Business Day Spotlight

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re looking back at how to manage remote teams more efficiently.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Jared Whitaker chief operating officer of FlowState, a technology company.

Whitaker discusses their business model, ways in which businesses can more manage remote teams more efficiently and other services that the group provides.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re looking back at some of the top economics news and events of 2020.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Sifiso Skenjana, chief economist of IQ Business to review the year in the economy.

The discussion focuses on third quarter GDP figures released by Stats SA this week, the response of government to the Covid-19 crisis through the year, how businesses have gone about adapting to the environment, issues that have stood out through the year and an economic outlook 2021.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re looking at how university based science and technology businesses are finding ways to make money from their ideas.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Wayne Stocks, partner at the University Technology Fund (UTF) and Professor Resia Pretorius from BioCODE.

This discussion touches on the mandate of the UTF, projects that BioCODE is working on, collaboration between different universities, the ongoing debate around intellectual property and plans for the future.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we look at how e-commerce has been embraced by South Africans in 2020, reflecting on transaction data from Black Friday which took place at the end of November.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Karen Nadasen, CEO of fintech company, PayU SA. She is also the chairperson of the Ecommerce Forum of SA.

Nadasen talks about PayU’s business in SA and around the world; transaction volumes experienced on Black Friday and Cyber Monday; the rate of e-commerce adoption in SA; factors holding the country back from greater adoption; and an outlook for 2021.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re looking at the development of digital payments infrastructure in SA.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Jan Pilbauer, CEO at BankservAfrica, which clears and processes bank card, ATM and EFT transactions between the country’s banks as part of the SA National Payments System.

The discussion also touches on BankservAfrica’s business model, relationship with banks and SA Reserve Bank, the amount of transactions processed by their systems on a daily basis, ways in which payments can be improved in SA, the Rapid Payments Program and cross border payments.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we take a look at the development of the shipping container market in SA.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Wandile Robin Moganedi, founder Small Living Properties, a business specialising in shipping container conversions.

Moganedi also discusses how the disinfecting units work, shipping container trends in SA, the costs involved in converting such structures, the business model for Small Living Properties and plans for growing the business.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we look back at this week’s top economics news, focusing on new inflation figures, interest rates and a recent downgrade by international ratings agencies.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Jacques Nel, head of macro-economic research for Africa at NKC African Economics, to chat about the issues.

Nel also talks about the recent consumer inflation figures released earlier this week by Stats SA, ratings downgrades for the country, interest rates, a reflection of how the economy has performed in 2020 and the health of other African economies.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re talking about the role of large corporate players in helping to spur innovation in the technology startup market.

In the first part of our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Mandisa Ntloko-Petersen, chief marketing officer at technology firm, BCX; Vincent Viviers, co-founder and CEO of on-demand alcohol delivery service, Bottles; and Andrew Louw from retailer Checkers’ Sixty60 grocery delivery app.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re looking at the state of brand communication during crisis times in SA.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Preetesh Sewraj, CEO of the Loeries.

Sewraj discusses the history of the Loeries, shifts in brand communication for both businesses and consumers, the role of technology for engaging with stakeholders, advertising campaigns that piqued his interest over the last year, whether companies can still afford to not invest in strategic communications services and his outlook for the industry in the coming year.

In this edition of the Business Day Spotlight, we’re looking Black Friday, its value, place in the market and how seriously people should take it.

Our host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Avinesh Reddy, chief technology officer at Rentoza, a subscription based e-commerce platform in SA.

The discussion touches on Rentoza’s business model, the concept of Black Friday, how the concept has been implemented in SA compared to other parts of the world, the dangers of participating, ways in which consumers and businesses can be better informed or protected, the state of e-commerce in SA and what it will take to increase adoption locally.