Africa In Focus

A timely and valuable series produced by Africa.com in partnership with faculty from Harvard Business School to address this unprecedented humanitarian and economic crisis as a result of COVID-19.
Led by Kunle Elebute, Chair of KPMG Africa
Panelists include Welela Dawit, CFO, GE Africa, Admassu Tadesse, President & Chief Executive, Eastern & Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), and Sim Tshabalala, Group Chief Executive, SBG and Executive Director, SBSA

Leadership in Times of Crisis is led by Harvard Business School Professor, Linda Hill, Ph.D., Harvard Business School Professor of Business Administration, Faculty Chair, Leadership Initiative. PANELISTS: _Jay Ireland, Former CEO of GE-Africa _Fred Swaniker, Founder & CEO, African Leadership Group _Kuseni Dlamini, Chair, Massmart Ltd. _Foluso Phillips, Executive Chairman and Founder of Phillips Consulting Limited SPECIAL GUEST: Dr Michel Yao, World Health Organization (WHO) AFRO, Emergency Operations Manager 

With unprecedented access to technology, the way in which we connect has rapidly evolved and revolutionized the work we are able to deliver to clients.
Harnessing the spirit of Pan-Africanism – which is rooted in the idea that we can operate collectively to achieve a shared goal, despite our differences – we are now, more than ever, able to work across borders to create impact at a local level.
However, in order to do this successfully, there a few things that need to be done correctly.
Jordan Rittenberry serves as the CEO of Edelman Africa. Based in Johannesburg, Rittenberry oversees the firm’s work across the continent. Supporting a number of blue chip brands and multinational corporations, Edelman Africa has executed programs in more than 30 countries across Africa over the last two years on behalf of clients including Deloitte, GE, HP, Mars, Nissan and Unilever.

Group CEO of Standard Bank, Sim Tshabalala believes this is the African century and that Africans will be the ones driving the development of the continent. He spoke to Teresa Clarke of Africa.com at the World Economic Forum in Davos about making sure the African continent plays its rightful role in the world by driving economic, social, human, and environmental developments.
Simphiwe Tshabalala is joint Chief Executive of the Standard Bank Group and Chief Executive of Standard Bank South Africa. 

On 22 September 2019, Standard Bank Group became a founding signatory to the UN Principles for Responsible Banking. Alongside the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Standard Bank signed the first-ever global sustainability framework for the banking industry and committed to aligning its business strategy and practice with the Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Sola David-Borha, Standard Bank Group’s Chief Executive for Africa Regions, signed the Principles for Responsible Banking document on behalf of the group, which played a role in developing the framework.
In this podcast, Sola David-Borha is speaking with Africa.com CEO, Teresa Clarke. 
“The Principles align with Standard Bank’s purpose: to drive Africa’s growth and uplift her people by doing business the right way. They also support the group’s drive to maximise our social, economic and environmental impacts,” David-Borha says. “Standard Bank sees an opportunity to have a significant impact across the continent, given that we have the largest African footprint of all participating banks.”
The new framework, which has been designed for banks at any stage on their journey to sustainability came not a minute too soon. The COVID-19 pandemic, which took hold just as Standard Bank and other signatories were starting to implement the Principles, has served to highlight how reliant society is on healthy ecosystems and resilient economies.  
 

Partnerships Are Key To Driving The Future Of Inclusive Payments In South Africa says Mark Elliott, President of Southern Africa MasterCard. 
In this podcast, Africa.com CEO Teresa Clarke discusses the future of payments in South Africa with Mark Elliott.
The financial services sector in South Africa is undergoing an unprecedented transformation. Rapid developments in digital technologies are both disrupting and enabling change in previously disconnected sectors, such as banking, telecommunications and retail. These advancements make digital payments and services more readily accessible and affordable to consumers and small businesses, but the usage of such products will be subject to how well payments providers collaborate to meet their needs. This is according to a new Mastercard and Deloitte Africa report “The future of payments in South Africa: Enabling financial inclusion and innovation in a converging world” released today on the side-lines of the World Economic Forum on Africa. The report states that if we are to achieve meaningful financial inclusion in South Africa, private and public sectors must collaborate to reduce the reliance on cash and encourage the use of digital payment methods and financial services to achieve more inclusive and sustainable economic growth. It is not yet a reality, but several developments are providing encouraging indications of progress.
– Mastercard Deloitte Report

In this podcast, Africa.com talks with Patricia Obozuwa and Brenda Mbathi of GE Africa.
Patricia Obozuwa, Chief Communications & Public Affairs Officer for GE Africa
Brenda Mbathi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for East Africa
The transcript is available here.

