Last year, FORBES AFRICA featured inspiring women in our first-ever ‘Over 30 Under 50’ list, celebrating those excelling in their 30s and 40s. From musicians and actors to business leaders and tech entrepreneurs, we highlighted a dynamic cross-section of female trailblazers, disruptors, and decision-makers across the continent.



We now announce the second annual FORBES AFRICA &#8216;Over 30 Under 50&#8217; list, to be published early 2025, to showcase a new set of formidable leaders in this age group in Africa writing their stories and owning their success.



Know someone who fits the bill? Nominate them today – or apply to share your journey!



>>>>>>><a href="https://under30alum.typeform.com/Over30Under50">Click here to nominate</a>&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;


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Call For Nominations For FORBES AFRICA’s 2025 ‘Over 30 Under 50’ List

The Bristol Zoo Project is set to evoke a sense of the dense forest and landscape of Equatorial Guinea.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
“Conservation zoos have a critical role to play in working with communities and connecting them with wildlife.” – Dr Justin Morris
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If you were looking for wildlife in the United Kingdom’s cool and rainy southwest, you’d easily find squirrels, hedgehogs, perhaps the occasional deer. Bats too. Even beaver. Stoic, quotidian creatures, unperturbed by sunlessness and drizzle.



You might not expect to discover endangered species like cherry-crowned mangabeys, slender-snouted crocodiles, or African grey parrots, but spot them you can from spring 2026, thanks to Bristol Zoo Project’s Central African Forest habitat, now under development on a 136-acre site in the Gloucestershire woodlands. These exotic additions to the British countryside will be joined by the Zoo’s troop of western lowland gorillas, in an environment designed “to evoke a sense of the dense forest and landscape of Equatorial Guinea” by the Bristol Zoological Society, a conservation and education charity founded in 1835.



“The character of a central African forest is created through utilizing and enhancing the qualities of the local landscape, rather than attempting a false replication of the original habitat,” says the charity’s Chief Executive, Dr Justin Morris. “And by understanding and applying the structure of a tropical forest, which consists of specimen trees, upper, mid and lower stratum, and a forest ground cover. Each area, particularly the animal houses and interior spaces, has been built with temperatures and humidities as a central requirement for each species. Of course, our existing gorilla troop are well acclimatized to the British weather already.”



Though 78% of the species the Society cares for are threatened, they are also part of targeted conservation programs; Morris says the aim is to increase this number to 90% by 2035. The new habitat will eventually be joined by the Central African Savannah project, home to black rhino and ostrich, alongside the Society’s existing giraffe, cheetah and zebra populations.



In a 21st century Britain becoming more sensitive to its colonial past, and less and less comfortable with animals living in captivity (according to YouGov research, half of surveyed Britons believe the practice of keeping large animals should be phased out, with a quarter calling for zoos to be banned entirely), the Society’s projects are as much about capturing hearts and minds through education as providing safe havens for animals whose continued existence on the planet is now in dire jeopardy.



“Like our award-winning Bear Wood (a walkway experience through treetops, from which wolves, lynx and wolverine can also be glimpsed), the new Central African Forest habitat will have integrated learning spaces, enabling students, visitors and schoolchildren to observe, record and appreciate animals in a natural scene, connecting people to threatened wildlife and animals in an immersive landscape,” says Morris.



The site will also feature a Conservation Campus, giving young people access to new knowledge opportunities around veterinary medicine and animal breeding.



“By creating a new education and skills hub for the region, with 20 new learning spaces, we want to inspire and create the conservationists of the future,” Morris says. “It will provide teaching facilities for more than 600 students each year, participating in our higher education programs, and help us to engage 90,000 school children.



Visitors will be able to watch veterinary procedures, see animals extinct in the wild and being bred for reintroduction, explore field conservation programs across the world, and learn how they can become conservationists themselves.”



A home away from home then, for these critically endangered creatures, and a rare chance for the human population of a curious island nation to share in their new and protected lives.



“Conservation zoos have a critical role to play in working with communities and connecting them with wildlife,” says Morris. “We have an incredible opportunity at Bristol Zoo Project to show what a modern, progressive conservation zoo can be.”

Jock the silverback gorilla at the former Bristol Zoo Gardens © Bristol Zoological Society

How A Central African Forest Is Shaping Up In The UK

South Africa’s first electric minibus taxi, eKamva, was unveiled at the Smarter Mobility Africa Summit in Johannesburg today.



It was launched alongside an integrated electric vehicle (EV) business model and charging infrastructure called ‘flx EV’.



The prototype electric minibus is a project by GoMetro, Powerfleet, formerly MiX Telematics, alongside electronics manufacturer HSW, ACDC Dynamics’ charging network, and Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Engineering.



The 15-seater electric minibus has a 70kWh battery capable of a 200km range for commutes; and 80% of its battery recharges within 45 minutes from its 50kW DC charging support.&nbsp;



Justin Coetzee, CEO of GoMetro, tells FORBES AFRICA that the journey started two years ago, when the world started going electric. “We asked ourselves, why isn’t there an electric minibus?”



Most electric buses available were 9m in length, so after a challenging search across Europe and China, GoMetro eventually found a Chinese model that could be turned into a South African-specific minibus.



“If we’re going to electrify the minibus sector, we’re going to have to do it ourselves. This is a proudly South African project alongside our industrial partnerships,” says Coetzee.



The flx EV website will soon allow minibus taxi owners and operators to apply to be added to the waiting list, while the flx app will let owners manage fleets, monitor vehicle status, prepay for charging, and find its nearest charging hub.



GoMetro will be taking eKamva on a roadshow later this year, targeting taxi ranks, associations, and hubs in South Africa’s Western Cape.



“That to me is the highlight – the industry is at the start of the journey with us, so we have to make sure that whatever they want out of an electric taxi, we listen,” adds Coetzee.



GoMetro plans to build a hub at the Century City taxi rank in Cape Town, and Stellenbosch, and hopes to have its first 10 to 20 electric taxis operating by the second half of 2025.



“There’s a huge market of private sector van usage for people movement, which goes beyond the taxi industry that we will be addressing, such as staff transport, hotel shuttles etc, but first, we need to get our model right,” says Coetzee.



Rudi Kriel, transport economist and Head of Programme at GoMetro, shares that the eKamva will either be sold outright, through a leasing model or a different type of model, such as purchasing the vehicle but leasing the battery, so the buyer still owns the asset.



“The battery will stay in the vehicle, but the ownership remains with flx EV. You just pay a subscription fee per month to have access to the battery, charging facilities and the like; it’s a model commonly used in Africa,” says Kriel.



GoMetro hopes the taxi industry will adopt the new technology on the electric minibus, which would ultimately improve operations, with its claim of up to 70% lower monthly running costs.



