South Africa News

Cash is still king in South Africa. But according to Anton van der Merwe, COO of leading pan-African fintech enablement partner, Ukheshe Technologies,  its long reign is increasingly under threat as businesses and consumers begin counting the real, hidden costs behind cash transactions. Whether its via cash, credit card, QR, crypto, or a smartphone wallet, financial transactions all take place within a complex system. Some parts of that system make use of coins, notes, or physical cards, while other parts of the system digitally move money between buyers, sellers, banks and other parties. Every payment method comes with its own set of costs. As digital payments become more convenient, cheaper, more prevalent, and ultimately, the preferred way to trade, any perceived benefits of cash will ...

Cheap, mouldable, and corrosion resistant; these qualities have made plastic a dependable packaging staple for the manufacture of consumer goods sold online. But in South Africa – where the total cost of plastic waste pollution exceeds R885 billion annually[1] - the search is on for new and innovative approaches to minimising how the material is used in online retail, and limit its subsequent impact on the environment, livelihoods, and public health. Leading the charge is Unilever and Global Alliance Africa, who have partnered to bring about a refill-reuse revolution in South African plastic waste management. To this end, the pair have launched an Innovation Exchange Challenge and are calling on innovators to submit their out-of-the-box ideas and business models with the potential to resh...