NWU Business School: Recent Episodes
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The NWU Business School has three sites of delivery, situated in Mahikeng, Potchefstroom and Vanderbijlpark. With our internationally accredited MBA, we strive to give our students the edge in an ever-changing business environment. This institution offers various options in terms of language and modes of delivery in our flagship programmes – the MBA as well as the Postgraduate Diploma in Management.
This interview is about the what and the how of digital transformation, notably in the context of South African businesses. In this era, digital transformation is considered imperative if businesses are to be responsive to customer and stakeholder needs, through digital business.
The interview, conducted by the NWU Business School’s Dr Michael Modiba, approached the CEO of Standard Bank Group, Sim Tshabalala, to addresses a pertinent information systems and business management key issues, especially since digital transformation is in its infancy stage.
Nellie Mashaba have been employed by the chamber of mines and part of her portfolio is Woman in Mining in Africa. The number of women working in the mining sector has increased significantly in the past 15 years or so – from around 11,400 in 2002 to around 53,000 women in 2015, increasing to 54,154 in 2018. Women represent 12% of the mining labour force of 453,543.
The Association of Women in Mining in Africa (AWIMA) is a network of African women in mining, oil and gas national associations. AWIMA was created on August 19th 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya during the African Women Business Linkages Forum organised by the African Union Commission. This network of associations from the Southern, Central, Western, Eastern and Northern regions of Africa advocates for the participation, representation, leadership and inclusive empowerment of women in the extractive sector in Africa.
With this interview the experience and knowledge of Nellie Mashaba will be shared with our stakeholders on the challenges of Woman in the mining sector. The NWU Business School's Prof Christoff Botha interviewed her.
In a country, there are two powerful mechanisms. One of them is entrepreneurship education and the other mechanism is the institutional mechanism. Even though both mechanisms can play a role, it is evident that both mechanisms are not adequate to overcome the entrepreneurship challenges in Africa.
These are amongst others mechanisms that cannot address mistrust, non-financial inclusion, managerial and leadership skills, risk management, and decision making.
Many of our failures are a result of practical problems and challenges that we import from outside our classrooms. Not only must we give attention to these but we must form alliances with successful entrepreneurs. The NWU Business School's Prof Christoff Botha speaks to Dr Shantha Indrajith from the BOTHO University in Gaborone about this.
Heinrich Strydom se aanvanklike droom om vir die Proteas krieket te speel, het mettertyd omgeswaai na ‘n ambisie om een van die top administrateurs in SA sport te word.
As die jongste hoof-uitvoerende beampte van ’n plaaslike krieketfranchise, toe hy vyf jaar gelede op 34-jarige ouderdom aangestel was as baas van die Dolphins, is Heinrich besig om homself uitmuntend van sy taak te kwyt. Sy kontrak is onlangs met ’n verdere vyf jaar verleng.
As ’n gebore en getoë Potchefstromer, is hy ’n alumnus van die NWU Besigheidskool - wat hy meen hom toegerus het met die visie en strategiese bestuursvernuf wat nodig is in die genadelose wêreld van professionele sport.
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) is a project of the African Union (AU). Founded in 2018, it ambitiously aims ‘to create a single continental market for goods and services, with free movement of business persons and investments’. Virtually all of the 55 AU member states have signed the agreement.
While some negotiations still have to be finalised, ACFTA officially commenced on 1 January this year. The idea is that the continental project will be phased in.
In this video, Prof Raymond Parsons talks to Minister Ebrahim Patel about his views of the Trade Agreement.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/KO83WE4_woU
The conceptualisation of labour relations is impacted by two dominant recent phenomena. First, labour, or the concept of work, is in flux due to most successful market regimes changing from manufacturing hubs to service economies.
The question is, how will that impact labour legislation in South Africa, a country with at least 60% of all economic activity embedded in the service industry? The second recent phenomenon, exacerbated by Covid-19, is the “death of the idea of an office”. The management and control of productivity is fundamental to efficiency, but also the rights of workers and the obligations of managers.
Jahni de Villiers, a former trade union organiser, and policy influencer for organised agriculture, will also elaborate on the role of women in the context of these questions and phenomena.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/y9qJoh_gWUM
Jacques Faul benodig geen bekendstelling as suksesvolle hoof-uitvoerende beampte van die Titans nie.
As iemand met ’n passie vir die bestuur van belangegroepverhoudings, is Jacques ook ’n akademikus van formaat, met ’n doktorsgraad in Ekonomiese en Bestuurswetenskappe, en is hy onlangs aangestel as medeprofessor by die NWU Besigheidskool.Hy glo dat die besigheidskant van sport beslis kan baat by akademiese insette van ’n instansie soos die Besigheidskool.
Verder praat Jacques padlangs oor sy opspraakwekkende wedervaringe as waarnemende HUB van Krieket SA ’n paar jaar gelede, en lug hy die mening dat dit ideaal sou wees om sport en politiek heeltemal te kon skei. Maar is dit haalbaar?
