BizNews Radio
Welcome to BizNews Radio where we interview top thought leaders and business people from South Africa and across the globe.
Major boost for SA grain storage with new Afgri investment unit
JOHANNESBURG — Despite a tough economy and the political uncertainty of land reform hanging over South Africa's agricultural sector, Afgri South Africa, with the help of Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), has managed to get a group of investors together to create a new silo investment unit. In a bold new…
Cryptocurrencies should be burnt down in a fire - critic Nicholas Weaver
LONDON — Cryptocurrency and blockchain is a bit like marmite. People are either utter crypto believers advocating how it is free from government interference or are fiercely against it, calling it a glorified Ponzi scheme used by criminals. It was founded a decade ago by a mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto who…
Can 'folk hero' Musk push Tesla to new heights? - Bloomberg debate
LONDON — Tesla had a rocky start to the year with vehicle deliveries down by 31% from 2018’s fourth quarter. But there may be a lifeline for electric vehicle makers including Tesla from American lawmakers. A bi-partisan group plan to introduce a bill to expand federal tax credits for buyers…
Soweto success: Vilakazi Street's famous Sakhumzi Restaurant turns 18
JOHANNESBURG — Soweto's Vilakazi Street is a hive of activity these days, with the street dotted with several restaurants and hugely important historical sites that include the home of former President Nelson Mandela. However, it was only 18 years in 2001 that the first restaurant, Sakhumzi Restaurant, opened in the…
Big guns are coming for Netflix
LONDON — The online video-streaming service Netflix, which many or should I say most of us access for a binge watch of a favourite series or movie has had little competition over the last years. It has been the reigning media stock in the S&P 500 Index for six of the…
Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg addresses Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 preliminary report
CAPE TOWN — When vested-interests close ranks and reassure the public that all is well, that’s often exactly the signal for just how wrong things may have gone. A case in point is Boeing admitting that a software fault was responsible for both 737 Max crashes that took 346 lives -…
Why business can be a force for good in SA - INSEAD's Ilian Mihov
JOHANNESBURG - On a recent trip to South Africa, Professor Ilian Mihov, the Dean of renowned global business school INSEAD, took the time to chat to us at BizNews. In this wide-ranging interview, Mihov explains why business can be and, in many ways, already is a major force for good…
Jailed ex McKinsey CEO Rajat Gupta says the big villains got away
LONDON — The professional services consultancy, McKinsey is often mentioned in the story of graft and the erosion of Eskom in South Africa. With Trillian, the Gupta-owned company they managed to siphon off R1.6bn from the power utility. McKinsey has repaid the money and has apologised to South Africa. However,…
Boeing's continued downward spiral as software fix puzzles
Boeing stock is continuing its downward move. Bloomberg’s industrial columnist Brooke Sutherland told Paul Sweeney that Boeing’s supply chains is also affected and says it is puzzling that Boeing finds it difficult to fix the software. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Portugal tops list of best places to retire for English speakers
LONDON — Many of our readers sat upright when we published an article in which financial planner, Alec Riddle told us that people who retire earlier, can expect to live longer. Just spending more time in your own garden and local haunts with more frequent travel may be a good…
Disruption generates another 43% growth for BrightRock and its Simon Marais lookalike
LONDON — In a world where salaried executives and their spin doctors boast when they post growth in single digits, it's refreshing to find those for whom those numbers don't cut it. So after another strong year, this time of 43% growth, I tapped insurance company BrightRock's CEO Schalk Malan…
Going offshore for ESG investing: Here's what you need to know
JOHANNESBURG — Sustainable, or ESG, investing is becoming a more prominent form of growing your wealth in many parts of the world. While South Africa's JSE is internationally respected as among the world's top bourses with good liquidity, the very nature of the companies on it (especially the big presence…
Don’t throw blockchain baby out with cryptocurrency water
LONDON — Bitcoin once flew high and peaked at around $20,000. Compare that to the recent price of a mere $4,000. The vision of a token-driven decentralised economy and off course untold wealth for people has imploded and it is now almost a dirty word as it struggles for legitimacy…
How Makhanda's GADRA school gives matrics a second chance
JOHANNESBURG — The GADRA Matric School in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) has quickly become the biggest feeder school to Rhodes University. The school only focuses on learners who have previously done matric and essentially gives them a second chance to get a bachelor's pass. But as the school's Dr Ashley Westaway explains…
What next for Alzheimer’s research after latest trial failure?
LONDON — Research on Alzheimer’s disease that afflicts an estimated 40m people worldwide has experienced a major setback when pharma company Biogen and its Japanese partner, Eisai announced that they are ending their phase three clinical trials for the drug aducanumab. They concluded that the drug had little chance of…
Ex-RMB exec Peter Gent helps build leadership in SA schools
JOHANNESBURG — Peter Gent is a former veteran of the banking world having occupied top roles at RMB, including the bank's head of project finance. These days he's in a very different role as Head of Sales and Marketing at NGO Columba Leadership. This NGO is doing incredibly valuable work by…
Women flee boozy, lecherous insurance brokers at Lloyd's in London
LONDON — The cornerstones of the world’s insurance business, the prestigious Lloyd’s of London has been accused of having a deep-seated boozy, sexist culture. Female brokers say they feel uncomfortable working there and that the alcohol-filled, long lunches are a major contributing factor to lecherous behaviour. These women generally fear…
487 lives changed thanks to Qhubeka celebrity bike auction
JOHANNESBURG — For several years now, technology company Dimension Data has been linked to a charity organisation called Qhubeka. What's incredible about Qhubeka is that it does something that, from the outside, looks very simple: delivering bicycles to children and communities who need them most. What amazed me about this…
International recognition for Cape speech therapist tackling illiteracy
LONDON — South Africa has a serious problem in literacy rates among Grade 4 pupils. It ended at the bottom of a list of 50 countries in the Progress in International Literacy Study known as PIRLS conducted in 2016. It is estimated that 78% of Grade 4 pupils cannot read for…
SA startup InvestSure secures fresh funding, eyes Aussie market
JOHANNESBURG — In May 2018, I interviewed the team at InvestSure, which developed a world-first insurance technology product which protects buyers of shares from management teams that mislead and deceive shareholders. The product is aimed at protecting shareholders from Steinhoff-styled meltdowns that are sparked off by managers behaving badly. And in the…