COVID-19
SA Amongst World’s Best at Coping with COVID-19 Business Challenges, says Report
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_165.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_165.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Although organisations worldwide found their businesses disrupted, projects postponed, and strategies challenged during 2020, South African companies were very adept at coping with business-related challenges as a result of COVID-19, says Project Management Institute. “Drawing this conclusion in their annual Pulse of the Profession report, PMI reported that project leaders in 72% of South African organizations reported changes being taken in corporate strategy—against the 64% recorded globally,” says George Asamani, Business Development Leader, Africa at Project Management Institute. In addition to being adaptable, South African businesses displayed a higher tendency than the glo...
Coronavirus figures mount in Tokyo ahead of Olympics
The July 23 commencement date for the summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is under increasing threats from a steady rise in daily cases of the coronavirus in the city. The recent spike has also triggered fears of a possible fifth wave of infections, which will not be ideal for the Games. Coming this close to the opening of the Games, there are palpable concerns raised for many athletes who will be contesting for honours in the Asian city and their crew members who will be with them all the way. On Monday alone, Tokyo reported 317 infections, a figure that represents an increase of 81 from the same account of the week before. The increment marks the ninth week-on-week, consecutive same-day rise in infection rates in a row even with the availability of vaccines. There has also been evidence to ...
Ultra Europe Organizers Pull the Plug on 2021 Festival, Announce 2022 Dates
The organizers of Ultra Europe have abandoned the festival’s planned 2021 dates, citing the ongoing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival, which was scheduled to take place this summer at Croatia’s Poljud Stadium and feature performances from Armin van Buuren, Marshmello, and David Guetta, among others, took to social media to share an official statement. “Unfortunately, due to ongoing COVID-19 official government safety measures, specifically in relation to mass gatherings, the 8th edition of Ultra Europe has been rescheduled to July 8, 9 and 10, 2022,” the statement reads. Total Croatia News reports that the country of Croatia has registered 23 cases of the Delta coronavirus variant in five counties. According to Krunoslav Capak, t...
Nigeria adds South Africa to its coronavirus ‘red list’ for arriving travellers
Nigeria is adding South Africa to its “red list” of countries for which there are stringent restrictions for arriving passengers, officials said during a briefing on Monday. Nigeria is introducing the restrictions due to the spread of the Delta variant in South Africa, Chikwe Ihekweazu, the head of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said. The country joins India, Brazil and Turkey on the list. “In Nigeria, we haven’t found the Delta variant yet,” Ihekweazu said during the briefing. Non-Nigerian passport holders and non-residents who visited the countries on the list within 14 days are barred entry from Nigeria, while passport holders and residents must undergo a seven-day quarantine in a government-approved facility at cost to the passenger. They are also required to take Covid-19 tes...
Dance Music Fans Are Split on How Many Shows They Plan to Attend in 2021
In a survey of nearly 9,000 respondents conducted by EDM.com, dance music fans appear to be divided on their future concert plans for the rest of 2021. Despite lingering hardships related to the pandemic it seems hard to believe that 2021 is nearly halfway over. Amid a successful vaccination campaign, large-scale events are starting to return. For dance music specifically, festivals such as Sunset Music Festival and Forbidden Kingdom have led the charge welcoming back festival-goers by the thousands. While the aftermath of those festivals paints a rosy picture of unshakably high demand for concerts and festivals, there seems to be a substantive part of the population that is a bit hesitant, or in the very least, plans to be more selective about what they will attend in the near term....
Vodacom Partners with Digital Parks Africa to Expand Data Centre Footprint
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_440.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_440.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } For more than a decade, Vodacom Business has provided premium data centre facilities to businesses across the country for hosting and managing information technology (IT) services. Now, in partnership with Digital Parks Africa, a provider of wholesale data centres for large-scale data centre needs, Vodacom Business can further support clients’ off-premise data centre requirements while offering the highest IT standards and services. Today, organisations depend on the effective use of technology more than ever. Not only to support ongoing business processes but also to drive new sources of competitive differentiation. Despite the rise of digital services, many organisations ...
South Africa Tightens Lockdown Regulations To Curb New COVID-19 Delta Variant
Image sourced from Biznet.com /* custom css */ .tdi_4_10f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_10f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Last night, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced new, increased lockdown restrictions in an attempt to curb the spread of a new COVID-19 variant in the country that has been detected in five provinces. Ramaphosa announced that South Africa’s alert level would rise to Adjusted Level 4. New restrictions include the prohibition of all gatherings and the sale of alcohol. Leisure travel to and from Gauteng, the province that is considered the third wave’s epicentre and the economic backbone of the country, has also been limited, and schools have had their winter holidays brought forward in an effort to close educational institutions until the...
Inaugural HARD London Festival Cancelled After Controversial UK Restriction Extension
Following the contentious four-week delay of lockdown restrictions in the UK, the organizers of HARD London have abandoned their inaugural music festival. HARD Events announced the festival, which was scheduled to take place at London’s groundbreaking Drumsheds venue, in March 2021. Many electronic music superstars had been slated for performances, such as Alesso, Tchami, Dillon Francis, and Malaa, among others. As we reported prior to the UK government’s decision, a recent survey suggested that one in four of the region’s nightlife businesses would not survive longer than a month without government aid. Half of them would shutter in two months time, according to the poll, which was conducted by the Night Time Industries Association...
4 Exciting Insights into How E-Commerce is Creating Jobs in Ghana
In 2020, the unemployment rate in Ghana was at approximately 4.51% of the total labor force. The unemployment rate is the percentage of a country’s labour force that is without jobs but are available to work and actively seeking employment. This is an increment from 4.16% in 2018 and 4.22% in 2019. Graduates from tertiary education, all genders in Ghana was reported at 10,9874 Persons in 2018 and this number increases year on year. Maybe in comparison to other developing countries, this seems like it’s encouraging. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_2c7.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_2c7.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } However, if we take a closer look at the active labour force of Ghana which stood at almost 13-million in 2020, we begin to get a clear picture of how discouraging thi...
The Real Cost of Not Engineering for Agility
Natasha Anderson, Practice Lead: Software Engineering Standard Bank Group. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_2a2.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_2a2.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } As Practice Lead for Software Engineering, I have always seen my role as being a champion for engineering improvement, promoting collaboration and continuous learning among the engineering community in my organisation. While these foundational aspects are important to organisations that leverage technology as a business outcomes enabler, the continuous pressures of a fast-changing world, exacerbated by COVID-19’s impact on our economy has allowed me to view the relationship between engineering and business success through an additional lens, which I wish to share with you. As the pandemic unfolded in the p...