Die mens is nie veronderstel om ’n gevangene van ’n voorafbepaalde stel keuses te wees nie, aangesien die toekoms ’n magdom van uitkomste bied. Aldus Dr Cobus Oosthuizen, dekaan van die Milpark Business School in Johannesburg.
Cobus is ’n deskundige op die gebied van leierskap, entrepreneurskap en strategie. Die voltooiing van sy MBA aan die NWU Besigheidskool het Cobus se horisonne dramaties verbreed, en die droom om ’n besigheidskool te lei, en ’n agent van positiewe verandering te word, laat posvat.
Hy glo dat die leermeester self meer leer wanneer hy ander leer, en dat jy bloot ’n ontdekkingsreis fasiliteer wat ook jou eie intellek strek.
The efficacy of marginalised farmers within the broader South Africa and African context is an issue that has not been given the attention by decision makers in the sector, mostly from rural farming communities that it deserves. The poverty levels is ever-increasing in South Africa with more than 50% of the country’s population, are still living in poverty.
The New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) 2020 states that agriculture is by far the single most important activity in Africa providing employment for about two-thirds (67%) of the continent’s working population. For each country it averages 30-60% of GDP and approximately 30% of the value of exports. Africa has enormous potential, not only to feed itself (“food security”) and eliminate hunger and food insecurity, but also to be a major player in the global food supply markets. This potential lies in its land, water and oceans, in its people and in its knowledge and huge markets.
Marginalised and smallholder farmer empowerment has been part of government’s development agenda for many years, as these groups are extremely vulnerable, food insecure and have restricted access to technology and information. The key source of knowledge for these marginalised farmers is other farmers because it is voluntarily available and its utilisation does not impose a high risk. Because of the legacy of the history on the African continent many of these marginalised farmers are vulnerable because of the lack of self-efficacy. Advocacy in this space of agriculture are needed to alter the ways in which power, resources and ideas are created, consumed and distributed at various levels so that marginalised and emerging farmers have a more realistic chance of controlling their own development and goals agenda.
In this NWU Business School Bon Bon interview, Prof Ronnie Lotriet speaks to William Steenkamp about rooibos farming and its opportunities.
Bemarking is nie bloot ‘n integrale deel van besigheidsukses nie. Dit is die besigheid. Melanie van Rooy staan aan die hoof van bemarking by Clicks, en was vroeër in dieselfde hoedanigheid betrokke by sowel Makro SA as Dis-Chem.
Met ‘n doktorsgraad in ekonometrie, het sy ‘n passie vir bemarkingsanalise ten einde verbruikersgedrag beter te verstaan en bemarkingstrategieë te verbeter.
En, Melanie, wat ‘n paar jaar gelede by die dood omgedraai het vanweë ‘n gewas in haar kolon, beskou haar besluit om ‘n MBA te voltooi aan die NWU Besigheidskool, as die insiggewendste hupstoot vir haar loopbaan in die korporatiewe wêreld...
Dis belangriker as ooit dat besighede hul denkwyses wysig om aan te pas by die nuwe normaal. Dit beteken dat die wonderlike wêreld van tegnologie optimaal benut moet word. Met ‘n kwarteeu se ervaring juis in die lewering van tegnologie oor ‘n verskeidenheid van industrieë, het De Wet Bisschoff homself onderskei as ‘n sakeleier van formaat in Afrika.
Met ‘n MBA verwerf aan die NWU se Besigheidskool, is De Wet die direkteur van Accenture se Afrika-operasies, en hy gesels onder andere oor die ongelooflike besigheidsgeleenthede wat voorheen onontginde lande soos Rwanda en Zambië bied.
Africa has iconic women leaders who all have their own styles and with the rapid changes the willingness to embrace changes serves as a driving force in the hope of acceptance. A good leader is not about your own accolades but about recognising other women, supporting and helping them on their journey.
In this interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Christo Botha has a discussion with Prof Kiveshni Naidoo about "Woman Leadership in Africa". Prof Naidoo is PhD Alumnus of the North-West University Business School and is currently employed as the Academic Director of probably the largest private higher education institution in Africa.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/hjsxBRbxNo0
First impressions are significant, and your personality is not the first things that people see. In this Bon Bon interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Ronnie Lotriet speaks to Sandra-Noppe Taljaard where she inspires to dress for success in order to make a good impression in the world of work.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/zPVy9EB-OkM
In this Bon Bon interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Ronnie Lotriet speaks to Ms Charlotte Mokoena, Executive Vice-president SASOL about the challenges that females are experiencing in the executive corporate world.
Then, a special inspirational quote for the ladies during Women’s Month. And lastly, a very insightful opinion on the narrative of “intuition” or the so-called 6th sense in the context of the world of management!
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/9txkcE7B_YA
Pieter Geldenhuys is ‘n bekroonde akademikus en geleentheidspreker met ‘n uitgebreide kennis van innovasie, toekomstige tendense en tegnologiese ontwikkeling. Sy gewildheid as spreker spruit uit sy vermoë om die verlede en hede te kombineer, ten einde ons in te lig oor die toekoms.
