The new brand which positions Cape Town as “Africa’s Tech Capital” affirms the Western Cape’s status as leader of the African tech ecosystem thanks to the many tech and digital businesses based primarily in Cape Town and the Stellenbosch region. In addition it seeks to clearly represent the values, skills, talent, innovation and lifestyle offered by the tech ecosystem of Cape Town and the Western Cape.
More specifically, the tech ecosystem in the province offers:
A diverse community of companies across the technology supply chain;
A strong presence of supporting institutions that provide for ease of business;
Over 22 active incubators and accelerators in the region which play a vital role in providing business and tech support, mentoring and networking opportunities, and links to markets and funders;
More than 25 co-working spaces where innovation and creativity are fostered;
A skilled workforce, affordable operational and residential costs, excellent IT infrastructure and a great lifestyle;
Four leading higher educational institutions, namely the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, CPUT and the University of the Western Cape, as well as six TVETs in the province that contribute to the skills base.
The tech sector has also played an important role in helping businesses pivot and adapt during the Covid-19 pandemic, with many rapidly transitioning to new ways of working and a significant amount of the workforce working from home. This has resulted in a rapid adoption of digital technologies, which only strengthens our offering to international investors.
The digital economy is one of the Western Cape’s competitive advantages, attracting investment into the province, growing our outward trade through the export of our digital products and capabilities, enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of local companies through the uptake and adoption of digital technologies, and also providing tech career opportunities among young people.
Revealing the new brand logo to attendees at the launch event today, Premier Alan Winde said: “We are excited to proudly declare Cape Town and the Western Cape as ‘Africa’s Tech Capital’. The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us just how important this new digital economy is and it bodes well for our province’s recovery plan that we are the leading in this space. I want to thank our Department of Economic Development and Tourism for their hard-work on this pioneering project. And I also want to thank all those innovative start-ups for your role in developing our amazing tech ecosystem.”
Premier Alan Winde at the launch event for the new brand positioning.
The initiative started with the Digital Economy unit at the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, however the final product launched today is as a result of the hard work and collaboration between the Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town, Wesgro, and major tech eco-system enablers including: CiTi, Silicon Cape, LaunchLab and Startup Bootcamp.
Welcoming the launch of the new brand positioning, Western Cape Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier said, “The launch of this new brand couldn’t happen at a better time as we re-open our economy and begin rebuilding so we can save jobs in the Western Cape. Key to our economic recovery are the partnerships between government and the private sector. And this new brand, which is a confidence boost to the sector, is a great example of a successful partnership between government and the private sector.”
We are inviting everyone within the Western Cape to be part of building the profile of Cape Town as Africa’s Tech Capital – register here to receive the logo and brand assets.
Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos, added, “With an internet take-up of 63% and with one of the largest open-access fibre networks in Africa, Cape Town is home to the vast majority (almost 60%) of South Africa’s start-ups. The City funded Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) is Africa’s oldest tech incubator and has turned out more than 2,000 businesses and supported more than 3,000 entrepreneurs since its inception in 1999. In response to this growing industry, the City of Cape Town is continuing to invest in IT infrastructure, and to date, the City has installed 848 km of fibre-optic cable. As a City, we will continue to support and invest in high growth sectors that will create jobs for our residents. This is a caring city, but more so, Cape Town is an opportunity city and we are open for business.”
Concluding the launch event, Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris, said, “We need to affirm our status as leader of the African tech ecosystem, and declare this on the international stage. We have the overwhelming evidence that Cape Town is Africa’s leading tech capital. Now, we need to jointly tell the world!”
A vessel similar to the vessels DNG Energy will be using at Coega. (Supplied: DNG Energy)
DNG Energy has received final authorisation from the Transnet National Port Authority (TNPA) to begin Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) bunkering operations in the Port of Coega (Ngqura), in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.
Aldworth Mbalati, the Group Chief Executive Officer of DNG Energy says, “This is a positive outcome for DNG Energy and South Africa. Our country is poised to become a premium LNG bunkering hub in the Southern Hemisphere. The licence enables us to respond to environmental, legislative and business needs for the South African and the international LNG fuel markets. We are happy to be part of the solution in the quest to decarbonise the shipping industry by offering LNG as a transition fuel that is safer for marine species.”
Aldworth Mbalati, Group Chief Executive Officer of DNG Energy
The licence gives DNG Energy rights to have its terminal, the floating storage unit (FSU) in Algoa Bay, which is a first in Africa. This will enable the company to offer off-shore as well as on-shore logistics with ship-to-ship transfers for international trading ships as well as LNG “milk runs” within the country.
The impact of this project stretches from securing energy for various industries and households as well as creating jobs and developing skills in the country.
“We are positive about the future of South Africa, and supplying the cheapest possible gas that we can find to power the economy is our contribution towards achieving socio-economic aspirations of the country in a responsible manner. The licence opens up a way for us to deliver LNG in South Africa as early as 2021.
“The next steps include completing our terminal infrastructure at Algoa Bay and finalising delivery of our storage and bunkering equipment. We are poised to be the gas solutions provider for local and international markets by adding value in the gas value chain,” adds Mbalati.
Digitisation and technological innovation are nothing new to the South African banking industry, but those banks that had made significant progress on their digital journeys before the Covid-19 pandemic, have been best placed to meet the fast-changing needs of their clients and, as is the case with Nedbank, gain efficiencies and grow market share in the process.
According to Ciko Thomas, Group Managing Executive for Nedbank Retail and Business Banking, the progress that the bank made on its digital transformation journey in the years leading up to 2020, equipped it with the technology infrastructure, world-class banking platforms and processes, and agility to move quickly when its clients most needed it to earlier this year.