“At the end of the day, the taxi industry are business people, right? If you give them something they can save money on, they will be interested. And that’s the plan here, to save people operating costs, and to improve the environment,” says Kriel.



While no pricing has been confirmed for the eKamva, Coetzee hints at a ballpark figure of between R1 million (approximately $57,730) to R1.5 million ($86,600).

Image supplied

‘A Proudly South African Project’: Start Of The Journey For The Country’s First Electric Minibus Taxi

Have you found your niche? I received a lot of advice when I set up my company, but perhaps the most important consisted of just three words: Find Your Niche.



Five years later, I’m still struggling to apply this principle. Interestingly though, so are most of the companies I deal with.



So why is this, and what are we missing out on exactly? Well, let’s start by defining what a niche business is.



Per ChatGPT, it’s “a company that focuses on a specific segment of the market, catering to a particular group of customers with specialized needs or interests”.



Nerve Money provides a great example of what it means to be niche. If you have not heard of them, that’s because you are not a musician or comedian in need of a business banking app. You see, Nerve only focuses on delivering banking services to artists living in America.



Like all niche businesses, Nerve has a huge advantage in that it has fewer competitors. In the United States, thousands of banks fight for market share with similar products and services. But Nerve isn’t competing against the likes of JP Morgan and Citibank. Its founders believe they have found a differentiated offering that will appeal directly to American artists who want help with invoicing and payments.



But it’s examples like this that simultaneously highlight the benefits of going niche whilst scaring business owners away from trying to find theirs.



And that’s because size matters!



Nerve, for example, may face less competition, but they are restricted to the three million people who sing songs and play guitars. Most bankers I know would treat this as a passion project and would never imagine taking the idea to go niche to their leadership teams.



However, the fear that going niche means missing out on larger opportunities, is also a fallacy. Because niche doesn’t have to limit your upside.



In fact, some of the biggest and most well-known businesses in the world are actually niche.



Have you, for example, heard of Patagonia? Yes?



Well, they achieved global success by targeting outdoor enthusiasts who value high-quality, environmentally-friendly clothing.



Or, what about Nvidia?



Their initial niche was GPUs designed for gamers. And now they have found a bigger niche where they provide AI chips for data centers, with over 40% of their revenue coming from Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Meta.



As an aside, at the time of writing, this niche business is now worth just over $3 trillion, and they are the second-most valuable company in the world.



That puts them just ahead of Apple, who many would argue also deserve to be considered niche.



So, niche most definitely does not mean small. It does mean narrowing your focus so you really zoom in on delivering quality, differentiated services that solve real problems and generate real value for your clients.



And what excites me most about this idea of ‘going niche to thrive’ is that the opportunity to succeed has now been amplified a thousandfold because of the arrival of artificial intelligence and large language models.



These technologies allow us, for the first time, to design and distribute an infinite array of products tailored to solve end-user problems in highly personalized ways.



If you’re wondering where the demand will come from, rest assured. We each have an endless capacity to imagine new problems, and each one, much like fingerprints, will always require a unique solution.



But will big businesses, like JP Morgan, have the wherewithal to use their capital and resources to create hundreds of differentiated brands that cater to every possible human whim?



Or will it be the century for startups, which, like Nerve, leverage the democratization of technology to collectively solve for these infinite use cases?



I don’t know, although I do have my hopes and suspicions.



Ultimately, whether AI drives huge consolidation or mass fragmentation, it is clear that in both cases, the spoils will go to those that move away from second-rate generic offerings to instead focus on niche services that solve our unique problems at scale. As business leaders, it has never been more critical to find our niche. So, I’m going to double down on finding mine. Have you found yours?

Marketing segmentation

Expert-Speak: ‘It Has Never Been More Critical To Find Our Niche’

The great poet William Butler Yeats once said, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Yeats’ words could be viewed through the lens of societal impact – the impact of education on the world around us.



Necessary in this pursuit are multilateral relationships that strengthen development – locally, regionally and beyond. In Africa, the value of collaboration in this regard is immense. This is because these collaborations enable the sharing of resources, knowledge, and best practices, facilitating comprehensive growth and allowing us to collectively address common challenges.



Now, more than ever, we are realizing the role universities play in societies beyond the mandate of higher education. We are vessels for societal impact, and our scope is increasingly broadening and pushing our gaze outward. As we realize this vision, fostering collaboration among universities in the region and beyond is crucial. Universities need to provide guidance on moral, political and social issues. 



This is what I refer to as societal impact. This concept represents the effect of our research and work in the real world. It represents a shift beyond academia to the economy, society, culture and beyond. The emergence of an ‘engaged university’ represents a sphere where institutions actively contribute to societal development and address regional challenges. In this regard, it is wholly necessary for us to develop peer-led networks that significantly contribute to development.



Times Higher Education’s Chief Knowledge Officer Phil Baty in a report on university-industry collaboration writes: “Universities cannot fulfil their limitless potential without collaboration – collaboration between institutions, with industry and across borders.”



The very notion of collaboration needs to extend beyond higher education institutes. The Dowling Review of Business-University Research Collaborations suggests that strategic business-university research collaborations entail a range of benefits and allow challenges to be addressed by research questions that have tangible applications. 



Through these collaborations, researchers can have a tangible impact while improving their arsenal of skills. For industry, this collaboration allows for new techniques or technologies to emerge and extends innovation and expertise. As this thought suggests, there is great value in collaborating with industry.



Similarly, in a university and industry collaboration study, Othman and Omar assert, “Even though universities are known to pursue fundamental research as well as educating the people, they may not provide ready-made workers that are highly competent and capable of performing in any conditions.



However, universities do have the capacity and also capabilities to ensure that the workers capabilities are tailored to the needs of the industry.”



Indeed, as these ideas demonstrate, universities have a mandate that extends beyond their own walls – we have a responsibility to society to provide answers. The impact we can make together is significant. Establishing joint research and design (R&amp;D) projects between industry and research institutions in both countries can facilitate technology transfer and knowledge exchange and promote innovation in mutual areas of interest – particularly related to areas of sustainable development. Collaborating on skills development initiatives can address workforce needs and promote capacity building, particularly across borders. 



The economist Ricardo Hausmann argues that this is how the working population gains ‘know-how’, which he defines as a combination of implicit knowledge and experience. This knowledge transfer alongside capacity building initiatives speaks directly to inclusive economic growth and job creation. Hausmann’s thesis suggests that there is much more to be gained by international knowledge transfer, especially as countries such as South Africa look to ‘leapfrog’. 