Pieter is ‘n internasionaal befaamde futuris, en stigter en direkteur van die Institute for Technology Strategy and Innovation - ‘n organisasie wat top maatskappye help om hul innoverende potensiaal te ontgin. Pieter het ‘n MBA verwerf aan die NWU Besigheidskool, en dien tans ook as dosent in Tegnologie Strategie aan die Besigheidskool.
Dewald Olivier is sedert 2018 die hoof uitvoerende beampte van die SA Voerkraalvereniging, in welke hoedanigheid hy toesig hou oor die vereniging se werksaamhede ten einde nakoming en doeltreffendheid op alle vlakke te verseker.
Dewald het ‘n MBA met lof verwerf aan die NWU Besigheidskool, wat hy as ‘n bepalende ervaring beskryf, en dien ook as voorsitter van sowel die MBA Alumni-vereniging as die Adviesraad van die Besigheidskool.
As iemand met jarelange ervaring in die landbou-industrie, spog Dewald met ‘n bewese baanrekord in die omskakeling van besigheidsdoelwitte in strategieë en taktieke.
Die The Synthetic Latex Company (SLC) is ‘n sleutelspeler in die SA chemiese industrie. Besturende direkteur en mede-eienaar Quentin van den Heever vertel van SLC se oorsprong as ‘n gesamentlike onderneming met Revertex SA in 1967, en hoe hulle hulself 50 jaar later as ‘n onafhanklike maatskappy kon posisioneer.
SLC spesialiseer in die vervaardiging van lateks polimere vir die verf-, konstruksie-, papier & bord- en mat & tekstiel-industrie, en het uitgebrei na chemiese verspreiding, geïntegreerde pakhuise, industriële skoonmaakdienste, tolvervaardiging, grootmaat stoor en stofonderdrukking.
Hulle beskik ook oor ‘n samewerkingsruimte, naamlik WorkZone@SLC, terwyl die Shared Services Company (SSC) ‘n opwindende inisiatief is wat korporatiewe dienste bied aan entrepreneurs.
South Africa is described as the third most vulnerable ecology for cyber-attacks and crimes due to weak infrastructure and an inadequate regulatory regime. The recent collapse of the IT systems of Transnet is a very relevant example of the vulnerabilities of the state and the economy in South Africa, and more so business.
The purpose of this Bon Bon interview is to unpack the presence and nature of cyber-attacks and crime in South Africa. The NWU Business School's Dr Piet Croucamp speaks to Prof Noëlle van der Waag-Cowling from Stellenbosch University.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/QnGuDG_M4qE
According to David Woods-Hale, Editor, of AMBITION the newsletter of The Association of MBA’s, sustainability and climate change has to take its place at the core and forefront of business education in order to address an issue shared by all of us.
A survey done among more than 500 senior leaders at Business Schools across the world, 88% believe that their Business School has at least some responsibility to tackle climate change. However, only 3% are currently of the belief that their Business Schools’ efforts in addressing climate change are adequate.
In this interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Anet Smit speaks to Prof. Mohamed Amine, from the ISSAMI Business School in Morocco. The main question is if whether Business Schools are doing enough to produce knowledgeable graduates who care actively about the environment?
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/f3_BQuVr-jk
Ownership and the notion of custodianship are contradictory principles as regards value chains and FDI. At least two dominant parties in the national legislature consider custodianship a means to enhance land reform.
In this Bon Bon interview, the NWU Business School's Dr Piet Croucamp's speaks to Prof Elmien du Plessis from the North-West University's Faculty of Law where they seeks to unpack the operation implications of custodianship.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/xnL8KZYoALg
Progress so far on the implementation of the SDGs has been uneven across countries in Africa. According to the Africa SDG Index, the best-ranked country in Africa is Mauritius. It has been argued that the financing of the sustainable development goals in Africa is a huge concern.
In this interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Anet Smit, speaks to Prof. Mohamed Amine from the ISSAMI Business School in Morocco about the debt situation in Africa and the consequences thereof.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/zu5IEB4QMco
At the NWU Business school we have embarked on an Africanisation drive to contribute and ensure development in our own continent. Our Africanisation drive is based on the AU Agenda 2063 as well as the UN 2030 Agenda sustainable development goals (SDG). Obviously, much research need to be done to ensure there is new knowledge in Africa to realise the UN 2030 Agenda. It has been noted that not much has been published in Africa to realise the SDG's.
In 2017 Stella Nkomo, a NRF A rated researcher in Business and Management Sciences, published an article ‘Time to look in the mirror: Producing management theory and knowledge for Africa’ in the Africa Journal of Management stating: “the responsibility of scholars interested in management and organizations in Africa to take up the complex challenges of producing management theory and knowledge for Africa. We have two major responsibilities at this juncture. One is to build a strong intellectual community association; and the second is to generate management theory and practice for the benefit of the continent”.
