High performance, outstanding technology, German precision and the true sensation of motor sports can be summed up in three simple letters – BMW. The name alone is enough to send a tingle down your spine and conjure up visions of fast lane, top down, wind in your hair low flying. James Bond preferred it shaken and not stirred in a Z8, Ethan Hunt took on Mission Impossible in an i8 and Dominic Toretto was Fast and Furious in an M5…

From envy-inducing movies to global motorways, a BMW always has been and always will be the coveted holy grail for any hot-blooded up and comer. Now the opportunity is on hand for you to join the lust worthy list of Beemer drivers with your very own, incredible BMW Z4. Yes, a stylish BMW Z4 is the prize – So what exactly is the initiative and how can you participate? It’s simple really.

CM Trading, an award-winning online trading company with a reputation for out-of-the-box approach to investment opportunities will be handing over the keys to this magnificent machine to one lucky Business Referrer. It is important to keep in mind that no special training is required for one to become a Business Referrer, anyone can become one. All you need to do to qualify as one is to bring in a minimum of five clients who deposit from $250 upwards for the duration of the competition.

Whether you are a current CM Trading Business Referrer or are new to trading, the opportunity to be a part of an unprecedented campaign allowing all Business Referrers who introduce new clients to the world of online trading the chance to win a stunning BMW Z4 is yours. There has never been a more opportune time to be in the driving seat of your own destiny.

Once five new clients have been brought in, the Business Referrer will be given one ticket into the draw for each client, and chances are exponentially increased with additional tickets for each $250 deposited. Essentially, those in the running for the ultimate prize need to keep their hands firmly on the wheel and navigate the route right up until the checkered flag is waved with a passion and drive equal to that of iconic motorsport winners.

But, put your pedal to the metal, because the competition closes at the end of July. Experiencing the thrill of owning the Ultimate Driving Machine is well within the reach of one and all. Most of us believe that in order to effectively trade or become a successful Business Referrer, you need to be an expert with a large sum of investment capital.

But CM Trading’s goal is to make each and every one of their traders fulfil their full potential and trade like a pro with the development of new and unique software solutions; webinars, training videos and e-books – all for free.

“It is important to understand that anyone can become a trader through our unique website and easy to use and understand portals,” says Daniel Kibel of CM Trading. “You don’t have to be a trading genius or have years of experience as a stockbroker – we have created the platform to allow you to do it yourself.”

To be a part of this incredible campaign to win a BMW Z4 visit www.cmtrading.com or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Online trading. A concept that has literally thrust the financial world into the fast lane. But for most armchair investors putting the pedal to the metal to get in on the action of this online infobahn can seem extremely daunting, and without some expert guidance many just get left behind in the pits. With the right tools and support everyone can become a successful trader, but it is also important to continually sustain entrepreneurial growth. With this in mind, CM Trading are running an unprecedented campaign that allows all Business Referrers who introduce new clients to the world of online trading the chance to win a stunning BMW Z4! Yes, you read that right! Just by being a business referrer you could be burning rubber in your very own, very exotic BMW Z4.

CM Trading, an award-winning online trading company is committed to providing an essential investment service to clients who prefer an out-of-the-box approach to investment opportunities. With so many vehicles for financial growth accessible to South African investors, making responsible choices that yield tangible returns requires sound expertise from a partner with a vested interest in your long-term success.

Getting your position on the grid
Knowing just where to start is key to your investment growth. “Although a vast majority of people are familiar with online trading, very few understand exactly where to begin the process”, says Daniel Kibel, Founder and Director of CM Trading. “We are here to rev up the engines in the market. To offer the guidance, tools and support that will become the driving force that not only gets average South African’s into the investment game, but could potentially change one of their lives with our awesome prize.”

Most of us believe that in order to effectively trade, one needs to be an expert with a large sum of investment capital. But this notion has been debunked with their development of new and unique software solutions;  webinars, training videos and e-books – all for free.  “It is important to understand that anyone can become a trader through our unique website and easy to use and understand portals,” says Kibel, ”You don’t have to be a trading genius or have years of experience as a stock broker – we have created the platform to allow you to do it yourself.”

Put both hands on the wheel and take control of your finances
It is important to remember that you are in the driver seat when it comes to the performance of your investments. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but there is simply no quick fix when it comes to making money. It’s up to you to ensure that you’re aware of the risks, mindful of the markets ebb and flow and ultimately make the most out of the opportunity that sound investing offers. When asked if online investing is a savvy financial move, the only advice that Kibel could provide was none. “We are not here to offer investment advice. Our role is to provide our clients with the very best education and tools possible so that each and every one of our traders fulfil their full potential and trade like a pro. It’s a fact that money in the bank provides absolutely no value yield. The return that one can make through online share trading is so much more than the interest rate that the banks will offer you (on a fixed deposit from the major South African banks, the average rate is between nine and ten percent).  Responsible and expertly guided share trading can nett you so much more.”

Providing the driving force behind entrepreneurial growth
Online investment now truly is accessible to one and all. “This is an exciting time to invest. The markets are going wild with the Rand in its current state. Add to that the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, and the stage is set - with the market in a state of flux, one can be assured that there is money to be made”, concludes Kibel.

