[SA Business Week] Investment wave boosts country’s earnings, attractiveness
South Africa continues to be the continent's preferred destination for international investors due to its competitive market, favorable political climate, and booming middle class and strategic location. This week has seen a flurry of investment activities in the country.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles unveiled flagship dealership in Sandton . This flagship will provide customers with Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicles. This is not the first time a global automobile is expanding markets in South Africa as just recently, British luxury automobile maker Rolls-Royce unveiled an engine storage facility at the South African Airways Technical (SAAT) site at Johannesburg's Oliver Tambo International Airport, the busiest airport in Africa. In the month of July, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced the appointment of Juan Wheeler as new Chief Financial Officer or Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in South Africa. It was only that Fiat Group Automobiles, Chrysler, completed the merger to grow market share and formalized the automobile as a single trading entity in South Africa.
In technology, Hewlett-Packard (HP), a multinational information technology company opened a HP LIFE Center for entrepreneurship in South Africa this week. The opening of the center was propelled by HP's new commitment to reach 100,000 learners across Africa over the next three years. HP's global operations are directed from its headquarters in Palo Alto, California, USA. HP's interest in South Africa did not just start early in the year, its enterprise announced a definitive agreement to purchase privately-held Cape Networks to give customers a simple, proactive, and network-agnostic tool for measuring and monitoring SaaS, application, and network services.
Another launch that happened this week was from SAP. SAP launched SAP Sports One , the first sports-specific cloud solution powered by SAP's celebrated HANA platform. The solution which was launched in Johannesburg Provides teams and administrators with a single unified platform for the efficient management of teams and players and powerful analytical insights for performance optimization. In March this year, SAP appointed Cathy Smith to be the Managing Director for Africa.
Still in tech, after collaborating with CISCO and launching the Internet of Things services months ago, MTN has now joined the IoT World Alliance , becoming the first ever African company to join it. IoT World Alliance is a collaboration of established mobile network operators that aims to adopt and run a globally connected business through well-executed and smart business decisions. MTN has been doing exemplary well and during AfricaCom last month, in collaboration with KaiOS Technologies, China Mobile and UNISOC , launched Africa's first smart feature. fast, 3G internet. MTN has also collaborated with C3 proving it with 3G and 4G services in selected areas of coverage. Together with Huawei, MTN also launched the first LTE LAA network in Africa in the year 2017. Still in the week, MTN unveiled MusicTime !, a music streaming service in South Africa. MusicTime! is a fully inclusive time-based music streaming service, offering users premium trending and locally relevant music through partnerships with key music labels and providers.
This week also has Internet Solutions announce its plan to open the largest pre-fabricated data center in South Africa. The data center is due to officially start operating in January 2019 and will be located in Rosebank, Johannesburg. In the past, Internet Solutions has partnered with Dublin-based Accuris Networks Limited , and a seamless continent-wide Wi-Fi network to global carriers, multinational companies and local Internet Service Providers.
In the week, the South African Airways partner with SAA Voyager Check Card is a quicker, easier and more rewarding than ever before. Having been named the ' Best Airline to Africa' 'and the' Best Business Class To Africa " , the carrier boasts of world class standards enviable to many carries across the continent. It recently Launched an app to Enhance communication between management and its employees Another significant highlight of the carrier was the introduction of three weekly direct flights from Heathrow airport to Durban by the British Airways early this year.
Lastly, in trade, industry and investment this week, the South African parliament ratified the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), joining 49 other countries. South Africa signed the tripartite free trade area agreement in Kampala last year and ratified the tripartite free trade agreement about 2 months ago. After the historic signing of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) in June this year, the African Trade Policy Center (ATPC) launched an online platform to support the Africa Free Trade Agreement. The Afreximbank president has been stated in the past that Free Trade Area in Africa would not bring Economic Growth in the continent.
The South Africa and Tunisia Business Council is also in a position to boost trade and investment between the two countries. This was after the South Africa Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry. Bulelani Magwanishe received the assurance from the Tunisian business people that they are committed to the South Africa-Tunisia trade joint venture. Still in the week, the South African government launched a special economic zone in Atlantis to attract large-scale investment that will create jobs and bolster manufacturing in the area and the Western Cape.
