South Africa News Archives - Page 61 of 72

24Aug

By Steven CohenNo Comments

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 lessons: hire the right people from the start and if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Any entrepreneur that sets out with these two pieces of wisdom is on a faster track to success. Getting the right employees on board When I think back on the trajectory of our business – from a small accounting software start-up to JSE-listed software and services group to part of a FTSE 100 company – one factor stands out as a key to our success. That is the role that key people have played i...

19May

By Unathi Sonwabile HenamaNo Comments

Africa Travel, African News, South Africa News

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 tourism then was compelling and it captured national attention and led to a national discourse. The Tourism Indaba occurs just a few weeks after the Minister of Sports had revoked government support for sporting codes such as Athletics, Rugby, Cricket and Netball for hosting events in South Africa because of the low pace of transformation. Tourism will be the biggest loser as sports tourism is big business, and South Africa has successful hosted major sporting...

19Aug

By Eden SahleNo Comments

African News, Ethiopia News, Libya News, Morocco News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

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 the number of hotels with almost 40%, larger than Morocco which is a favourite of celebrities. South Africa has the lowest proportion of developments with just 6.1%. Egypt and Libya have fewer hotels but larger properties close to double the average hotel sizes in Nigeria and Morocco. However, this has been significantly deteriorating due to the social unrest which scared away investors. Carlson Rezidor, Hilton Worldwide and Marriott are the mo...

6Jun

By VGNo Comments

African News, Interview, South Africa News, Tech

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. At its peak, the business consisted of 19 factories across the country with a staff complement in excess of 600 people and a production capacity of more than 600,000 tons per annum. In a multi-million rand buyout in 2008 Gys sold the company to a JSE listed group and after seeing his three years earn-out through it was time to take a break. Hesitant to jump into another commercial venture straight away, Gys decided to further his stu...

2Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

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 casual and affordable menu. RocoMamas offers hand-made "smash-style" burgers, ribs and wings, with all orders prepared fresh, on site. The smashed-to-order burger is made from three different fresh mince specifications to optimise taste and texture. Seared under intense heat and pressure to keep it juicy, it is also flavoured with a proprietary mix of seasonings, to rave reviews from South Africans who keep coming b...

31May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Interview, Kenya News, Nigeria News, South Africa News, Tech

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 behind them, but they are interesting, too. Experimenting, selling, building, being wrong, being right, hanging in by the skin of your teeth. These things are interesting, and the more audacious each endeavor is, the more interesting is the startup. So far, the startup teams that have been most prone to this extreme entrepreneurial behaviour are Ghafla (entertainment news), Hivisasa (hyper-local news), Mdundo (music), Booknow (bus tickets), A...

24Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups, Tech

88mph startups meet with investors

Cape Town, South Africa – 88mph, a seed investor and accelerator operating in Nairobi, Cape Town and Lagos, is hosting this year’s Cape Town Investor Day at Crossley & Webb’s vintage car showroom. In February, seven startups received investment from 88mph and have been hard at work over the past 10 weeks. Besides the investment, the accelerator assists startups by providing access to networks, feedback on products, business models, marketing and pushes the startups to experiment in the market with solutions they build. The startups will use Investor Day to communicate with High Net worth Individuals and Venture Capitalists what their businesses do, and are looking for investors that understand and can add value while taking their businesses to the next level. Kresten Buch, a Danish web...

16Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Konecranes presents the world’s first hybrid reach stacker

Konecranes is a world-leading group of Lifting Businesses™ offering lifting equipment and services that improve productivity in a wide variety of industries. The company is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd (symbol: KCR1V). With over 12,000 employees at more than 600 locations in almost 50 countries we have the resources, technology and determination to deliver on the promise of Lifting Businesses™. Konecranes is proud to announce the introduction of the world’s first hybrid reach stacker - the SMV 4531 TB5 HLT for container handling, with a lifting capacity of 45 tons. It features a hybrid diesel/electric driveline, electrified hydraulic lifting system, and a super capacitor based energy storage. This innovative lift truck will cut fuel consumption and emissions w...

20Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

AE-AMD Renewable Energy And Tenesol/SunPower Begin Work On Two Solar Projects In South Africa

Projects are Part of Government's IPP Procurement Program JOHANNESBURG and SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- AE-AMD Renewable Energy, a joint venture between the Spanish AMDA energia and the South African Alt-E Technologies, and Tenesol, a SunPower company (NASDAQ: SPWR), today announced two South African ground-mounted solar power projects totaling 33 megawatts (MW). Both projects, which Tenesol will construct, are located near Douglas, South Africa in the Northern Cape Province. Herbert, a 22-MW project, has begun construction, and groundbreaking for the 11-MW Greefspan project will begin in the coming weeks. They are both part of the South African government's Independent Power Producers Procurement Program and completion for both projects i...

14Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

DHL Global Connectedness Index shows signs of progress for Africa and others

By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa The latest reports on African Connectedness are showing great things for the future. And African countries are showing the largest increases in their global connectedness, according to DHL. While recent announcements from Cape Town, South Africa reveal: • The countries with the largest increases are Mozambique, Togo, Ghana, Guinea and Zambia • Global connectedness has yet to recover from its steep drop at the onset of the financial crisis • The world’s shifting economic center of gravity is reshaping industry connectedness DHL recently released the second edition of the DHL Global Connectedness Index (GCI), a comprehensive analysis of the state of globalization around the world. The report, drawing on over one million data points fr...