It is no secret that we face an electricity crisis in South Africa. Eskom have just not been able to cope with the increase in demand of electricity due to the growing economy. The government and Eskom are trying to find a solution to the electricity crisis. There are suggestions that new power plants have to be built over the next couple of years and more coal will need to be secured inorder to power these plants. Funding for this expansion has not been easy as consumers seem to be the main contributors to the funding with electricity tariffs set to rise.

There have been calls by many to find alternative means of power to help increase the supply of electricity in South Africa. Many wonder why there has not been a major drive to start using more and more solar power. After all, we are in South Africa where we get a lot of sun shine through out the year. There are many countries in Europe using solar energy and they do not get as much sun shine as we do in South Africa. The cost of setting up the solar power infrastructure is relatively high but it would be a good long term investment. Read the rest of this entry »

According to a recent eMarketer forecast, mobile marketing will reach more than $19 billion globally by 2012. With that said, I think it is clear for all to see the effect mobile marketing is going to play over the next couple of years and it is time for South Africa to start to make a significant contribution into this lucrative and emerging market. Read the rest of this entry »

The major topic of discussion this past week has been about the elections in Zimbabwe. At the time of writing this, there is still no news on the results of the presidential elections that took place last week Saturday. The whole of Zimbabwe is still waiting for the results, so to the rest of the world together with investors waiting on the sidelines. The question on many investors minds right now is whether or not to go invest in Zimbabwe? Read the rest of this entry »

With the current high prices of fuel in South Africa and signs that we maybe in for another petrol price hike come April, are many of us going to be able to afford driving our cars? Could the answer lie in the scooter? A report by SABC yesterday headlined: Fuel-efficient scooter sales up by 30%. This statistic is no surprise as more and more people are looking towards this two wheeler as a mode of transportation in order to save on their wallets.

On most scooters, one litre of petrol will take you 55kms as opposed to one litre taking you only 10km in an average car. If more people start to use scooters in South Africa, they would save a lot on their monthly fuel bills. Not only will scooters save one fuel but they will ease your traffic problems. A scooter can whisk in and out of traffic and one can quickly get from point A to B. Read the rest of this entry »

There is no hiding from it anymore now, if you are a running a business today, no matter how small or large it is, you need to be online and have a website for a business. I have come across many businesses in South Africa who do not have a website and to me that just goes to show that businesses in South Africa are still a few paces back from realising the importance of having a website. How often do you hear of a company and then you think, “Let me find out more about them.”? The first thing you would do is type in their company name in your web browser and end it with .co.za or .com. You should be taken to the company’s website straight away. If not, you then try to Google the companies name and find their website. If both options do not yield any results then it is highly likely the company you are looking for does not have a website and for me I already loose an element of confidence in doing business with them. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the most important aspects of E-commerce today is the ability to receive and make payments online, after all that is what e-commerce is about. But today in South Africa we find ourselves facing challenges in setting up an online business. One of the key challenges is the ability to receive payments from clients or customers outside South Africa online. Read the rest of this entry »

Fortune is one of those things in life that we will never be able to fully understand. Fortune comes in so many ways and often is disguised in forms that we are only able to realize after the fact.

Fortune comes to entrepreneurs in many ways. Fortune can be defined by closing a deal, launching a new service that increases revenue, meeting the right person just at the perfect moment to help your business, or making the right decision that catapults your business to new heights of success and notoriety. Read the rest of this entry »