South Africa News Archives - Page 27 of 72

8Aug

By Paula MokwenaNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Creating a sustainable positive impact in South African communities begins with investing in innovative, globally relevant tech solutions

By Paula Mokwena, CEO & Head of Direct Investments, Fireball Capital South Africa is home to innovative technology companies that have developed solutions that are solving real global challenges. The country is well-established as one of the continent’s “big four” startup ecosystems, and leads the way for exits, with more than one-third of the acquisitions that have taken place across the African tech space since 20151. The tech sector is actively addressing a myriad of challenges, ranging from unemployment, all the way to education, health, and financial inclusion. South Africa has one of the most unequal school systems in the world, with 85% 2 of students attending poorly funded, and dysfunctional schools. This was further exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw schools ado...

8Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Real Estate, South Africa News

How single women are getting a foot on the property ladder

Whether single by choice, or single by circumstance, it is clear that women are not waiting around to start climbing the property ladder. While the prospect of embarking on a home ownership journey with a single income may seem daunting - particularly in light of the recent interest rate spike – it is not an unattainable goal says Andrea Tucker, Director of MortgageMe. It is important to remember that home ownership is a marathon, not a sprint. By making wise financial choices and following the right advice, you can take the plunge with full confidence. Join the wave Recent statistics reveal more career-minded women between 24-41 years old are buying homes than their male counterparts – a feel-good stat just in time for Women’s Month. And more good news is that as the gender pay gap slo...

3Aug

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

Cyber criminals’ eye South African SMEs lack of security

Steve Flynn, Sales and Marketing Director of ESET South Africa, says South African small businesses are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. Why? Business owners aren't taking the necessary precautions to protect their digital assets, often with dire financial consequences. Despite the significant risks, SMEs seem reluctant to take the same digital preventative measures to secure their IT infrastructure as they would to protect their office equipment or company-owned vehicles. Just as a business owner wouldn't underinsure a tangible business asset such as a factory, SMEs shouldn't leave their digital assets unlocked and in plain sight of criminals. In a business environment where every cent counts, preventative measures must be weighed against the costs of not having IT security prote...

1Aug

By Arjen de BruinNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

Fail to plan, plan to fail…meeting your mining targets

By Arjen de Bruin, Managing Director at OIM Consulting Professional services and auditing network Deloitte has listed sliding productivity and spiralling costs as key issues facing the mining sector, dedicating an entire series in its resource centre to unpacking the factors that are driving productivity down while costs go up. While it lists several intrinsic and extrinsic causal factors – declining resource quality, talent shortages, inefficient capital allocation and elevated input costs – as significant contributors to this growing challenge, it doesn’t ignore the integral role of workforce planning; advising mines to foster a culture that discourages rampant spending, keep employees engaged and clarify the business model, among other tactics. At OIM Consulting, where our focus is o...

27Jul

By Clinton LeaskNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Here’s why South African billers, retailers and banks should consider open finance solutions

By Clinton Leask, Head of Digital at Pay@ Open banking, a relatively new concept in the field of financial technologies, is fast becoming a major source of innovation that is poised to reshape the banking industry – globally and in Africa. Open Banking is a capability that provides third-party service providers access to consented consumer banking, transaction and other financial data from banks and non-bank financial institutions using application programming interfaces (APIs).1 Open banking allows the networking of accounts and data across institutions for use by consumers, financial institutions, and third-party service providers. Open banking became formally accepted in Europe through the European Union Second Payment Services Directive (PSD2) adopted in 2015 to facilitate a better ...

26Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Real Estate, South Africa News

Proactivity – and Social Media Advertising – can mitigate against a property market pullback

While record-low interest rate levels over the last two years helped give millions of new buyers a foothold in the South African residential property market, an upward trend in the rate, high annual inflation, record-high unemployment, an economy struggling to get back to pre-pandemic levels and the added strain of load shedding have seen the market slow significantly in the last few months. “Many of these aspects are a global trend – and they’re not going to stop anytime soon,” says Jason Joffa, Business Head: Bridging Finance at Lamna Bridging Finance. “We’re set for more interest rate hikes as SARB tries to combat inflation and I think we’re looking at another 3-4% in the medium term. While that won’t see rate levels anywhere near what they were in the 1990’s, the increase will push en...

Mining’s ongoing Culture Challenge and how it affects your output

12Jul

By Arjen de BruinNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

Mining’s ongoing Culture Challenge and how it affects your output

By Arjen de Bruin, Managing Director at OIM Consulting It was the late Peter Drucker – one of the most revered thinkers on management and leadership – who succinctly said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Drucker, who maintained that business leaders need to wholeheartedly embrace a spirit of performance, was a strong proponent of the link between organisational culture, leadership style and workplace productivity. And certainly, in our experience as a consultancy that specialises in front-line leader capability within the mining sector, the impact that leadership has on culture – and ultimately on output – becomes evident the minute you step foot inside a mine. This theory is reiterated and reinforced by countless human resource research studies. In the South African mining sect...

Now in South Africa, the AfyaRekod Universal Patient Portal is empowering patients to take charge of their healthcare

12Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Medicine, South Africa News, Startups, Tech

Now in South Africa, the AfyaRekod Universal Patient Portal is empowering patients to take charge of their healthcare

AfyaRekod has launched the fully automated Universal Patient Portal in South Africa and it is ready to change the face of patient care across the country, Africa, and the world. Using block-chain driven technology the Universal Patient Portal is a secure central, mobile platform where patients and the medical professionals treating them have real-time access to their health data and medical history, not only ensuring effective ongoing medical management but critical, timely information in an emergency. Initially developed and launched in Kenya, AfyaRekod is the brainchild of CEO John Kamara. An Adanian Lab start-up, AfyaRekod, was founded in 2019. Kamara saw first-hand how the lack of medical records and static data could lead to poor medical management when a friend died having rece...

7Jul

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Africa Travel, South Africa News

Kelly Jackson appointed as Managing Director of newly formed EMEA region for The Travel Corporation

Johannesburg, 7 July 2022 - With the recent creation of The Travel Corporation (TTC) Tour Brands combined with the success of North America and Oceania, the departure of UK/Europe Managing Director, Donna Jeavons, opened up an opportunity for the world’s leading privately-owned travel company, to look at its UK, Europe, Ireland and South African offices. As a result TTC has created a newly formed EMEA region combining the talents of two teams into one dynamic powerhouse. Kelly Jackson has been appointed as Managing Director of the EMEA region. Jackson, who has been with TTC for 15 years and based in South Africa, will be dusting off her British passport and returning to her roots as she travels frequently between the two regions to ensure that both are firmly on a path of strategic ...

6Jul

By Clinton LeaskNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Youth will drive the future of digital payment solutions in Africa

By Clinton Leask, Head of Digital at Pay@ With 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 301 and the youngest population in the world, Africa is home to one of the most ambitious, highly motivated and vibrant youth populations in the world. Millennials, the largest living generation of today, together with Gen Z, are set to make up 72% of the world's workforce by 20292. Their combined purchasing power and influence will shape the world of commerce in the years to come. The youth of today will probably never understand the challenges many faced with the limited methods of transferring money. From mobile money to e-wallets, digital payments have evolved and continues to do so. Today, we are seeing payments being processed via QR codes, and have become increasingly popular3 in the past ye...