Nation Builder, together with the Stellenbosch University LaunchLab and the Mergon Group, is inviting business pitches for their inaugural Social Innovation Challenge. The competition aims to identify and support South Africa’s social entrepreneurs, with an opportunity to win a share of R150 000 seed capital. Entrepreneurs with a self-sustainable business idea – no matter how simple or small – that addresses particular social issues, positively impacts communities, empowers the disadvantaged, or has the potential to solve local problems in innovative ways, are invited to enter the Social Innovation Challenge. Ten finalists will receive exposure to a broader network of business investors at the final pitching event, which will be hosted by LaunchLab in Stellenbosch on 13 June 2018. Three final winners will receive their portion of R150 000 funding capital, as well as business support from LaunchLab. The Social Innovation Challenge · www.cliffcentral.com

The SA government has welcomed efforts in ensuring that the township economy grows, and to truly help in eradicating the unemployment burden - and it is of paramount importance that measurable efforts are made to uplift the township economy.

McCormick Property Development has confirmed that it is currently in the process of developing a major new shopping centre in Tembisa on Gauteng’s East Rand.

At its core, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is driven by the coming together of physical and digital technologies. By gathering and analysing data from machines and robots, we are able to obtain insights into the health and performance of industrial installations, allowing us to optimise their operation to increase uptime, speed and yield. A small number of innovative companies are taking these innovations a step further and using them to develop new higher-value business models.

Our guests in-studio today are Jason McCormick - MD of McCormick Property Development, and Leon Viljoen - CEO of ABB South Africa. www.cliffcentral.com

Modern day couples always complain about how they do not have enough time left to spend with each other. Sometimes they different work shifts, and if not that, there’s always post-work exhaustion.

These problems lead to the classical issue of maintaining the right work-life balance. The one solution to this modern day crisis in romance is working with your spouse. Whether it is opening a business together, or finding a job in the same company, spouses working together have more time to spend with each other. However, just like everything else, this too has its pros and cons.

In studio today we were joined by two wonderful couples - Given and Lerato Mabena from Sokulunga Packaging, and Jonathan and Merlize Jogiat from MJay Media. We were also joined by coach and author of 'Notes to My Sister - Let Him Serve You', Kofi Ofori-Boateng. www.cliffcentral.com

Ensuring women’s full participation within the South African economy is essential if ideals of equity, prosperity and shared and inclusive growth are to be achieved. However, women around the world have historically faced numerous barriers to their engagement in the economy.

There are organisations in the country that are providing solutions to such barriers.

'Women on the Rise - Africa' is a network of like-minded future female leaders from diverse professional backgrounds who share a common vision of supporting and developing women and creating a more inclusive and representative society.

Our guests today are inspirational women in leadership - Vuyiswa Mutshekwane, Natasha Allie, Dibuseng, Bahieja Gabier and Busi Selesho. www.cliffcentral.com

South Africa has an opportunity to build on the positive developments that have emerged in recent months. The economy has performed slightly faster than expected, with economic growth now projected to be 1% in 2017, 1.5% in 2018 and 2.1% by 2020. This pace of economic growth is welcome, but is still too slow to address unemployment and poverty. Joining the team for the discussion is Mr Wayne Hull - Managing Director of Accenture Digital in Africa, Bryden Morton - Executive Director of 21st Century Pay Solutions Company, Mr Maluleke Sir, and Aubrey Moraka - Independent Financial Planner. www.cliffcentral.com

Business in the 21st century is more complex than ever, especially in companies that conduct operations at several locations, or even worldwide. In this environment, communication skills have become paramount and employers are increasingly looking for those who can communicate well so they can function in complex business environments.

Communication skills are the ability to absorb and transmit ideas orally and in writing. A subset of communication skills is interpersonal skills or the ability to relate well with peers, management, company stakeholders, clients and suppliers. Employees who know how to inspire others and help mediate conflict are in high demand. A company's most valuable employees are those who are great communicators and have personal traits, such as reliability and integrity. Those employees will be the company leaders.

Joining Bulelani Balabala to talk about the Business of Communication is Munene Khoza - Founder and Principal Consultant at MINT Language Consultancy, Ziyanda Masiza - Founder & MD of Sakhingomso Consulting and ZiyandaM, and Nomalanga Sitole - Founder and Owner of The Voice Within. www.cliffcentral.com

Digital business is the creation of new business designs by blurring the digital and physical worlds. It promises to usher in an unprecedented convergence of people, business and things that disrupts existing business models - even those born of the Internet and e-business eras.

Digital technology drives improvement at the traditional business process and business model levels. However, the differentiating fight will be for “business moments” - the third level of digital reinvention created by the need to compete with increased speed and agility. With the growth of digital business also comes digital money or better yet, Cryptocurrency.

A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange that uses cryptography to secure its transactions, to control the creation of additional units, and to verify the transfer of assets. Talking to us about Cryptocurrency and business digitisation is Shakes Motsilili, co-founder of Africa New Energies. www.cliffcentral.com

The heart of your business success lies in its marketing. Most aspects of your business depend on successful marketing. Marketing is a process by which a product or service is introduced and promoted to potential customers. Without marketing, your business may offer the best products or services in your industry, but none of your potential customers would know about it. Marketing is one of the most important things a business can do. Not only does it build brand awareness but it can also increase sales, grow businesses and engage customers. Joining Bulelani this week is Medina Harverye, Founder and Managing Director of Dandelion Breeze; Zizo Tshwete – Projects & PR Executive at Dandelion Breeze, she is also a media personality and radio host... plus Lebogang Mokubela - CEO and Founder of the Lemok Group, a township-based digital agency, and winner of the Standard Bank Tshwane Business Awards 2016 Young Entrepreneur of the Year award. www.cliffcentral.com

Mining in South Africa was once the main driving force behind the history and development of Africa's most advanced and richest economy. Large-scale and profitable mining started with the discovery of a diamond on the banks of the Orange River in 1867 by Erasmus Jacobs and the subsequent discovery and exploitation of the Kimberley pipes a few years later. For the mining industry transformation is not only for regulation purposes, it is a business requirement that the industry needs to adhere to for it to operate seamlessly. Mining has not only been viewed as a sexist industry in the past, but it was one of the vehicles used to entrench divisions amongst people - the industry itself became the complete example of discrimination in South Africa. That makes the transformation journey a bit more intense for the industry, especially with the broader South African society still being on the same journey itself. Talking to us about Transformation in Mining is, Maritha Erasmus - Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MTS Holdings; Noluthando Zulu – Senior Analyst for Resources at the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Moses Sibiya - the Founder and Managing Editor of two magazines, Mining CSI and Success-SA Publications. www.cliffcentral.com

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does "branding" mean and how does it affect a small business? Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise, your distribution channels, and what you communicate visually and verbally are part of your brand strategy too. The team chats to Mr Jay Badza - Founder and Head Honcho of Orchard On 25, Ms Beth Malatji - author of The Bootstrapper's Lifesaving Hacks and founder of ReBeth Wines, and Ms Tracy Loverson - Brand Specialist. www.cliffcentral.com