In this Bon Bon interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Yvonne du Plessis seek to gain deeper insights from Prof Stella Nkomo on what and how Business Schools can create new knowledge by doing relevant and impactful research in Africa. The insights that will be gained will assist to embrace and contribute to relevant and impactful research in Africa.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/ZNbgEY_GVQU
The African continent has various levels of women emancipation, and as such the role that women play in the economy differs vastly. What challenges do women face in South African workplace and also in Africa? How do they overcome these women-specific challenges to play their part at work and in the economy, and to what extent can their experiences help other women to overcome their challenges?
One woman who successfully started out and worked her way to the top is professor Kiveshnie Naidoo. Prof Naidoo is PhD Alumnus of the North-West University Business School and is currently employed as the Academic Director of probably the largest private higher education institution in Africa. Prof Naidoo speaks openly about her challenges as a woman in business world, and how she negotiated these challenges. She passionately offers advice to other women who might experience challenges in their place of employment.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/C_0a6F6RXOw
Pursuing an academic career once during a period in time where male domination was prevalent, Prof Susan Visser was able to climb the academic ladder at the North-West University for a period in excess of 46 years. She left her mark in the field of accounting education and received numerous awards for her role as a female leader in Africa.
This Bon Bon interview aims to emphasize her role, the challenges she had to overcome and her advice to upcoming leaders as to the recipe for success whilst circumstances might not be that favourable.
Prof Jan van Romburgh, chief director of the NWU Business School, interviewed her.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/qRiviW7lJg4
Dr Anna Mokgokong, the current Chancellor of the North-West University is a renowned South African businesswoman, who has not just contributed to Africa, but also globally due to her extra-ordinary entrepreneurial spirit and abilities. She has received many prestigious awards and accolades, to mention one - she was inducted into the Leading Women Entrepreneurs of the World. Dr Mokgokong is an absolute inspiration and African Business Icon (role model) not just to women, but to all genders in Africa.
In this Bon Bon interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Yvonne du Plessis spoke to Dr Mokgokong about entrepreneurial success in Africa and what it is that should be done to change the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Africa to enable more Africans to succeed beyond micro–enterprises.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/braIbYzmnzM
In this interview, Prof Hein Prinsloo of the NWU Business School interviewed Ms Mafusi Molefe, about her role in African based community development.
She is a graduate from the University of Johannesburg (BA Hons) in development studies. Her primary interest focus on “positive change in rural communities” and was initially inspired by various volunteering opportunities with Food and Trees for Africa – Izindaba Zokudla and Sustainable community development at Waaipoorrt farm. Currently she focus her energy on permaculture. This knowledge is also applied in communities in her country of birth – Lesotho. Beside permaculture, she further focus on the ethics at the workplace (sustainable farming).
After the completion of a course on “Education for sustainable development” by Earth charter and UNESCO, this enabled her to establish a relationship with the community of Mautsi primary school (Rosendal). This relationship contribute to the establishing of a functioning school garden project.
Watch Video: https://youtu.be/o6wrOeHYrJ4
The African continent is sitting on a golden opportunity that has a development mandate all over the world and that is its sport industry. The challenge of delivering sports development in Africa persists. Creating opportunities for young people in disadvantaged communities might not be easily resolved whilst poverty and social deprivation continue. Kalonge (2016) remarked that “sporting activities have a wide range of benefits, from personal health, job creation and income-generation to the promotion of cultural values and national identity”.
In an interview with Dr. Jacques Faul CEO of Northern Titans and a very experienced sports business administrator having previously also been the acting CEO of Cricket South Africa, he shared some of his views with the NWU Business School's Prof Ronnie Lotriet on the issues of sport in Africa. The Northern Titans have an African and international focus, and as such involved with some sub-Saharan African countries as strategic alliances in this sporting code.
Advocate Sandile Nogxina has dedicated a large part of his career to the public sector. He has worked in various capacities as a Researcher, Legal Advisor and a Special Advisor. He has served as the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Public Service and Administration.
He commenced his career as a public prosecutor in the Department of Justice from 1982 to 1984. He was the Legal Advisor and Researcher in the ANC Department of Legal and Constitutional Affairs from 1987 – 1990. He worked as the Senior Researcher in the Centre for Development Studies at the University of the Western Cape from 1991 to 1994 prior to assuming the Special Assignment Post in the Legal Department of the World Bank from February to September 1994.
In April 1996 he joined the Ministry of Public Service and Administration as the Deputy Director General Public Service and Reform and from April 1996 to January 1998 he was the DDG in the same department for Human Resource Management. He took up the post of Director-General of the Department of Minerals and Energy in February 1998 until June 2011. He was the advisor the Minister of Mineral Resources from July 2011 to 2012. He was appointed as the Ambassador to Mexico, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama (concurrently) from March 2012 to March 2018. From 2011 to date has been the special advisor to the Minister of Minerals and Energy.
He has made enormous contribution to the world-class legal framework South Africa can boast about today within the minerals, mining and energy sector.
In this Bon Bon interview, the NWU Business School's Prof Mala Singh discusses his various experiences and views about leadership and transformation in a South African context.
Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perception Index (“CPI”) “paints a grim picture of the state of corruption worldwide. While most countries have made little to no progress in tackling corruption in nearly a decade, more than two-thirds of countries score below 50”
With an average score of 32 the Sub-Saharan Africa region is the lowest performing region on the CPI showing little improvement from previous years and underscoring a need for urgent action. South Africa (43) is in the 9th best position in the Sub-Saharan African region of 49 countries. Analysis of the 2020 CPI shows that “corruption not only undermines the global health response to COVID-19, but contributes to a continuing crisis of democracy”. Bribery impedes access to basic services. The 2019 Global Corruption Barometer Africa Report shows that more than one out of four people – or approximately 130 million citizens in the 35 African countries surveyed – paid a bribe to access essential public services, like health care.
In this Bon Bon edition the focus will be on identifying what practical measures or structures can or should be implemented to combat fraud and corruption. What can we learn from other African countries, either through their successes or progress that have been made, or through the lessons they have learnt?
The NWU now has available an important diagnostic tool which enables exporters and governments to identify potential markets which can promote trade in various parts of the world. Called the TRADE-DSM or Decision Support Model (DSM), it was developed by Prof Wilma Viviers, the World Trade Organisation's Chairperson and research professor at the North-West University a few years ago and is already in widespread use.
Professor Raymond Parsons, of the NWU Business School, here interviews Prof Viviers on how the DSM can be further utilized in particular to expand African trade. With the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement it has become even more essential for both the private and public sectors to make best use of a mechanism like the DSM to enlarge the trade footprint on the continent.
In the interview Prof Viviers outlines how the DSM works, what experience has already been gained through mobilizing it for certain African countries, and how the increasingly sophisticated use of the DSM can add considerable value to export efforts in Africa. It is a tool that promises to empower both business and governments to unlock potent data about export opportunities in Africa.
For more information about the TRADE Research Advisory, please go to: www.tradeadvisory.co.za
Interview with Prof Remiguisz Gawlik, from the Economic University of Cracow, Poland. He has a wide knowledge of Geo Politics on an international level. Specifically, his focus is on International investments and the effect of Geo Politics on this.
In this bon interview, the NWU Business School’s Prof Hein Prinsloo discussed Africa's Geo Political tendencies, and effects on possible considered international investments. Beside Africa, Prof Gawlik also elaborated on the difference between the West and the East's approaches to investment in Africa, Europe's guilt and Russia's growing interest. He further elaborated by indicating that, although there are current Geo Political unease all over Africa, "Africa is only starting now"…and he would like to be on that "boat", when it takes off.
World Water Day was established by the United Nations (UN) in 1993 as an international day to highlight the importance of safe water and brings awareness to the world water crisis. Today, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all” by the year 2030.
Every day in rural communities throughout sub-Saharan Africa, millions of people suffer from a lack of access to clean, safe water. For school-aged children it's a burden that traps them in poverty. Globally, 1 in 9 people still have no access to clean water. But in the some communities we serve, it's 9 out of 9. Water is a daily and crippling challenge. Without water you can't grow food, you can't build housing, you can't stay healthy, you can't stay in school and you can't keep working. Today, over half of the developing world's primary schools without access to water and sanitation.
The NWU Business School's Prof Anet Smit has a discussion with Prof Lobina Palamuleni, water conservation expert, on these issues.
Zimbabwe is a country rating high on the literacy scale in Africa. Despite several poor post-colonial decisions on the political and economical fronts, Zimbabwe retained their high level of education.
According to UNESCO Zimbabwe has an adult literacy rate of 88.69%. Male literacy rate is 89.19% and for females the figure is 88.28%. Compared globally, this rates favourably as no. 88 in the ranking of country rate. It is even more important to note that the Zimbabwean literacy rate has increased in recent years.
Regarding business education, Zimbabwean first degrees encompass four academic years. It is also common to have an experience component as part of the degree. How is Zimbabwe holding up in their education system, and then specifically with their business education.
Load-shedding, international exposure and shortages in international currency are a few challenges to overcome.
Today, in the NWU Business School's outreach in Africa, Prof Christo Bisschoff interviews Dr Noel Muzondo, a senior lecturer in the Department of Business Studies at the University of Zimbabwe to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Zimbabwean business education today.
Dr Muzondo, a proud doctoral alumnus of the NWU Business School, sheds some light as to how the university succeeded to overcome the load-shedding issues and how they deal with personal and institutional challenges to retain their record of quality Zimbabwean education despite all the challenges.
The video discussion was focused on the social and economic disruptions induced by the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses in Kenya. Dr. Mary Mwanzia explains that an estimated two million more Kenyans have been pushed into poverty and the COVID-19 shocks have has led Kenya's economy to contract in the 4th quarter of 2020 by -0.3%.
This interview was important in that, it shines the light on how Covid-19 has led to the closure of many small businesses in Kenya. These businesses are mostly in the informal sector and such closures have exacerbated the poverty conditions of millions of Kenyans.
As explained by Dr Mwanzia, data from two parallel rapid response surveys conducted by the World Bank and partners in Kenya confirms that informal businesses are facing extreme risks due to lower demand for products and inputs. This situation is further compounded by disruptions in supply chains, travel restrictions, limiting access to intermediate goods, labor and sales channels. Small businesses are also face with non-access to cash and credit.
