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Gauteng Business 2020/21 edition

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The 2020/21 edition of Gauteng Business is the 12th issue of this highly successful publication that has established itself as the premier business and investment guide for the Gauteng Province. In addition to the regular articles providing insight into each of the key economic sectors of the province, there are special features on infrastructure investment programmes and plans for the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) as a means to boost economic growth. Another feature on construction and property underlines the importance of spatial planning in the region’s future. Ambitious plans for the City of Johannesburg are outlined, both in the journal's editorial pages and by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA).

OVERVIEW Information and

OVERVIEW Information and communications technology Financial services is leading the way in ICT investment. The biggest investors in new technology are banks and other players in the financial sector, where technology is rapidly lowering the barriers to entry for new businesses. This trend is illustrated by the rapid development of new exchanges which are based on sophisticated ICT hardware and software. One of the provincial government’s stated goals is to get several ICT initiatives to work together. If the work of the Innovation Hub, several Ekasi laboratories, the Tshimologong precinct, universities and research institutes could be integrated, a more powerful ecosystem would be the result. A High-Tech Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is another idea that is being pursued. Making broadband connectivity and free Wi-Fi available Actonville Primary School in Benoni has received a donation of laptops from data protection and management company Commvault. to poor households in the province is another task. Gauteng’s Premier will appoint a Digital Transformation Advisory Panel to assist in driving these initiatives. Various large spatial plans for the province include an element whereby these new cities or settlements will be built as “smart cities”. Johannesburg is now one of two South African cities to host a Microsoft Azure data centre. The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) estimates that spending on cloud services in South Africa will reach R11.5-billion by 2022, nearly three times its level in 2017 (Tech Central). This trend could generate more than 100 000 new jobs. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria hosts a new body aimed at preparing South Africa for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the South African Affiliate Centre of the World Economic Forum. With several global companies choosing to station their South African headquarters in Gauteng, the province is well ONLINE RESOURCES eKasiLabs: www.theinnovationhub.com Independent Communications Authority: www.icasa.org.za Technology Innovation Agency: www.tia.org.za SECTOR INSIGHT Smart cities are planned. connected. More than 1 500 kilometres of network fibre has been connected throughout the province, with 1 066 sites such as schools, health facilities, libraries and community centres giving community members and entrepreneurs the chance to be connect with the digital world. A Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA) subsidiary, the Innovation Hub, has a programme called eKasiLabs which supports entrepreneurs and young people with good business ideas. The “Tshepo 1 Million” campaign links the provincial government with the successful Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator and more than 40 large companies. Both Johannesburg and Tshwane have free Wifi networks with Tshwane’s covering 780 zones in places such as libraries, educational institutions and clinics. The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) runs the SoftstartBTI ICT incubator in Midrand and Tuksnovation, a high-tech incubator, at Pretoria University. Private mobile communications company Vodacom has pledged to spend R50-billion on network infrastructure in rural areas. ■ GAUTENG BUSINESS 2020/21 40

Banking and financial services Banks are looking at insurance and funeral policies. OVERVIEW The financial-services industry contributes 21% to Gauteng’s gross domestic product. The revitalised African Bank, which was put under curatorship in 2014 by the Reserve Bank, is making a play for new customers with an interesting offering that does not rely so much on digital wizardry as on presenting the customer with enhanced banking facilities. African Bank has created an account that allows up to five additional accounts to be created in the name of the main account. Fees are only charged for drawing cash or at the time of a transaction. There are no monthly fees for any of the accounts which can be either for saving or transactional. Each user has his or her own card and monies can be moved between accounts, ideal for families. Sanlam has entered two partnerships in the insurance market. African Rainbow Life has launched life cover policies in the low and middle-income market, in association with Sanlam and African Rainbow Capital. Sanlam is also in a venture with Capitec. Financial Mail quoted Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie in 2019 saying that the bank was selling 3 000 funeral policies a day. In 2017 Tyme Digital received a licence to run a bank. By early 2019, TymeBank was available in 500 Pick n Pay and Boxer stores and more than 50 000 customers around South Africa had an account. Second to market among the country’s new banks was Discovery Bank, which officially launched in March 2019. Discovery Bank applies the behavioural model it uses in its health business to reward good financial behaviour. The decision by pharmaceutical giant Aspen Pharmacare to conduct a second listing on one of South Africa’s newest exchanges, A2X, suggests good timing by the people behind the latest trend in the country’s financial services sector. SECTOR INSIGHT Discovery Bank is using the behavioural model pioneered by its health business. A2X has attracted nearly 20 companies in a wide range of sectors in less than two years, with a primary focus on secondary listings. Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital is an investor in A2X. Of the four new exchanges, Equity Express Securities Exchange (EESE) trades in Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) while ZARX and 4AX are targeting companies that are not listed elsewhere. ZARX has agricultural holding companies like TWK and Senwes among its first clients. The newcomers all promise to use the latest technology to make trading simpler, quicker and cheaper. The JSE is the world’s 19thbiggest exchange and nearly 400 companies are listed on the JSE or AltX, the JSE-owned exchange for smaller companies. ■ ONLINE RESOURCES Association for Savings and Investment South Africa: www.asisa.org.za Chartered Institute of Government Finance, Audit and Risk Officers: www.cigfaro.co.za Financial Sector Conduct Authority: www.fsca.co.za 41 GAUTENG BUSINESS 2020/21

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