Author: Business Enquirer
iMasFinance is South Africa’s largest primary financial services co-operative, serving members working at more than 600 employer partners. Last year, the company embarked on a re-positioning and re-branding journey to better meet the needs of modern customers. For almost 85 years, iMasFinance, established as an employee loan society within the former Iscor back in 1937, has been providing affordable and convenient financial solutions to employees at its contracted employer partners. As a co-operative, iMasFinance is founded on the principles of democracy, equality, and social responsibility. Its business model promotes shared value for its members by enabling them to share in…
Life is about small pleasures, and few beers exist today that provide this like Guinness – a brand that captures the spirit of Auld Ireland like no other. Even today, more than 250-years on from when the first pint of the black stuff was pulled in Dublin in the mid-1700s, the traditional stout evokes passion and a sense of spiritual affinity in the hearts and minds of those who enjoy it, not least in Ghana, where Guinness has gained such popularity over 60 years that it is regarded as an authentic, much-loved centrepiece of Ghanian culture in its own right.…
Strong, lightweight and sustainable, aluminium is a material that is of critical importance to the global economy. From aeroplane components to power cables, consumer electronics, cans and industrial appliances, the properties and uses of this silver-white metal means that it can be found in virtually every area of modern life. Its strategic importance is immeasurable. As the key material that is used in the production of aluminium, bauxite – a reddish-grey mineral that is extracted into aluminium oxide, and then smelted into aluminium, is one of the world’s key resources by extension. The Republic of Guinea, a small west African…
In a fast-paced, fast-changing digital world that is growing ever more complex by the day, business leaders are increasingly turning to enterprise learning as a means of staying ahead of the curve and achieving the productivity gains needed to move the needle. The enterprise learning space is thriving, and for leading industry players like Docebo the rewards that come with building a reputation for excellence in this multi-billion-dollar sector are lucrative indeed. Not that revenue is the foremost driver of success in this industry – rather, as Docebo’s President and CRO Alessio Artuffo explains, adding value to organisations by sharing…
Lillian Barnard, Microsoft South Africa – On how digital skills will drive African development It is no secret that the cost of the COVID-19 pandemic to public health and the global economy has been a high one, and yet there is much truth in the famous saying, ‘in the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity.’ Following a 2020 that was characterised by seemingly unending lockdowns and disruption, the world has since gone online at a scale and speed that was scarcely imaginable only 18-months ago. A revolution is well and truly underway, and as the renowned technologist and Managing…
From smartphones to coffee, bananas and cars, petroleum, microchips, metals and minerals, trillions of dollars worth of goods and commodities are carried by sea from where they are produced to where they will be consumed, as part of a vast maritime trade network that underpins our modern, globalised world. The topic of maritime trade is high on the economic agenda for most nations in a global context, but for the economies of Africa – a region which relies upon seaborne trade for 90% of its imports and exports, ensuring access to the world’s arterial sea lanes is a matter of…
There have been many remarkable developments so far in the 21st century, but undoubtedly one of the most disruptive and fascinating of these must surely be the emergence, and mass acceptance of the sharing economy – a socio-economic shift that is turning long-held views pertaining to ownership on their head. As we collectively strive to build greener, more environmentally sustainable economies, it is only natural that being more resource efficient and getting more bang for our buck is at the top of the agenda for both consumers and businesses. The rise of the sharing economy – a flexible community-based system…
In a world which is nothing if not competitive, attaining success in life and in business are goals that all aspire for and yet few achieve. However, whilst the journey to success is fraught with challenges and adversity, the journey can be a little less arduous for those who find their passion, and are then able to marry this passion with the drive and discipline needed to progress in the professional world – something that Vincent Gauriat, Chief Information Officer at COTECNA, discovered over the course of his own journey, albeit unexpectedly as he admits: “My passion for IT started…
The global race to secure a plentiful supply of rare earth metals, a grouping of 17 somewhat peculiar elements that are crucial to the manufacture of all manner of hi-tech products and facilitating renewable energy, is at the heart of geopolitical strategy for the world’s major powers, and for good reason – our goal to build a prosperous sustainable economy of the future depends on it. Take neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium and terbium, for example: the key rare earth metals that are used in the manufacture of permanent magnets. A wind turbine with a power output of one megawatt requires one…
Hidden away deep in the frozen, rugged terrain of northwestern British Columbia, the Golden Triangle – once a hub for hardened prospectors and pioneers in search of gold and glory – is one of the richest areas of mining real estate in North America. Billions of dollars of gold, silver and copper lie beneath its rocky earth, which after many decades is now ready to finally be tapped. As the first major mine to enter operation in the region, the aptly named Premier Gold Mine, which was described as “one of the greatest silver and gold mines in the world”…