Dr Mwannzia explained that in the phase of these challenges, the Kenyan government have development some SMART strategies as it respond to mitigate the impact of this pandemic on Kenya’s people. According to her, these strategies to an extent have mellow the impact of this pandemic on small businesses across Kenya to a certain degree.
Ms Matlhapelo Chirwa is a HR business partner in at Hollard Life. She has 14 years’ expertise on all HR related issues. She deals with people management, recruitment, HR projects, performance management, talent management, employee related matters, etc. She completed her BCom degree and furthered her studies in labour law.
In this interview, Ms Chirwa indicated that all businesses should have a strategy and that they should set targets for their workforce. "It is therefore important to have at least 3 goals and workers need to focus on key performance areas in order to achieve their goals. This process should be monitored throughout to determine if workers achieved set goals. It is important in a business that there should be proper values in place and that businesses should make morally correct choices. Sales people should also be assisted to achieve their goals if they did not make their sales and should be supported by the HR person to improve if need be. It is important that there should be a platform for the workforce where they can get guidance."
Fusi Motaung is a human resource practitioner and manager. He has been working in this field for 15 years and has published his book on this topic in 2021. He specialises in resources management and social and labour plans.
It entails human resources from an employee, a community, political and government relational perspective. He oversees integrative development plans at municipalities, businesses and other stakeholders to ensure that they comply with the standards. He also focusses on work readiness for graduates and young professionals.
In this interview, Mr Motaung offered valuable input and stated that we need to teach young people the culture of work. "After graduation or leaving school, they are not ready for work and need assistance." He suggested that mentorship is important and that young people need to be motivated to get a mentor from an early age. He also expressed the concern that these cohort of people do not have the necessary soft skills to survive in the workplace.
"They might have the education, but the world of work and the world of their educational background are worlds apart. This creates problems and may lead to failure in the workplace."
He suggested that Africans need to raise their hands when there is a job opportunity and that they should not wait for someone to knock on their doors. His final view is that we need to work on our networking skills and that collaboration with other stakeholders are essential in order to create opportunities for people as we have the talent and the skills in our country.
Tshepo Matemane is originally from Tzaneen. He studied at the Limpopo University in Microbiology and continued his work as a clinical researcher and site monitor. He assists with investigations and is currently responsible for three clinical trials in Africa.
He works and assists with difficult data and regulations with six other countries in Africa. He has extensive experience as he travels to various countries in Africa, including Zambia, Ghana, Kenia, Malawi. He is passionate and has the skills and resources to assist the African continent.
Mr Matemane has extensive experience in clinical research and working with various infections diseases including TB, Malaria and Covid-19. He travels a lot and visits deep rural areas in South Africa as well as other African countries. The impact of the UN-2063 protocols - to improve the continent, poses a challenge to the continent and to all involved.
Mr. Sam Mashele is an experienced marketing communication professional with over 9 years’ experience in his field. He is currently employed as a Public Relations Consultant at First National Bank, servicing key portfolios within the retail and commercial banking units. His responsibilities include developing and implementing communication plans, media relations, stakeholder engagement, reputation management and profiling of spokespeople in the media.
In this interview, he focused on the importance of stakeholder relationships, marketing and offering support to small businesses. He stressed that the public image of a business is important and that business should focus more on online platforms. He mentioned that in this process, businesses should be aware of scams and this could sacrifice the credibility, bank account of a business.
Mr Pabalelo MasThe importance of using automated systems for fraud detectionhisi is a Business Intelligence Analyst for a mining company in Mpumalanga. He analyses day-to-day data to extract valuable data which can be useful for decision making in the finance department. He processes income statements which runs on a monthly basis as a report, with no manual calculations required. For stock control, this company uses automated stock sheets for reporting that runs on a daily basis to monitor stock, using tables and graphs to display the data.
The experience he has gained, and networking he has done, allowed for possibilities of using his skills and technological tools to detect fraud in especially stock control. These fraudulent activities can then be immediately reported, using triggers, which would then be emailed to the relevant personnel, informing them on where the fraud is committed in order to start with an investigation process.
The interviewee stressed the importance of working on a computerised system when doing accounting. This is important as it will save time and it will also contribute to pick up fraudulent activities on time. If businesses are not aware on online systems, there could be mistakes and this will have a major implication with SARS. Should these not be picked up, it could lead to forensic investigations and auditors might detect irregularities with far reaching consequences for a business. Business owners should be hands-on in their systems and should always consult with someone who has experience with stock controls and auditing of books.
Mr Kgotso Mohlomi works for Heineken as a sales representative. He focuses on various market shares and how to win different market shares in his trade. To be successful he needs to get a high presentation of shares for his company. He looks at the dominating market and visibility of the product. He works in a wide area in his business that includes rural, deep-rural and urban areas. Therefore, he visits many businesses and have on ongoing hands-on impact in what he does.