The crux of the matter is that when it comes to savvy investing, there is no checkered flag offering the sought-after podium finish. Constant warm up laps may be required; you may be forced to slow down and do an economy run every now and then; you will probably have to go up through the gears as you chase pole position… The only certainty is that the online trading circuit, and your navigation of it, is uncertain. It is essentially up to you to choose your team wisely. As the largest Forex broker in SA, and winners of the prestigious Best Performing Broker in Africa Award for the last three years, CM Trading provides a wealth of tools and resources at your fingertips because the better prepared you are, the better your trading performance will be.

To be a part of this incredible campaign to win a BMW Z4 visit www.cmtrading.com  or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Details regarding the speaker line-up and agenda for BigFive Summit have been announced. Cape Town will play host to the Summit from 13 – 15 May 2019 where pioneers in the provision of digital media and marketing technology solutions to the region’s SMEs will converge for three exciting days of knowledge-sharing, networking and debate. The overarching purpose is to explore how media, mobile and technology vendors, and their agencies, can work together to drive and promote technology adoption for literally millions of local businesses across Africa and the Middle East.

With an estimated 40 million small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Africa and the Middle East (AME), it should come as no surprise that our continent is supporting a vibrant and fast-growing ecosystem of media, telecoms, financial and software companies eager to bring these businesses into the digital age. 

Enter BigFive Summit, a first-of-its-kind for Africa, designed by and for companies engaged in the supply, sale and servicing of digital marketing and productivity solutions to SMEs across the Africa/Middle East region.

Hosted by BigFive Digital, one of the foremost thought-leadership enterprises connecting AME media and tech companies to SMEs, the event will assemble an exciting mix of media, tech and digital stakeholders, influential thought-leaders, and disruptive start-ups to address the five key elements fueling the rise and growth of the AME digital ecosystem – Search, Social, Mobile, Location, and Payments.

The event features a number of exciting and influential speakers, each of which is an experts or pioneer in their respective fields:

Katlego Maphai is the Co-Founder and CEO of revolutionary South African innovation Yoco. Maphai has overcome many hurdles to build a payments solution that today powers tens of thousands of small businesses in SA by providing an easily accessible and easy-to-use platform to help start, run and grow your business.

Louw Barnardt is the Co-Founder and MD of Outsourced CFO. In 2017, he was nominated as one of FastCompany’s Most Innovative Companies of the Year, and in 2018 received the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Outsourced CFO is disrupting traditional financing and accounting practices for SMEs providing cloud-based services, combining integrity and professional excellence.

Gustav Praekelt is the Founder and CEO of South African Praekelt Group. He is a passionate believer that mobile technology will transform Africa. While spearheading groundbreaking work in the digital arena, Gustav established the Praekelt Foundation, to develop scalable mobile solutions for social good, whose programmes have reached over 100 million people across 30 countries.

Brendan King is Co-Founder and CEO of Vendasta Technologies, a Saskatoon Canada-based multi-award-winning platform for the sales and fulfilment of digital solutions. Vendasta partners with almost every major digital brand, including Google and Facebook, and is the platform of choice for many of the leading marketing agencies in North America.

Nick Grubb is Chief Executive: Radio at Kagiso Media, one of South Africa’s largest media owners. Nick oversees radio operations at Kagiso, including two of the country’s largest independent stations, Jacaranda FM and East Coast Radio. A Bachelor in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, Nick’s entire career has been in media, and he is expertly placed to talk about the changing dynamics of media consumption across AME.O

ther confirmed speakers include:

Chantelle Bowyer, CEO, Metis Online (South Africa)

Cheryl Ingram, Digital Marketing Director, The Digital Media Collective (South Africa)

Adi Engel, CBDO, vCita (Israel)

Trevor Harries-Jones, CEO, Yola (South Africa & USA)

George Leith, CRO, Vendasta (Canada)

Sandy Lohr, CEO, Matchcraft (USA)

Lyndon Munetsi, CRO, Trudon (South Africa)

Trevor Nadeau, CEO, Local Knowledge (Dubai)

Sohail Nawaz MBE, Former CEO ACS Media (Bahrain)

Magnus Rademeyer, Managing Director, AfriGIS (South Africa)

Ezana Raswork, Founder and MD, Africa 118 (Kenya)

Lunga Siyo, CEO, Trudon (South Africa)

Daryl Van Arkel, CEO, BPS & Vicinity Media (South Africa)

The speaker list also features:

Thabo Seopa and Paul Plant, two of the Co-Founders of BigFive Digital, hosts of BigFive Summit.

BigFive Summit promises to be an informative event packed to the brim with topics highly relevant to any company selling or servicing technology solutions to the region’s SMEs, including:

Why Africa is Poised for a Small Business Revolution

How Industry Leaders View the AME Digital Opportunity (results of Exec Survey)

The Changing Face of Media & Solution Selling

The Local Customer Journey 2019

The Payments Revolution and the Transforming of Africa’s Small Business Ecosystem

Transforming Business Results with Location Insights

Time for Local Radio to Tune-In to the Digital Opportunity

Running a Digital Agency in an Automated Age

The Impact of Data/AI and Machine Learning on Local Commerce

Messaging Apps and Conversational Commerce

Unlocking the Location Data Opportunity

Can SEO Work for Very Small Businesses?

