Saturday, November 23African Digital Business Magazine

Tag: Business

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 ...
Business, South Africa News

Digital Nomad Boom sees E-Residency Launch New Digital ID Card Collection Points Worldwide

Aspiring e-Residents can now collect their digital identity cards from offices in Brazil, South Africa, Singapore and Thailand 05 May 2021: The Estonian government’s e-Residency programme, pioneer of the world’s first digital residency initiative, has today announced the launch of four new international ‘pick-up points’ across three continents to accommodate for the increase in digital nomads as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Johannesburg in South Africa has been chosen as one of four new global destinations to meet rising demands from local entrepreneurs that are seeking to scale their businesses internationally and expand into the European market. As the epicentre for an 80,000-strong network of digital nomads, today’s announcement demonstrates Estonia’s continued...
Business, South Africa News, Tech

What does WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy Update Mean for Brands?

Despite public pushback, Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp will be going ahead with the privacy policy update it announced earlier this year. While the public has begun to appreciate that WhatsApp’s privacy rules are in fact still very much in favour of the user, with messages sent remaining private and encrypted at all times, what will this mean for brands that use the app to reach and engage with consumers? “The benefits for brands are massive,” says Kyle Oosthuizen, Chief Operating Officer at Blue Robot - creators of messaging solutions that allow brands to communicate with their audience at scale. “These updates form part of Facebook’s efforts to make communicating with a business secure, better and easier for everyone. The new updates will be made to business features that will he...
Business, Fintech

Staying ahead of cybercrime is a business imperative

It is predicted that there will be 7,5 billion Internet users by 2030 and that more than 111 billion lines of new software code is produced each year. While the growth is exciting, these statistics also outline the number of vulnerabilities open to exploitation. Together with an estimated  96 zettabytes of digital content currently produced, this sheer volume will lead to increased cyber-attacks and security events, all of which will be virtually impossible for humans to contain. Ryan Mer, Managing Director, eftsure Africa, a Know Your Payee™ (KYP) platform provider, says that cyber security is almost always a people problem first: “While the amount of business transactions taking place online is constantly growing and working from home is now commonplace, business controls have not kep...
2021 will demand continued user experience and change management focus according to e4
Fintech, Tech

2021 will demand continued user experience and change management focus according to e4

A dogged commitment to change execution is how businesses will survive in 2021, according to Grant Phillips CEO of fintech specialist, e4. He says the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked industry-wide havoc, the headwinds of which will continue to blow for years to come, leaving businesses in an almost permanent state of evolution and change. “Despite the negative impact of Covid-19 we have seen several unique responses to the extraordinary challenge it created. This has led to many new opportunities and with it, ingenuity and creativity across several sectors. Macro-economic responses like interest rate management, changes in consumer buying behaviour, reduced local and global mobility, and a worldwide shift to low/no touch engagement all have very different, but marked impacts on many industries g...
Business, South Africa News

How to make your business more ‘circular’

Something is made, it’s used and then disposed of. Read that again. Something is made, it’s used and then disposed of. We go to all the effort of manufacturing objects, only to discard them as rubbish. Worse still, they end up as trash in landfill or incinerated. After some thought and repetition, the entire process sounds absolutely nonsensical, doesn’t it? But that’s what has traditionally happened to the things we buy. They come to the end of their useful life (to us!) and are simply thrown away. However, the good news is that this can and will change – organisations and businesses all over the globe are thinking differently and taking a new approach to their operations as a means to being more ‘circular’; looking at the goods and services they provide and innovating for sustainable suc...
The US approach to Africa under Biden
Main

The US approach to Africa under Biden

By Virusha Subban, Partner specialising in Customs and Trade at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg The United States (US) President Elect Joe Biden and his new administration are expected to take a multilateral approach to foreign policy, easing tensions and increasing engagement with allies. Trade issues are also expected to be a top priority for the Biden administration and under Biden, US engagement with African countries will likely focus on strengthening relationships in a strategic, co-operative way. Biden is also likely to continue with successful bipartisan programmes implemented by his predecessors, as well as encourage US trade and investment in the continent. This bodes well for US-Africa trade and the US position as a key trading partnership for African countries. During his electi...
Why South Africans Are Setting Up Business in Dubai
South Africa News, Startups

Why South Africans Are Setting Up Business in Dubai

The UAE serves as a key location for investors from South Africa. Whether it’s through Dubai mainland or a Dubai free zone, South Africans continue to reach out to UAE business setup advisors and Dubai business setup consultants for their company setup needs. It is estimated that 60,000 to 80,000 South Africans reside in the Emirates, and many iconic South African brands, such as Mediclinic, Nando’s, Standard Bank, Nedbank, Barloworld Logistics, Dimension Data, and SA Airways have established their presence locally. Government Incentives New business setup in Dubai and UAE by South Africans continues to be an important reciprocal strategy for people of both nations. The federal government has encouraged continued confidence shown in the economy and its potential wi...
Mixed-use is the key to funding hotel development in Africa
Africa Travel, Real Estate

Mixed-use is the key to funding hotel development in Africa

A new report from JLL, the world’s largest professional services firm specialising in real estate, has revealed that people seeking to finance a new hotel project in Africa will be much more successful if their hotel is part of a mixed-use development. JLL’s research into global property transactions reveals that in the first half of 2019, there was a 42% increase in the value of mixed-use property transactions, whereas there was a decline in other sectors, with Office down 4%, Industrial down 6%, Retail down 20%, Hotel down 18% and alternatives down 40%. Xander Nijnens, Executive Vice-President, JLL Sub-Saharan Africa, explains that the trend is driven by lenders’ approach to risk. He said: “Diversifying risk by including alternative types of property, commercial, retail, hotel and bran...
Why is America involved in the Mozambique “tuna scandal”?
Main, Mozambique News

Why is America involved in the Mozambique “tuna scandal”?

If you do business globally as a multinational company, employee or consultant, you might wish to follow the convoluted U.S. legal case against Lebanese ship salesman Jean Boustani. Boustani was the chief sales executive of a global shipbuilding company, Privinvest, based in the Middle East with operating shipyards in France, Germany and elsewhere. Privinvest has built vessels and systems for about 40 navies to protect their waters. In 2012, when the Mozambique government launched a series of maritime projects to build a tuna fishing fleet, shipyard facilities and a coastal navy to protect its waters, Boustani helped Privinvest win the contracts. But after Privinvest delivered the vessels and systems, Mozambique abandoned the projects, defaulted on $2 billion in debt financing and was accu...