Balwin to develop new lifestyle estate in KZN

JSE-listed large-scale residential property developer Balwin Properties announced on Wednesday that it has concluded agreements to develop a 1 260-apartment lifestyle estate in the larger Westown... 

Brutal peacekeepers?

Haiti, an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea with a population of about 11.5-million people, should be fairly well known to the average South African. That’s partly because former President Thabo... 

Ignatius Sehoole

This week we profile Ignatius Sehoole, Southern Africa CEO and Africa chairperson at audit, tax and advisory professional services firm KPMG 

The bad and the good of AI

ChatGPT, the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot tool, has been around for just under a year, having been unveiled in November last year, yet it has become a major talking point, with the... 

Andrew Middleton

This week we profile Andrew Middleton, CEO of GoSolr, a solar systems installation company 

Empty chairs diplomacy

It’s been a few weeks since the curtain came down on the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Besides the many great speeches that were delivered, one of the... 

Balwin extends KZN footprint with new lifestyle estate at Westown

JSE-listed large-scale residential property developer Balwin Properties announced on Wednesday that it has concluded agreements to develop a 1 260-apartment lifestyle estate in the larger Westown... 

Unquitting Prez Ruto?

When asked by a journalist to reflect on his ten years as Botswana’s President – from April 2008 to April 2018 – Ian Khama was succinct and unequivocal: “I didn’t enjoy politics. Everybody’s... 

Bulelwa Mhlongo

This week we profile Bulelwa Mhlongo, who is the financial manager at Multotec, a leading supplier of mineral processing equipment 

Economics of body weight

The increased availability and consumption of unhealthy foodstuffs in South Africa – as is the case in many countries – has fuelled what one can only call an obesity or overweight epidemic, what... 

Other Madame Presidents?

Female heads of State have been something of a rarity in Africa. Current and recent incumbents can be counted on the fingers of one hand: Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan, who has been at the helm... 

Akhona Qengqe

This week we profile Akhona Qengqe, GM for Africa at popular chicken restaurant chain KFC  

Keeping up with the coup-dashians

Reality television lovers would be familiar with Keeping up with the Kardashians, the American series that focused on the personal and professional lives of the blended Kardashian-Jenner family and... 

Ola Oyetayo

This week we profile Ola Oyetayo, CEO of Verto, which has offices in the UK, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and India, and delivers enhanced cross-border payments for businesses all over the world 

Refreshing awakening

I know there is such a thing as an overkill and I would have stayed clear of Africa’s multilateral institutions this week, having highlighted a few weeks ago how difficult it is at times to be... 

Frontier for ESG investing

As a concept, ESG – environmental, social and governance – has gathered much momentum in recent years, with a 2022 study by asset management firm Capital Group finding that 89% of investors are... 

Nolan Daniel

This week we profile Nolan Daniel, joint CEO of fintech company Payment24  

Commissioning of Zimbabwe ferrochrome plant under way

A novel smelting plant that produces ultra-low-carbon, high-grade ferrochrome at a fraction of the time it takes conventional facilities is being wet-commissioned at the African Chrome Fields (ACF)... 

Expedient pan-Africanist

I have never warmed to Kenyan President William Ruto, who shot to prominence as an activist for the then governing Kenyan African National Union’s youth wing at the party’s most vicious in the... 

Corrupt contestants

As Kenyan-born public intellectual and pan-Africanist PLO Lumumba often reminds us, there is something distinct about Africans – we are too tolerant of corruption among those who govern us, unlike... 

Bizarre obesity premium

A couple of weeks back, I disclosed in this column how a nutritionist-designed diet and engaging in physical exercise daily had helped me shed tens of kilos, in the process taming my rampant blood... 

Minister highlights Zimbabwe mining sector’s growth potential

By bringing previously unregulated small-scale miners into the formal fold and introducing incentives for established producers, Zimbabwe has boosted its gold output from about 20 t to 35 t a year... 

Embarrassing talk shop

Much as one may try, it’s not always possible to be charitable towards some of Africa’s institutions. The very unexceptional and scandal-prone Pan African Parliament (PAP), which has been hosted by... 

AI’s antimalaria promise

I recently read a magazine article where the writer remarked that he could not remember the last time he had phoned a company and was answered by a human being. This is but one illustration of how... 

Andile Africa

This week we profile Andile Africa, CEO of the Automotive Industry Development Centre, which was established to develop and transform the automotive industry in South Africa into a globally... 

Uncivilised asylum plan

I have never made any bones about my dislike for former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson – not after the racist comments about Africans that he made in newspaper columns during his time as a... 

Jurie Bezuidenhout

This week we profile Jurie Bezuidenhout, MD of The Capital Hotels, Apartments & Resorts, a hospitality group 

How I beat cholesterol

A frequent experience for me during the past 18 months is acquaintances I haven’t seen in a while stealing furtive glances at me in a manner that betrays concern on their part about the state of my... 

Inequality explosion

South Africa has the unenviable distinction – nay, infamy – of being the most unequal country in the world, with a Gini coefficient of 0.65. This is little wonder, given the country’s unemployment... 

A Covid reminder

The ubiquitous face mask is now gone. So too have the rigid lockdowns that saw many of us work from home for the better part of the period from 2020 to early 2021. But not all reminders that our... 

Enduring hope

Following the sluggish 1990s, the early years of this millennium witnessed spectacular growth in sub-Saharan Africa, giving rise to the Africa Rising narrative – the notion that it was inevitable... 

Themba Baloyi

This week we profile Themba Baloyi, MD of Voith Turbo South Africa, which is engaged in the marketing, assembly, service and sales support of engineering products in mining and metals, paper, rail,... 

Climate apartheid

The term ‘climate apartheid’ has been bandied about to refer to wealthy nations’ ability to pay to escape the overheating, hunger and conflict that ensue from climate change while the rest of the... 

Creeping misery

Inflation, unemployment and punitive borrowing costs – read interest rates – are said by those in the know to be sure-fire determinants of whether the citizens of a nation are a miserable lot. With... 

Misplaced obsession

There has been much debate of late – in the media and elsewhere – about whether new Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is capable of leading a city with a R70-billion-plus yearly budget, given his... 

Africa Day – 60 years on

Assuming you are reading this article on this edition’s publication day, the odds are you are nursing a hangover, unless you live in South Africa or in the other countries where Africa Day – May 25... 

Humanoid’s exciting journey

It must be five years ago now. Or slightly longer. But whatever. Back then, I wrote in this column about a latter-day Melchizedek of sorts, who, unlike the Old Testament character, is female. I... 

Coalition era beckoning?

I did not know of Thapelo Amad at all prior to his short-lived tenure as the mayor of Johannesburg. Just as I was beginning to form an opinion of him, he resigned, but that was not before I had... 

Staggering news illiteracy

Achraf Hakini, a star defensive midfielder for French football club Paris Saint-Germain, should have significant name recognition in a football-loving country such as South Africa, given his... 

Brazen and endemic

Thabo Bester’s soapy-like prison escape in May last year and his equally dramatic capture in Tanzania this month are decidedly among the biggest talking points now – not only in South Africa but...