South African Business 2024

OVERVIEW Africa (WWF-SA)

OVERVIEW Africa (WWF-SA) and Peace Parks Foundation initiative. The college is located near the Orpen Gate on the edge of the Kruger National Park. Universities There are three types of public universities in South Africa: traditional universities, which are academic in focus and award degrees; universities of technology, which have a vocational emphasis and can award diplomas and certificates; and comprehensive universities which offer a combination of both types of qualification and can confer degrees and diplomas. The addition of two universities in the provinces of Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape means that every South African province now has a university. The official launch of the University of Mpumalanga was in October 2013, with the first cohort of 169 students registered in just three programmes in 2014. By 2024, the plan is to offer approximately 70 qualifications to over 8 000 students. That is the year in which the university’s first doctoral graduates will be capped. Research relevant to the needs of the province can now be done at local level. With Sol Plaatje University celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2023, the chances of indigenous young people being able to study on its campus have been boosted by large donations from two Anglo American subsidiaries. Kumba Iron Ore and De Beers Group are among the biggest mining companies active in ONLINE RESOURCES Centres of Specialisation: www.dhet.gov.za National Department of Science and Innovation: www.dst.gov.za Sol Plaatje University: www.spu.ac.za TVET colleges: www.tvetcolleges.co.za University of Mpumalanga: www.ump.ac.za A team of students from ORBIT TVET College competed successfully in an international AI competition run by Intel. the Northern Cape. Their donations of R20-million and R5-million towards the university’s Lesedi La Afrika Fund will support scholarships and social impact projects. The fund has set a target of R100- million over the next three years. SPU has seen major growth in its enrolment figures and staff recruitment in recent years, with 60% of its academic staff having PhDs. As part of its sustainable growth, the institution is committed to community engagement and scholarly activity. The first intake of students at the Kimberley campus of Sol Plaatje University in 2014 was 124. For the 2023 academic year a total of 28 454 applications (undergraduate and postgraduate) were received by SPU. This is an increase of just under 9 000 against the applications received for 2022. Another milestone was reached in the university’s young history when the Risk and Vulnerability Science Centre (RVSC) celebrated its first birthday, on 9 September 2022. As the Northern Cape is water-scarce, the unit’s location is highly relevant. RVSC is a programme of the Department of Science and Innovation under the Global Change Research Plan for South Africa – funded through the National Research Foundation’s Global Change programme. Most of South Africa’s universities have business schools attached to them, offering MBAs, management diplomas and a variety of short courses. ■ SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2024 58

Banking and financial services Carbon credits and green investing are catching on. OVERVIEW Carbon credits and renewable energy certificates can now be traded on Africa’s largest stock exchange, following the launch in 2023 of the JSE Ventures Voluntary Carbon Market. JSE Ventures is collaborating with US company Xpansiv, which has experience in global environmental markets. South Africa has had carbon taxes since 2019. One of South Africa’s newer stock exchanges, the Cape Town Stock Exchange (which started life as 4AX), oversaw the listing of an initial tranche of preference shares of the Gaia Renewables REIT, a fund that caters to investors who want to have a stake in the burgeoning renewable energy economy. It is expected that more investors will want to be part of a sector that is showing enormous potential. TymeBank is taking the concept of “retail banking” to another level. Having run banking kiosks within retailers such as Pick n Pay and Boxer for several years, TymeBank has signed a deal with TFG, a group that has a big presence all across South Africa. What used to be known as the Foschini Group has 34 brands, including Markhams, Totalsports, Jet and Dial a Bed, and 30-million customers. In the short term, TymeBank will have access to 600 TFG kiosks, taking the bank’s total in South Africa to 1 450. Another relatively new bank is Capitec. Investment holding company PSG has reduced its holding in Capitec Bank from 32% to 4%, earning about R4-billion by selling those shares. Discovery Bank reported in 2022 that it was signing up 750 new clients every day which puts it on course to achieve more than 600 000 customers by 2024. The bank, which launched in 2019, has already opened more than one-million accounts. Long-term insurer and asset manager Liberty has delisted from the JSE and has been integrated into the Standard Bank Group. Financial services group Old Mutual received permission from the prudential authority of the South African Reserve Bank to apply for a banking licence. The bank will spend R1.75- billion on setting up the bank and intends to launch in 2024. ONLINE RESOURCES Financial Sector Conduct Authority: www.fsca.co.za Insurance Institute of South Africa: www.iisa.co.za South African Institute of Chartered Accountants: www.saica.co.za SECTOR INSIGHT The JSE has launched a carbon-trading market. African Bank has signalled that it is ready to grow, with an agreement to buy Grindrod Bank and an R80-million deal to purchase lender Ubank. After going into administration in 2014, African Bank took some time to recover and is still halfowned by the Reserve Bank but it has materially added to its retail client base and the addition of more than 4.5-million clients with the purchase of the troubled Ubank, which had as its base mine workers, will further strengthen its position. The R1.5-billion purchase of Grindrod Bank gives African Bank a stronger position in business lending. PHOTO: John Young 59 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2024