South African Business 2018 edition
Welcome to the sixth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za. Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties. South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. Visit www.globalafricanetwork.com for more business and investment news, opportunities and events.
Welcome to the sixth edition of the South African Business journal. First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za.
Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. The e-book editions can be viewed online at www.globalafricanetwork.com.
First published in 2011, the publication has established itself as the premier business and investment guide to South Africa, supported by an e-book edition at www.southafricanbusiness.co.za
Regular pages cover all the main economic sectors of the South African economy and give a snapshot of each of the country’s provincial economies. Feature articles on topical issues such as sustainability and African trade provide unique insights, together with an interview with the newly elected chairman of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers, Mr Thomas Schaefer. Another special feature focusses on an exciting project to transform South Africa’s small harbours and coastal properties.
South African Business is complemented by nine regional publications covering the business and investment environment in each of South Africa’s provinces. Visit www.globalafricanetwork.com for more business and investment news, opportunities and events.
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OVERVIEW<br />
free service available in 780 zones<br />
such as libraries, educational institutions<br />
and clinics and libraries.<br />
More than 1 500km of network<br />
fibre has been rolled out in<br />
Gauteng province since 2014. A<br />
total of 3 000 access sites should be<br />
connected by 2020.<br />
The Small Enterprise<br />
Development Agency runs ICT<br />
incubators in several parts of<br />
<strong>South</strong> Africa. The SoftstartBTI<br />
ICT incubator is in Midrand and<br />
Tuksnovation, a high-tech incubator,<br />
is at Pretoria University. In the<br />
Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan<br />
Municipality there is the SEDA<br />
Nelson Mandela Bay ICT Incubator<br />
(SNII). A new research and development<br />
laboratory was established<br />
by SNII in 2016, focussing<br />
on apps, mechanical and technical<br />
prototypes, and software<br />
solutions.<br />
SNII also hosted a national conference<br />
on “Universal Affordable<br />
Access to Communications in<br />
<strong>South</strong> Africa” in 2016. An example<br />
of what can be done to reduce<br />
telecommunication costs in rural<br />
areas was presented by the<br />
University of the Western Cape,<br />
who teamed up with the Mankosi<br />
community in a rural part of<br />
the Eastern Cape to create the<br />
Zenzeleni Network. This is essentially<br />
a community telecoms<br />
company where local calls are free,<br />
data is considerably cheaper and<br />
calls to other networks are half the<br />
normal cost.<br />
The Universal Service and<br />
Access Agency of <strong>South</strong> Africa<br />
(USAASA) is providing connectivity<br />
for schools in five provinces<br />
and smart devices have been<br />
distributed to schools.<br />
Incentives relevant to companies and educational bodies in the<br />
ICT sector are available from the Department of Trade and Industry<br />
(dti) and include:<br />
• The Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme<br />
(THRIP): companies and educational institutions working to<br />
improve technology; 50/50 cost sharing grant to a maximum of<br />
R8-million<br />
• Technology Development Fund: the Technology Innovation<br />
Agency makes up to R50-million available for up to 10 years<br />
• Technology Venture Capital: managed by the Industrial<br />
Development Corporation; commercialisation of innovative<br />
products, processes and technologies.<br />
The National Electronic Media Institute of <strong>South</strong> Africa (NEMISA) was<br />
originally created to develop skills for the broadcasting environment,<br />
but is now being integrated with eSkills Network and the Institute<br />
for Satellite and Software Applications (ISSA) to form Ikamva National<br />
e-Skills Institute (iNeSI). The focus is on developing e-skills capacity by<br />
creating partnerships that guide e-skills initiatives.<br />
There are many opportunities for employment in the sector. It<br />
is ironic that in a country with a very high unemployment rate, the<br />
Johannesburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) in 2016 put<br />
the number of vacancies in software and application development,<br />
cloud computing and information security at 40 000 (Sunday Times).<br />
Training is available from organisations such as the Quad Digital<br />
Academy, a Standard Bank initiative, an ICT Incubator in Port Elizabeth<br />
run by the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and from the<br />
City of Johannesburg (which runs a digital intern programme called<br />
COJEDI). Scarce skills training is offered by the City of Cape Town (in<br />
partnership with SAP Africa) in software programming. The programme<br />
is called “Western Cape Skills for Africa”.<br />
ONLINE RESOURCES<br />
Ikamva National eSkills Institute: www.enesi.org.za<br />
Independent Communications Authority: www.icasa.org.za<br />
State Information Technology Agency: www.sita.co.za<br />
Technology Innovation Agency: www.tia.org.za<br />
127 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS <strong>2018</strong>