As a result, the bank has seen some impressive gains, not only in the digital migration of its existing clients, but also in its ability to attract and efficiently onboard new clients – despite remote working and social distancing challenges.
“Over the past few years, Nedbank has invested into the development of a true omni-channel banking experience for our clients, including our ground-breaking Eclipse single-client-view onboarding and servicing system, various platform-based banking ecosystems, and our industry leading Open Banking (API) platform,” Thomas explains, “and while we had no idea at the time we were developing these systems that they would be so absolutely vital to our customers in 2020, they have given us the ability to actually enhance our solutions and service delivery for the benefit of our clients during these difficult months.”
And the statistics Thomas shares around Nedbank’s increasing digital uptake, enhanced client servicing, and year-on-year market share growth certainly bear out his claims. For example, the bank’s digital sales increased to 53% in the first half of 2020 from 9% in 2018.
The bank has also prioritised its turnaround times for credit application approvals and funds disbursals. Thomas points out that this focus on credit provision speed and efficiency has been facilitated by means of a highly efficient straight-through processing system, involving a single digital application form that is pre-populated for existing Nedbank clients, cutting-edge automated credit assessment processes, and very fast approval-to-payment processing times.
The bank’s digital sales increased to 53% in the first half of 2020 from 9% in 2018
“We have significantly increased the number of same-day funds disbursals on successful personal loans applications, from 40% last year to 65% currently,’ he says, ‘and our clients appreciate the speed with which these funds are now made available in their bank accounts during Covid-19 and the national lockdown.”
Our more efficient digital credit process has resulted in the Net Promoter Score for this key touchpoint in the client onboarding journey increasing from 70% to above 80% since the bank rolled out its Eclipse digital platform ecosystem to its branch network.
“In June this year, we effectively switched off all our legacy systems, so all our new business is now being originated through our digital Eclipse platform,” Thomas says, ‘and this convenient, digitally enabled sales ecosystem has significantly enhanced the levels of ease and convenience enjoyed by our clients, both in terms of joining the bank and quickly accessing the finance solutions they need through a vast array of digital channels.”
Ciko Thomas, Group Managing Executive for Nedbank Retail and Business Banking
By way of example, Thomas points out that a client of Nedbank in need of extra money, can apply for a personal loan in minutes online and have the funds available to them within 90 minutes.
And the benefits of Nedbank’s extensive investment into digitisation don’t end with finance application and disbursement. The highly integrated, true omni-channel Nedbank system makes accessing, transferring, managing and even investing funds quick, easy and secure.
“Of course, while we are immensely pleased with the steady growth in clients and product uptake that we are seeing as a result of our digital focus, sales are not the main reason we have invested so massively into digitisation in recent years,” Thomas says, “we have long been committed to providing outstanding services and a range of innovative solutions that are, quite literally, life changing for South Africans – and the very positive business data we’re seeing as a result of our digital-first commitment is evidence that we are succeeding in delivering on that promise.”
Johannesburg cityscape, taken at sunset, showing Hillbrow residential centre with the prominent Ponte flats and the communications tower. (Credit: iStock by Getty Images)
Infrastructure spending and areas dedicated to specific kinds of manufacturing are intended to drive economic growth in the Gauteng Province. Both concepts fall within broader national plans to boost industrialisation through various kinds of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and infrastructural initiatives.
A number of national and provincial planning frameworks inform the planning of Gauteng’s economic future. These include the National Development Plan, Growing Gauteng Together (GGT 2030), Gauteng 2055 Vision and the City of Johannesburg’s Growth Development Strategy and Spatial Development Framework.
The Gauteng Provincial Government will spend R60-billion on building and maintaining infrastructure in the five years to 2025. The provincial authorities further estimate that about R100-billion will be spent on infrastructure projects in the province by a variety of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and national departments in the next decade. The overall estimate for the injection of capital related to infrastructure, including private initiatives, is calculated at R760-billion in the period to 2030.
A 15-year Gauteng Infrastructure Master Plan has been adopted, but multiple sources of funding are needed for the plan to succeed in areas such as the provision of water, logistics, broadband connectivity, public transport, energy and the reshaping of cities to accommodate citizens in a better way than was the case under apartheid. A World Bank report has shown that a 10% increase in infrastructure spending results in a 1% growth in GDP.
Gauteng began laying the groundwork for creating a research base for urban planning as far back as 2008 when the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) was established. A partnership between the University of Johannesburg (UJ), the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits) and the Gauteng Provincial Government, the GCRO does research on which planners can base their projections.
A Township Economic Development Bill is to be introduced in the provincial legislature to reduce the amount of red tape faced by small businesses. Growth strategies are to be integrated to ensure that township SMMEs and black industrialists are considered when programmes such as the focus on 10 “high-growth sectors” are implemented. Youth employment will be factored in to plans to support those sectors.
Corridors and SEZs
Five corridors have been identified for development purposes. Each has core existing economic activities which will be supported and expanded. In addition, new activities will be encouraged to diversify the area’s economic potential and create jobs.
The Gauteng City-Region plan to have three fully operating Special Economic Zones (SEZs) by 2025. These will be based in Ekurhuleni, Tshwane and Sedibeng with an additional Special Agro-Processing Zone located in the West Rand. The province intends reviving 15 industrial parks and creating 12 agri-parks and five agro-processing facilities across the province.
By 2030, Gauteng aims to have the biggest inland logistics hub and dry port in Africa – the Transnet Tambo-Springs Logistics Gateway.
