South Africa News Archives - Page 39 of 72

27Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Fintech, Interview, South Africa News

PLATFORM BANKING AND OPEN BANKING: why it’s the next big thing for banks and their customers

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 20 years, explains how the banking business is evolving and how smarter, friendlier digital platforms will change the game for the finance industry and its customers. What is platform banking and how can it change the game for banks? Established banks always run on top of multiple legacy systems that were patched together over the years. In fact, many well-known banks still run on decades-old mainframe technology with near extinct code that is very hard to maintain....

23Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Startup Genome, City of Cape Town, WESGRO and Silicon Cape Publish 2021 Global Startup Ecosystem Report

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 with 280 entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems and 3 million startups analyzed. The Report includes a ranking of the leading 140 ecosystems in the world, breakdowns by continent with regional insights, and founder-focused articles from thought leaders and experts around the world. City of Cape Town, WESGRO and Silicon Cape worked closely with Startup Genome to highlight Cape Town’s strengths against ecosystems globally. Cape To...

23Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

How to avoid falling victim to rising vehicle scams

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 as company searches and property valuations, says South Africans are turning to online content for everything from comparing prices to doing more in-depth research, particularly when it comes to long term financial commitments such as buying a car. According to reports, fake vehicle adverts are relatively sophisticated and usually include photos to match the vehicle description with contact details of th...

22Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Safe disposal of asbestos is vital to protect people and the environment

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 asbestos. Asbestos is friable, which means that the ‘fibrils’ which form its fibrous crystal structure can break off and be released into the atmosphere following abrasion or agitation. Inhalation of these toxic fibres can accumulate in the lungs, which causes life-threatening conditions like mesothelioma and asbestosis – and sadly sometimes only decades later. Even though generally it does not pose a high health risk, powerful asbestos industry lobbyists (especial...

22Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Agriculture, Fintech, South Africa News

HelloChoice: South African Agri-FinTech Start-Up Secures Major Standard Bank Investment

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 modernise the traditional way of buying and selling agricultural produce. Initially self-funded and based on a vision to build a thriving trading community, HelloChoice has also always been committed to addressing broader food security and socio-economic needs in this sector. HelloChoice is the first independent fresh produce trading platform with a broader ambition to promote economic prosperity and market effic...

22Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

South African Spending: How to keep the country saving

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, Account Executive at Pay@ - a leading payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions - notes that this trend towards saving has also been echoed in debt repayments and insurance premium payment volumes, with the former spiking by 58% and the latter by 83% over the past 12 months. He unpacks some of the reasons behind these increases and shares how South Africans can keep saving: For many, pandemic-induced lockdowns led to salary reductions at ...

22Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Real Estate, South Africa News

Low interest rates fueling property buying boom: Finder.com’s economist panel

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 report. 59% of Finder’s panel say the boom will sustain itself for at least another year, with 30% saying the trend will continue until the end of 2022 and 29% saying it will last even longer. Meanwhile, just two panellists (7%) think the market will slow down by November. Alexander Forbes chief economist Isaah Mhlanga thinks the boom will last for another year due to the historically low repo rate. “House prices have declined during the pandemic and due to the re...

22Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Main, South Africa News

Modernisation means more than simple mechanisation – it means people

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 an upward trajectory after a crippling hard lockdown last year, the mining industry’s adoption of mechanisation and digitisation has also been attributed as having played a role in this renaissance. There’s no denying that the mining industry is a significant contributor to South Africa’s economy, with local mineral reserves boasting an estimated value of around $2.5 trillion (Mining Weekly 2016). It also plays a crucial role in creating employment within the country’s communities...

22Sep

By Giorgi MikhelidzeNo Comments

South Africa News

South African Rand Falls – What Will Be in the Future?

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 erupted shortly after the arrest of former president Jacob Zuma in July. According to Capital Economics, the retail sales statistics, along with weak July manufacturing data released last week, increase the possibility that the economy could shrink during the third quarter as a whole, putting the recovery from the coronavirus epidemic on shaky ground. With this background in mind, the central bank is unlikely to be in a hurry to follow the lead of its counte...

22Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, Kenya News, Mozambique News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Banks across Africa Turn to IBM Hybrid Cloud and AI Solutions to Accelerate Digital Innovation

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 their work to develop digital-first solutions, ultimately broadening access to financial services on the continent. COVID-19 continues to accelerate the already rapid changes that were happening across the financial services sector in Africa, fast-tracking the adoption of digital technologies to boost financial inclusion. With over 475 million Africans expected to be mobile internet users by 2025 GSMA –...