In this podcast, Africa.com talks with two of GE Africa’s high-profile women leaders.
Welela Dawit Chief Financial Officer, GE Power Services – Sub-Saharan Africa, GE West Africa
Adesua Dozie General Counsel for GE Gas Power Systems and Services, Sub-Saharan Africa
The transcript is available here.

Africa.com CEO Teresa Clarke speaks with Nitika Rosa, GE Africa’s Head of HR and Lerato Molebatsi, GE South Africa’s Managing Director. 
The transcript is available here.

The Friendship Bench project is an evidence-based intervention developed in Zimbabwe to bridge the mental health treatment gap.
Health experts say globally there has been an increase in anxiety and depression as people struggle to cope with COVID-19 and job losses. Some grandmothers in Zimbabwe are offering free therapy sessions to tackle these mental health difficulties during the coronavirus lockdown. This is part of an initiative called the Friendship Bench.

South African slam poet Koleka Putuma delivers a powerful recitation of the poem she authored, entitled – “Love Letter to Africa.”
Putuma uses the medium of the spoken word to express her love for Africa and to highlight the unique traditions, legacies, and culture of the African continent. Her words are carefully chosen and beautifully penned, but to see her speak the words that she has written is a spellbinding experience.
Every part of her body speaks to her audience, from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. Video available here: https://youtu.be/6gKqf-nQHLM
Putuma earned a degree in Theatre and Performance at the University of Cape Town, and she has traveled the globe delivering these mesmerizing performances in places as far afield as Glasgow, Scotland, and New York, USA.
She was recognized on the Forbes Africa Under 30s list of creatives making waves for 2018.Other works by Putuma address important social issues facing African women, including health and education.

Mark Elliott - President, Southern Africa - Mastercard, talks to Africa.com about their recent acquisition of South African fintech Oltio, and how they will use the technology to drive cash displacement and innovation in emerging markets.

Brenda Sisane chats with Teresa Clarke about her radio show, The Art of Sunday and how it brings the family together by playing new hidden gems from creative artists around the world, and old jazz records; enabling the parent to school their young ones on art and music in a comfortable setting. The music is mellow, allowing the listener to relax while reading the paper or preparing Sunday lunch.

Africa is making headway in the area of robotics and Zambia is on the forefront. Let's meet these young ambitious ladies and gentlemen who are bound to make Africa proud.
More information here.

Abdoulie Janneh talks to Africa.com about good governance, sustainable cities, and the importance of creating jobs for Africa’s youth
Former Under-Secretary-General of the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, Abdoulie Janneh talks to Africa.com about the importance of creating job opportunities for Africa’s youth, and in finding new ways to involve them in critical decision-making processes that promote good governance across the board.

Geoffrey White talked to Africa.com in the run-up to the World Economic Forum for Africa in Durban about the importance of building strong logistical frameworks throughout the continent, the challenges of politics, policy and development, and empowering Africa’s young entrepreneurs.

Daniel Monehin, Division President, Sub-Saharan Africa, Mastercard
Masterpass QR is the first mobile-driven, Person-to-Merchant (P2M) payment solution. The solution is an enhancement to the Masterpass global digital payment service that will enable millions of micro, small and medium enterprises across Africa to begin accepting fast and secure digital payments. This service addresses the challenges of expensive infrastructural issues associated with point of sale devices and eliminates the need for cash.

Africa.com caught up with Jasper Westerink, CEO of Philips Africa, during the World Economic Forum in Durban.
Philips Partners with the Government of Kenya and the United Nations (UN) to Advance the African Healthcare Agenda.

We invited Donald Kaberuka, now a senior advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, to curate the week’s news.
Donald brings a unique perspective to the Africa.com Top10 Business. He served for ten years as the President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) a perch from which he negotiated with the collective of interests gathered at WEF this week: leaders in the private sector, country presidents, ministers of finance, and community organizations.
During his tenure at the AfDB, he led a strategy to promote regional  integration through infrastructure investments in roads, railways, power plants and communications.
With this experience, Donald has surveyed the many stories competing for your attention this week, and carefully selected the top ten business articles that he thinks Africa.com’s readers should focus on right now.

Gaurang Shah, Mastercard’s Lead for Digital Payments and Innovation Labs in Middle East and Africa, talks with Africa.com
Mastercard is highlighting the significance of Masterpass QR, their mobile driven Person-to-Merchant payment solution and the contribution already made in the Middle East and Africa.