South Africa Archives - Page 7 of 30

4Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Energy, South Africa News

Is your building energy efficient? Tsebo Energy Management can give you the data you need to find out

The ongoing issues surrounding electricity supply in South Africa – not to mention climate-related discussions around the viability of the energy sector in general – has many businesses and building owners reconsidering whether those precious kWh units are going to waste unnecessarily. And just in case the obvious waste of money and energy that bad management represents wasn’t enough to get you wondering about your own use, it’s about to become law in South Africa as far as public spaces are concerned. South Africa is under immense pressure to not only stabilise our electricity supply, but also to alleviate our reliance on outmoded forms of energy generation – particularly coal, which is the source of 90% of our electrical power generation. And while not many would argue that becoming mo...

15Mar

By Gabbi Brondani RegoNo Comments

Real Estate, South Africa News

Zero – R100 Million in One Year: A New Industry is Born

In the space of a single year, targeted social media advertising has helped South Africa’s estate agents notch up hundreds of millions of Rands in residential sales – with numbers set to increase tenfold in the next few years. This social media boom has changed the way the South African property industry finds leads and concludes deals, while creating an entirely new revenue stream – and dragged it into the 21st Century. With the global uptick in ecommerce adoption over the last two years has come an exponential rise in social media advertising, with brands targeting millions of users on the platforms they spend hours on, each day. This shift to the online advertising world has proven to be a challenge for some sectors as marketers have struggled to get to grips with the complexity of Fac...

3Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Real Estate, South Africa News

Property scams continue to rise at alarming rates

Investing in property is one of the biggest financial decisions a person is likely to make. New and increasingly sophisticated scams and incidence of fraud are on the rise and affect developers, buyers, sellers, estate agents, conveyancing attorneys, and other property professionals. “As property transactions typically involve substantial sums of money, they are a natural target for fraudsters. Tactics range from impersonating estate agents to intercepting emails with instructions on where to make payment for transactions as well as notices of change of banking details instruction, says Ryan Mer, CEO, eftsure Africa, a Know Your Payee™ (KYP) platform provider. While organisations like the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC) have long warned consumers about vari...

3Mar

By Prenisha MartinNo Comments

South Africa News

Developments in the South African automotive industry creating optimism for manufacturing sector

By Prenisha Martin, Advanced Associate, Tax Practice, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg The amended Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP) regulations, legislated in Schedule No.3 of the Customs and Excise Act, were released by the South African Revenue Service (SARS) just over a year ago, on 5 February 2021. The APDP is essentially South Africa’s long-term masterplan to grow the automotive industry. The production incentive scheme is aimed at creating an environment that enables registered light motor vehicle manufacturers to significantly grow production volumes and component manufacturers to substantially grow value addition in South Africa. Over the course of the last year, automotive manufacturers in South Africa have adopted a proactive approach to the new APDP regulations by...

2Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

AURA launch inaugural crime trend report to better understand and prevent SA’s high crime rate

AURA, South Africa’s leading security and medical response marketplace has released its inaugural Crime Trend Report, providing new and unique insight into South Africa’s crime stats in key categories from armed robberies to attempted hijackings and gender-based violence. The report gathered data over the past year from AURA’s nationwide network of over 250 private security and medical companies comprising thousands of response vehicles and over 300,000 active users. By having a clear and accurate picture of the threats South Africans face technology can then be used to combat, and even prevent crime, says AURA CEO Warren Myers. “With these powerful data sets, which are being refined and improved daily, we are beginning to really understand how to apply technology to make our country...

9Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

New UK-South Africa Partnership Launched to Tackle Poverty, Unemployment, and Inclusive Economic Growth Through Innovation

South Africa has been ranked as the 13th biggest carbon dioxide emitter in the world[1]. For the country to help bring global energy-related carbon dioxide emissions to net zero by 2050, it will need to cut its emissions by approximately 60% to 75%[2]. Not only will this benefit the planet, but the people of South Africa too with up to 1.6 million additional jobs set to be created economy-wide through power sector transformation[3]. To aid with this, KTN Global Alliance Africa has now officially launched in South Africa. This is a six-year project funded by UK Aid through Innovate UK (GCRF) and Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), the long-term ambition of which is to promote job creation, inclusive growth and poverty reduction through knowledge transfer, skills building a...

6Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Egypt News, Ghana News, Main, Morocco News, South Africa News

Africa is leapfrogging into the future of retail

The bi-annual Global Retail Development Index (GRDI), which is a study of the global retailing landscape has revealed Africa is poised to move away from traditional retail models and become the fastest-growing, richest, and most sophisticated market in the world. Prashaen Reddy, a partner at management consulting firm Kearney says that this is thanks to the explosive growth of young, urban, and digitally savvy consumers; increasing mobile phone penetration; the creation of digital payment and shopping networks; favorable governmental regulations and spending initiatives; and significant investment by both foreign and domestic companies. In the most stable times, retailers expanding their global footprint face a series of difficult decisions. Yet in the wake of COVID-19, together, these f...

6Jan

By Paul TomNo Comments

South Africa News

Are Brick Houses a Good Investment in South Africa?

Clay bricks are created using the same formula that has been used to build many famous structures. They are a long-lasting, visually beautiful construction material that works effectively over time. The final combination of raw materials provides clay brick its particular features, such as sturdiness, resilience, dimensional stability, and durability, as well as fire and weather resistance. If you’re considering building or buying a brick house in South Africa, it’s well worth the investment. Benefits of Brick Houses Clay brick houses are constantly in demand since they don't decay and practically always look like new. These are the main features that homeowners appreciate when it's time to sell. Clay brick is the preferred building material in the construction of new homes due to...

22Dec

By Catherine WijnbergNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Why the sector is fertile ground for South African entrepreneurs

By Catherine Wijnberg, CEO of Fetola South Africa needs entrepreneurs to reverse our shrinking economy and high unemployment rate. And while they face numerous barriers in almost every sector, there is one industry that offers them the key to success: The circular economy. Only about 1% of micro-enterprises[1] in South Africa, starting with one to five employees, will grow to employ more than 10 people. This means most entrepreneurs will face so many barriers they will make little meaningful difference to unemployment in the county. But this is not the case within the circular economy. The circular economy consists of businesses that focus on eliminating waste. Circular thinking goes beyond the reduce, reuse and recycle focus in the green sector to design out waste altogether. It promo...

12Dec

By Darryl BernsteinNo Comments

Main, South Africa News

ESG obligations leading to the risk of increased litigation for African businesses

By Darryl Bernstein, Partner and Head of the Dispute Resolution Practice at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg As African businesses begin to recover and build the resilience needed to successfully navigate COVID-19 disruption, a focus on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) strategies is proving to be essential for long-term success. In order to stay competitive, organisations based in Africa are engaging meaningfully with ESG to build robust sustainability strategies that meet stakeholder expectations and enable compliance with global and domestic mandatory and voluntary ESG standards and codes. ESG encompasses a broad range of issues across the spectrum of Environmental (climate change, biodiversity, waste, water and resource use, pollution), Social (human rights, labour practices, H...