These area-based infrastructure and logistics projects are expected to contribute to giving the province a competitive edge in the 10 economic sectors that have been identified as “high-growth”. This in turn will create opportunities for small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) and township businesses.
The Tshwane Automotive Special Economic Zone (TASEZ) is a key project within the Northern Corridor. It is a project of the Gauteng Province, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the City of Tshwane. The implementing agent is the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), the developer and operator of the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
The TASEZ, branded as “Africa’s First Automotive City”, has a mandate to promote economic participation for SMMEs and create employment in the region. Sectors targeted include security, ICT maintenance, facility maintenance, construction, automotive supply chain, marketing and advertising, catering and events.
Tshwane Automotive City Master Plan (Credit: Automotive Industry Development Centre – AIDC)
The benefits that arise from clustering of businesses in related sectors is a key element of an SEZ. Both the Nissan and BMW plants are expanding and Ford is investing in Silverton.
An Incubation Centre for SMMEs has been launched at Nissan’s assembly plant in Rosslyn. The facility supports small enterprises through subsidised rental and mentorship and training. Management of the centre is done by the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC), a subsidiary of the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA). The Jobs Fund contributes to financing the project.
Other focus sectors in this corridor include agriculture and agro-processing, defence, the aerospace and aviation industries together with the innovation, research and development cluster anchored around the Gauteng Innovation Hub, universities and research institutes.
The OR Tambo SEZ is at the centre of the Eastern Corridor, which underscores Ekurhuleni’s strengths in manufacturing and logistics. The OR Tambo SEZ has launched the biggest food processing operation in the southern hemisphere (and the world’s second-largest refrigeration plant). With a special focus on export-oriented value-added industry, the OR Tambo SEZ leverages its connection to the country’s busiest airport. The focus of this SEZ is on agro-processing, jewellery manufacturing and mineral beneficiation as well as the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology. This is another subsidiary of the GGDA.
Other Eastern Corridor sectors include rail and bus manufacturing (including the PRASA-Gibela rail manufacturing hub in Nigel), defence and aerospace and food and beverages.
Credit: Mark Hillary/Flickr
The Western Corridor encompasses the economy of the West Rand and has been targeted for the creation of new zones for development, housing, and industry. The aim is to diversify away from mining towards renewable energy, tourism, bus manufacturing and agro-processing. The release of 30 000 hectares of land by Sibanye Gold has unlocked the potential for major investment projects. A Smart City is envisaged for Lanseria and the area to its west.
Where steel used to be the anchor industry in the Southern Corridor, today the aim is to build new industries through an SEZ that will cover both sides of the Vaal River and thus extend into the Free State Province. Among the investments that will create impetus are the Savannah City development, Vaal River City development, a cargo airport and logistics hub, the AB InBev investment project, the Gauteng Highlands water project, the Vaal Marina development and logistics and mining investments in the Lesedi Local Municipality, which includes Heidelberg and Nigel.
Metropolitan drivers
The Central Development Corridor revolves around the City of Johannesburg as the hub for financial services, information and communication technology, services and pharmaceutical sectors.
New investments are planned for the Jo’burg Inner-City and the South, from Soweto, N12 which includes Masingita City, Southern Farms to Orange Farm. The City of Johannesburg has recently completed a review of its policy of nodal development with a view to creating a fairer spatial framework for the city than that created by the racist planning laws of the apartheid era.
As Member of the Mayoral Committee Lawrence Khoza puts it, “Nowhere is the legacy of our painful past expressed more vividly than in the racially divided spatial character of South Africa’s cities.”
Johannesburg has designated eight zones:
Inner-city: high-intensity use.
Metropolitan: mix of land uses which currently includes Sandton and Rosebank and will expand to include parts of Soweto.
General urban: designed to be transformative, mix of economic and residential use.
Local economic development: interventions planned to create economic opportunities in areas with poor facilities (Zandspruit, Orange Farm, parts of Soweto).
Suburban: lower density with local mixing of land use (homes, offices, offices, shops).
Dark green: a limit of 8% coverage of buildings.
Peri-urban/agriculture: low density.
Another transformative initiative being undertaken in Johannesburg is the use of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) to drive investment and development. Implemented by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), the TODs are another attempt to improve the lives of people living in previously neglected areas.
One such TOD is the Jabulani TOD in Soweto where a seven-phase project is underway that includes a multi-purpose hall, a library, counselling facilities, sports facilities, offices and meeting rooms. A pedestrian bridge over a railway line and new roads underscore the transport element, with the facilities near the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) route that runs through Soweto to central Johannesburg.
TODs are designed to attract further investment and are supported by the Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant from National Treasury.
The Jabulani Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)
Other projects undertaken by the JDA range from the upgrading of Constitution Hill, the Faraday Station precinct, work on the Fashion District and pavements of the inner city, renovation of the Drill Hall and the big Newtown make-over.
Johannesburg has been the focus of a major tax incentive initiative, the Urban Development Zone (UDZ). The inner city of Johannesburg, comprising just less than 18 km², is the largest UDZ in South Africa and it is expanding its footprint in response to significant successes that have been achieved.
The Johannesburg Social Housing Company (Joshco) has plans to provide affordable rental accommodation in 12 inner-city buildings that were recently identified for that purpose. But the main target for the UDZ is private investors.
The City of Johannesburg has identified the following nodes for development:
Carlton Precinct: Johannesburg’s tallest building attracts tourists; undergoing revamp; Sky Rink TV and film studio being developed; conference centre planned.