The Importance of Reputation Management

BigFive Start-up Showcase – A Peek at the Next Wave of Disruptors

The Unfiltered Truth – SMEs Talking Digital Transformation

The Service Imperative – Preventing Customer Churn

The Do’s and Don’ts of Search & Social Marketing

The Path to Ecommerce for Small Businesses

Details of the Event: BigFive Summit 2019

The Summit will take place from 13 - 15 May 2019 at Workshop 17 in the prestigious V&A Waterfront in Cape Town and will feature some of the finest digital practitioners sharing strategic insights, best practices, and practical guidance for success, through a series of engaging presentations, tactical sessions and networking forums. 

With two cocktail receptions, plus a networking dinner all included in the package, delegates will have an opportunity to engage with like-minded companies, eager to promote and sustain the local commerce landscape.

To register as a delegate, join our list of speakers or learn about sponsorship opportunities, visit: www.bigfivedigital.org/summit 

Executive Survey – Respondents will receive a Discount Code to attend BigFive Summit

BigFive Summit is currently running an Executive Survey to gauge how leaders inside companies who serve or sell to SMEs view the digital opportunity. The full findings of the survey will be presented at BigFive Summit. Anyone working in this space is encouraged to participate in the survey. The more responses we receive, the better.

All contributors to the survey will receive a discount code on tickets to the event.

Take the survey here: http://bit.ly/ExecutiveSurvey

ENDS 

For more information about BigFive Summit or this press release, please contact:

Mika Stanvliet | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 081 534 6237  

About BigFive Digital:

BigFive Digital was created to support digital media and technology solutions providers serving local SMEs throughout Africa & The Middle East. The Africa/Middle East region is enjoying a period of sustained economic growth. Every major indicator is predicted to perform above global averages for the next decade, with the region boasting six of the world’s ten fastest growing national economies*. Local digital commerce is widely recognized as a lead indicator of a healthy and growing modern economy.*Sources: The Economist; The UN; The World Bank; McKinsey & Co.BigFive Digital has been co-founded by four highly respected global media and digital commerce executives: Thabo Seopa, Paul Plant, Charles Laughlin, and Oscar Sousa Marques. Collectively, they have spent more than a century experiencing digital transformation, witnessing first-hand the impacts of disruptive innovations in local marketing and commerce in various countries all over the world.  

For more information about BigFive Digital, visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/ 

About BigFive Summit:

Hosted by BigFive Digital, BigFive Summit is a knowledge-sharing and networking event for companies that provide digital marketing and technology solutions to local businesses across Africa & The Middle East. The Summit is built around the five pillars that support local commerce, namely: Search, Social, Mobile, Location and Payments. It is these five sectors that are fueling the rapid rise and growth of digital and technology adoption across the region. Any company with a vested interest in this exciting ecosystem is invited to join us in Cape Town, from 13-15 May 2019.

For more information about the Summit, please visit: https://bigfivedigital.org/summit/

BigFive Summit is coming to Cape Town from 13–15 May 2019, featuring headline talks and workshops that will challenge thinking, stimulate ideas and offer practical advice for those with the common goal of bringing to market digital solutions for SMEs throughout Africa & The Middle East.

BigFive Summit is the ideal networking and knowledge-sharing hub for media and technology companies, digital agencies, influential thought leaders, as well as disruptive startups and entrepreneurs across the Africa/Middle East (AME) digital tech ecosystem. The Summit’s agenda and content is constructed around the cornerstone pillars that support the local digital commerce ecosystem — Search, Social, Mobile, Location, and Payments.  

BigFive Summit is open to anyone seeking to play an active role in advancing SME participation via digital marketing, productivity improvement, transactional ecommerce, and back-office efficiency.

The event will highlight the enormous opportunities and challenges associated with bringing to market digital media and cloud-based business efficiency solutions for local merchants.

“In recent years, as a direct consequence of the explosive growth in smartphone adoption, literally millions of African & Middle Eastern consumers are experiencing the online world for the first time,” comments Thabo Seopa, Co-Founder and Chairman of BigFive Digital. “We created BigFive Digital to serve and support the growing community of media, mobile, technology and software companies who are providing the infrastructure that allows local SMEs to participate in this digital revolution.”

BigFive Summit ultimately sets out to promote and sustain the local commerce ecosystem by sharing best-practice and knowledge across topics of mutual interest, for the purpose of fostering mutually beneficial partnerships and business development opportunities. Attendance at BigFive Summit will provide delegates with ample opportunities for networking and business development.

“It is very much our intention to provide a platform for market-leading African & Middle Eastern media, marketing and technology vendors to learn, share and collaborate with their regional and global peers,” says Paul Plant, BigFive Digital’s Director of Operations. “We seek to build a multi-national community of like-minded companies who share our passion and objectives for helping local business owners to benefit from the digital economy.”

