Business Day Spotlight

The growth of buy now pay later (BNPL) in SA’s online retail sector is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Paul Behrmann, CEO of BNPL company Payflex.

Topics of discussion include: the evolution of Payflex as a business; the growth of BNPL in SA and other parts of the world; debt culture in SA; the growth of online retail spurred on by Covid-19; trends in BNPL; and an outlook of how the space is likely to evolve over time.

Pressure on consumer salaries in SA is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Senzo Nsibande, CEO of FNB Money Management.

Topics of discussion include: items weighing on consumer spending at the moment; the growing threat of inflation and higher interest rates for consumers; planning finances to weather current economic headwinds; as well as balancing earnings growth versus savings.

The unlawful cancellation of pension funds is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Tabitha Paine, attorney and acting head of legal at Open Secrets, together with Thomas Malokotsa from Unpaid Benefits Campaign (UBC).

Paine and Malokotsa discuss the history of the case; what their organisations hope to get out of the legal action; possible capture of the industry; some of the issues faced by people trying to claim pensions; and how the system can be improved.

The economics around SA’s automotive sector is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by David Furlonger from the Financial Mail, who specialises in SA's automotive industry.

Topics of discussion include: supply chains issues in the automotive sector; disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine; import versus export of locally produced vehicles; consumer demand; and an outlook for the sector.

The cost of cyber attacks on small businesses in SA is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Kabelo Makwane, managing executive for cloud, hosting and security at Vodacom Business.

Topics of discussion include: Vodacom and Accenture cyber security partnership for small business digital security services; the state of security in SA’s small business sector; the business model; and the cost of data breaches and hacking on an enterprise.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we explore the performance of the construction sector post the Covid 19 pandemic.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Nicholas Fearnley, head of global construction forecasting, at Oxford Economics

The discussion focuses on the place of construction in aiding the global economic recovery post the Covid-19 pandemic; impact of rising inflation and supply chain issues on the sector; the effect of interest rates on building activity; geopolitical tensions; and an outlook going forward.

SA’s investment case in light of the recent Moody's outlook is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by George Glynos, co-founder, director and head of research at ETM Analytics.

Topics of discussion include: Moody’s recent outlook for the SA economy; how financial markets have received the news; what still needs to be done for an upgrade in investment rating to happen; the recent surge of Covid-19 cases globally; and ongoing impact on the Russia-Ukraine war.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we talk about ways in which organisations can spot potential corruption in procurement processes.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Leon Steyn, CEO at Dante Deo, a specialist IT sourcing and procurement firm.

Using his decades of experience gained in the profession Steyn says there are a number of leading indicators that organisations, managers and employees should be on the look out for in spotting graft. These include: direct instruction from an authorised person; bypassing of procedures and best practices; creation of a crisis; being made to use specific suppliers that are pre-selected; and staff being place extraordinary pressure to get certain deals over the line.

Using technology to influence customer behaviour is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Nick Durrant, founder and CEO of Bluegrass Digital, a local web, mobile and software outfit.

Topics of discussion include: how businesses can use data to improve customer experience; ways in which businesses can improve their data collection; tools that be used to map out a customer’s experience with a particular business; and ways in which data collected can be used to glean insights on customer behaviour.

The ways in which SA’s brand perception, internationally, affects economic investment to the country is the focus in this edition of the Business Day Spotlight.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Sithembile Ntombela, acting CEO of Brand SA.

Topics of discussion include: ways in which the organisation gauges perception of SA’s brand; items that the team was looking to achieve at the Expo; how SA's campaign in Dubai turned out; highlights of successes and failures of the six months; what foreigners are most curious about when it comes to about SA; and the economic value of participating in such events.