Park Station: intermodal node catering for cars, buses, rail commuters and taxis; Gautrain link to OR Tambo International Airport; wide variety of users.
Central park: JDA has worked on greening and community engagement and wants the park to be a symbol of the successful city.
Doornfontein/Ellis Park railroad corridor: planned retail hub and student village.
Fordsburg: interior design focus; more offices and accommodation can be built.
Newtown: cultural precinct with the potential to cater to students and university departments with specialised offices and spaces.
Hillbrow, Berea, Parktown, Bellvue, Yeoville: creation of new public open space; opportunities for office and hotel developments.
National Infrastructure boost
An Investment and Infrastructure Office has been created in the Presidency. It is headed by the former Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Dr Kgosientso Ramokgopa. In 2020, 51 infrastructure projects with a total investment value of more than R340-billion were gazetted.
Ten of the 18 affordable housing projects listed are located in Gauteng. These include Malibongwe Ridge, Green Creek, Mooikloof Mega Residential City, Fochville Extension 11 and Germiston Ext 4 Social Housing Project. A large project is underway in Tshwane, Salvokop Precinct, to house government departments and commercial buildings.
The energy projects identified by national government will have an impact on Gauteng, the country’s biggest consumer of energy. Priorities include embedded generation and the huge water supply project, Phase 2 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, will create many opportunities.
The winning entry of the AFSIA award for the Solar Picture of the year by Alexandre Skander Allegue. (Source: ESI Africa)
The inaugural Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) Solar Awards, organised in partnership with the Africa Energy Forum (aef), culminated in a grand show streamed online, during which the winners of 15 categories were unveiled and celebrated.
John van Zuylen, the founder of AFSIA, commented: “AFSIA Solar Awards was delighted to be hosted by this much-respected programme and to unveil the winners during a digital ceremony.”
The winners are:
Utility-Scale Project of the year:
Sterling & Wilson Solar for the multi-projects 322 MW contribution to Egypt’s 1.6 GW Benban Solar Complex
Commercial & Industrial Solar Project of the year:
CrossBoundary Energy for the Jabi Lake Mall project in Abuja, Nigeria
Mini-Grid Project of the year:
Africa GreenTec for their productive-use based Mini-Grid projects in Mali, Niger and Senegal, which are often subject to high-security risks.
Solar Home System Company of the year:
d.light for achieving the target of reaching 100 million people with solar energy.
Residential Project of the year:
Munyax Eco for exceptional achievement in the field of Solar Water heaters having installed more than 1,000 units across Rwanda saving 8,000 tons of CO² per year.
African Solar company of the year:
ANKA Madagascar for securing 5 MW worth of mini-grids across Madagascar and for the company’s innovative AgriGrid model.
African Solar SME of the year: (two winners)
Pawame for reaching 80,000 Kenyans with Solar Home System solutions while achieving cash-flow break-even and profitability, and Solar Box Gabon for developing the “Solar Cube” which doubles the production of traditional solar panels.
Financial Advisor of the year:
Synergy Consulting Infrastructure and Financial Advisory Services for their advisory services to cutting-edge large-scale projects across the continent such as the 2 x 50 MW tender in Botswana, the 32 MW Djermaya project in Chad or the world’s first PV-CSP hybrid 200 MW project in Egypt.
Legal Advisor of the year:
Eversheds Sutherland for their contribution to the Open Solar Contracts with IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, and the Terrawatt Initiative, providing open-source standardised contracts to governments across the globe.
Technical Advisor of the year:
Suntrace for technical advisory services to the Fekola Gold mine hybrid project in Mali, a first of its kind off-grid hybrid project composed of 36 MW of solar, 15.4 MWh of storage, and saving 13 million litres of heavy fuel oil annually.
DFI of the year:
African Development Bank (AfDB) for establishing SEFA, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, which has contributed among others first-of-its-kind inventory finance facility for solar irrigation products in East Africa.
Woman in Solar of the year:
Olaedo Osoka CEO of Daystar Power Ghana, for leading the expansion of the company from Nigeria to Ghana, Togo and Senegal and realising C&I projects of 8 MW in this 2-years period… only at the age of 27!
Solar Innovation for the year:
Phaesun for their work on the RevivED Water Innovation project. This project is a solar-powered desalination and purification system for brackish water based on electrodialysis technology providing up to 2000 liters of clean drinking water per day.
Solar Picture of the year:
Alexandre Skander Allegue – Pawame for a beautiful picture highlighting the impact of lighting in the most remote areas.
Solar video of the year:
Joanna Gentili – African Minigrids for a super inspiring and motivating video about electrifying a village in Malawi.
An exceptional and global platform
According to the organisers, more than 130 entries were submitted across the different categories from all over the continent over the past few months.
The jury, composed of leading experts in solar energy in Africa, carefully evaluated each entry to identify the most deserving companies and individuals to be awarded the grand prize during this online ceremony.
Among the 15 categories in the competition this year, the most disputed titles included “C&I Project of the Year” and “Mini-Grid Project of the Year”, which is reflective of the increased activity of both of these segments of the African solar industry.
“Woman in Solar of the Year” was another strong category among participants. This highlights the very positive trend of the growing involvement of women in the solar industry across the continent.
The awards form part of aef’s programme for the six-week-long Digital Energy Festival for Africa, which it is hosting along with African Utility Week & POWERGEN Africa, the Oil & Gas Council’s Africa Assembly and ESI Africa. The largest-ever energy event for the African continent, the festival continues until 26 November.