BigFive Summit will take place at Workshop 17 at the V&A Waterfront, in Cape Town from 13-15 May 2019.

For more information and to register as a delegate, visit www.bigfivedigital.org/summit

For speaking opportunities, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Or to exhibit or sponsor at BigFive Summit, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

-- ENDS --

For more information on BigFive Digital or this press release, please contact: Mika Stanvliet | +27 (0) 81 534 6237 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

You made it. You made it through to January pay day. For most people this is more exciting than their birthdays. But why do we do this to ourselves every single year? Why do we recklessly throw all caution to the wind with our budgets over December, making January feel like every single day is a week and an endless stretch to make ends meet? Perhaps it might have something to do with the very unrealistic New Year’s resolutions we set for ourselves. They are always so all-encompassing with absolutely no room for failure, until inevitably they’re forgotten, and we are left right back where we started.

This could be a very good time to start making plans instead of promises – a tangible action list that will yield rewards instead of resentment. There are so many vehicles for financial growth that are a lot more accessible for the average South African than ever before, all it takes is a little bit of investment savvy. CM Trading, an award-winning online trading company is committed to providing an essential investment service to South African clients who prefer an out-of-the-box approach to investment opportunities. “Trading in shares and commodities has always been something that has been out of reach for the average South African,” says Daniel Kibel of CM Trading, “but we have found a quick and easy way to help the consumer trade effectively – on their phone, i-pad, PC – all at the touch of a button.” 

Of course, year-round saving is essential to ensure that your nest egg steadily grows, but any extra windfalls that you might have such as commission, a bonus or extra income could provide the opportunity for an alternate investment strategy, such as share trading. When asked why this should be a consideration, Daniel says, “The return that one can make through online share trading is so much more than the interest rate that the banks will offer you (on a fixed deposit from the major South African banks, the average rate is between four and five percent. Responsible and expertly guided share trading can net you so much more.”

“Anyone can become a trader through our unique website and easy to use and understand portals.  You don’t have to be a trading genius or have years of experience as a stock broker – we have created the platform to allow you to do it yourself.” Everything required for you to make a successful start is provided.

It’s not possible to foresee exactly what the financial future holds, but strategising a tangible plan will go a long way to easing the January strain next year. 

Eleven startups from across the African continent, identified as “entrepreneurs for humanity”, were awarded the opportunity to partner with the AfricArena challenge corporate sponsors at the end of the second AfricArena technology conference in Cape Town today.

Saturday 17 November, Cape Town – Amongst others, Air France KLM selected DiscoverIkasi and Sea Monster, both from South Africa, to assist with improving the travel experience and sustainability of its subsidiary Joon. Vinci Energie, will work with Senegal’s Oniriq and South Africa’s DataProphet on innovative energy solutions in Africa.

See the full list of winners, sponsors and challenges below.

During 2018, in the run up to AfricArena2018, 60 startups pitched their businesses in regional events in eight cities across Africa. Many of which were invited to take part in a series of challenges set by the AfricArena sponsors, all looking to solve uniquely African business problems.  

SOLUTIONS FOR THE AFRICAN MARKET

The AfricArena 2018 conference was anchored and endorsed by major international sponsors La French Tech, Silicon Cape, Vinci Energies, AirFrance KLM, Engie, Saint-Gobain, Methys, Rogerwilco, City of Cape Town, Proparco, RCS, and Leroy Merlin.

The following sponsors specifically came to South Africa and AfricArena to explore innovation opportunities within Africa and abroad: RCS, Saint-Gobain, AirFrance KLM, Vinci Energies, VivaTech, Leroy Merlin, Engie, Sanofi and FSAT Labs.

“We expect to have a different approach from these startups, a bright idea that could be easily implemented, and also to benefit from what is very high potential in terms of innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives. And to find solutions that are very well adapted to the African market,” said Jean-Michel Mathieu, CEO of Joon, a subsidiary of Air France.

“African entrepreneurs are very willing to find solutions, to take risks, they address vital expectations and needs, and they are looking at the challenges with a very frugal mindset. I think this is a lesson for us as well, we learn a lot working with them and collaborating with them to find the right solutions and we take this inspiration back to Europe with us,” said Lydia Babaci-Victor, Chief Innovation and Development Officer at Vinci Energies.

Vincent Viollain, co-Founder and Head of Partnerships and Startups at VivaTech, the biggest tech conference in Europe said: “The leapfrog ability of African technology has become a bit of a cliché. But when you get a chance to see it, you’ll see that it’s actually true. African technology is frugal, its smart and it can have an impact locally as well as globally. In our winner, Aerobotics’ case we believe the solution can move beyond physical borders, and also have application in different industry sectors.” 

AFRICARENA WINNERS:

The startups who won the challenges, were grateful of the experience and excited to be moving forward with some of the largest corporations across the globe.

