South Africa Archives - Page 6 of 30

South African Small Construction Companies are Bracing for 2023 and Making Preparations to Rebuild and Thrive

15Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

South African Small Construction Companies are Bracing for 2023 and Making Preparations to Rebuild and Thrive

The South African construction industry has been remarkably resilient in the face of the pandemic, managing to rebound as quickly and effectively as possible. Now, as businesses and individuals alike begin to look forward to 2023, it is essential that everyone starts setting themselves up for success in the coming year. For small business owners this can be a particularly challenging task, as they must attempt to make predictions and plan ahead without having any real guarantee of what the future holds. To that end, taking a proactive approach is recommended: planning thoroughly and investing in contingencies will help to ensure that SMEs are ready for whatever lies ahead. Furthermore, expanding their reach beyond local markets and diversifying their activities can also help them weather ...

1Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, South Africa News

South Africa: The latest developments in Just Energy Transition

Kieran Whyte, Partner and Head of the Energy. Mining & Infrastructure Group, Baker McKenzie, Johannesburg During the World Leaders' Summit at COP 27 in November 2022, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa launched the new Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET IP) for South Africa. It was at COP 26 in November 2021, that it was first announced that the governments of France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union had pledged USD 8.5 billion in first round financing to assist South Africa with energy transition projects as part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) between the countries. In October 2022, the South African cabinet approved a five-year investment plan for the USD 8.5 billion package. The Just Energy Transition Investment ...

27Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Female Venture Capitalists are pioneering South Africa’s Silicon Valley

By Paula Mokwena, CEO at Fireball Capital The global venture capital (VC) ecosystem is no stranger to the common challenge that female entrepreneurs face – lack of funding. Research by the World Bank shows that for every $1 invested in women, $25 goes to men in the African startup space1. This is the case across all regions and twice the burden for African women attempting to break into the ‘boys’ club’. Small strides have been made toward uplifting women in the broader tech space, and the effort that has been made can be attributed to the influx of female investors and venture capitalists into the market2. The disproportionate level of funding channelled into male-led startups might suggest that these are more lucrative investments3. However, research by BCG has shown that businesses fo...

Local delivery service experiences 100% growth in demand and adoption

27Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Local delivery service experiences 100% growth in demand and adoption

According to Deloitte’s most recent Digital Commerce Acceleration report, the growth of online shopping in South Africa is on the rise. Accompanying it, is an increasingly discerning online shopper, who chooses their online stores based on a few key features, such as low delivery costs and clear and simple return or refund policies. In fact, companies with high delivery fees and difficult to return products are more likely to have consumers heading for the hills. According to Simon Hill, Head of Marketing at leading national courier service The Courier Guy, this presents a timely opportunity for retailers to address the current shortcomings within their current logistics supply chain, and at the same time enhance their processes and reduce the barriers to online shopping, by providing a...

Investing in software development skills is a strategic imperative for all sectors

24Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Business, Science, South Africa News, Tech

Investing in software development skills is a strategic imperative for all sectors

Rather than being concentrated in certain industries, coding is crucial across the economy By Jessica Hawkey, Managing Director of redAcademy The highest unemployment rate in the world, where almost three in five youth are unemployed, and a crippling skills shortage - especially in the technology industry - exist side by side in South Africa creating a unique vacuum that needs to be filled. Businesses are often hamstrung by an inability to innovate because they don’t have the skills, while young people are not finding their way into the technology industry in large enough numbers to close the skills gap and make an impact on unemployment levels. Software development, which is key to driving innovation, is not the preserve of the IT industry. Software development is crucial in all indust...

8Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

As SA’s ICT sector looks to globalise, employers and practitioners are in search of the right skills

The number of South African employers reporting they are recruiting ICT skills overseas has increased dramatically in the past year – up from 38% to over 50%. This is a key finding in the 2022 JCSE-IITPSA ICT Skills Survey – the 12th to carried out by Wits University’s Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) in partnership with the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA), with the support of the Information Technology Association (ITA). The study’s authors, Adrian Schofield, production consultant at the IITPSA, and Professor Barry Dwolatzky, Director of the JCSE, describe the growing trend to recruit foreign skills as “disturbing, given the continuing high levels of unemployment in South Africa”. With pressures on business margins making emplo...

20Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

South Africa: The unintended consequences of Most Favoured Nation Clauses in Tax treaties

By Francis Mayebe, Candidate Attorney, overseen by Virusha Subban, Partner and Head of Tax, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg Background Bilateral tax treaties are mainly based on the principle of reciprocity. Under this principle, one state negotiates better treaty terms with another in exchange for making a particular concession. As is clearly seen in most protocols, the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) clause is usually included as a concession by a developing state looking to renegotiate particular treaty provisions. An illustration of this can be seen in the inclusion of the MFN clause in South Africa's protocols with the Netherlands and Sweden, as it was negotiating to include withholding tax on dividends. The broad rationale behind MFN clauses stems from the field of foreign direct investmen...

Using the power of technology to assist in breaking the silence in South Africa’s gender-based violence crisis

8Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Using the power of technology to assist in breaking the silence in South Africa’s gender-based violence crisis

In the fourth quarter of 2021, South Africa’s rape figures were up by 13.7%. There were 1300 more rapes compared to the same period in the previous year. 10818 rapes were reported in the first three months of 2022, with 4635 rapes taking place at the victim’s home, or that of the rapist. Attacks on women and children have also recorded major increases, with a staggering 22.2% rise in murders compared to the same period last year. Acting against GBV is everyone’s business The safety of the most vulnerable in our communities is of utmost importance to us, says Warren Myers, CEO and co-founder of AURA, South Africa’s leading security and medical response platform. Common myths, such as that what happens at home should stay at home or that it is nobody’s business what happens behind closed d...

6Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News, Tech

Africa’s Largest B2B AI Focused Trade Event Celebrates 5th Anniversary & Announces Johannesburg Programme

AI Expo Africa, the largest business-focused Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Intelligent Automation (IA) trade event in Africa and celebrates its 5th Anniversary Edition on 19-20 September in the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa. Uniting 100s of buyers, suppliers, investors, innovators, SMMEs and global tech brands in the region, AI Expo Africa focuses on real-world applications you can deploy today. The business audience is comprised of Enterprise decision-makers, Tier 1 / 2 deployment & service providers, start-ups, educators, government, NGOs and ecosystem builders. AI Expo Africa 2022 will feature the following elements 10,000 sq Foot Expo Hall 63 vendors & 2 showcase pavilions 4 Track speaking programme 4 Plenary Keynotes plus 3-panel ...

Crypto assets: Are you prepared for the taxman?

1Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Crypto assets: Are you prepared for the taxman?

South African taxpayers must realize that the time to regularise their cryptocurrency assets with the South African Revenue Service (SARS) has come, says Diane Seccombe, National Head of Taxation at Mazars. “While tax compliance in the crypto space has been a murky area until now, SARS and the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) have followed other international jurisdictions in developing stringent regulatory frameworks for this burgeoning segment of the market, with much focus on transparency,” Seccombe says. Now, there is no longer any doubt that taxpayers are required to disclose their crypto assets – including purchases, current holdings, and disposals – as part of their statements of assets and liabilities. From a tax perspective, cryptocurrencies are not regarded as currencies, but...