For more information on and to book for the Digital Energy Festival for Africa:
– Africa Energy Forum sessions, click here
– Oil & Gas Council sessions, click here
– African Utility Week & POWERGEN Africa sessions, click here – FREE access
– ESI Africa sessions, click here – FREE access
Future Fit Management & Leadership - UFS Business School
Implications for leaders and decision-makers
It is not surprising if we feel overwhelmed by all of this. Many have a sense of being “unmoored”; of having lost their bearings and having no solid ground to anchor us. Everything we thought we knew seems insufficient. We continually have to engage the boundary between competence and incompetence, between knowing and not knowing.
Most of us have lived in a world shaped by narratives that equate our value as human beings to knowing, having answers and being confident. Many are struggling to deal with the fact that the knowledge and skills that brought them past success are now becoming irrelevant at a mind-bending pace.
The ability to make sense of the situations we face in the “here-and-now” has never been more critical. We need to become “contextually intelligent”, able to make sense of each unique situation in order to know how to act appropriately and not become paralysed by the uncertainty.
Many are struggling to deal with the fact that the knowledge and skills that brought them past success are now becoming irrelevant at a mind-bending pace.
Dave Snowden’s Cynefin™ sense-making framework (4) is helpful as a sense-making aid. It has five primary domains that help us distinguish between five different contexts. On the right are two ordered domains. This is the world of stability that we are most comfortable in, where cause-and-effect relationships are either self-evident or can be figured out. Here we are dealing with known unknowns or even known knowns. We can apply industry best practices and standard operating procedures, or we can consult with experts and do analysis; in fact, most of our existing tools and practices equip us well to function in here.
However, we are less equipped to operate in the other three domains, and unfortunately, this is where we mostly find ourselves now.
In the Complex domain we need to interact, or dance, with the system to gain an understanding of the patterns and dynamics at play. We act experimentally; small, local safe-to-fail experiments help us find our way forward. We look for opportunities to repurpose existing skills or resources. In this domain, analysis leads to paralysis and checklists and best practices are dangerous. Every now-and-again, we are dipped into Chaos. During the Covid-19 pandemic, this is happening more often that we would like.
The Chaotic domain, unlike the others, is a temporary state of crisis where there are no effective constraints and no discernible patterns. When we experience a true black swan event (1), we often find ourselves here. In Chaos we need decisive action, we need to impose constraints (sometimes draconian in nature e.g. country lockdowns) to buy ourselves some time. As soon as we introduce constraints, patterns start to emerge that provide us with management options, and hopefully the opportunity to stabilise the situation into the Complex domain. It is important to know what we are not in a perpetual state of chaos, as that removes our sense of agency. We dip into chaos every now and again, but mostly we are in complexity or in the final domain, a state of Confusion.
It is important to know what we are not in a perpetual state of chaos, as that removes our sense of agency.
The final domain, one that is often ignored, but that I believe is of extreme importance now, is the central domain of Confusion. We find ourselves here when we don’t have enough information to make sense of where we are. When things are ambiguous, when we face double-blinds and paradox. This is the domain of Confusion. The danger is that we get stuck there, which may lead to a descent into Chaos.
By now it should be abundantly clear that leaders and decision-makers need to become contextually intelligent. That we can no longer afford to assume our approaches and tools are context agnostic and that we cannot rely on experts and best-practices any longer. This has implications for Management & Leadership Development?
More than ever before, we need to focus on enabling decision-makers and leaders to become complexity- and future-fit. We need to shift our thinking about what leadership is, focusing less on the individual inhabiting the role, and more on the dynamic interplay between leading and following that can enable true adaptive leadership.
By now it should be abundantly clear that leaders and decision-makers need to become contextually intelligent.
With exponential change, technical skills and best practices have short-lived and limited value. Therefore, our focus is on building the meta-skills that will ensure adaptive capacity, and the ability to respond to increasing turbulence. These include sense-making, curiosity, network intelligence and learning agility.
In the first article of this series (Part 1) and in this article (Part 2) we focused on gaining a better understanding of the challenges presented by the post Covid-19 context. In the final article (Part 3), we will look at what leaders can do practically to better navigate the complexity, chaos and confusion.
The UFS Business School recognises the challenges posed to management and leadership by the times we live in. This has led to the design of our Future Fitness approach to management and leadership development.
The Core Idea – Future Fit Management & Leadership
Our Value Proposition will enable decision-makers and leaders to become complexity- and future-fit.
Focusing on meta-skills that will ensure adaptive capacity, and the ability to respond to increasing turbulence.
With exponential change, technical skills and best practices have short-lived and limited value. Our programmes will aim to fundamentally shift how participants see and make sense of their contexts and equip them with meta-skills such as curiosity, learning agility, sense-making and adaptive intelligence.
Our view on Future Fit Management & Leadership:
Being a Future Fit Manager or Leader will require the development of the following fitness areas:
Digital Fitness – For managers and leaders, the key to digital readiness lies in creating awareness and stimulating interest in and preference for the digital way.
People Fitness – Self-development and appreciation lies at the heart of appreciating the value and potential that lies in diversity.
Customer Fitness – Mindsets for growth and agility is required to keep the customer at the centre of all innovation and design processes as we adapt to an ever-changing environment.
Strategic Fitness – Doing the right things and doing them right.
Functional Fitness– Developing the required technical, managerial skills.
Complexity Fitness– The ability to take on a Complexity view on all the Fitness Areas discussed above. Complexity and sense-making as “new language”, enables decision-makers and senior leaders to ensure adaptive capacity, and the ability to respond to increasing turbulence.
