South Africa News Archives - Page 59 of 72

Friday@Noon on Economic Development in Africa: 2018

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Friday@Noon on Economic Development in Africa: 2018

by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. The year 2018 saw numerous cases of economic development on the African continent. This would include trade, etc. Africa The US$2 trillion-plus Sub-Saharan Africa economy continues to strengthen from a low point in 2016, thanks to domestic policy adjustments and improved global economic activity. Growth is projected to increase from 2.7% in 2017 to 3.1% in 2018. With the exception of SSA’s two biggest markets (Nigeria and SA), the rest of SSA has grown at 5.3% on average in the period spanning 2010-17, but with wider heterogeneity across countries. Hence, there are plenty opportunities for dedicated investors. The regi...

Friday@Noon on Agriculture in Africa – 2018

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Agriculture, Angola News, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia News, Ghana News, Kenya News, Mozambique News, Nigeria News, Rwanda News, South Africa News, South Sudan, Tanzania News, Uganda News, Zimbabwe News

Friday@Noon on Agriculture in Africa – 2018

by Johan Burger This paper addresses events and trends in the agriculture sector in Africa for 2018. It is based on the media articles addressed in the Friday@Noon weekly newsletters of the NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies in Singapore. These are by no means meant to constitute an exhaustive list of developments. General Agriculture in Africa has been identified as a sector with the capacity to stimulate economic growth on the continent. What is necessary, is the industrialization of the sector, with a strong focus on improving the inputs, e.g. better quality seeds, fertiliser, irrigation and modern farming techniques. Transforming the sector into a lucrative one, is an important step to convince various stakeholders to see farming as a good business opportunity. The industrialisation of...

10Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Ethiopia News, Main, Mozambique News, South Africa News, Sudan News, Tanzania News

Friday@Noon on Mining in Africa: 2018

by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. Various mining initiatives and challenges occurred during 2018. Below is a snapshot of some of it. This is by no means an exhaustive list. Tanzania Tanzania wants to take more of the profits from its vast mineral resources by overhauling the fiscal and regulatory regime of its mining sector. It adopted new regulations, which now make it compulsory for foreign-owned mining groups to offer shares to the government and local companies. A contractor, sub-contractor, mining company or other allied entity must maintain a bank account with an indigenous Tanzanian bank and transact business through banks in the country. The in...

3Apr

By Johan BurgerNo Comments

Botswana News, Ethiopia News, Kenya News, Main, Mozambique News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Friday@Noon on Regional Integration in Africa: 2018

by Johan Burger The NTU-SBF Centre for African Studies publishes a weekly newsletter on issues relevant to Africa. This paper is based on issues addressed in the newsletter. Regional integration has become a high profile intervention and is seen as the route to economic integration and increasing intra-African trade. Some commentators are of the opinion that Africa must secure its own share of global economic growth and sustain the economic growth of Africa itself. The greatest opportunity for doing this, is Africa’s ability to trade and do business with itself. Improvements to fiscal policies, governance and regulatory frameworks, along with a move to diversify economies away from Africa’s traditional commodities-biased economies, present great opportunities to foreign investors. Africa’s...

Loadshedding: why mini grids are the answer and why South Africa doesn’t have them (yet)

2Apr

By Annemarie RoodbolNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

Loadshedding: why mini grids are the answer and why South Africa doesn’t have them (yet)

“Whole communities and towns can become 100% energy independent” “Mini grids could very quickly sort out a lot of the biggest challenges that South Africa is having with its energy supply at the moment” says Dr Sam Duby, Africa Director for TFE Energy and mini grid expert. He adds: “deregulation would open a market for people to produce power and sell power and that would revolutionise the energy landscape in South Africa. Technically it wouldn’t be a difficult or complex thing to do; there are plenty of precedents around the world where it has worked really well.” Mini grids have become increasingly important on the continent and are being built at a rapid rate with more than 2000 mini grids currently across Africa. Says Dr Duby: “it’s a combination of people waking up to the fact that it...

1Apr

By Jacques VermeulenNo Comments

African News, Ghana News, Kenya News, Main, South Africa News, Uganda News

Towards a world without waste

The invention of plastic has changed the world in so many ways – for both better and worse - that it’s hard to picture modern life without it. Instinctively, we might think a plastic-free world could only be an improvement, but that would be to ignore the extent to which plastic is interwoven in almost every aspect of our lives, including its role in the food economy. It has reduced food waste and packaging costs – contributing to food security - while enabling the convenience lifestyle of the modern working family. You only have to consider how the absence of plastic packaging would increase the risks of food product contamination and the spread of disease to understand the vital part it plays. Yet it’s also clear that the sheer volume of plastic pollution has become unsustainable. A 2017...

Doing Business in Top 5 Cities of South Africa

26Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

Doing Business in Top 5 Cities of South Africa

Easy of Doing Business in Thekwini (Durban) Easy of Doing Business in Cape TownSouth Africa is a country of a mixed economy. It has a relatively high gross domestic product than other countries in Africa. Despite having a mixed economy and high GDP, South Africa has a problem of poverty and unemployment. Business is a great way to be economically stable. It is such a profession that should be moved with a great strategy regarding various situations. South Africa needs such entrepreneurs for making the economy more strongly. So in this article, we are going to discuss doing business in South Africa's top 5 cities. Doing business in Cape Town Cape Town is the number one South African city when it came to the ease of doing business according to the latest World Bank research report on Doin...

Health (in)security and migration: African lessons for a world in transition

20Feb

By Annamarie Bindenagel SehovicNo Comments

Main, South Africa News

Health (in)security and migration: African lessons for a world in transition

By Annamarie Bindenagel Šehović Analysis in Brief: Global health security lies at the intersection of Europe and Africa, between inherited state-based intervention and a new regional, global approach. Given this, it is vital to redefine health security and it is imperative that this new definition include cross-border populations. Likewise, knowledge exchange in both definitional scope and political and experimental approaches across Africa and beyond is an important contributor to health security in a globalised world. Global health security agenda Image courtesy: Homeland Preparedness News, 2018 Introduction Health insecurities know no borders. In Africa, these include not only infectious diseases, but also non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and a context marked by deficits in treatment p...

21Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

SA tech company tackles water crisis

“SAVING WATER GETS A SMART SOLUTION“ Cape Town’s drought has changed most South Africans’ thinking around water usage and the future of the country’s water supplies. Government tariffs and self-regulation has meant a re-think in our relationship with water and how we go about using, saving and re-purposing this scarce resource. A Cape Town company, recognizing the need for creating a sustainable home and a more empowered consumer in a future where resources will become increasingly under pressure, has produced a smart water management solution to answer the growing need for the monitoring of water usage at your fingertips. “GaugeIT allows for the evolution of a smarter, more engaged consumer, by empowering them with near-real-time water consumption information directly on their cell pho...

30Dec

By Isabelle LurquinNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

Transformation in Africa’s digital retail landscape

Undeniably, digital transformation continues to dramatically change the way we live and do business – almost daily it seems. Globally, the retail industry is one of the top industries in which we are seeing massive strides and changes when it comes to the adoption of technology, the evolving customer journey, and innovation in terms of products and services. Africa's retail landscape is no exception. On the face of it markets in Africa are outperforming some first world countries in their pace of transformation to meet the needs of the rising digitally-savvy customer population – a consumer base which is now generally better informed, and demanding a more personalised, convenient, on demand service. The retail journey is no longer about merely walking into a store and grabbing something ...