Related to my previous point, facilitating the transfer of technology from research institutions to industry can also stimulate innovation and economic growth. Supporting entrepreneurship and startup incubation can spur economic development and job creation. Collaborative initiatives, such as accelerator programs or venture capital funds, can provide resources and mentorship to aspiring entrepreneurs in both countries. 



As Hausmann suggests, there is much more to be gained by widening these collaborations beyond borders. In the pursuit of societal impact, cooperation and mutual understanding creates a space where diverse perspectives converge, where innovative ideas are nurtured, and where the seeds of future collaborations are sown. 



As the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres once said, “I am deeply convinced that there is no other way to deal with global challenges than with global responses and organized in a multilateral way.” If this indeed is now our mandate as universities, then we must both offer and welcome collaboration – particularly within the continent as we seek to address many of our common challenges. This is how the very notion of the ‘engaged university’ emerges.

Networking people  with globe

EXPERT-SPEAK: Beyond Academia – The Societal Impact Of Multilateral Educational Collaborations

The success of African athletes across multiple sports in the last decade has shone a spotlight on the potential of the continent for excellence. The commercial case is also clear.



Africa is set for a sporting boom in the next decade that can be a significant driver of economic growth and social change, with many involved in sports from outside the continent starting to realize it as fertile ground for opportunities. 



With a young and increasingly connected population, Africa is currently underutilized in the global sports market according to several experts, but that may be about to change.



The continent achieved an annual growth in the sports business of 2.8% in the last three-five years, but this is ex- pected to accelerate to 8% in the next three to five, with only the Middle East (13.5%) and North America (9.5%) having better prospects, according to PricewaterhouseC- oopers’ most recent Global Sports Survey.



Ricardo Bernard is partner at American law firm Aker- man LLP and has advised on numerous deals in Africa’s sports industry, including Omega Sports Holding’s recent investments in an NBA Africa franchise and Racing Club d’Abidjan, a football club in Côte d’Ivoire.



“There has been a boom of sports as an asset class in Africa,” Bernard tells FORBES AFRICA. “And I think- that is going to continue across multiple sports and across multiple verticals.



“Whether that’s rugby in South Africa and Kenya, foot- ball in West Africa or even motorsports, there is going to be an incredible demand. But also, for real estate investors, there’s going to be an opportunity to provide the assets to allow those teams and sports to flourish.”



Investment in sports teams globally is on the up, but if stakeholders want to acquire a football club in England or Spain, or a rugby team in France, the figures to do so can be eye-watering.



Bernard believes Africa can provide investment in professional sports franchises for a fraction of the cost, but which can create attractive returns.



“A lot of that money is now searching for assets in Africa,” he says. “This has been helped tremendously by the NBA starting its Basketball Africa League.



“If we look into the future over the next five to 10 years, there’s a question as to what is going to be the return opportunity? I think some of that is going to be in football because there is a proven model of training and developing players and selling them to larger leagues (for profit).



“So, in some cases, you don’t need the team that you’re purchasing to have success insofar as that team is devel- oping players who are desired by larger clubs.



“What I’ve seen in the last five years is that there’s been an emphasis on professionalizing the teams that are already in existence, in the sense that this team exists, but what’s the business model for growth? What’s the business model for developing players? What’s the business model for commercializing what you have?”



Bernard adds the success of African athletes across multiple sports in the last decade has also shone a spotlight on the potential of the continent for excellence.



“There are sports assets that are undervalued and underdeveloped. So, the outsized returns that people are seeking become a bit more real, where they can see that if they invest a little bit in player development and infrastructure development, they can start really moving forward the asset that they are purchasing.



“There is also the success of the African athlete that has shone a light on sports in Africa a lot more than perhaps it did 10 years ago.”



Bernard adds that there remain some hurdles for acquiring sports franchises on the continent, many of which are not owned by individuals. 



“Football or basketball teams are often owned by the municipality, or run as a social organization for police- men, firemen, and so on,” he says. “And so how do you privatize an institution like that, which is not privately owned in a way that they are in the U.S.?



“The commercial case is clear in most instances, but what isn’t clear is the regulatory issues that may surround privatizing some of those sports assets.”


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2166136572.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63164" style="width:576px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2166136572.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2166136572-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GettyImages-2166136572-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Siya Kolisi of the Springboks at The Rugby Championship match between Australia Wallabies and South Africa. (Photo by Matt Roberts/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure></div>


Tony Simpson, Sports and Entertainment Lead at management consulting firm Oliver Wyman and Paul Calvey, who leads the company’s South African office, recently authored a report that suggests Africans will invest more of their own money in sports in the coming years.



“Africa is also one of the world’s fastest-growing regions in terms of economics and urbanization,” they said. “Sports spending is linked to macroeconomic development stages, and so we anticipate that the amount of disposable income spent on sports will accelerate, resulting in sports spending growing faster than incomes.



“There is a lot of room for growth too. Our data estimates that the current sports market in Africa is worth more than $12 billion but could reach over $20 billion by 2035.”



Masai Ujiri, a former NBA champion and current president of the Toronto Raptors basketball team, is already investing in Africa through his non-profit Giants of Africa foundation.



“Sports is the next big thing in Africa,” he said. “We should be supporting teams in Africa, that should be our vision.”



He recently suggested sport is the best vehicle for creating jobs and improving the lives of young people on the continent, and has backed an urban development project in Kigali, Rwanda, that is billed as a “social, cultural and sports hub”. “This project shows that sports can act as a catalyst for neighborhoods and for nations – jobs, businesses, and whole economies can benefit from the presence of these spaces,” Ujiri said.



In southern Africa, COSAFA is an example of an organization that has seen rapid growth in its tournaments through the funding of FIFA and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), as well as strong governance and the embracing of technology and innovation.



A decade ago, the organization was unable to host tournaments due to a lack of funding, but through grants, the increase in sponsorship and strategic partnerships, in 2024, the plan is to host a minimum of eight across the region from Under-15 level up to the senior age group, for both men and women.



“Our success has been built on the development of the right infrastructure within the organization and using our funding as efficiently and effectively as possible,” says COSAFA Executive Director Sue Destombes.



“We cannot host tournaments without our commercial partners but they see a tangible return on their investment, whether it be corporate sponsors or host cities. Through our innovation in the media space, we are able to deliver our tournaments to a global audience, and this makes them more attractive to current and potential partners.” The message from everyone, inside and outside the continent, is that African sport is open for business, and braced for a boom.

Fenerbahce v Galatasaray – Turkish Super League

Africa’s Sporting Boom: Spotlight On The Continent’s Potential

Spatial computing isn’t here just yet but it’s coming and we need to be prepared. Globally-reputed tech futurist, Cathy Hackl, tells us more in an exclusive interview about the new hardware. 