As one of South Africa’s thought leaders in the applied complexity, Sonja Blignaut has teamed up with the UFS Business School for purposes of developing a range of short learning programmes in applied complexity and to facilitate the development of a Complexity View on a Future Fit Management and Leadership Development value proposition.
Sonja is a thinking partner for leaders, change-makers (individuals and teams) who need to lead in uncertainty; enable strategic agility and create future-fit organisations. She co-creates and delivers fit-for-context interventions to enable responsive and adaptive organisations.
Sonja also looks after the global Cognitive Edge network and is the South African partner for Prof Dave Snowden’s company Cognitive Edge for over a decade (Wales, USA, Singapore, UK, Netherlands, Brazil). She teaches locally and internationally on Complexity, Cynefin™ and enabling adaptive organisations. Sonja is certified in various individual and systemic coaching methods and a sought-after speaker, with experience at various conferences locally and internationally, including TEDx.
The Selby BRT depot, which will service two Rea Vaya BRT operating companies, will be utilised for major and minor maintenance of buses for maintaining in-service buses and out-of-service buses. The centrally-located depot will minimise dead mileage as well as minimise the time lost by buses in traffic congestion between depots and route starting points.
The JDA is a wholly-owned area-based development agency of the City of Johannesburg with an emphasis on the development of resilient, sustainable and liveable urban areas in identified transit nodes and corridors. This means that as an area-based development agency, we are more than just a project management agency or an economic development agency.
The JDA operates within the context of the spatial transformation of South African cities to correct the spatial and systemic inequalities created by past regimes of segregation. This is the foremost goal of urban development in the coming years. A more equitable, more just city is one that extends access to a range of opportunities and services to all of its
citizens. This is aligned to the City of Johannesburg’s Growth and Development Strategy (GDS) 2040.
One of the GDS 2040 outcomes is to provide a resilient, liveable and sustainable urban environment – underpinned by smart infrastructure supportive of a low-carbon economy. The JDA is currently revamping the existing Selby bus depot in the Johannesburg inner city, to turn it into a state-of-the-art Rea Vaya Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) depot for Phase 1B and Phase 1C operations.
The JDA, on behalf of the City of Johannesburg’s Department of Transport, is undertaking the construction of the Selby BRT in three phases, namely phase 2A, phase 2B and phase 2C.
The Selby BRT depot, which will service two Rea Vaya BRT operating companies, will be utilised for major and minor maintenance of buses by maintaining in-service buses and out-of-service buses. The centrally-located depot will minimise dead mileage, as well as minimise the time lost by buses in traffic congestion between depots and route starting points.
In 2013, the JDA developed the first depot in Meadowlands in Soweto. The Selby BRT depot is being revamped to be on par with the Meadowlands depot, which is environmentally friendly and custom-made for Rea Vaya buses.
Phase 2B, covering the construction of the bus depot workshops and refuelling garages and Phase 2C, which involves the construction of the administration building, are currently underway.
The scope of work for Phase 2B includes extensive alterations, refurbishments and additions to an existing workshop building. This includes the construction of a new refuelling building, a new double-volume wash-bay building, two new refuse buildings, a new gate house, civil works, stormwater infrastructure, concrete paving panels with layerworks, and mechanical and electrical installations.
This construction also plays a role in job creation and skills development, with 30% of the contract value being awarded to SMMEs.
Environmentally-friendly features include lights controlled by sensors, a robust, mild-steel sheeting for the roof, cladding to help with climate control, and a noise-wall barrier erected around the premises. The roof structures will also allow direct sunlight into the building to reduce the need for artificial lighting. Water is recycled for reuse in the buildings and the wash bay.
Work planned for Phase 2C includes the redevelopment and refurbishment of an existing administration building. This comprises demolition works to various areas, the refurbishment of workshop areas, construction of a new canteen and gymnasium, the construction of new offices, administration rooms, boardrooms and storerooms, the construction of a new main foyer and reception areas and the refurbishment of courtyard spaces.
The construction of additional toilet blocks, new lifts to aid accessibility, service ducts, new pedestrian and vehicular access with security offices, external works and the installation of electrical and mechanical infrastructure will also be undertaken.
An Intelligent Transport System monitors traffic via multiple screens.
Phase 2A, now complete, entailed the construction of the perimeter fence, bus parking area platform, site access road, main parking area driveway upgrade and the construction of the main entrance road into the depot (along the Pat Mbatha Road intersection with Ignatius Street).
Once completed, the Selby BRT depot, which was formerly used by Putco Bus Company, will accommodate up to 270 buses and feature an administration building, maintenance building, washing and refuelling bays and an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) control centre. The administration block features ablution facilities, a canteen, offices and staff and visitors parking.
Regional overview of business and investment in Gauteng, 2020/21
By John Young
One of the plans to boost Gauteng, “Growing Gauteng Together” (GGT 2030) prioritises the economy, jobs and infrastructure, with the manufacturing sector earmarked as a key driver.
Gauteng accounts for 45% of the South Africa’s manufacturing capacity, so the province is well-placed to expand an already strong and diverse sector. Manufacturing makes up 14.5% of formal sector output in Gauteng, making it the fourth-largest sector. One in nine jobs in the province are created in the sector. According to the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA), six out of 10 foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in Gauteng have flowed to the manufacturing sector and its subsectors.
In the five years to 2019, the Gauteng City-Region attracted 447 FDI projects valued at R264-billion, which created more than 69 000 jobs (FDI Markets).
The GGDA is an implementing agency which aims to facilitate business enablement, develop small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) and to promote investment and job creation. Focussed support for these specific subsectors is intended to spur other investments: automotive sector, mineral beneficiation, capital equipment, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and tertiary services such as the BPO, ICT services, tourism and the knowledge economy.
