect a similar level of ease when interacting with businesses and specifically payment interactions. Indeed, consumer demand for better and more diverse payment experiences, coupled with the need to trade across multiple channels, is shaping the midmarket retail sector across Africa. Notably, industry research indicates that total transaction value in the digital payments segment in South Africa alone is projected to top the $17 billion mark by the end of this year. While in-store payment points are well understood, the rise of e-commerce ...