“Oniriq provides access to African rural populations through energy and the internet. It’s great to be here at AfricArena, it has been a journey. For two months we’ve been participating in this challenge since the selection two months ago in Dakar with Vinci Energies team and we’ve been in discussions since. For us the win is a great achievement and we’re looking forward to starting our collaboration in Senegal,” said Rodolphe Rosier, Founder of Oniriq. 

“We’d like to thank AfricArena and VivaTech for the opportunity to present and we’re really happy to have won and we cannot wait to be in Paris in May. We’re already expanding around the world and this presence at VivaTech 2019 will give us a great opportunity to meet the European market,” said Nasreen Patel, Head of Product at Aerobotics. 

“This is not just a win for DiscoverIkasi, it’s a win for the communities we work with across South Africa. It’s going to give them a lot more exposure. This is what we’ve been working towards since starting the business, to get to a platform where I can market DiscoverIkasi, our market, our experiences and the townships on an international stage. Now we need to go back home and form a strategy to scale the business across South Africa,” said Ntsebenziswano (Benzi) November, Founder of DiscoverIkasi.

The startups attending the conference will also each be receiving credit from AWS as part of their prizes. Each startup in attendance, winner or not, will receive $2000 in AWS credit.  

A WORD FROM THE ECO-SYSTEM

Kerry Petrie, General Manager of Silicon Cape, host ecosystem of AfricArena, states: “It’s such an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs from all across the continent to connect and share, building bridges that may hold future partnership, export and market opportunities. It builds the visibility of the pan-African community for a local, regional and global stakeholder audience. We have to work together to increase investment in African ventures from 1%. And AfricArena is playing a pivotal role in making that a reality.”

Reflecting on the event, Christophe Viarnaud, CEO of AfricArena, expanded on the philosophy behind the conference. “AfricArena’s open collaborative Pan-African model, highly inclusive and embarking all categories of investors, ecosystem contributors, and corporates focused on innovation in Africa, has demonstrated very high impact throughout 2018 with 16 events on 3 continents. The grand finale at AfricArena2018 has shown the energy and excitement from 15 corporates, over 150 investors and 70 startups, with over $2m deals being done, startup-corporate partnerships being struck and a wave of energy and innovation from African entrepreneurs. We could not be more excited about the future, comments Viarnaud.  

THE WINNERS:

Air France KLM Challenge 1                     DiscoverIkasi

Air France KLM Challenge 2                    Sea Monster

Engie Challenge                                           Arnegy

Leroy Merlin Challenge                             BizAR Reality

Saint-Gobain Challenge 1                         Swift GeoSpatial

Saint-Gobain Challenge 2                         The Student Hub

Sanofi South Africa Challenge                Iyeza Health

The RCS Group Challenge                        ThisIsMe

Vinci Energies Challenge 1                       Oniriq

Vinci Energies Challenge 2                       DataProphet

Vivatech 2019 Challenge                          Aerobotics 

SPONSORS AND THEIR CHALLENGES:

Air France KLM Challenge 1 – optimising the airline’s travel experience while reducing its environmental footprint

Air France KLM Challenge 2 – using technology to enrich subsidiary Joon’s travel experience for its passengers

Engie Challenge – ensuing a reliable energy supply in urban areas

Leroy Merlin Challenge – immersive showroom experience that shows off a large variety of products

Saint-Gobain Challenge 1 – using satellite trend analysis to predict urban and climate challenges

Saint-Gobain Challenge 2 -- a solution to upgrade professionals’ skills across Africa, especially in remote areas.

Sanofi South Africa Challenge – optimising patient treatment adherence and completion rates

The RCS Group Challenge – storing and securing customer identity and authentication credentials

Vinci Energies Challenge 1 – using digitalisation to optimise industry and energy performance

Vinci Energies Challenge 2 – How to make energy more accessible in Africa using technology such as energy efficiency flow solutions, energy flow optimisation, blockchain and artificial intelligence

Vivatech 2019 Challenge – using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate growth and sustainability in the agriculture sector 

-- ENDS --

For more information on AfricArena or this press release, please contact:

Mika Stanvliet | 081 534 6237 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

About AfricArena:

AfricArena is a conference that showcases Africa’s best startups and innovators in front of an audience of local and international investors looking for world-class talent.Celebrated as the largest tech ecosystem accelerator on the African continent, last year’s edition of AfricArena saw more than 80 startups presenting to over 100 investors with 25 countries being represented and over $2M worth of deals done. This year's edition saw 70 startups from 32 countries pitching to over 600 attendees. This year they are predicting that funding for African startups will crack US$1 billion. Earlier this year AfricArena launched a global tour to source the world's best tech innovators solving uniquely African problems, and the tour covered 66 000 kilometers in total. AfricArena is the ultimate deal-flow platform, bringing investors and startups together in one central location.

For more information visit: https://africarena2018.com

PRETORIA, Gauteng, November 17, 2018 – A new Web-Traffic Creation Project announced today that it is raising funds via a rewards crowdfunding campaign on Jumpstarter Crowdfunding.  The fundraising project is called the Pay It Forward Web-Traffic Creation Project, running to develop more web-traffic generation products.  The business set out to raise R100,000 on Jumpstarter Crowdfunding to finish development to produce and publish within three months, the next batch of its web-traffic generation properties that is going to change the web-traffic generation market in South Africa.