GGDA subsidiaries include The Innovation Hub (technology), the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC), which manages the Automotive Supplier Park (ASP) and InvestSA Gauteng (red tape remover for investors).
The Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) plays a similar role as the City of Johannesburg’s development agency. JDA’s focus is on helping create resilient, sustainable and liveable urban areas in identified transit nodes and corridors. In 15 years, 387 projects have been implemented.
Special Economic Zones (SEZs) are being created and expanded across the province to support manufacturers, providing them with the necessary infrastructure and access to related businesses.
This has seen the expansion of the OR Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) SEZ (Ekurhuleni) and the establishment of the High-Tech SEZ (Tshwane), the Vaal SEZ (Sedibeng), and the Tshwane Automotive SEZ.
The National Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) is the lead agent in the creation of SEZs, which are part of the national Industrial Policy Action Plan (IPAP). SEZs are designed to attract investment, create jobs and boost exports.
The Provincial Government of Gauteng has identified 10 “high-growth” sectors where it intends concentrating its efforts to build infrastructure and to attract public and private sector investment:
Energy: new technologies
A diverse transportation and logistics sector
ICT, media and digital services
Tourism and hospitality
Agricultural value chain
Construction and infrastructure
Automotive, aerospace and defence
Financial services
Cultural and creative industries
Industrialisation of cannabis
These priorities were announced before the onset of the Covid-19 global pandemic, so obviously there will be some major adjustments, especially with regard to tourism and hospitality which has suffered major setbacks during the local and international lockdowns.
It could be that the focus shifts more strongly to another one of the priorities of local and regional government: affordable housing.
Much has been done to provide housing since the dawn of the democratic era in 1994, but much more needs to be done in response to rapid urbanisation. Gauteng Province has pledged to provide 100 000 service stands to qualifying Gauteng residents who want to and are able to build their own homes, and it wants an additional 250 000 people to be able to recent “decent accommodation” over the next five to 10 years.
This is in addition to facilitating the development of mega-cities, one to the west of Lanseria and the other to the south of Vereeniging. Vaal River City will span the Orange River and eventually link up with Sasolburg in the Free State, according to the blueprint.
Another housing initiative will see provincial funds ring-fenced to formalise informal settlements and to upgrade hostels into family units. All of these programmes should provide a boost to the construction and property sector and to small businesses in both sectors.
Overview of the province
Gauteng is South Africa’s smallest province in terms of landmass but in every other respect it is a giant. The province is the nation’s key economic growth engine.
At 18 176 km², the province makes up just 1.5% of South Africa’s territory, but even that aspect showed growth in 2018 when the territory of Ekangala was formally transferred from Mpumalanga Province to Gauteng Province. The land had previously been part of the
KwaNdebele homeland.
The 14.3-million people living in Gauteng in 2017 generated a gross domestic product of R1.59-trillion, about a third of South Africa’s GDP (StatsSA).
Gauteng shares borders with four provinces, the Free State, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The southern border of the province is the Vaal River and most of the province is located on the Highveld. The Witwatersrand, which runs through Johannesburg, marks the continental divide: rivers running to the north drain into the Indian Ocean, rivers running south drain into the Atlantic Ocean via the Vaal into the Orange River. Gauteng draws its water from a series of inter-connected river transfer systems. A major source of water is the Lesotho Water Highlands Project.
The Witwatersrand was the source of the gold that drew so many thousands of people to the area in the late 19th century and was the origin of the word for South Africa’s currency, the “rand”.
Gauteng is a leader in a wide range of economic sectors: finance, manufacturing, commerce, IT and media among them. The Bureau of Market Research (BMR) has shown that Gauteng accounts for 35% of total household consumption in South Africa.
The leading economic sectors are: finance, real estate and business, manufacturing, government services and wholesale, retail, motor trade and accommodation. The creative industries (including advertising and the film sector) employ upwards of 180 000 people and contribute more than R3.3-billion to the provincial economy. This sector is seen as a driver of future growth.
15 Alice Lane Annex – Photo Credit: Paragon Architects, Photographer: Andrew Bell
In Johannesburg, financial services and commerce predominate. The JSE, Africa’s largest stock exchange, is in Sandton and several new stock exchanges have recently received licences.
Tshwane (which includes Pretoria) is home to many government services and is the base of the automotive industry and many research institutions. The Ekurhuleni metropole has the largest concentration of manufacturing concerns, ranging from heavy to light industry, in the country. The western part of the province is concerned mainly with mining and agriculture, while the south has a combination of maize farming, tobacco production and the heavy industrial work associated with steel and iron-ore workings.
Individually, the biggest Gauteng cities contribute to the national GDP as follows: Johannesburg (15%), Tshwane (9%) and Ekurhuleni (7%).
Gauteng is not just an important centre of economic activity, it is also an important launching pad for local and international businesses to enter the African market.
The country’s biggest airport, OR Tambo International Airport, is at the core of the province’s logistical network. Other airports include Rand Airport (Germiston), Wonderboom (Pretoria) Lanseria and Grand Central (Midrand).
The Gauteng Division of the High Court of South Africa (which has seats in Pretoria and Johannesburg) is a superior court with general jurisdiction over the province. Johannesburg is also home to the Constitutional Court, South Africa’s highest court, and to a branch of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court.
The province has several outstanding universities, and the majority of South Africa’s research takes place at well-regarded institutions such as the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS), Mintek, the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and several sites where the work of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) is done.
