South Africa Archives - Page 18 of 30

13Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Air France extends its operations in Africa as it launches a new route to Maputo and increases frequency

Air France announces today that it will be expanding its operations on the African continent with increased frequency of flights between Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Johannesburg, and a brand-new route to Maputo, Mozambique from 20 June 2021. The flight to Maputo will be a continuation of the Johannesburg flight. Wouter Vermeulen, General Manager Southern Africa Air France-KLM, affirms that Air France remains strongly committed to Africa as a strategic asset in their global network. “Air France is very pleased to announce that we will increase our flights to Johannesburg again and add Maputo to our network starting from June. In recent years, Mozambique has emerged as an important business destination, due to its rich natural energy reserves. We will connect Maputo to all major cities i...

12Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

AI, automation the only option for SA

South Africa’s only option for addressing poverty and poor economic growth is to embrace 4IR technologies such as automation and Artificial Intelligence, to make the country more competitive. This is according to Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala, Vice-Chancellor and Principal at the University of Johannesburg and author of Closing the Gap: The Fourth Industrial Revolution in Africa, who addressed the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) Tabling Tech webinar hosted by Johan Steyn - IITPSA Chair: Special Interest Group – AI & Robotics; and Tony Parry - IITPSA CEO this week. In a highly engaging webinar, Prof. Marwala noted that despite concerns about people being displaced by automation, 4IR progress had to be made. “The future will be bleak indeed if South Afri...

12Apr

By MadelienNo Comments

Forex

5 Best FSCA Forex Brokers in South Africa

Overview The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is the regulatory body in South Africa that oversees a variety of financial activities, including the provision of online trading solutions and services. It is a reputable and strict entity. Amidst the list of brokers that have applied for regulation through the FSCA, the following five have been granted permission to operate within the country and other African countries that do not have their own regulatory bodies and thus use the FSCA. ThinkMarkets Established in 2010, ThinkMarkets is a reputable STP broker that offers trade in a variety of financial instruments to a multitude of traders across the globe. ThinkMarkets incorporates the best range of online technologies with their suite of advanced trading platforms and tools, offeri...

7Apr

By Prenisha GovenderNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

South Africa: The South African revenue service joins the global rise of crypto-wars

By Prenisha Govender, Associate and Keketso Kgomosotho, Candidate Attorney, Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg. The growing popularity of cryptocurrencies worldwide, which is increasingly leading to its stronger footing in international business, has awakened tax authorities everywhere to a possible new revenue stream from unreported gains. Over recent years, we've seen a marked increase in crackdowns on cryptocurrency traders - all the way from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the United States (US) to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the United Kingdom (UK), and now the South African Revenue Service (SARS). It was only a matter of time until SARS joined the party, given that in terms of both market value and volume, South Africa is reported to be one of the top t...

7Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News

Accelerating South Africa! Ayo Technology Solutions Partners With The Sa Innovation Summit To Scale Africa

A great leader once said, ‘What is important is that we make sure to work together, that we understand our strength comes from unity and not division.’ Now more than ever, we all understand the need to foster the spirit of collaboration in the way we do business. With that in mind, AYO Technology Solutions (AYO), in partnership with the SA Innovation Summit is proud to announce the first ever, AYO Scaling Africa Series. This is a brand-new Africa-base initiative, aimed at empowering technopreneurs. This series will identify and support digital and tech businesses from South Africa, disrupting the ecosystem with novel ways to solve business and everyday needs for communities across, not only South Africa but, Africa as a whole. The AYO Scaling Africa Series will provide Series A funding...

6Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Medicine, South Africa News

Clean Air Crucial for Curbing COVID-19 Spread and Upping Productivity in Workplaces. Four Ways Clean Air is Better for Business

South Africa is bracing itself for a third COVID-19 wave. According to scientists, this is due to the slow start to the vaccination programme and relaxed level 1 restrictions. Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has stated that: “If that third wave comes, it should be managed (in such a way) that we keep the economy going and protect lives.” “To this end, employers need to ensure that they fulfil their moral and legal obligation of providing a safe and healthy workplace for their staff,” says Koen Van Wynendaele, Daikin South Africa Managing Director. He continues: “There is growing evidence that COVID-19 infection can occur from airborne exposure to the virus, particularly in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation[i]. With this in mind, employers need to consider the air quality of their workpla...

6Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Setting South Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises Up for Success

South Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent more than 98% of registered businesses, employ between 50% and 60% of the country’s workforce, and are responsible for a quarter of job growth in the private sector[i]. “It’s no wonder then that these companies are the country’s hope for economic recovery. But what is being done to ensure their success?” asks Andrew Hardie, Chief Executive Officer at Pay@ - a leading payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions. South African SMEs have the highest failure rate in the world[ii]. In fact, 70% to 80% of small businesses fail within five years[iii]. Studies conducted by the Universities of the Free State[iv], Limpopo[v] and Cape Town[vi] have found that a lack of business capabilities (including skills and tools)...

31Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, Green Energy, South Africa News

South Africa needs over 28 GW of flexibility to reach 100% renewables at lowest cost

Wärtsilä launches agile balancing technology - capable of ramping up to 10+ MW in two minutes - to bridge South Africa to renewable energy future The technology group Wärtsilä has highlighted a striking need to scale up flexibility in South Africa, in the form of energy storage and flexible gas technology, to enable a 100% renewable energy future. 28 GW of flexible assets are needed for South Africa’s energy systems to run on 100% renewable energy at the lowest cost. The capacity needed to balance South Africa’s switch to grids powered by intermittent renewables must come from two key technologies: over 21 GW of energy storage and over 6.8 GW of flexible gas power capacity, capable of running on future fuels. Future fuels can be produced during periods when renewables produce more electric...

31Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Justice Accelerator calls on innovative Southern African startups changing lives and creating social impact

EUR 10,000 grant for technology-driven finalists to grow their business The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) is calling on all game-changing justice startups that want to grow their social impact and business to participate in this year’s HiiL Innovating Justice Challenge. Successful applicants will earn a place in the prestigious international HiiL Justice Accelerator programme, along with EUR 10,000 in funding and a package of tailored local support. The programme is searching for promising startups and social enterprises who are solving a pressing justice problem in a way that is high impact and sustainable. Themba Mahleka, co-head of the HiiL Innovation Hub Southern Africa, says that the numerous social and economic challenges of the past year have made tackling inequality...

26Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Medicine, South Africa News

SA Must Adopt a Human-Centred Approached to Healthcare Delivery

But Can Telemedicine Close the Gap? It’s no secret that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the existing inequality in South Africa, and in the case of access to healthcare, it exacerbated it. This is according to Paul Cox, Managing Director of the Essential Group of Companies (which includes health insurance provider EssentialMED). The latest figures from the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) estimate that the number of excess deaths in South Africa between May 2020 and March 2021 is 146,626,[1]- a far cry from the most recent official Covid death toll of 52,196[2]. By comparing the time trends in excess deaths, SAMRC says that between 85-95% of the unaccounted deaths were likely to be directly related to Covid and that the remaining 5-15% were probably collateral causes due t...