While the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC) prepares to celebrate its tenth birthday next week, its much talked about multi-million rand expansion project looks set to be delayed as the city of Cape Town probes the centre’s procurement processes relating to the contract for the design of the expansion.  Over the past decade, the CTICC has contributed more than R19bn to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and over R6bn to the Western Cape's GDP. The expansion is expected to see the centre doubling its capacity and its contribution to GDP.

Business and government must encourage social entrepreneurs to focus on problem areas such as health, education, climate change and social care, writes Richard Branson.  Entrepreneurship isn’t about selling things — it’s about finding innovative ways to improve people’s lives. Until recently, most people in business focused on products and services that would appeal to consumers, and this resulted in the creation of many great companies and a lot of jobs, but attitudes are changing. A new generation of entrepreneurs is using approaches from the commercial world and employing technology to tackle social and environmental problems, areas that used ...

 Risk mitigation strategies lie at the heart of corporate governance. What is the contribution to these mitigation strategies from the procurement and supply chain management function? It is rare to find robust methodologies in place that will, in a structured way, identify the potential risks that exists in contracts with third parties. A failure to manage the risks leaves the organisation vulnerable to reputational damage, disputes, threats to service performance and diminishing profit margins. Contractual risk is one such key area. There are organisations who have not reviewed their contractual terms and conditions for many years. There are others who ...

Actis LLP, a private-equity company, will lead investment of as much as $1.5 billion in African commercial property to meet rising demand from international companies targeting a growing middle class. “We are seeing a shift in interest from South African brands to European retailers” seeking opportunities in fast-growing economies such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, Kevin Teeroovengadum, 39, director of Actis’ sub-Saharan Africa real estate unit, said in an interview in Johannesburg on June 11. “They want to tap into the emerging middle class.” Actis, which is based in London, plans to invest in projects including shopping centres, office ...

Johannesburg - Petro SA will suspend operations at its Mossel Bay facilities in Western Cape for 37 days for maintenance, the state-owned company said on Wednesday. “The maintenance shutdown, which will start on September 22, will affect the... gas-to-liquids refinery and the offshore FA Platform,” spokesman Thabo Mabaso said The FA Platform is used to drill for gas. Customers had been informed about the shutdown and encouraged to make alternative supply arrangements. Products which would not be available during the shutdown included liquefied petroleum gas, propane, carbon dioxide, liquid nitrogen, and liquid oxygen.

Accra - Porous borders, corruption and the chance of riches have helped draw illegal gold miners to Ghana from as far away as China, prompting a crackdown that has so far netted over 150 Chinese, experts say. The continent's second-largest producer of gold and a beacon of stability in turbulent west Africa, Ghana has been struggling with the impact of small-scale mining, which is illegal for foreigners and damages the environment. Sydney Casely-Hayford, a prominent financial analyst, said that Ghanaian traditional leaders and businessmen encourage the mining, and the crackdown won't stop it for good. “It's quick and ...

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about the need to develop more strategic relationships between retailers and their suppliers to improve flexibility and add value across the supply chain. But according to Mark Green, executive vice president of the global supply chain at apparel giant PVH, the biggest changes in sourcing are yet to come.  "We're moving from price to value, from bulk purchase orders (POs) to just-in-time, long lead times to speed and flexibility, product development is now focused on innovation rather than just tech-pack execution, compliance is evolving.........................

Think about it. You create a document on your laptop – it’s got performance results, strategic positioning statements and an analysis of the biggest risks to your operation and you email it to the senior management. Now there are a dozen copies of that document on as many laptops. Your colleagues have their company email synced to smartphones and tablets and within moments those sensitive documents are replicated dozens of times on as many devices. Those individuals concerned with losing data will back it up to memory sticks. Before you know it, the data you spent millions on protecting has ...