South African Business Archives - Page 6 of 7

9Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

South African Fintech enabler, Ukheshe Technologies, confirm global expansion

Leading South African digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies has confirmed it is expanding its operations internationally. Having established itself as a formidable payment technology specialist within the B2B sector, the company has set its sights on the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific. The move comes on the back of several successful high-profile projects and partnerships in various African countries including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Botswana, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Ghana. In addition to collaborating with numerous blue-chip banks, telcos and fintechs, Ukheshe has built strong alliances with Mastercard while acquiring two companies and raising just under R100m within a two-year pe...

9Mar

By Prenisha GovenderNo Comments

Business, South Africa News

New Export Tax on Chrome Ore Intended to Resurrect the Ferrochrome Industry, but challenges prevail

By Prenisha Govender, Associate, Tax, and Angelo Tzarevski, Senior Associate, Competition & Antitrust, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg The South African Government recently approved a tax on South Africa’s exported chrome, although the tax percentage and further details are still to be announced. The ferrochrome ore industry has been severely threatened in recent years, mostly due to increases in electricity tariffs for heavy use industries, which, combined with the unreliable supply of electricity in South Africa, have crippled the industry to such an extent that reportedly 40% of the country’s ferrochrome mines have been unable to continue production. Some industry stakeholders have suggested that a special electricity tariff would be a better way to support the ailing industry, stating...

3Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News

Brimstone Repays More Than R1 Billion Debt In Tough Reporting Period

Debt repayment to funders in excess of R1 billion Reduction of R129.8m in finance costs 7m raised from disposal of portion of Equites and Phuthuma Nathi stakes 4m raised from disposal of portion of Life Healthcare stake Improved debt and liquidity ratios Brimstone’s shareholding in Oceana Group increased to 25.01% [Cape Town, 3 March 2021] Brimstone today released its Group results for the year ended 30 December 2020 reporting a reduction of over R1 billion in debt during the year. Brimstone’s two largest investments, Sea Harvest and Oceana Group, produced strong results in an extremely difficult operating and trading period exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Profit before net finance costs decreased to R481.4 million compared to R658.9 million in the previous year. The decre...

Immense impact of 4IR technologies on African economies to be addressed through South African lawyer’s World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution fellowship

24Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Immense impact of 4IR technologies on African economies to be addressed through South African lawyer’s World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution fellowship

Ashlin Perumall, Senior Associate at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg, South Africa, has taken up the role of Fellow at the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in San Francisco. As part of his C4IR Fellowship, Perumall has joined the blockchain and digital currency working group, working on the legal and policy considerations surrounding central bank digital currencies and stablecoins. Perumall was chosen to join the C4IR last year, from a wide range of global firm submissions. Perumall states that his reasons for taking up the fellowship are based on the immense impact the 4IR will have on the emerging African economies, ranging from the changing nature of work, to the impact of AI technologies and the future of digital currencies. “The developme...

19Feb

By Andrea TuckerNo Comments

Real Estate, South Africa News

Make your money work harder and smarter by using your home loan to save

By: Andrea Tucker, Director at MortgageMe We get it. The thought of paying off a house every month for the next 20 to 30 years isn’t exactly thrilling. But if managed carefully, you can use your bond to your advantage and build a nest egg of savings for life’s little and not-so-little emergencies. The why It makes good financial sense to expect and prepare for financial emergencies and to get into the habit of saving every month. No amount is too small. If you’re able to able to save or invest some of your salary every month, as well as increase the payment on your home loan, you’re covering yourself for emergencies as well as saving for something specific through your investments. The How A good place to start is by increasing your home loan repayments above the minimum requirement. Or, i...

HAVAÍC expects bumper year for African tech startups

18Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

HAVAÍC expects bumper year for African tech startups

As one of South Africa’s most active Venture Capital investors, HAVAÍC says 2020 saw the commercial adoption of technology increase at unprecedented rates, as illustrated by the performance of HAVAÍC and its portfolio companies. 2020 saw HAVAÍC’s portfolio companies grow their revenue by a staggering 93%, and in the coming months, Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC, believes the economic, social and commercial prospects for investing in the African technology sector looks promising, especially as the acceleration of technology adoption continues. According to the recent African Tech Startups Funding Report 2020, published by Disrupt Africa, the year produced a record for funding activity in the African tech startup ecosystem, owing to the increased number of active investors on the con...

R500k up for grabs in the 2021 Joburg Smart City Innovation Challenge

16Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

R500k up for grabs in the 2021 Joburg Smart City Innovation Challenge

Are you a 4IR Start-up? Have you been in operation for 3-7 years? Are you a company developing Smart City technologies and/or innovative solutions? Do you have a pilot-ready solution for a challenge faced by our city? The City of Johannesburg’s Smart City Office, in collaboration with Tshimologong Innovation Precinct, invites you to submit proposals for smart city innovative solutions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and to share your innovative ideas on how we can go into the future together. The lockdown protocols have ignited new thinking about the future of our City and its residents. Therefore, the aim of the Smart City Innovation Challenge is to find and develop digital technology solutions that respond to urban and community challenges faced by the City in the new normal result...

Deal making slows across Africa but post-pandemic opportunities look interesting

6Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Ethiopia News, Ghana News, Kenya News, Main, Mauritius News, Mozambique News, Nigeria News, South Africa News

Deal making slows across Africa but post-pandemic opportunities look interesting

Deal making activity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) dropped in the second half of 2020 (H2 2020), when compared to the second half of 2019 (H2 2019) and year-on-year, deals were also down in both volume and value compared to 2019. As the continent gears up for post-pandemic recovery in 2021, the opportunities presented by free trade across the continent, foreign investment opportunities due to new partnerships and trade relationships, as well as the post-pandemic focus on technology, healthcare and renewable energy, will be key factors in attracting valuable mergers and acquisition (M&A) activity to the region. Further, South Africa’s deal volume and value both dropped in 2020, with the industrials and healthcare sector attracting the biggest investments. Ghana stood out as a country that...

SMMEs primed for growth as economy slowly takes steps to recover

23Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, South Africa News

SMMEs primed for growth as economy slowly takes steps to recover

While South Africa’s economy took a series of blows over the last year, business owners remain confident that things will slowly start to stabilise in 2021. This was reaffirmed with South Africa's SACCI business confidence index rising to 93.4 in November of 2020 from 92 in October, above pre-pandemic levels. According to Trevor Gosling, Co-founder and CEO of Lulalend, a large part of the country’s growth this year will be dependent on SMMEs. “Despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the remarkable ability of these businesses to adapt to change has helped them evolve and ultimately survive. Companies were resilient, optimistic and innovative, trusting that, although the situation will not improve considerably in 2021, it will be able to at least start stabilizing.” Gosling says that t...

23Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

African News, Business, South Africa News

High-Impact Entrepreneurs Raise 4x Capital Year-On-Year

Endeavor empowers entrepreneurs for business growth Despite prolonged global market uncertainty, Endeavor South Africa has reported significant growth in their portfolio of disruptive tech businesses. The local chapter of the global non-profit organisation, which supports high-impact entrepreneurs in emerging markets, reported collective raises of R2bn in 2020 alone amongst the portfolio of 29 businesses, compared to R1.3bn combined during 2018-2019. A number of these businesses delivered strong results, one of which achieved a 300% uptick in volume. Capital Markets Lead Antonia Bothner attributes this acceleration in capital raising due to the growth stage nature of these businesses and the strong underlying performance of the businesses in the tech or tech-enabled space. The portfolio is...