Wednesday, November 27African Digital Business Magazine

South Africa News

South Africa News

South Africa News

South African Fashion eCommerce Retailer Expands Into Africa

  Millbug.com, the leading women's fashion ecommerce retailer in South Africa today announced it would be expanding into the rest of Africa. The company, which prides itself on providing elegant and edgy fashion for millennials, has confirmed that its number one priority will be proliferating the African ecommerce environment. “We are very fortunate to have unique insights into the African youth consumer market”, says Managing Director of Millbug (Pty) Ltd, Sabelo Sibanda. “Our site delivers the same user experience whether it's being viewed on a desktop, tablet or mobile device. This, coupled with our live chat, multiple payment gateways and free worldwide shipping, puts millbug.com in a perfect position to spread the love to the rest of the continent”. Millbug.com has built a s...
African News, South Africa News

SA’s National Development Plan promises greatness

  By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa SOUTH AFRICA's revised National Development Plan (NDP) could be the foundation for a new age of co-operation between business and government, a leading business organisation believes. It is the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry which has welcomed the NDP as a progressive step for the prosperity of South Africa. Michael Bagraim, President of the Chamber said: “We think the priorities are right and we are confident that there will be broad support from business as the plan is implemented.” He said the Chamber agreed with the recommended approach to education which was designed to improve the management of schools and reward those schools which produced significant improvement in their results. “This has to be the starting point for the future ...
African News, South Africa News

New Fair Trade Shop Empowers South African Artisans

  COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Paradigm Shift, a Colorado-based non-profit, recently launched an online shop. The Paradigm Shift Shop sells Fair Trade South African crafts handmade by microentrepreneurs who have participated in Paradigm Shift's holistic entrepreneurship training program. Around the globe millions work in sweatshop-like conditions, earning barely enough to feed their families. Unfortunately, many consumers are unaware of the exploitation that is often involved in the process of making their goods. Former U.S. president Benjamin Harrison once said, "I pity the man who wants a coat so cheap that the man or woman who produces the cloth will starve in the process." To counter the exploitation of workers around the world, a social movement has e...
African News, South Africa News, Zambia News

Regionalism

  by Chikomborero Dengu (chikodengu @ gmail.com) Regionalism (Microsoft Word) Introduction There is an increasing recognition for the need to improve the political and economic environment of a country or region via collective action . This recognition is borne out of the realisation that countries or indeed regions are competing with themselves for scarce resources . This essay intends to dissect the concept of new regionalism and whilst briefly looking at how it has evolved .  With reference to the last point this paper will attempt to link the concept of new regionalism to the recent surge in Regional Trade Agreements (RTA).[1] The crux of this essay however lay in establishing the reasons for increases in RTA’s , that is to say both economic and political positives of jo...
African News, South Africa News

How to make money

  By Chemory Gunko How to make money (Microsoft Word) Wherever you look, and whomever you speak to, the answer you hear to all our economic and business woes is be entrepreneurial! What exactly does it take to be entrepreneurial though, and what does it mean to have an entrepreneurial mindset?   I have been very blessed in my time to work with some amazing business people, and the lessons I have learned from the time spent with them are lessons I go back to daily as I’m building my own little empire J   The most valuable lesson I’ve ever learnt about business though, is not to wait for clients. And that’s exactly what the fundamental premise of an entrepreneurial mindset is.   Some of the most fascinating and successful business people I’ve met just never ...
African News, South Africa News

Never leave customer experience to chance – CEM Africa Summit kicks off next week in the Mother City!

  Never leave customer experience to chance - CEM Africa Summit (Microsoft Word) The anticipated Customer Experience Management Africa Summit will be held in Cape Town from 2 to 3 August 2012. The event will bring together Africa’s industry leaders, and provide a unique platform to build relationships, share ideas and most importantly, to do business. The summit is produced by international business-to-business conferencing company, Kinetic Events. As contact centres have become more complex and customers more demanding, your customer-facing employees, regardless of experience or knowledge, are expected to deliver personalised, positive experiences in every customer interaction. Yet complex processes, silos of knowledge, multiple communication channels and a host of disparate, di...
Science, South Africa News

Life Technologies and SATuRN Collaborate to Increase Access to HIV Testing in Africa

  CARLSBAD, Calif., July 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE ) today announced a collaboration with the Southern African Treatment and Resistance Network (SATuRN – http://www.bioafrica.net/saturn) on sequencing-based diagnostics for HIV-infected individuals in Africa. Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are becoming increasingly available in the developing world, due to facilitation by both governmental and non-governmental organizations, as well as reductions in price and international trade restrictions by pharmaceutical companies. Resistance to these drugs develops in many HIV-infected individuals, however, and resistance is therefore coming to the forefront of the global health agenda. Resistance can be monitored by genetic sequencing of two viral gen...
African News, South Africa News

Standard Bank South Africa’s Muvo card brings cutting edge technology to bus system

  The introduction of the MasterCard Muvo card in Durban will herald the beginning of the end of carrying cash for bus fare in South Africa. Commuters using People Mover and Durban Transport buses throughout Ethekwini municipality in KwaZulu-Natal province will use the card to pay their fare. The card is powered by Standard Bank South Africa and introduced through its innovation arm Beyond Payments and transport IT specialistAlmex. The card is an anonymous debit MasterCard that is coupled with the National Department of Transport's specified ticketing solution. It is also prefunded and reloadable, and can be used as a standard EMV MasterCard, as well as in a contactless environment enabled though the MasterCard PayPass™ contactless technology. The launch follows the successful...
African News, Algeria News, Egypt News, Ethiopia News, Mauritius News, Nigeria News, South Africa News, Zambia News

Africa to gear up for more meaningful engagement with China

  The partnership with China should aim to boost Africa's overall capacity, competitiveness and trade in a way that supports African development. African nations must use the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation to complement the continent's regional institutions and policy agenda. This is according to a report by Standard Bank Group economists Jeremy Stevens and Simon Freemantle ahead of the fifth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Beijing, China, that starts on 19 July 2012. Jeremy Stevens, Standard Bank Group's Beijing-based economist, says that the summit comes at a time when China is distracted by domestic economic challenges and political matters. Meanwhile Africa is now even more reliant on China, in particular Chinese demand for African commodity exports, but even ...
African News, South Africa News

Deskbags can help children gain their educational independence

  by Madelain Roscher   DeskBags - ShopSA (Microsoft Word) According to a recent report by UNESCO, there are as many as 95 million school children who do not have access to a school desk in Africa. In Southern Africa, the statistics are equally alarming, with over 4 million scholars requiring desks.   This is a statistic that doesn’t sit well with Madelain Roscher, Managing Director of PR Worx.“Education is one of the most important elements in a child’s life and while many children are eager to learn, their lack of facilities can considerably hamper their educational development and they subsequently struggle to become positive contributing members of society.”   Ideally, this issue could be solved by building more classrooms with relevant furniture, but...