The first time most people heard the term ‘spatial computing’ was when Apple unveiled its Vision Pro headset. With a hefty price tag and limited availability, this futuristic piece of technology quickly got everyone talking. Who would buy an Apple Vision Pro? Is it not just another virtual reality (VR) headset?


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="alignleft size-full is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="155" height="215" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Untitled-1.png" alt="" class="wp-image-63153" style="width:195px;height:auto"/><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cathy Hackl</figcaption></figure></div>


“Most people don’t understand what spatial computing is,” says Cathy Hackl, a tech futurist and author who is often referred to as the ‘Godmother of the Metaverse’. “It is not one piece of hardware or one single technology.” Hackl explains that spatial computing isn’t VR or augmented reality (AR), it’s the future. “We are seeing an expansion of computing and an evolution of the web happening side-by-side. The convergence of all of these emerging technologies happening at the same time? That’s spatial computing.”



The computing evolution



Computing has already gone through an evolution so the fact that there’s something new shouldn’t come as a sur- prise. First, there were big, expensive mainframe com- puters that most people didn’t have access to. This was followed by the personal computer, a desktop that sat at your home or work.



“It was the first time that many of us engaged with a computer,” says Hackl. What followed next was mobile computing. Portable laptops and smartphones “and we now have a supercomputer in our hands that we don’t go anywhere without”, she adds. “What we’re starting to see now are other kinds of devices like facial computers, AI companions, smart glasses… but at the same time, the web is evolving. There was first the worldwide web which was followed by the mobile web and now we’re going into the spatial web – the metaverse.”



When you combine these three elements – advanced computing, spatial internet and new hardware being created – what you come out with is spatial computing. “It’s a 3D-centric form of computing that at its core uses AI computer vision, extended reality and a multitude of technologies to start to blend virtual content and experi- ences into someone’s experience of the physical world,” Hackl says, adding that spatial computing will not only alter human-to-human communication but also human- to-computer interaction.



And you can see this shift starting to happen with large language models (LLMs) and generative artificial intelligence (genAI). “For many years we have been adapting to technology but this time, it’s technology starting to adapt to us,” she says. “Spatial computing will result in new interfaces, software, hardware, data types and levels of connectivity. It’s not simply VR or the Vision Pro – that’s re- ductive and limiting. 



A new interface



Hackl anticipates that in the next 12 to 18 months, we’re going to see new hardware thrown at us – attempts at new form factors, new ways for people to interface with technology. She says that there will be big advancements in audio and smart glasses and although the mobile phone isn’t going anywhere just yet, there is a new form factor coming.



There are already companies like Magic Leap that are focusing on building spatial computing devices for the enterprise. Partnering with a mining company, they used their Magic Leap 2 headset as a worker training tool, overlaying key data into the physical world for immer- sive, real-time guidance. “With spatial computing, the physical world becomes the interface and that in itself is revolutionary,” says Hackl. “I think, in general, people are ill-prepared for what’s about to come.”



What’s next, says Hackl, is that we’ll be able to access data through spatial computing devices. “Accessing that data layer will be a huge step in human computer inter- action and it’s going to allow for more robots and autono- mous vehicles,” she says. AI plays a crucial role in this because in order to make use of big data, information has to be processed in real-time. This is how robots navigate the physical world; they use spatial intelligence and large action models (LAMs). The difference between a LLM and a LAM is that LAMs go beyond language by under- standing user intentions. LAMs can perform complex tasks through direct interactions with various applica- tions and systems.



Convergence, not AI



Although Hackl insists that spatial computing is still years away, we need to be ready for its impact. The line between the physical and virtual world has already starting to disap- pear if you take into account what people are spending their money on. For the generation coming up, virtual assets (like buying Robux, Roblox’ in-game currency) already have more value than physical assets. To reach this demographic, companies like Walmart have created entire worlds inside Roblox where an item purchased in-store will have a digital twin inside the game. Hackl, who was Walmart’s metaverse advisor in-residence, helped them with this project: “They’re starting to think about this new customer who wants to consume content as well as products and services.”



To prepare for spatial computing, Hackl advises that businesses don’t buy a hundred Apple Vision Pros. While it is what she calls an ‘early’ spatial computer, the headset will evolve and other technology brands will follow. “A couple of decades ago AI was in this evolu- tionary phase and now it’s revolutionary. Spatial com- puting is now evolutionary but it will be revolutionary,” says Hackl. “AI seems to be the word of the year but I think it should be convergence because that’s what we’re truly seeing – a convergence of all of these incred- ible technologies.”

metaverse

The Computers Of The Future And Insights From The ‘Godmother Of The Metaverse’

In an exclusive interview, Rulani Mokwena, the brand-new 37-year-old coach of the Wydad Casablanca club in Morocco, opens up about his early days and the difficulties and tragedies that shaped him to become one of South Africa’s most elite football stars.



A chance occurrence at the age of 14 thrust Rulani Mokwena into coaching but in truth the new Wydad Casablanca tactician w s born into football and created arguably the greatest team in the history of the South African game at Mamelodi Sundowns.



Mokwena is just 37, considered young for a topflight coach, but has already achieved more than most of his peers and is only getting started in a career that appears to have no ceiling, having recently signed with Moroccan giants Wydad.



He comes from South African football royalty, his father Julius and grandfather Eric are considered Orlando Pirates legends, while his uncle Jomo played at New York Cosmos with Pele in the 1970s and is among the finest footballers the country has produced.



The game is in his blood and many happy years spent as a child watching his family play shaped him.



“My first memory is when I was in the changeroom at Orlando Stadium, (his cousin) Bamuza Sono was there. He was playing with a soccer ball, but I was rewriting what the coach was saying on the blackboard in the room,” Mokwena tells FORBES AFRICA.



That moment proved prophetic, Bamuza would go on to become an accomplished player with Jomo Cosmos, and Mokwena among the country’s elite coaches. Their roles in life had already seemingly been assigned.



“I have no hobbies outside of the game, for me it is a calling. I have served the game and given my life to it. I sacrificed so much of my childhood because I started coaching at the age of 14. I never cheated the game to get to where I am.”



Much of coaching is about leadership and Mokwena admits he was “extremely inquisitive” as a child, and was one of the first Black prefects at Rand Park High School in Johannesburg. “As a kid I had a lot of discipline, I have always been reclusive and a deep thinker,” he says. “My mother would tell me, ‘there are things (in life) you must fear’, but I never had that mentality. “At my Matric farewell, I remember a teacher telling my mother, ‘your son has surpassed our expectations in terms of who he arrived (at the school) as and who he is leaving as’. “They told her she should push me to study to be a doctor or a lawyer because it would be a waste if I did anything other than that. But I had already set my mind on sport science and becoming a football coach.