MV TITUS on her maiden voyage heads into the Port of East London. (Image: Transnet National Ports Authority)
The Eastern Cape’s two Special Economic Zones play an important role in attracting investors to the province. Located in East London near the port and at the deepwater port of Ngqura 20 km north of Port Elizabeth, the East London Industrial Development Zone (ELIDZ) and the Coega SEZ provide the infrastructure that will allow the region to expand and diversify its economy.
As of 2019, the Coega SEZ has 45 operational investors who have collectively invested more than R9.9-billion. This includes the first phase of one of the most consequential investments, that of Chinese automotive manufacturer Beijing International Automotive Corporation (BAIC). The total investment by BAIC will total R11-billion and significantly add to the province’s already strong reputation for excellence in the automotive sector. Both SEZs have areas dedicated to automotive and automotive components manufacture.
The Ngqura port was built to handle containers, both from within South Africa and as a transhipment base for international containers, to handle bulk commodities and to act as a port to serve the Coega SEZ.
Port of Ngqura at the early stages of development (Image: Transnet National Ports Authority)
In July 2019 the Coega Development Corporation (CDC), operator of the Coega SEZ, announced that 18 new investors had invested R2.6-billion in the zone during the 2018/19 financial year. For the 2019/20 period, the CDC created 15 934 jobs. Since 1999 that figure is 120 990.
Sectors in which investment was received include:
Aquaculture
Renewable energy
Copper smelting and steel rail wheel manufacture
Agri-processing
Automotive (commuter bus assembly)
Chemical engineering
Pharmaceutical.
Logistics, fibre-optic cabling, PVC compound manufacture and tyre recycling were other confirmed ventures. At the ELIDZ, recent investments include a diamond cutting and polishing company and a condom manufacturer.
While the variety of investors at both SEZs continues to grow (Coega has 14 distinct business zones), developments in the Oceans Economy and the oil and gas sector are showing the greatest promise.
An established market for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) exists within the Coega SEZ and now that national government has stated that the SEZ could be the site of an LNG plant, the CDC and the Eastern Cape Provincial Government are preparing a Gas Market Analysis to enhance Coega’s readiness for an expected increase in gas use.
The existing 342 MW Dedisa Power Peaking Plant at Coega already has environmental authorisation for a 400 kV transmission line between the plant site and the Dedisa substation which reduces costs for future investors.
In 2019 a draft scoping report was prepared for an integrated LNG terminal and gas-to-power plant.
The Dedisa Peaking Power Plant in the Coega Special Economic Zone. (Image: Coega SEZ)
Imported LNG would be used as feedstock initially, while exploring local sources. Drilling off the southern coast has revealed vast resources in the Brulpadda field in the Southern Outeniqua basin. If some of this gas could be recovered, the two SEZs on the Eastern Cape coast would become critical to its utilisation.
Activity in the oil and gas sector would in turn stimulate the maritime sector. The potential of the Oceans Economy is already receiving a lot of attention in South Africa, and Nelson Mandela University’s Ocean Campus is one of the leaders. The South African International Maritime Institute (SAIMI) has new headquarters in Port Elizabeth.
Key goals behind the establishment of SEZs are to:
encourage industries to develop in clusters, leading to economies of scale, skills-sharing and easier access for suppliers,
create industrial infrastructure to promote investment,
promote cooperation between the public and private sectors,
use the zones as a launching pad for other developments.
About Special Economic Zones
Special Economic Zones are created in terms of the Special Economic Zones Act of 2014 (Act 16 of 2014). The act defines a SEZ as “geographically designated areas of the country that are set aside for specifically targeted economic activities and supported through special arrangements and systems that are often different from those that apply to the rest of the country.”
Incentives include tax breaks from the South African Revenue Service, subsidised interest rates from the Industrial Development Corporation, subsidies for employees earning below a certain level and for training, incentives and grants from the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) and from national electricity utility Eskom. The SEZ is also a customs-controlled area.
Africa Oil Week (AOW), part of Hyve Group PLC, announces with regret the cancellation of the February 2021 edition of AOW, due to take place in Cape Town, South Africa. The event will now return next year to its regular date line, 1-5 November 2021. Africa Oil Week’s sister event, Investing in African Mining Indaba, has also been cancelled and will return 7-10 February 2022.
Global uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is the primary contributor to the decision to cancel the event. Additionally, international travel restrictions and current restrictions for hosting events in South Africa which prevent larger gatherings mean that the organisers can no longer be certain of delivering AOW to the high standard to which their audience is accustomed.
In November 2021, Africa Oil Week will take place in accordance with the latest health & safety and government guidance. The well-being of speakers, delegates, sponsors and exhibitors will, of course, remain top priority. As always, the event’s objective will be to gather the most influential decision-makers in African oil, gas and energy to network, make deals and shape discussions crucial to the future success of the industry.
Simon Ford, Portfolio Director of Africa Oil Week and Investing in African Mining Indaba, said:
“Bringing people together is at the heart of what we do at Africa Oil Week. However, based on current uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we took the view that our delegates’ ROI and ROTI would have been significantly impacted at an in-person event in February 2021. Our focus is now on delivering an unbeatable live event in November 2021, which will reunite the industry, as well as provide the leading platform to help rebuild the future of oil, gas and energy in Africa. We would like to thank all those who have supported us in the last 27 years, we can’t wait to see you!”
AOW will be engaging continuously with the industry in the lead up to the November 2021 edition. Bookings for the event are now open, and the organisers are busy working on virtual initiatives aimed at facilitating multi-stakeholder strategic conversations and delivering world-class digital content in the coming months. Further details will be released soon.
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