What's Next with Aki Anastasiou What's Next

In this Driving Sustainability with Aki Anastasiou interview, SolarAfrica Head of Commercial Brandon Horn discusses the impact of rising electricity prices on South African businesses.

Horn boasts over 16 years of sales and business development experience, and has a proven track record of driving sales growth and business expansion.

Horn begins the interview by discussing the current electricity prices in South Africa.

He explains that while there is plenty of doom and gloom about these tariffs, businesses can protect themselves against rising electricity prices by embracing electricity wheeling.

Horn then discusses the intricacies of what electricity wheeling is and how it helps businesses save money.

He also provides a practical example of this service in action.

Horn concludes the interview by explaining how businesses can determine if wheeling is the right choice for their electricity needs.

In this Investec What’s Next in Business Banking interview, Investec’s Kevin Hogan and Thivian Moodley discuss the importance of security in business banking.

Hogan is the Head of Fraud Risk at Investec. He has worked in the banking industry for 21 years — first as a credit analyst at Nedbank and then as part of the first retail banking fraud prevention team, which he led until 2009.

Moodley is the Head of Product and Development for Investec Bank’s Transactional Products and Solutions, and Client Value Proposition segments. He leads the team responsible for building and launching the Investec Business Transactional Banking platform for business and corporate clients.

Hogan begins the interview by discussing the changing cybersecurity landscape and which threats are particularly prominent at the moment.

Moodley then explains how Investec implements security measures into its business banking products, noting how it approaches the challenge of balancing security with a great customer experience.

Hogan also discusses which security tools are indispensable for business banking, while Moodley explains how smaller businesses can protect themselves without the huge budgets of a large enterprise.

Moodley then discusses the key focus areas that Invested Business Banking is examining right now, particularly in the mid-market segment.

He touches on the PayShap rapid payments programme RPP and its security benefits — including reducing the amount of physical cash South Africans use and more secure payment authorisations.

Hogan concludes the interview by explaining the importance of customer education, noting that modern threats are still underpinned by the same fundamental premise – social engineering.

Investec Bank Limited registration number 1969/004763/06, an Authorised Financial Services Provider (11750), a Registered Credit Provider (NCRCP 9), an authorised Over the Counter Derivatives Provider and a member of the JSE. Investec is committed to the Code of Banking Practice as regulated by the National Financial Ombud Scheme. Copies of the Code and the Ombudsman's details are available on request or Investec COBP.

In this What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou interview, Head of MarTech and Data Product at CloudSmiths Anton Kopytov explains the benefits of Salesforce Data Cloud.

Kopytov is a visionary technology leader with over two decades of experience leading digital transformations across various industries.

He is renowned for crafting robust technical roadmaps and driving significant organisational advancements globally.

Kopytov begins this interview by explaining what CloudSmiths does and what his role at the company entails.

He then discusses the role CloudSmiths plays as a Salesforce Partner, before expanding on the value of Salesforce Data Cloud for South African businesses.

Kopytov explains how it helps businesses thrive in a rapidly evolving data landscape by helping them better understand their customers – and how CloudSmiths approaches integrating Salesforce Data Cloud into its clients’ systems.

Kopytov also covers several emerging trends in the data management sector – including AI and machine learning – and discusses how CloudSmiths takes these trends into account when helping its clients leverage the full power of Salesforce Data Cloud.

He concludes the interview by sharing how their Salesforce Data Cloud Workshops help participants learn more about the solution and how it addresses specific business challenges.

Find out more about CloudSmiths Data Cloud Workshop here: https://ww2.cloudsmiths.co.za/datacloud

In this What’s Next in Business Banking interview, Investec Head of Treasury Sales and Structuring Dhiren Mansingh, and Investec Head of Digital for South Africa Davina Maharaj, discuss the evolution of business banking in South Africa.

Mansingh has worked at Investec since 2011. He specialises in many areas, including interest rates, the money market, foreign exchange, commodities, and equities.

Maharaj has been with Investec for 20 years and has accumulated experience in both client-facing and technology-focused roles.

Mansingh begins the interview by unpacking how business banking has evolved in recent years, while Maharaj explains how this has been driven by digital technology.

This leads Mansingh to answer the pressing question: With the rise of digital interfacing, do customer relationships still matter?

Mansingh then outlines what he is seeing in the digital payments sector in South Africa, noting that large volumes of physical cash transactions are set to be replaced by PayShap — South Africa’s real-time rapid payments programme.

Maharaj also covers the critical topic of security, noting that Investec Business Banking is in a position of incredible trust with its clients — and for good reason.

Mansingh and Maharaj conclude by explaining what we can expect from business banking in the future, especially in the mid-market.

Investec Bank Limited registration number 1969/004763/06, an Authorised Financial Services Provider (11750), a Registered Credit Provider (NCRCP 9), an authorised Over the Counter Derivatives Provider and a member of the JSE. Investec is committed to the Code of Banking Practice as regulated by the National Financial Ombud Scheme. Copies of the Code and the Ombudsman's details are available on request or Investec COBP.

In this What’s Next with Aki Anastasiou interview, Fedgroup’s Warren Winchester and Jason Green unpack the nuances of providing finance in diverse domains.

Warren Winchester is the General Manager of Ventures at Fedgroup.

Jason Green is the General Manager of Property Finance at Fedgroup and boasts an impressive track record in the finance industry.

Green begins the interview by outlining the biggest challenges facing companies who need commercial property finance in South Africa, and why this financing is so important.

Green also discusses solar energy as a key focus for commercial property finance in South Africa and notes that Fedgroup has developed its funding model to accommodate it.

Winchester then explains how easy it is to access Fedgroup’s commercial solar products.

He also discusses the importance of agriculture financing solutions and highlights the ease with which farmers can access the appropriate Fedgroup financial products.

Green and Winchester then expand upon how Fedgroup understands local market dynamics and how this has influenced its ability to serve specific market segments.

They conclude the interview by sharing several success stories from the agricultural sector.

In this What’s Next in Motoring with Aki Anastasiou interview, Tracker’s Chief Operating Officer Duma Ngcobo explains how businesses can protect themselves against fleet vehicle crime.

Ngcobo has over 20 years of experience in finance, telecoms, and IT, which has equipped him with a wide range of skills for his role at Tracker.

Ngcobo begins the interview by discussing South Africa’s recent rise in fleet vehicle crime, and Tracker’s Vehicle Crime Index.

He provides several reasons for the rise in fleet vehicle crime and explains how businesses can avoid becoming victims.

Ngcobo then highlights Tracker’s products that help businesses defend themselves against this.

He concludes the interview by discussing the ways criminals try to infiltrate businesses and advises on how to mitigate these threats.