Responding to the market gap created by the difficulty experienced by most businesses to be found easily by their target market on Google, the Web-Traffic Creation Project sprang into action to bring about an effective way to help all businesses in need, especially in South Africa, to also experience similar success. “All businesses who give out their website name to customers that they get in touch with, can of course be easily found on Google by those specific customers, and indeed anyone else who comes across that business’ website name.  However, this limits any business being found by the majority of its potential customers i.e. all the rest of its potential customers who are actively searching in various ways on Google, every day, for the very services that they offer.  Through my schooling, we have noticed that most businesses, due to no fault of their own, don’t know how to get themselves in a position where they pop up, when services that they offer, are searched for on Google.  Ideally for the very services they offer, a business should appear on page 1 of Google search results particularly the top spots on page 1, which is really where sales occur the most.

This situation opens up an opportunity for web-traffic creation products like ours, to step in and be of valuable assistance to any business owner”, says the Pay It Forward Web-Traffic Creation Project owner, Mosima Kekana.

According to Kekana, the vigilance exercised by Google together with their regular software updates geared toward ensuring the best search experience for its users, is the underlying reason that businesses are increasingly finding it difficult to be discovered by the majority of their ideal target market on Google.  “We face it, the unfortunate reality is that even with the best products and services, and wonderfully set-up websites and search engine optimisation, most businesses are still stuck beyond Google search results that the average searcher is willing to scroll down to.  Worse, the majority of businesses are languishing near the bottom of search results on Google”, adds Kekana.

Kekana says that despite being new in the business, her Web-Traffic Creation products have achieved in three months, more than most web-traffic creation products have ever done, having consistently produced top search results for services in the markets the products have been set up for.  Kekana believes they represent the secret ingredients that produce fast web-traffic and sales.

Participation in this rewards-based Pay It Forward Web-Traffic Creation Project will attract a varied audience from those who love tech products and services that jumpstart growth for new and small business owners, to those who love fast web-traffic and sales results.  Not excluded from the rewards listed in this project are also those who would love free websites and website content done for them.  Kekana says the rewards for pledges towards the fundraising campaign, include answering personal burning questions about the art of progressing a website to ultimately land on the first page of Google search results.  Amongst the rest of the attractive rewards, backers for this project will also get an opportunity to nominate anyone or any business to have a website built for them as part of this Pay-It-Forward Web-Traffic Creation Project.  There are multi-tiered pledge levels that go with the relevant rewards.

The fundraising and rewards portion of the project closes on 14 December 2018.  For more information about this project as well as the rewards and how to contribute, go to Jumpstarter at https://jumpstarter.co.za/projects/pay-it-forward-web-traffic-creation-project/

Media Contact
Mosima Kekana
Project Owner
081 389 9571
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Campaign Page URL - https://jumpstarter.co.za/projects/pay-it-forward-web-traffic-creation-project/  

AfricArena, Silicon Cape and Wesgro host expert discussion and release research indicating funding raised by African startups to increase by 100%+, exceeding $1 billion for the first time.

Tuesday, 30 October, Cape Town – In the wake of the SA Investment Conference that took place last week, AfricArena, Wesgro and Silicon Cape hosted a press conference at the InvestSA One Stop Shop in Cape Town, making public new partnerships for the conference and discussing the role conferences and accelerators like AfricArena play in attracting investment to the continent.

Partech Ventures’ latest annual funding report shows that venture capital funding in 2017 reached $560 million, recording 53% year on year growth. South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria dominate with 6% of total funding. Francophone Africa is accelerating with 14% of the deal transactions and financial inclusion (off-grid tech, fintech and insuretech) representing 45% of deals.

The track record shows the trend is that African tech entrepreneurs are raising more and more funding. Yet, the amount of investment going to African tech startups represents less than $50c per capita whilst in Europe the investment is $50 per capita in the USA $150. Currently, less than 1% of global tech investment is into Africa whereas on the global scene, in 2017 the USA attracted $74 billion, Asia $71 billion and Europe nearly $18 billion.

“If we are to create the next generation of successful entrepreneurs competing at a global scale – clearly the challenge remains as an input and output measure to increase the level of capita that African startups attract,” states Christophe Viarnaud, CEO of AfricArena and Methys. ““It is predicted that in 2050 and 2100, there will be more than 50 cities with more than one million people on the African continent, and the majority of the most highly populated cities in the world will be in Africa. This is a very important factor in terms of being a fundamental underlying trend which is going to drive increasing investment in Africa, therefore we foresee the investment in African tech startups to exceed the $10 billion annual mark in the next decade.”

Based on internal research conducted in 2018, AfricArena, Silicon Cape and Wesgro expect the funding raised by African startups to increase by 100%+, exceeding $1 billion for the first time and achieve $1 dollar per capita, positioning Africa as the fastest growing area in the world.