“I was 18 when I left high school but had already been a coach for four years.”



How he fell into coaching is a story of chance, though in likelihood, with his personality and drive, he would have ended up in the dugout at some point anyway.


<div class="wp-block-image">
<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A0701-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63147" style="width:574px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A0701-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A0701-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A0701-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A0701-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A0701-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">PHOTOS BY POGISO MOSOTHOANE/MAMELODI SUNDOWNS</figcaption></figure></div>


“I was the captain of the Under-17 team for a club called Fulham in Dube in Orlando West. I would walk from my house to the coach’s house to collect the balls and training equipment. That was my job as captain.



“On this occasion, when I got to training, I saw there was a group of players from the Under-12 squad that were just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the coach to arrive. Their coach also happened to be my coach too.



“I put on my boots and started taking the training session. I asked them to jog around and did some drills, and then I did the same for my team later on.



“Little did I know he (the coach) had got a new job and it was his first day. From then on, I became coach of the Under-12s. It was fate, but that is where the whole thing took off.”



Mokwena learned his trade in the junior set up at Platinum Stars, and later as an assistant coach at Sundowns and Pirates. He also managed to spend some time at English Premier League club Liverpool, observing their vaunted manager Jürgen Klopp. He picked up many small lessons on modern coaching and overseeing big squads of players who all expect to start every week.



“Klopp said to me, ‘know just enough as a head coach not to be bulls**ted, so that people don’t pull wool over your eyes’,” Mokwena says. “I try to invest my time in different areas.



“In training sessions, I have had the players wear GoPro cameras so that I can see what they see. I put certain demands on them, and I see whether they think about the rules and the action they have to take.



“You get to see how many scans (of the pitch) certain players do in a period of time. A player like (Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder) Rivaldo Coetzee scans four or five times in 15 to 20 seconds before he receives the ball. That allows him to make the right decision almost every single time.



“The best players in the world don’t think about their actions, their brain just executes, because they have done these things over and over. The motor mechanics in the brain have been developed. They can comfortably perform even the most difficult tasks.”



Mokwena believes technology will play a huge role in the future of the game, and unless coaches are up to speed, they will get left behind.



“I understand where society is going, and how AI (artificial intelligence) is going to have a major influence in the future.



“If you don’t give yourself a skill that is beyond replication from an AI perspective, then you become redundant. Society is going to say, ‘how can we do things better, more efficiently and more effectively with zero error’. And that is going to happen in football.”



Among the many successes he has enjoyed, Mokwena has also faced difficulties and tragedies that have shaped him. 



He left a dream job as Pirates head coach after 14 games in late 2019 and then had a single match in charge of Chippa United Football Club before Covid-19 brought a halt to the domestic league.



Those were blows, but worse was to follow for him in a harrowing spell in his career, including the death of his grandmother and then later, Sundowns defender, Motjeka Madisha, in a horrific car accident.



“My grandmother was the one that raised me and I owe so much of who I am to her,” he said. “Then a couple of months after that, I lost Motjeka, who I had brought to Sundowns and we had this father-son relationship.



“Seeing him in that vehicle was horrific… But seeing that also made me a little bit more fearless and I was already a person not afraid to take risks.”



“From a psychological and spiritual base, I don’t thi k I’ve overcome that period. I have not given myself the time to sit back and reflect on it, because so many trag c things happened in that space of seven months that I’ve never spoken about. I’ve not yet dealt with all the trauma.”



Mokwena led Sundowns to a record seventh South Af rican league title in a row in the 2023-24 season, as well the inaugural African Football League title, before he left the club by mutual consent in July.



Managing the many personalities, some older than him, in a squad where everybody is at the very top of the game, was challenging, he admits.


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<figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A4530-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-63148" style="width:610px;height:auto" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A4530-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A4530-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A4530-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A4530-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/7L0A4530-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">PHOTOS BY POGISO MOSOTHOANE/MAMELODI SUNDOWNS</figcaption></figure></div>


“It is probably the area where I was challenged the most at Sundowns but is one of the most important roles of a coach in modern football.



“I knew the players’ families, the grandmother, the mother, their wives, their children. It is part of my coaching arsenal that I have worked on, building human relationships.



“You manage players as human beings, because they are the ones responsible for the team performance and helping you as the coach achieve the results and the objectives that you set out.”



Mokwena admits the fact he did not have a professional playing career does put him under more scrutiny.



“I have got to work four times as hard as some coachesm because of my handicap. I didn’t play professional football and I know how the world reacts to that.



&#8220;Coaches who did not play the game at a professional level have got very little to fall back on when they fail, because they don’t have a reputation of having made people happy in their playing days.”



It is unlikely there are many coaches as meticulous in their preparation as Mokwena, who had the same routine for almost 60 matches in the 2023-24 season.



“I start preparing for a game with the previous match and I watch it three times. The first time I ask myself, ‘would I enjoy this as a spectator?’ The second time I think ‘if I was the coach of the opposition, what would I learn from it, what are the strengths and weaknesses of my team’?



“The third time I watch for corrections, I analyze and make notes for a debrief with every player, where we discuss the performance.



“Then I watch a minimum of three to five games of the opponent to understand how they play. Ahead of the (2024) Nedbank Cup final, I watched 12 games of (opponents) Pirates.



“It is the only way to manage a big club, the standards have got to be very, very high. But the first person to set standards is the coach, I’ve got to invest more (time), show motivation and put pressure on myself.



“If I am not prepared to ask that of myself, I should not ask the players to do more than I do.”



Mokwena now begins a new chapter in North Africa, following in the footsteps of his mentor Pitso Mosimane, who left Sundowns for Egypt’s Al Ahly in 2020.



“One wise guy said to me, ‘go where you’re loved’. I feel loved and appreciated by the Wydad fans, and that’s why I’m here,” Mokwena said.



“Who says no to a club like Wydad? It’s impossible. The offer was too good to refuse. I’m happy to be here.”

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The New Wydad Football Coach On His Story Of Chance, Discipline And Success

Refiloe Jane’s rise from unknown schoolgirl spotted at a talent competition to leading her country at a FIFA Women’s World Cup should serve as an inspiration to those who believe in the impossible dream.



Jane has become one of the most iconic players in the Banyana Banyana side over the last decade, helping them become African champions and appearing at two Olympic Games and two Women’s World Cups.



No other player can match that success, but it is testament to her longevity and continued excellence that she remains a key part of the national set-up, and at the age of 32, feels she still has much more to give.



The midfielder was singled out at the Gauteng Future Champions Talent Identification Programme while a Grade 11 pupil at Emshukantambo Secondary School in Pimville, Soweto, and set on the road to stardom.



