South Africa News Archives - Page 47 of 72

2Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Digital Solutions Sought to Accelerate Inclusive Economic Growth for Businesses in the Township Economy

The COVID-19 crisis and accompanying national lockdown had a dramatic effect on all businesses, but those operating in the township economy were hardest hit, with 67% being unable to operate at all under stricter lockdown levels and 75% reporting a reduction in their sales[i]. Now, with the rollout of the vaccine putting South Africa on a post-pandemic trajectory, revival of the township economy and inclusive economic growth for the businesses within it are vital for addressing fallouts from the pandemic such as unemployment, poverty, and food insecurity. Over the weekend of the 19th and 20th of June 2021, Silicon Cape and the United States Embassy in South Africa will be hosting a virtual hackathon aimed at discovering digital solutions to accelerate inclusive economic growth for local bu...

25May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Medicine, South Africa News

Govt urged to embrace the power of tech in delivery of primary healthcare for all

Research released this week show the real potential that technology has in the effective delivery of primary healthcare services across South Africa. The research, says trans-disciplinary health consultancy Percept, should be used as a road map to better healthcare services for all in the country. “We looked at practical examples from across Africa and researched how other countries used technology in their specific environments. Our work shows that a lot can be achieved despite existing problems such as poor technological literacy, poor uptake of smartphone capabilities, or poor power supply,” says Shivani Ranchod, CEO of Percept. “We will be sharing our findings with key stakeholders in the health sector and hope that it will be valuable for their work to improve healthcare service deli...

25May

By NJ AyukNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

Net Zero? Not for Africa. Not Yet. Africa Must Fight Energy Poverty with Oil and Gas Development

By NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman, African Energy Chamber On May 18, 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector,” which outlines plans for the global energy sector to reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Achieving net zero emissions means the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere would equal the amount being removed. Achieving this balance, the IEA maintains, would require more than aggressive carbon-capture measures: It would call for a swift and immediate shift from petroleum energy sources to energy provided through naturally replenished sources like wind, water, and solar power. From an environmental standpoint, this is a great concept. But we live in reality. And today, in real-world...

24May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups, Uganda News

Crasner Ventures backs ‘worker-first’ social network Umwuga for its second investment

London, UK, May 2021: Crasner Ventures, the early-stage venture capital investor that supports businesses led by female founders and entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, announces its investment in Umwuga Ltd, an emerging markets-focused social network that connects workers and employers. Umwuga is Crasner Ventures’ second portfolio company. Umwuga is revolutionising the recruitment industry in emerging markets, by enabling workers to connect and communicate on their own terms, showcase their abilities, experience and personality and engage and negotiate directly with prospective employers. The platform opens up employment opportunities to those often excluded by a recruitment industry and social networks designed predominately for white-collar workers. It also helps employers by giving...

19May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News, Tech

A challenging, risk driven environment awaits us

As many parts of the world deal with the Third Wave of Covid-19 infections, there are growing concerns that South Africa may face harsher lockdown measures in the future as the country ramps up its vaccine roll out program. This will have a telling impact on society and will only accelerate the reliance on ecommerce business models as the public prioritizes their health and safety. Unfortunately, this also means that there will be a challenging, risk driven environment ahead of us when it comes to fraud. This was highlighted at the Southern African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) & Insurance Crime Bureau International Fraud Summit which was held virtually on 19 May 2021. Increased Risk “We are really reaching a critical point when it comes to the economy and the extreme measures that...

19May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

A successful omnichannel strategy should be customer obsessed

The consumer industry is in a state of constant disruption. Along with advances in technology, more informed and sceptical consumers are holding business to higher standards. According to Reynhardt Uys, Chief Experience Officer, Immersion Group, a global team of experience design expert, an organisation’s success in delivering a customer-centric experience across every business channel is no longer a differentiator, but a determinant of survival. Uys says forward-looking organisations understand that profound change is inevitable, and that this presents enormous opportunity for growth for fully integrated omnichannel businesses that embrace UX, UI, CX, systems thinking, design thinking and experience design. “While the omnichannel concept has its roots in marketing, the idea of operating ...

18May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Bank of Central African States and the African Energy Chamber to work together on solution for FOREX regulation for energy industry

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) (www.EnergyChamber.org), on Monday 17 May held a meeting with the Central Bank of Central African States (BEAC) to discuss the effects of BEAC’s in December 2018 adopted FX regulations, which are due to come into effect on the 1 January 2022. The meeting was in response to concerns by energy companies operating in the CEMAC region, that the new FOREX regulations will stifle investment, lead to a loss of jobs, increase operational cost, lead to additional and unnecessary bureaucracy and eventually render the regions energy industry uncompetitive compared to other regions globally. These concerns are even more pertinent today, given the added pressures and competition that the industry in the CEMEC region is facing in light of the global move towards e...

18May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

South Africa’s Leading Payment Aggregator and Secure Payment Solutions Provider Expands into Africa

With the African Continental Free Trade Agreement set to generate combined consumer and business spending of $6.7 trillion by 2030[i], the continent requires payment platforms to cater for this growth. To this end, Pay@ - a leading South African payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions - will be expanding into several African countries and providing consumers and businesses alike with a variety of payment methods. The company’s CEO, Andrew Hardie says that Pay@ has deployed operations into Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho over the past few years but will now be adding Zambia, Mozambique and Angola to this list, with additional African countries in the pipeline. “We would like to build on the strength of our business in South Africa and grow out our offerings across the con...

18May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Total’s Mozambique LNG Project to take center stage at the France Africa Economic summit

As French and African leaders gather on May 18 in Paris for the France-Africa Summit, Mozambican leaders and Total have a brilliant opportunity to push for the resumption of LNG projects in Mozambique and get things going. Even if exploitation of natural resources is not particularly on the Summit's agenda, there will be no better chance for the gas-rich country to showcase its solutions and arrangements to the issues posed to its gas industry. Notably, as one of the delayed projects involves a consortium led by French supermajor Total, who on April 26 issued a force majeure declaration to its LNG project in the Cabo Delgado province due to the security situation at the moment. Total's force majeure declaration has sent the project into a delay, negatively impacting Mozambique&rsq...

17May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

AUDA-NEPAD and Ecobank Group partnership moves to finance phase under the 100,000 MSMEs Initiative

The African Union Development Agency NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD) (https://bit.ly/3w9P1aI) and the Ecobank Group (www.Ecobank.com) its strategic partner on the development of the 100,000 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Initiative, are set to launch the financing component as from 27 May 2021. AUDA-NEPAD launched the 100,000 MSMEs Programme to accelerate African economic transformation, provide the needed skills, and build resilience against the economic shock triggered by the global pandemic. The ‘100 000 MSMEs’ initiative seeks to build the capacity of 1,000,000 enterprises in Africa through entrepreneurial and business training to improve access to finance and new markets while establishing networks for support and incubation to bolster their success. “Across ...