Mr Daniel Kgahlela is from the Limpopo University. In this interview, he focussed on the important role of administration in a business. All businesses need good administrative processes in everything they do. If this is not done properly, quality can be jeopordised. He focused on the fact that many rural business and people still do not have access to the internet, which creates many problems for them going forward in their businesses.
Going forward, he suggested that there should be online platforms where people can watch and learn and how online systems work. This is especially important in education as we need to support young people in our country.
Lastly, Covid 19 impacted on the way we do administration and therefore we should focus on streamlined way to make the world to connect to each other.
The African continent has various levels of women emancipation, and as such the role that women play in the economy differs vastly. What challenges do women face in South African workplace and also in Africa? How do they overcome these women-specific challenges to play their part at work and in the economy, and to what extent can their experiences help other women to overcome their challenges?
One woman who successfully started out and worked her way to the top is professor Kiveshnie Naidoo. Prof Naidoo is PhD Alumnus of the North-West University Business School and is currently employed as the Academic Director of probably the largest private higher education institution in Africa. Prof Naidoo speaks openly about her challenges as a woman in business world, and how she negotiated these challenges. She passionately offers advice to other women who might experience challenges in their place of employment.
Youth unemployment in South Africa is a staggering 53%. Universities and other tertiary institutions simply do not have the capacity to deal with the educational demand. Many capable and eligible students are short-funded or they just do not have the funds to educate themselves for a better future.
The National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) are incapable to provide sufficient financial support. On the supply-side, teaching and learning is still largely done via traditional beliefs and structures with classroom lecturing (albeit online education rapidly increased during the Covid-19 pandemic). This situation is for the most part, also true for the most African countries. To add insult to injury, many of the students exiting educational institutions are require further training to cope with the challenges emanating from the 4th and 5th Industrial Revolution workplace. Do they have the needed skills to cope?
In this Bon Bon prof Christo Bisschoff discusses potential near-future scenarios with Prof Ahmed Shaikh. Prof Shaikh is a specialist par excellence on skills development and education. He is a PhD Alumnus of the NWU Business School, a former Vice-President of the South African Business School’s Association, and the Managing Director of a large private business school operating actively in Africa.
Prof Shaikh mentions several modern educational trends and methodologies that could shape the future of business education throughout Africa. He also discusses the capacity of education institutions and the pressure of numbers experienced by South Africa and also African countries in their quest to educate the continent. Finally, he delves into his crystal ball and offers some possible education scenarios for the near future.
Experts agree that although everyone is born with the ability to be creative. This ability, like many other talents, differ widely among individuals. Creativity is at its highest when children are young, and the younger, the more creative they are. However, although there are many benefits to a structured school and education system, the creative stimulus it is not one of them. Structured thinking is not conducive to develop youth creativity.
This then raises the question if creativity can be successfully reinvigorated by learning, or is it a case that if creative thinking is lost, it is lost forever? This is also true for business creativity. If there is a learning component in creativity, how is this done, and can this also apply to business solutions? Astute and new entrepreneurial thinking originates from creative thinking. Creativity can differentiate South African entrepreneurs form their competitors and play an important role to develop products and services, create employment, and contribute to the South African economy.
In this Bon Bon interview, prof Christo Bisschoff of the NWU Business School interviews prof Ziska Fields on youth creativity. Prof Fields is PhD Alumnus of the North-West University Business School and employed at the University of Johannesburg. Prof Fields has performed focussed creativity research and developed two models to measure and improve creativity. One model dealt with university students, and the other model investigated the non-tertiary youth of South Africa.
This model to measure creativity university students has been employed internationally in comparative studies at the Radboud University of the Netherlands, College of Nursing at the University of Santo Tomas in the Philippines, and at the Faculty of Teacher Education at the University of Rijeka in Croatia. Prof Fields also discusses the issue of learning creativity and uses practical examples to explain aspects of youth creativity in South Africa.
The South African middleclass consumer market is changing rapidly. Specifically, the female market is attracting interest because many women can now afford a new range of products and services as they become financially emancipated and independent. Specifically, the black female upcoming middleclass consumer comes under the spotlight because they are now economically empowered to exercise their choice to buy material goods and services. Noteworthy is also the fact that several women from all over Africa are absorbed by the South African economy, and these women also experience the benefits of the growing female middleclass and adapt new consumer behaviours.
In this Bon Bon interview, prof Christo Bisschoff of the NWU Business School discusses the upcoming female consumer market with prof Mornay Roberts-Lombaard is a PhD Alumnus of the North-West University and employed at the University of Johannesburg. Prof Roberts-Lombaard is widely recognised as one of the leading experts on South African consumer behaviour. He is the editor and author of the newly released edition of his book on South African Consumer behaviour. Prof Roberts-Lombaard explains the changing dynamics of South African female consumers and how this market opens up new opportunities for a myriad of products; among these products and services are cosmetics, entry level vehicles, banking and insurance.