“Another interesting thing is the emphasis we put on taking our startups to the bigger stages outside of the continent,” adds Danai Musandu, Investment Associate, Goodwell Investments BV, “You always find more people rushing to go to Silicon Valley to go see where the big stage and the content is. But we need to have a change of perspective and a change of attitude, where people will say ‘We’re going to Africa, where the big stage of the future is’. The biggest barrier is our perspective and we need to change that perspective.”

AfricArena is a pan-African ecosystem accelerator whose mission is to help African startups access market and capital. The primary outcome measure is investment deals done around the event.

AfricArena 2018 Announcements

Over 70 start ups from over 30 countries will attend, competing in 11 open innovation challenges

In partnership with We Think Code, AfricArena will run a hackathon on a mobility challenge for the City of Cape Town

EM Lyon, a world-ranked business school, joins as academic partner and will stream AfricArena live on its Casablanca, Lyon and Singapore campuses

Over 100 investors from US, Europe, Africa will attend or follow on the live streaming of the pitch sessionsAfricArena announced partnership with Deep Tech platform ‘Hello Tomorrow’ and a Deep Tech Africa challenge that will take place on Day 2 of AfricArena.

Silicon Cape members to receive early bird special of 50% off AfricArena tickets 

EM Lyon is an international business school priding themselves in “making entrepreneurs for Africa”. They capitalize on the worldwide-recognized experience and quality of their programs and offer both students and corporations content that is tailored to their context and to their problems. EM Lyon is fully in line with their signature "early maker": a school that tries, investigates and innovates far ahead of others.

Hello Tomorrow organises mentorship programs and a series of events around the world, as well as educating and consulting relevant stakeholders on emergence of deep technologies with the platform fast becoming a key reference in deeptech innovation and entrepreneurship.

Sarah Pedroza, Managing Director of Hello Tomorrow, states: “Deeptech innovation happening today knows no borders. But the opportunities and resources to catalyze these solutions are unevenly distributed. We need to give better tools to deeptech entrepreneurs in ecosystems that are booming, connecting them to a global network of industry leaders, investors and policy makers in order to bring their concepts to market. We’re excited to partner with AfricArena, joining their flagship event in one of the biggest tech hubs in Africa, which is a great opportunity to bring key stakeholders together.”

Finalists for the internationally sponsored challenges were also announced:

VINCE ENERGIES CHALLENGE – How to make energy more accessible in Africa thanks to energy efficiency solutions, energy flows optimization blockchain and/or AI - Rensource (Nigeria), BIG POT – Nigeria, Oniriq – Senegal

SAINT-GOBAIN CHALLENGE – A solution to upgrade professionals’ skills across Africa - Syafunda (South Africa), The Student Hub (South Africa), Ceed Learning (South Africa)

VIVATECH CHALLENGE – How AI can help generate a self-sustaining growth in the AgriTech industry - Agrocenta (Kenya), Homefarm (South Africa), Aerobotics (South Africa)AfricArena will take place on 15 & 16 November.

More information available at www.africarena2018.com

-- ENDS --

For more information on AfricArena or this press release, please contact:

Mika Stanvliet | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 081 534 6237 

About AfricArena:

Celebrated as the largest tech ecosystem accelerator on the African continent, last year’s edition of AfricArena saw more than 80 startups presenting to over 100 investors with 25 countries being represented and over $2M worth of deals done. The conference serves as a platform for the continent’s best startups and innovators to showcase their world-class talent in front of an audience of both local and international investors. AfricArena is the ultimate deal-flow platform, bringing investors and startups together in one central location.

The challenges run by AfricArena are sponsored by Vinci Energies, AirFrance, Engie, Sanofi, Leroy Merlin, the City of Cape Town and RCS.

The conference is anchored and endorsed by corporate sponsors and partners La French Tech, Silicon Cape, Wesgro, SEDA, and will be covered by several media such as Techcrunch, Les Echos, Maddyness, Fast Company and many others. 

Available in South Africa through local authorized distributors, Plantronics Manager Pro provides enterprises total control and flexibility over their Plantronics audio headsets and devices. Plantronics Manager Pro is a web-based service that gives IT Managers easy-to-use tools to configure settings and update audio device software and firmware for end-users across the enterprise. Last month, Wendy Dawson, Senior Development Marketing Manager for Plantronics, blogged about a professional partnership which represents a collaborative viewpoint of the value of adopting Software-as-a Service (SaaS) solutions such as Manager Pro.

"Today, I’m happy to let you know that Plantronics and Nectar are introducing the industry’s first ear-to-ear (e2e) unified communications (UC) diagnostics solution, extending call visibility past the desktop. Nectar UC Diagnostics troubleshoots network issues contributing to poor UC experiences and along with the actionable insights from Plantronics Manager Pro software-as-a-service (SaaS), can be used to improve your customers’ UC experience.

Nectar and Plantronics are bringing two stellar communications solutions together to provide diagnostics showing call-specific health statistics for wireless headsets. Until now, the last three feet of the UC network has been out of reach to the enterprise IT team. This new solution goes beyond traditional UC diagnostic solutions that end at the desktop and now gives IT the ability to see network health all the way to the end user’s Bluetooth headset.

