Category Archives: South Africa News

South Africa News

Brand valuation missing the so what

James Maposa Director Consultant Intergroup Brand Science (formerly Interbrand Africa) I recently read an article that reported on South Africa’s most valued brands for 2016. The country’s top-10 brands were MTN, Vodacom, Sasol, Standard Bank, Woolworths, FNB, Absa, Nedbank, Investec and Mediclinic; with Multichoice bubbling under at number 11. For me what was missing in […]

An Option for Energy Efficiency and Water Production at Cape Town

Summary: The thermal capacity of seawater off Cape Town’s coast can be applied to reduce the energy consumption of commercial scale refrigerators and air-conditioners as well as sustain the energy efficient operation of refrigeration-based technology that extracts potable water from humid air. Introduction: During successive summer seasons that extend over a period of decades, the […]

The Effects of the Education System on South Africa’s Economic Growth

by Matt Radcliffe .pdf Acrobat Reader Abstract In the two decades since the end of Apartheid, the international community has perceived South Africa to be the most influential country in Sub-Saharan Africa.  The country continues to play an important economic role on the continent and is a driving political force in the African Union (AU).  […]

Espinaca Innovations: A Case Study in Innovation in South Africa

By Johan Burger, NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies   The Espinaca Journey At the age of 24, Lufefe Nomjana from Khayelitsha, Cape Town, in South Africa, came up with a plan to add spinach to foods consumed daily, like bread. He realised that a lot of people in his neighbourhood were obese, yet malnourished! They […]

Two things I wish I had known when I started a small business

By Steven Cohen, Head of Sage One International (Africa, Australia, Middle East and Asia) One of the questions other entrepreneurs most often ask me is what I wish I had known when we first started the Pastel business in 1990. Looking back over the past 26 years, I can distil my answer into two key […]

Tourism an apex industry

The Tourism Indaba is the premier travel exhibition show on the African continent, hosted in the Indian Ocean city of Durban. The tourism industry has gained political mileage with the introduction of the visa regulations last year on the 01 June, which were later revised after intense lobbying by the tourism industry. The voice of […]

Continental Hotel Chain Developments

Following 142 new hotel development constructions in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) in 2014, Ethiopia is ranked among the top 10 largest markets for international chain hotel developments. North Africa has the largest hotel development pipeline with a lion share of 41.4% while West Africa with 34.1% closely follows. Nigeria ranks the highest in terms of […]

Interview with Gysbert Kappers, CEO of Wyzetalk

Gys’s enterprising technology spirit was clearly evident at a young age when in his 20’s he started an online and offline transaction platform company that was eventually sold to SourceCom when the family business beckoned.  What followed was a highly successful 18 years career in building the largest privately owned Concrete Masonry Business in South Africa. […]

Spur buys new gourmet brand, upping its niche market presence

More South Africans will soon get to experience a trendy, new fast but personalised  restaurant concept, now that the Spur Corporation (“Spur”) is set to acquire the majority stake in RocoMamas. The JSE-listed multi-brand restaurant group is buying a 51% share in RocoMamas, a Gauteng-based niche brand, fast developing a following for its customised but […]

Exclusive interview with Mr. Kresten Buch, the founder of 88mph

Kresten Buch, a Danish web entrepreneur turned investor, brought the accelerator model to Sub Saharan Africa nearly 3 years ago and to date has invested over $3million. How many startups do you have in your business portfolio? 35 What are the most interesting ideas associated with these startups? Ideas give some insight into the entrepreneurs […]