[SA Business Week] Propelling economic growth with aviation, telecommunication sectors

The South Africa aviation and telecommunication sectors continue to drive the country’s economic growth while assisting the country reap from existing and emerging markets locally and internationally.

This week, the aviation industry in South Africa, the  South African National Space Agency (SANSA), was selected by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to become the designated regional provider of space for the complete aviation. sector  using African airspace. In the continent of South Africa, there is nothing to do in the continent.

Another story that hit the aviation industry in South Africa this week was by  Mango Airlines, where the low cost carrier acquired technology to reduce fuel consumption  on its Boeing Next Generation 737-800 fleet. The airline plans to perform the first installation of the Split Scimitar Winglets in February at South African Airways Technical facility. It would be remembered that in June 2015,  Mango Airlines was named as one of the world's top 3 airlines   for its in-time arrival performance. The low cost airline was the only African carrier listed in the top 5 world on-time arrivals list, with its on-time performance on routes that it operates at 95.5%.

Still in aviation, the  South African Airways (SAA) appointed lawyer Vusi Pikoli to head December 1, 2019. Vusi is currently the National Director of Public Prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Compliance Officer at SAA, he will be reporting to the SAA Group CEO Vuyani Jarana. He has aviation industry exposure through his involvement in reinsurance or aircraft fleet while working for an insurance company. Towards the end of last year,  SAA  appointed. Deon Fredericks from Telkom as the new Interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) . His approach would be to achieve the strategic objective of transforming the business into a financially sustainable aviation group.The national carrier also recently  launched employee  communication between the management and its employees. Early this year,  SAA announced its plan to  increase its frequency on nonstop flights between Accra's Kotoka International Airport and Washington, DC-Dulles International Airport to five days weekly , starting April 1, 2019. The airline offers nonstop flights between Ghana and Washington DC and offers travelers convenient connections to and from 100 cities across the US and Canada through its Star Alliance partner, United Airlines via Washington, DC-Dulles.

In telecommunications this week,  Helios Towers Ltd., the independent telecoms tower Infrastructure Company, partnered with Vulatel,  a full-service fiber and network construction solution provider, to expand mobile and fixed-line infrastructure. This partnership seeks to capitalize on the large South African wireless and fixed-line open-access infrastructure opportunity. Helios has become a member of the Tanzanian  and  Democratic Republic of Congo  (DRC) telecommunication markets in the past. 

There was a significant launch in the telecommunication sector by WorldRemit, this week. WorldRemit, a leading digital money transfer service,  launched its low-cost digital money transfer service from South Africa to over 145 destinations worldwide . By Using the WorldRemit app or website, customers can now send money as an instant message to global destinations. This is as good news to customers considering that World Bank has been reported South Africa to be the most expensive G20 country to send money from, with most remittances being sent through informal channels such as unregistered courier services and buses crossing the border. WorldRemit launched the digital money transfer service in Africa  in 2018, to reduce the cost of sending money across borders. Some other WorldRemit's Africa partnerships are in  Zimbabwe ,  Ethiopia ,  Nigeria ,  Uganda  and  Kenya countries.

It was also good news for football lovers in South Africa this week after  Vodacom secured the 2018-19 FA Cup live stream through its entertainment streaming platform, Video Play. These rights allow football lovers to join the Vodacom network for the next year. Vodacom is very instrumental in meeting its customer's digital needs. For example, towards the end of last year,  partnered with  London-based software technology company Fiskl , and host and mobile technology solutions to South Africa's small businesses. It has also  invested in expanding its network coverage in rural areas  of Eastern Cape Province, the fourth largest province in South Africa by population.In September 2018,  Vodacom invested over R270 million in Limpopo Province,  expanding its 3G and 4G footprint and in July last year, two leading independent analyst groups confirmed that  Vodacom has South Africa's fastest 4G network and overall fastest network . by customers.

And in the information technology sector this week,  Microsoft South Africa appointed Lillian Barnard as the new Managing Director , effective March 1, 2019. She is currently the Director of Public Sector at Microsoft and will replace Zoaib Hoosen who has resigned after nearly five years at the helmet. Barnard has successfully driven Microsoft's growth in South Africa, overseeing the business' evolution to the cloud and computing at the edge. She joined Microsoft in 2017 and has more than 20 years of ICT experience in leadership roles both in South Africa and internationally. Lillian's appointment comes shortly after  Microsoft rescheduled for the opening of its two data centers in South Africa to be located in Johannesburg and Cape Town targeting cloud services growth on the continent. In 2017,  Rectron, a South African distributor or IT products, announced the addition of Microsoft's Cloud Solution Provider  (CSP) program to its portfolio, enabling clients to drive their Microsoft cloud business and grow their profitability.

Finally, in international relations,  South Africa and Mozambique cemented their bilateral relations  this week. The two countries seek to consolidate bilateral, political, economic and social cooperation between them. South Africa also has deepened its bilateral ties with  Germany ,  Kenya , and  Zimbabwe in the past.