South Africa has a very sophisticated financial services sector which is highly regulated, and to some extent was able to survive the 2008 global financial crisis better than banks and institutions in other countries. Ultimately, the South African financial services sector has seen aggressive expansion of prominent banks into Africa – evidence of the perceived potential Africa holds for the banking sector in particular.
In this Bon Bon, Prof Jan van Romburgh speaks to the CEO of First Capital Bank in Africa, Mr Jaco Voljoen. Mr Viljoen has more than 20 years’ experience in the African banking arena and formerly held positions in Uganda, Nigeria Botswana and currently Malawi. Mr Viljoen explains his views on the opportunities and pitfalls of doing business in Africa and also ponders into why it is important to have a relevant MBA.
The worry list for business leaders in Business Africa is legion - think of expensive transaction costs that culminate in questions such as whether clients have access to hard currency for payment.
The massive infrastructure spending needed to function more efficiently - Fauconnier (2021) calculated that Africa should spend more than R1.9 trillion a year and taking into account that the wheels of distribution (logistics) are very important for the continent, the issue gets even more serious. The markets in Africa must also become more hospitable and cost-effective for foreign companies to attract much-needed FDI. The cost and speed of doing business needs to improve.
The continent's agro-potential (its largest economic sector at 15% of GDP) is far greater than its prevailing production levels and many countries are also net importers of food. Food security is a big challenge as such. The above is hampered by acute skills shortages and the lack of skills transfers.
It is well known that the informal sector is a significant part of the workforce and that this type of employment is pivotal in keeping households above the poverty line (Rogan and Skinner, 2019), especially in the African continent. Many people, especially in South Africa, who find themselves in poverty are depending on government for support.
This is not the case of Alexis Eluta Mbomba who in 1999 migrated from the DRC with his wife, his positive spirit and a car licence to South Africa. Today, 21 years later, he is an icon because he crafted a unique job opportunity for himself and other jobless people and sustaining it for 19 years in the busy streets of Kalk Bay, a tourist town in the Western Cape Peninsula. His venture is about safe car parking in the hub of the town where parking is a nightmare.
Alex and his co-workers will rail in visitors who are desperately looking for parking. Alex will convince the visitors to hand-over the car (big or small) and keys, find parking, keep it safe and return the car with keys at the pick-up point to a relaxed and happy visitor. He became an icon in Kalk Bay to both international and national visitors who many have learned to know him and entrust their cars and goods with Alex whilst enjoying the seaside town.
Obviously Alex knows how to make a living for himself and family, through his commitment and trustworthiness in this venture, but why and how did Alex manage to sustain his career and become an icon? In the video the work of Alex is visible and he tells us more about how his personal value system of self-power, belief, respect, trustworthiness and endurance assisted him to be economically independent. All these values are related to personal leadership as discussed by Chopra (2013) in his book on Self Power, where he motivates people to take their lives into their own capable hands no matter what challenges they may confront. We need more Alex’s to alleviate poverty and other socio-economic challenges in Africa.
Dr Alistair Gaopaleloe Mokoena is a Chartered Marketer, currently the CEO of Google South Africa. Academically he developed a critical success factors framework to sustain South African advertising agencies in the digital age, this contribution also apply to other African countries.
The advertising ecosystem has been digitally disrupted, exposing weaknesses in the business model that African, including South Africa’s advertising agencies have relied on for decades. As a result, many advertising agencies are losing business to new dynamic and nimble competitors who have emerged in the digital age. This CSF framework was built of the following five pillars: modern marketing principles, effective advertising, agency sustainability, must-have skills for advertising agencies, and key digital capabilities for advertising agencies and clients, and lastly agency structure and process considerations.
Based on Dr Mokoena’s academic and industry knowledge and experience, the following three concepts has been put to Dr Mokoena for his view:
- General overview regarding Africa’s potential opportunities in this current and future digital revolution.
- Africa’s media landscape, and how this could contribute to African based digital economies.
- Google South Africa’s contribution to the rest of Africa’s economies within the digital space.
Interviewer: Prof JJ Prinsloo
Generally, very little is understood within academic as well business circles about traditional leadership and its relevance in the modern democratic society in which we find ourselves. Nonetheless, this is a form of governance that is still very prevalent in South Africa's rural communities especially in the former Homelands. There is a perception that this form of governance is a direct contradiction of a democratic system of governance, and it is often perceived to be an autocratic form of leadership/governance.
Approximately 17 million hectors of land (14% of South Africa) which was previously classified as homelands throughout South Africa, is currently under the stewardship of traditional leaders. The implication of this being that for businesses to be able to unlock some of the opportunities which may exist in those communities, such as mining, farming, tourism and FMCG retail, they might need to have an appreciation of the impact that this form of governance may have on their ability successfully establish themselves in those areas.
The North West University Business School is strongly pursuing a focus on Africa, and aspires to shape executive minds in Africa, it was therefore a very positive step towards this when many areas of possible collaboration were identified during meeting. According to the house of traditional leaders, the expertise of the North West University Business School will enable the House to assist the DiKgosi to sharpen their administration skills and to serve their communities more effectively. The opportunity to conduct research in these communities was also highlighted as a possible area of collaboration.