For SME’s cash-flow planning and forecasting should always be a key part of managing your business, and this becomes even more important as the long weekend season is upon you over the Easter holidays, which is a busy period of long weekends and public holidays. Having a solid cash-flow and inventory plan in place can go a long way towards keeping the lights on, ensure stock is available and keeping your tills ringing . “This focus on planning is especially important as we move closer to the Easter Holiday period. Over April, school holidays, public holidays and long weekends could…
Author: Greg Stewart
Technology, including most recently, and significantly, the rise of gen AI, AI Agents and advances in robotics, along with other sector development factors, are set to create major changes in the pattern of labour demand through to the year 2030. The recently released study, “The New Future of Work”, a version of the McKinsey Global Institute future of work model, builds a fairly comprehensive picture of the shift in the quantity of occupational transitions that are likely to playout in the next five years’ time, and indicates how this will affect the demand for different types of jobs and skills.…
Business & Tech News Gold Prices Keep Climbing: Gold surged past the $3,120 mark on Tuesday, setting a new all-time high, driven by strong safe-haven demand amid concerns over the U.S. administrations widening trade war. Reports indicated that US President Donald Trump is considering higher trade tariffs on a wider range of countries when he unveils his plans for reciprocal duties on April 2. Trump on Sunday warned of imposing 25-50% secondary tariffs on Russian oil if Moscow blocks his efforts to end the Ukraine war, while he also threatened Iran with additional tariffs and bombing if Tehran fails to…
This past month has seen a flurry of events focused on the SME and entrepreneur start-up sector that is both welcome and exciting for the struggling South African Economy as a whole. There have been a number of really amazing efforts by private sector players such as the launch of the Lekker Network by a group of amazing South Africans, and the successful Suits and Sneakers events in Jo’burg Cape Town and Durban as well as the Google’s Startup Accelerator programme. There has also been two events run by the government in the last month, the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA),…
SAP is actively encouraging companies, across the African continent, to prepare their policy and operations, for soon to be implemented international plastic legislation to protect profit and the planet. According to a new report launched in partnership with research consultancy Earth Action, business that fail to scale their plastic data management could face corporate liabilities of more than $20-billion globally by 2030. “Governments are implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, plastic taxes and reporting requirements to turn the tide on unchecked plastic production and use,” says Sunil Geness, Director: Global Government Affairs & CSR Africa and Global Sustainability Lead for…
Editor Greg Stewart Chats to Rob Lith, the co-founder of Telviva Telecommunications regarding the rapid tech developments in the Telecoms sector that is not simply providing voice connectivity but has become an essential tool in business operations. Technology is driving efficiencies and effectiveness in multiple enterprise divisions including customer service levels and sales and marketing. Key Quotes From Rob: “There’s nothing worse than a person eventually calling up (a contact centre) and saying, I emailed you then, I sent you a WhatsApp business message, I had no replies from that, and the person dealing with that interaction has no visibility…
Business & Tech News Coin Collection Treasure to go on Auction: A large private coin collection that was buried by its collector prior to the second world war, will soon be placed on auction and is set to become the most expensive coin collection ever brought to auction in its entirety. The so-called “Traveller collection” has an insured value more than $100million, and the coins are planned to be auctioned over the next three years. The first of the auctions by Zurich-based Numismatica Ars Classica is set to take place on 20 May this year and will be held at…
Standard Bank, has in collaboration with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), expanded their offering on the Standard Bank Shyft App, and will, as of today, offer retail investors the opportunity to trade JSE listed shares on the bank’s forex and investment platform. Shyft’s Development The Shyft App was developed in 2016, primarily as a foreign exchange global money app, however it has expanded into a payment and remittance platform, and later extended its service offering to include travel and shopping services. According to Glyn Allen, Head of Shyft at Standard Bank, the application development to include the JSE shares has…
Business & Tech News OpenAI – No Profit in the Next Four Years: A report from Bloomberg has revealed that Open AI does not anticipate a positive cash flow until 2029. The artificial intelligence major player is having to deal with significant costs from chips, data centres and expensive tech skills that it requires to produce ever increasing demands within an exceptionally competitive AI landscape. The growing number of new GenAI models, including the recently revealed DeepSeek Chinese developed model, has brought fresh competition to the market and boasts that it has developed its computational model at a fraction of…
Business & Tech News Hyundai Announces Major US Investment South Korean Auto manufacturer Hyundai has announced a $21bn investment in the USA, only days before new Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration are set to be imposed on various trading countries. Hyundai’s expansion plan includes a new $5.8bn steel plant in the southern state of Louisiana. The Auto Maker also announced that it will expand its American vehicle production capacity and invest billions of dollars in new technology including autonomous driving and artificial intelligence related auto-tech. “This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work,” US President Donald…
