Incumbent banks are starting to look to “platform banking” to stay relevant and loved by customers. But what is platform banking in the first place? And why is it a good thing for society? Anthony de Gray Birch, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Direct Transact, South Africa’s biggest banking enabler of the past […]
Category Archives: South Africa News
South Africa News
Cape Town is featured in the world’s preeminent report on advancing startup ecosystems – ranking as the #1 African Ecosystem in Knowledge The 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) by Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network was launched today at London Tech Week. The GSER is the world’s most comprehensive and widely read research on startups […]
South Africa’s biggest banks are warning customers about a marked increase in vehicle purchase scams. Criminals place adverts for fake vehicles online at hugely discounted prices to lure in buyers hunting for a great bargain. Sameer Kumandan, Managing Director of SearchWorks, an innovative platform which allows consumers to perform live, accurate vehicle searches and valuations as well […]
South Africa’s incidence of mesothelioma, a type of cancer that occurs in the thin layer of tissue that covers most of your internal organs, is ranked among the highest in the world. This cancer stems from over a century of asbestos mining and production. Since the 1930s, medical science has recognized the potential dangers of […]
Leading South African founded and owned Agri-FinTech start-up HelloChoice has announced the finalisation of a major investment from Standard Bank, solidifying its market leading position as the premiere digital fresh produce and agricultural marketplace. HelloChoice is a proudly South African success story, founded in 2018 by Grant Jacobs and Graeme Jarvie, who had a vision to […]
Did you know that the country’s national savings rate jumped from 14.2% in December 2020 to 18% in the first quarter of this year – the highest it has been since 2010 [i]? According to the South African Reserve Bank, this is a reflection of household spending patterns amid the uncertainty around the COVID-19 pandemic. Hennie Blignaut, […]
59% of panellists say the property buying boom will last for at least another year 54% say the boom is negatively impacting the rental market 97% say the SARB will hold the repo rate this week South Africa’s property buying boom isn’t going to slow down anytime soon, according to Finder.com’s SARB repo rate forecast […]
By Arjen de Bruin, MD at OIM Consulting The latest figures from Statistics South Africa have revealed that in July 2021, there was a 10.3% year on year increase in mining production, which it has attributed to higher commodity prices and the recovery in the global economy. And while the sector appears to be on […]
Riots and stringent COVID-19 regulations caused significant damage to the South African economy at the start of the third quarter, according to new data released on Wednesday. More than 300 people were killed and hundreds of businesses were robbed as some of the worst violence seen in South Africa since the end of apartheid […]
Africa’s leading banks including EcoBank, Nedbank, Attijariwafa Bank, United Bank of Africa, Co-operative Bank of Kenya and Banco Mais are tapping into IBM technologies to help advance financial inclusion across the continent IBM today announced that major financial institutions across Africa have selected hybrid cloud and AI capabilities from IBM to unlock digital innovation and continue […]
In 2020, South Africans experienced the most intensive load shedding to date. These crippling power cuts, which amounted to a staggering 856 hours, almost 10% of available hours, cost the economy billions of Rands. Poor performance at several power stations, including Kusile and Tutuka, resulted in a rapid depletion of Eskom’s emergency generation reserves. Furthermore, […]
Ransomware attacks have massively increased since the start of lockdown. Here’s what you need to know to protect your company. When hackers targeted Transnet’s computer systems in late July this year, logistics at major ports ground to a near-halt for the second time in a month (following the protests and looting) as the company was […]
The Covid-19 pandemic brought with it some unexpected benefits for the South African ICT sector, including increased productivity and the potential for employers to reduce their operating costs. This is one of the findings in the first South African ICT Skills Survey to be carried out since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic by Wits […]
By: Shai Reshef, President of the University of the People (UoPeople) University of the People (UoPeople) launched an Education Revolution in 2009 that has exploded in recent years to become the fastest-growing online university in the world. UoPeople’s innovative tuition-free model of higher education is quickly gaining momentum among South African students looking at cost-effective ways […]
On Thursday, 16 September 2021, startup ecosystem stakeholders will be unveiling the latest findings and plans towards the development of a proposed South African Startup Act – a call to the President to unleash the growth and innovation inherent in the country’s entrepreneurs and youth. These findings, gathered over the past six months via desktop research, focus […]
With steady population growth and rapid urbanisation in the Cape Winelands expected to put severe pressure on the district’s public services[i], Stellenbosch Network has opened nominations for its second annual #IdeasForChange Challenge. In doing so, the organisation invites all people living, working or studying in Stellenbosch and surrounds to submit their innovative ideas towards making Stellenbosch a […]
Sir Ian Cheshire Chair, The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health Before the Covid 19 pandemic hit, mental health was already an issue on the rise around the world, with an estimated 13% of the global population, just short of 1 billion people suffering from some kind of mental illness. In South Africa, according to statistics […]
The unprecedented speed of development of the Covid-19 vaccines can be attributed to multiple factors including record levels of international collaboration and swift action on the part of many governments and regulatory bodies to provide a conducive framework. As every nation across the globe faced impending economic doom, massive cross-sector funding materialised, allowing large-scale […]
If you are like any normal South Africa, you approach intersections labelled high crime or high smash and grab zone with an overabundance of caution and the same applies to any intersection where there are a lot of people loitering around your vehicle. The last thing you want is to become a victim of a crime of opportunity, Close […]
Did you know that over three billion messages related to COVID-19 have been sent by governments, non-profits and international organisations to citizens via official WhatsApp chatbots[i]? The South African government was one of the first to harness the power of the platform to share correct, up-to-date COVID-19 information from the National Department of Health, but […]
Tesvolt partners with Solarworld Africa Wittenberg, Cape Town, São Paulo, 07/09/2021 – Tesvolt, a manufacturer of battery storage systems for commercial and industrial use, has posted strong growth in the first half of 2021. Alongside high demand for intelligent energy storage systems in Germany, international business is a key engine for growth. Over 40% of […]
Recently announced research by the AI Media Group, Cape Town, South Africa, points towards Johannesburg fast becoming the continents Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tech Capital of Africa Launched in early 2018 the AI Media Group set out to create a new hybrid analysis, trade & advisory operation to build one of the largest communities of technology practitioners […]