Using this solution, enterprises and UC service providers can diagnose issues faster than in the past and they can track and make decisions from these actionable insights over time. This means call quality issues—no matter what is causing them—won’t ever get in the way of the ability to deliver superior customer service and user experience before an issue is ever detected.

Many factors can impact the quality of a UC session. The “data-your-way” philosophy built into the Plantronics Manager Pro offering extends Nectar’s capability with e2e diagnostics for Plantronics touch points providing this entirely new level of visibility into the last few feet of connectivity.

Last September, Nectar announced their agreement to develop this e2e diagnostics solution with us. Now, link quality is collected for the Plantronics Voyager UC family of headsets (excluding Voyager Legend, Voyager Edge and Voyager 104). And, it’s officially available for purchase through authorized Nectar and Plantronics authorized partners.

Nectar’s initial release of this solution will support Skype for Business on-premise deployments, with additional UC platform and cloud service support to be added over time."

If you are interested in finding out more about Plantronics Manager Pro for your South African business, please visit www.plantronics.com/za/en/services To read the original blog referenced, visit this page.

About Plantronics
Plantronics is an audio pioneer and a global leader in the communications industry. We create intelligent and adaptive solutions that support our customers’ most important needs: experiencing and facilitating simple and clear communications while enjoying distraction-free environments. Our solutions are used worldwide by consumers and businesses alike and are an optimal choice for open office environments. From Unified Communications and customer service ecosystems, to data analytics and Bluetooth headsets, Plantronics delivers high-quality communications solutions that our customers count on today, while relentlessly innovating on behalf of their future. For more information visit www.plantronics.com/za.

Plantronics is a trademark of Plantronics, Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countries, Plantronics Hub, Plantronics Manager and Plantronics Manager Pro are trademarks of Plantronics, Inc. The Bluetooth trademark is owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of the mark by Plantronics, Inc. is under license. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. 

Is your finance department ready to manage unpredictable change? 

Financial transformation has a new buzzword – OCF – the outperforming CFO Framework that enables finance organisations striving to focus more effort into driving business outcomes. 

WNS, a leading global business process management company, will be introducing this cutting-edge framework, designed to manage and handle unpredictable changes, at two events aimed at CFOs and finance leaders in Cape Town on the 21st of August 2018, followed up by an event in Johannesburg on the 23rd of August 2018. 

Targeting outperforming CFOs 

These two exclusive events will provide valuable insights to CFOs and finance leaders into how they can improve shareholder value by revealing market insights and a competitor landscape assessment that will demonstrate the “Art of Possibilities” in enhancing working capital management.  

The event will also focus on how to build an agile business model by analysing future readiness of the industry, taking into account multiple business disruptors and readiness levers. Last, but not least, it will explore how to build a best-in-class finance organisation through a benchmarking and maturity assessment for defining the transformation roadmap to enhancing business outcomes of the finance organisation.  

Challenging the norm 

WNS offers business value to 300+ global clients by combining operational excellence with deep domain expertise and is ideally positioned to help clients assist and transform their finance and accounting (F&A) function through their proprietary Outperforming CFO Framework (OCF).  Their Proprietary OCF tool defies the traditional model of benchmarking with maturity assessments that encompass the overall end-to-end finance environment. It is executed by experts spanning across domains to analyse, build and implement a robust transformation roadmap to achieve optimal results with minimal effort from an organisation’s day-to-day resources. The OCF tool includes over 250 best practices of F&A processes and has successfully served multinationals by implementing F&A transformations and operations management in partnership with leading market analysts for benchmarking performance.   

Delivering real value 

The two events will include finance domain leaders sharing their experience with OCF and will reveal how they reduced manual processing through automation by 40%, optimised cost with automation, digitisation and process re-engineering by 33% and achieved an incremental free cash flow of $53 million.  For more information about the event and to book your complimentary seat please visit:  www.wnsevents.co.za/ocf 

About WNS

WNS (Holdings) Limited (NYSE: WNS) is a leading global business process management company. WNS offers business value to 300+ global clients by combining operational excellence with deep domain expertise in key industry verticals including Travel, Insurance, Banking and Financial Services, Manufacturing, Retail and Consumer Packaged Goods, Shipping and Logistics, Healthcare and Utilities. WNS delivers an entire spectrum of business process management services such as finance and accounting, customer care, technology solutions, research and analytics and industry specific back office and front office processes. As of March 31, 2017, WNS had 33,968 professionals across 48 delivery centres worldwide including China, Costa Rica, India, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States. For more information, visit www.wns.com. 

About WNS South Africa

WNS Global Services SA (Pty) Ltd has been in operation since 2003 and has built a reputation as the industry-leading Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Company in South Africa, with a growing footprint into Africa. We are a strategic partner for delivering a full range of basic to complex business processes from our eight delivery centres across South Africa, employing 4 000+ people. www.wns.co.za 

Editorial contacts
WNS SA
Taryn Weldon
Senior Group Manager: Marketing (+27) 21 819 6283
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