“Winning the Gauteng Future Champions really kick-started my career and gave me so much confidence to believe that I can play for a top local side and even internationally,” Jane tells FORBES AFRICA.



“The time I spent training with Manchester City and Everton (as a result of winning the Gauteng Future Champions) also opened my eyes up to what is required to be a professional player and I made sure that I put into practice what I learned there.



“When my development started, I was playing a long time with boys until the age of 14. When I was there training with those teams (in England), I saw there is more to football than what I was experiencing at home.



&#8220;It changed my life when I got there. I came back and said I would take my football seriously and invest a lot in it.”



Jane soon got a contract at home with an emerging Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies side, who were not yet the force they are today, but an ambitious club desperate to change the narrative around women’s football.



They found a willing player in Jane desperate for success, and she found a club to give her that platform.



“After joining Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies in late 2010, I put my head down and said to myself that I am going to give everything I have to try and make it into the Banyana Banyana squad. Thankfully, that hard work has paid off.”



She was included in Banyana’s squad for the 2012 Olympic Games at the age of 19, and repeated that feat in 2016 when she traveled to Brazil with the team for the Rio de Janeiro games.



Other players have been and gone, but through it all, Jane has been a constant and someone the team relies on to bring balance to the midfield.



“The team (Banyana Banyana) has improved very well, we have quite a number of players who have gone overseas and are still overseas, I think the (2019) World Cup played a huge role in the growth of women’s football in our country.”



Jane got her big break in professional football when she was signed to a short-term contract with Australian side Canberra United, heading Down Under with compatriot Rhoda Mulaudzi.



But after impressing at the World Cup in France in 2019, bigger things were on the horizon and she was signed by top Italian club AC Milan.



She spent three seasons there before moving to fellow Serie A team Sassuolo, where she featured in 29 games over two seasons, her second campaign cut short by a serious long-term injury sustained at the 2023 World Cup.



She has since left Sassuolo and is looking forward to a fresh challenge, and suggests later on she will perhaps take up the coaching reins.



&#8220;I do have ambitions of giving back to the game in the future, all that experience I have gained overseas, I want to come back home one day and plough back. The game has done so much for me and given me so much,” Jane said.



&#8220;I want to teach, to coach, to give back in any way to the youngsters who see themselves playing the game. I am looking forward to doing that after my playing days.”

Football – 2019 COSAFA Women Championship – Final – Zambia v South Africa – Isaac Wolfson Stadium

‘Want To Come Back Home One Day And Plough Back’: The 32-Year-Old South African Football Star With A New Goal

Ghana and the Ivory Coast contribute a big chunk of the world’s chocolate. Yet, farmers here only earn around $1 a day. We profile entrepreneurs and chocolatiers determined to make sure the practice of cultivating cocoa prevails and it’s a sweet deal for the producers too.



British author Roald Dahl tapped into every chocoholic’s imagination when creating Willy Wonka’s bizarre chocolate factory in his 1964 children’s novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Although the signature chocolate river may have been pure fantasy, Africa’s cocoa industry is being molded by real-life chocolate-makers who are making it their mission to demonstrate why the continent deserves a golden ticket.



“I’ve never seen anyone miserable while tasting chocolate. Even if you are miserable, you take a bite of chocolate and it boosts your mood. It makes people joyful. That’s part of its mystery and beauty,” believes Kimberly Addison, who, along with her sister Priscilla, started Ghana’s ’57 Chocolate in 2016. 



The name of the Accra-based bean-to-bar company is inspired by the year in which the country gained independence and the spirit of developing a nation by manufacturing high-quality products.



Having spent her formative years in Switzerland’s second-most populous city, Geneva, Addison was accustomed to giving Swiss chocolate as gifts when visiting friends and family in the United States (U.S.), Senegal, and Ghana.



“I was living in the chocolate nation of the world — or so I thought.”



Fulfilling her life-long dream of moving back to Ghana prompted her friends to take her on a farewell outing to a chocolate factory two weeks before her departure. It was during that tour that the seed of Addison’s life’s purpose began to cultivate.



“They had a display of where they sourced their cocoa beans from, and lo and behold, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana were the two largest displays. I asked myself, ‘why on earth have I been taking Swiss chocolate everywhere I travel when the main ingredient comes from the continent of Africa? I should be bringing Ghanaian chocolate to Switzerland’.”



The only problem – Ghanaian chocolate didn’t really exist.



Although Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are responsible for growing around 70% of the world’s cocoa beans, the raw material is most often exported to chocolate-producing countries in Europe and the U.S.



The lack of a locally-produced chocolate bar on the supermarket shelves of Côte d’Ivoire is what influenced Axel Emmanuel Gbaou to create his own. Not exactly the typical path for a banker with a master’s degree in taxation.



“There was no chocolate-maker in my country, even though we produce more than 2 million [metric] tonnes of cocoa per year. So, I decided to leave my job at the bank and rise to the challenge.”



Sourcing beans from Côte d’Ivoire’s seven cocoa farming regions, Gbaou has created mineral-rich, earthy blends that have won international awards, dispelling the myth that African-produced chocolate is not as good as that from global corporations like Nestlé and Mars.



“If you get good quality raw materials, half your job is already done,” says Kyle Hickman, head chocolatier at AFRIKOA in Cape Town, South Africa. The hand-crafted brand uses heirloom beans from Tanzania that are purchased from farmers through direct trade.



“Chocolate has to be refined to a point that it’s really smooth, down to 20 microns or less, so that our tongue cannot pick up any texture. It then goes through a process called conching where we get rid of a lot of the volatile notes, because chocolate can be very acidic if it’s not processed properly.”



The chocolate is then tempered to allow the fat crystals to set, and other elements like cocoa butter; sugar; milk powder; and flavorings are added in. South African rooibos tea and Rwandan coffee can be found amidst AFRIKOA’s wares, while ’57’s collection features flavors like hibiscus and moringa.



“It’s so easy to just break a bar, pop a piece in your mouth and enjoy it because chocolate is a food that brings people together and makes you smile, but I never in a thousand years knew how hard it is to make,” admits Addison who learned the process by spending a month with a chocolate-making couple in England before returning to Accra to teach others.



“Isn’t it ironic that I had to go outside of the continent to get training in chocolate-making, only to bring it back? Ghana is the second-largest producer of cocoa, yet we don’t really have any formal schools or technical training centers on how to work with this major resource of ours.&#8221;



A third of the globe’s cocoa farmers reside in parts of West Africa, though cocoa is not something that ever found a place in the local diet. The majority of cocoa growers have never even seen a piece of chocolate, let alone taken a bite.



