BizNews Radio (OLD)
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
SNAP defies forecasts of premature demise
LONDON — It has been a tough year for Snap, maker of the photo messaging app, Snapchat as it lost users to competitors like Instagram. It didn’t help when a Kardashian influencer tweeted that she did not open Snapchat anymore. The company managed to stem the flow by the three…
Top investment trends for 2019: Tech, lower fees to shape industry
JOHANNESBURG — The recent passing away of John Bogle, the low-cost investing pioneer and founder of Vanguard, put into sharp focus the continuing downward pressure on fees in the investment industry. It's a trend that - along with the increasing adoption of technology - will gather pace in 2019, according…
Growing SA demand for US visas: Here's what you need to know
JOHANNESBURG — There's surging demand from South Africans for the United States' EB-5 immigrant investor programme. This is according to Stuart Ferguson who is the CEO of American Dream - a business that helps secure US visas for families from countries such as South Africa and even the United Arab Emirates. It's…
Why private capital can bridge Africa's infrastructure gap - RMB
JOHANNESBURG — It's well known that Africa has serious challenges when it comes to sufficient infrastructure. In fact, it presents both a challenge to the continent's growing economies as well as an opportunity to leapfrog the rest of the world. To date, African nations have relied overwhelmingly on public funding…
RMB CEO James Formby on why SA business can't ignore India
JOHANNESBURG — President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to have a state visit to India on 25-26 January. The visit will present another opportunity for Ramaphosa to drum up further investment for South Africa, following a major summit that he held late last year. India is increasingly becoming a key nation…
Joburg, Cape Town in top 114 cities for talent competitiveness
JOHANNESBURG — There's some good news and bad news for Saffers when it comes to the latest Global Talent Competitiveness Index released at Davos this week. For starters, South Africa as a country has been slipping dramatically in recent years when it comes to attracting and creating competitive human resources…
SA president Cyril Ramaphosa goes off-piste in Davos - again
The annual Brand South Africa dinner in Davos was so heavily oversubscribed this year that I only got a seat because of some late cancellations. A huge difference to recent years where there were always plenty of no-shows – such was the decline in the nation’s appeal while Jacob Zuma…
Why Booking.com's VP is upbeat about Africa's travel market
JOHANNESBURG — Olivier Gremillion - who is in Davos this week for the World Economic Forum - spent 7 years at Airbnb before joining global travel bookings website Booking.com. Now, he's heading up Booking.com's non-hotel business, providing a competitive alternative to that of Airbnb. Olivier has a good knowledge of the African…
Meet Dame Linda Partridge and learn how to live longer and happier
Getting into the swing of things here in Davos and here's an awesome interview with Dame Linda Partridge who tackles one of the hottest subjects of our time - ageing. We know that the process is far more maleable than previously imagined, but the multi award winning Dame Partridge's work…
Confident British CEOs back themselves to flourish after Brexit
There's always a lot of meat in PWC's annual CEO survey which is released in Davos on the eve of the start of the annual meeting. The 22nd edition, released on Monday night, was no different. Of the two key issues to emerge, one you might well have expected, but…
Romaney Pinnock's R10m dream of using football to heal women
Romaney Pinnock is in Davos this year looking for R10m to fulfil a dream. In her mid-30s, her love affair with football furned into an unusual project called Badgers Academy where 80 women now get together regularly to play a sport which is transforming lives of vulnerable women living in…
Elsie Kanza's inside track on the African agenda at Davos 2019
For the past eight years, head of Africa for the World Economic Forum, Tanzanian Elsie Kanza has ensured the often forgotten continent enjoys the attention its billion people deserve. As she geared up for her busiest week of the year, I tapped her for some thoughts on the Africa agenda…
Solar expert on Eskom's woes: 'We don’t need this chaos anymore'
JOHANNESBURG — Just before his pre-Davos press briefing this week, President Cyril Ramaphosa meet with an Eskom task team to try deal with the headache that is our country's state-owned power utility. Eskom has been terribly run for years and after it asked for another massive price hike from regulator…
Ramaphosa opens up on land, the Reserve Bank and child visas
JOHANNESBURG — President Cyril Ramaphosa at a pre-WEF briefing in Johannesburg on Wednesday morning spent a good 15 minutes addressing some sharp issues relating to the controversy surrounding expropriation of land without compensation, the independence of the Reserve Bank and what appears to be the unresolved child-visa disaster (which is…
Ramaphosa: 'Don't be discouraged by lacklustre economic growth'
JOHANNESBURG — President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the now-annual pre-WEF briefing that happens each year before our politicians fly over to Davos. This year's pre-WEF meet was a very different one to the one I attended last year. For starters, the venue was different. Last year, it was held in one…
Silver lining for Ubuntu Baba after Woolworths copycat incident
JOHANNESBURG — Local baby carrier business Ubuntu Baba has been in the headlines the last few days after Woolworths was exposed for copying its products. It all started with a blog post that Ubuntu Baba founder, Shannon McLaughlin, wrote on 7 January in which she explained, in-depth, as to how…
Eskom's debt woes: Globally respected Debtwire offers its take
In this interview, BizNews editor and publisher Alec Hogg asks the Head of EMEA Credit Research at Debtwire, Nicholas Smith-Saville, about the company's perspective on Eskom's debt woes. Debtwire is well-known for its analysis of debt markets worldwide and in-depth credit analysis. As a result, Smith-Saville provides a much needed global perspective on Eskom's financial…
Paul O'Sullivan: 'Cyril Ramaphosa and his son are NOT corrupt'
JOHANNESBURG — Forensics for Justice has published a statement and affidavit indicating why it believes that Andile Ramaphosa (President Cyril Ramaphosa's son) is not guilty of corruption with regard to alleged kickback payments from the company formerly known as 'Bosasa' (now 'African Global Operations'). In this interview, investigative sleuth Paul…
IRR's snap poll - Gareth van Onselen on what it means for 2019
JOHANNESBURG — The IRR's latest snap poll on the build-up to the 2019 election has drawn a lot of interest. It's been lauded for being among the most credible yet and paints a picture of what could happen to the vote in 2019. While the ANC has been gaining lost…
SA's energy future: RMB's Keith Webb on diversifying the mix
JOHANNESBURG — Load shedding has been on many South Africans' lips over the last few weeks. Rolling blackouts commenced in late 2018 again as Eskom grappled with its coal supplies and power plant breakdowns. But looking to the future at times like this is important. And in this interview, RMB Investment…