“Cocoa was introduced during the colonial period and was cultivated from the beginning to be exported,” explains Michael E. Odijie, a research associate at University College London. “It was not introduced as a food crop that later became a cash crop; it was introduced as a cash crop right away. People cultivating cocoa in the late 19th century had no idea what the use for this crop was, but they understood that after harvest, there was always somebody willing to buy it.”



Despite being integral to the chocolate production process, farmers rarely receive their due. A shortfall in the most recent harvest, thanks to various factors such as climate change, diseased trees, and lack of investment, have resulted in cocoa prices soaring from $2.60 per kilogram at the beginning of 2023 to around $9.80 in July 2024. Yet, farmers are still only earning around $1 a day.



“There is a power imbalance between cocoa farmers at one end of the value chain and multinationals at the other end,” Odijie notes. “Farmers don’t have control over price which is basically set by demand and supply. A cocoa farmer in a village in Ghana does not have the capital, the information, the research to properly negotiate with the other end of the value chain.”


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The lack of feasible income, in some cases, results in an inability to pay workers, thus leading farmers to resort to child labor.



“Child labor is defined by the International Labour Organization as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to their physical and mental development. This can include carrying heavy loads, using sharp tools like machetes to harvest the cocoa, or when the work interferes with the child’s schooling,” explains the Communications Director of the International Cocoa Initiative, Katie Bird.



The role of the NPO is to work with farmers, civil society organizations, and policymakers to tackle the issue of child labor and trafficking in West Africa where around 1.5 million children are reportedly affected. Raising awareness, improving access to quality education, building classrooms, providing books and uniforms, cash injections, and focusing on gender equality are some of the means the initiative has employed to combat the issue.



Bird notes: “Advancing women’s economic empowerment, helping them to participate in household decision-making can be very useful. There is usually more investment into the children’s schooling when the women have more of a say in the household decision-making.”



While the men work the field, Gbaou has taken it upon himself to share skills with the wives, mothers, and daughters of the communities, so they, too, may have a hand in shaping their future. “I have trained more than 2,000 women throughout Africa,” he reveals. “In the past, they did not know what to do with the beans, but now some make chocolate spread that they can sell to the children in the village. I train them how to make things with cocoa butter like soap and lipstick. It brings them some economic freedom.”



Addison agrees: “We’ve learned that the best investment one can make is in another human being, so our goal is that whoever comes through our door at ’57 must leave here better than they came.”



It is also about ensuring that the practice of cultivating cocoa prevails.



“They often say that the next generation of cocoa farmers don’t exist. And honestly, sometimes I even want to say that the next generation of farmers in general don’t exist. So now the challenge is how do we make farming interesting for young people?”



Much like its cocoa beans, the Ghanaian chocolatier hopes that Africans will remain on the continent.



“Africa shouldn’t be a place that we leave; it should be a place where people want to come to. Yes, it has its issues, its challenges, but where there are problems there are opportunities to begin to make changes. There’s no need to seek greener pastures elsewhere, we can create our own here.”



Choc-ful of potential, Africa is no longer simply clocking in to the chocolate factory — it’s building its own and inviting the world inside for a taste.

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Africa’s Chocolate Industry: Bean There Done That?

Cover-story

IN THE SPOTLIGHT: The Continent On Celluloid

Do You Prefer AIOr The Personal Touch? Some Insights On How Africa’s Hotel Sector Is Set To Welcome A New Era Of Hospitality.



Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the economic landscape and expected to boost global GDP by trillions of dollars in the coming years. It is one of the most significant commercial opportunities in the world. But how will it play out in the hospitality and tourism industry?



According to HotelTechReport’s State of Hotel Guest Technology Report 2024, 70% of the 400 hotel guests they surveyed said they still prefer the human touch when managing complex queries and 65% would like the technology in their hotel to be more advanced than what they have at home.



It’s a knife edge – on one hand, people are the heart of hospitality, on the other, ignoring the value of AI can potentially impact a hotel’s future. If a hotel can’t offer personalization, experience enhancement, chatbot support and AI-curated services, will it be left behind? Or will this make it an oasis where the lack of technology is the value-added service, whilst AI runs in the background, smoothing over the bumps and easing guests into their experiences?



Some hotels have already stepped into technology with immersive experiences and digital room replicas. “We launched our first use of AI for our meeting experiences called Meetings Unbound,” says Stephanie AbouJaoude, Senior Area Director of Marketing &amp; Communications – Middle East, Africa, Turkey &amp; Mediterranean at the Radisson Hotel Group. “We’ve leveraged AI technology to offer these creative and visual meeting experiences for our delegates.”



This is very much in line with what is being described as the ‘era of hospitality’ where personalization, engagement, human connections, and the co-creation of experiences are becoming the standards against which hospitality is measured.



There is a need for data, insights, and emergent technologies to provide the sector with the tools they need to ensure they meet the expectations of an increasingly discerning traveler.



“You have to ensure the guests you’re attracting are delivered what they’re expecting. Personalized experiences are absolutely essential, everyone wants that Instagram image, that experience,” says Neil Hughes, Managing Director, Providence Hotels, who also points out that while he does use a digital ecosystem to connect with customers, the use of AI remains at the base level. “I think people need human interaction. AI is cold – no matter how you load it with chatbots and virtual assistance, you will never achieve the personal level you can with a human on the phone. AI is valuable and absolutely can support personalization, but we’re not at a level where we will turn an AI engine on and it can handle everything from campaigns to customer service.”



A warm greeting and shining eyes.



Certainly, this is what most people would prefer rather than being caught up in a tangle of technology which is invariably frustrating and complex. Is AI ready to use the technology?



“The truth is AI is in use by the hospitality sector in Africa, and it is being used in really interesting ways,” says Chris Godenir, General Manager of Dream Hotels’ Peninsula All-Suite Hotel in Cape Town, South Africa. “We’re using it extensively in our back-end to manage check-ins, applications, arrival emails, questionnaires, WhatsApp conversations – we always provide people with the option to turn to a human, but we use the AI to the best of our ability in our business.” While AI is not comprehensively in use by hotels across the continent, it’s not an unknown entity. As Jerry Mabena, CEO: Motsamayi Tourism Group, says: “There are two types of guests in Africa – the more established, older market and the younger generation looking for unique opportunities. The latter is where I see AI playing a big role, engaging with this technology-savvy market and curating experiences for them. AI allows us to start moving into a space where we can draw in a wider number of people by creating iconic, African experiences.”



He adds that people are also now traveling for a purpose, seeking out experiences that allow them to touch the earth lightly and AI can help the industry prioritize and meet these expectations more effectively. However, there is a need to look ahead at how AI may negatively impact the sector. It’s not a plug and play solution and it brings with it a host of risks – some expected and some unexpected.



As Noor Kapdi, Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson Africa for law firm Dentons, concludes: “The AI industry isn’t regulated in Africa, it’s hardly regulated in other parts of the world, and this creates both opportunity and risk. There’s the ethics of it – if we know how people sleep, how they like their coffee in the morning, these are deeply personal insights and managing this privacy is challenging. The only way it will be measured is through the ethical standards of each country, and we have yet to see how AI will manifest in the hospitality industry or what the consequences will be.”



AI can ease the burden of back-end admin, smooth over the wrinkles in customer engagement, simplify customer onboarding and reimagine their experiences, but it is still so new, untested, and fresh that hotels stepping forward into its potential should approach it with a balance of caution and innovation. It is not a technology leaving Africa in its dust – the sector is very much aware of what AI can do. Perhaps, instead, it is Africa that would like it to remain in the dust, for just a few more spectacular sunsets.

Smart Robot Assistant On Reception

Hospitable Tech? Africa’s Hotel Sector And AI-Based Hospitality

Mpumelelo Mhlongo went into the T44 100-meters final at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games filled with self-belief having claimed the World Championship title in the last two years, and he delivered a first gold medal for South Africa.



Medals for Africa as a continent have been hard to come by at the Games so far with Namibia’s Lahja Ishitile taking gold in the women’s T11 400-m and Algeria leading the way with two golds and two bronze.



But the sprint events are always marquee and the 30-year-old Mhlongo is a superstar, adding to his already sky-high reputation with Olympic gold.



He lives with constriction ring syndrome and club foot, but despite this, has excelled on the track, and now on the biggest stage available to him.



He won gold in a time of 11.12 seconds, edging Yamel Vives Suares of Cuba (11.20s) to first place.



“I didn&#8217;t execute as well as I could have. I think the whole atmosphere got to me. And almost at 60 meters, I had to wake up and say, ‘hey, I need to finish this race properly’,&#8221; Mhlongo said.



&#8220;I think my coach (Jason Sewanyana) made it simple. He said &#8216;don&#8217;t feel any pressure, it&#8217;s my plan, you just go out and execute. What has happened before doesn&#8217;t mean that the gold is guaranteed for you, but fight for it to the last step’, and that&#8217;s what I did.&#8221;



Mhlongo, who is also a chemical engineering PhD student at the University of Cape Town, felt the support of his family in Paris.



&#8220;With my wife in the stands, my mother for the first time ever, my mother-in-law. Having my family here is everything I could have asked for,&#8221; he said.



Mhlongo may not be done yet, he will also compete in the 200m and the long jump, though in both cases against athletes who are allowed to use prostheses, which will give them an advantage in the competition.



&#8220;We&#8217;ve got huge plans at the very least, two more events. My coach says &#8216;at least one record’. So let me make sure that I make my coach proud.&#8221;

Para Athletics – Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games: Day 4

Fighting To The Last Step: The South African Gold Medalist At The Paralympic Games In Paris

Amid the widespread global support for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there was an underlying concern among economists and financial advisors in the emerging and frontier markets: public sector and donor funds were stalled, if not regressing, and the funding gap to realize the SDGs was incre sing. The challenge was to incentivize and mobilize private capital, reduce risk-return profiles, and avoid conflicts of i terest such as institutions providing commercial financing and managing concessional resources.



In 2002, the European Bank for Reconstructio and Development provided project finance subsidies to multinational funders. Seven years later, a $30 million Clean Technology Fund Renewable Financing Facility was used to finance a 250MW wind project in Mexico. These were early steps in using a mix of public and private capital to support clean energy projects in developing countries.



Today, the term ‘blended finance’ is much more common, as multilateral institutions and donors invest more official development assistance (ODA) in this way.



Using development finance and philanthropic funds to drive private capital flows to emerging and developing markets is an accepted catalyst that helps to bridge the financing gap and contribute to the SDGs.



Blended finance is being used successfully in sectors including renewable energy infrastructure, urban transport, and agriculture. The Global Environment Facility —an independent financial organization established in 1991 comprising representatives from 32 constituencies — is a prime example, using blended finance to scale up financing for renewable energy technologies in developing countries.



South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) exemplifies how blended finance can help renewable projects. The government provided initial support and guarantees to mitigate risks for private investors and international financiers; development finance institutions offered concessional loans and guarantees to cover political/credit risks in this emerging market; and a robust regulatory framework with power purchase agreements ensured predictable investment returns. By blending public de-risking instruments with private capital, the program successfully unlocked renewable energy investment by addressing investor concerns upfront through an enabling policy environment.



Managing the risk



Blended finance clearly depends on public sector support to encourage private investment in emerging markets. However, legal frameworks, stability, and transparency must be addressed; clear laws and policies are essential, while ensuring clarity and accountability in complex financing arrangements. Governments and international institutions are crucial in facilitating this environment.



Blended finance fund recipients acknowledge that, while beneficial in attracting private investment for public projects, there are potential risks. In the worst case scenario, misalignment between the financial objectives of private investors and the social or environmental goals of public or philanthropic funders may lead to reputational damage if investments result in unintended negative social or environmental impacts. Therefore, it is essential to customize ODA by considering the appropriate use of blending in emerging markets.



Solving for the opportunity



Mitigating the risks requires a robust financial ecosystem that fosters public-private dialogue and partnerships, enhanced due diligence, and the involvement of local communities.



Multilateral development banks and international financial institutions can create the right climate for investment, encouraging participation by pooling capital from public, private and philanthropic sources to spread risk. They can also offer risk-sharing instruments such as guarantees or insurance products to protect against political, credit and currency risks, thereby mitigating potential losses and making projects more attractive to investors.



Banks and financial institutions on the ground, with longstanding market expertise, can help promote consensus among stakeholders to establish principles for structuring and allocating blended finance, which can prove valuable.



The private sector can provide technical assistance to strengthen project preparation, build the capacity of local partners, and ensure that projects are developed with sound governance practices and business plans.



Conclusion



Developing countries are still far short of the financing required to achieve SDG Agenda 2030. Leveraging private finance is only part of the solution – getting the finance to where it is most needed is what matters. Blended finance can, and should, play a crucial role in achieving global development goals facilitating large-scale capital mobilization and ensuring that such mobilizations are carried out responsibly and sustainably, ultimately contributing to a more equitable and sustainable global economy.

Sustainable energy circular chart

Expert-Speak: Blended Finance – Bridging The Gap In Emerging Markets In Support Of The SDGs

The time to plan for the sudden influx of aged and dated solar materials is now– Africa can’t afford to become a toxic dumping ground for the e-waste detritus left behind by solar.



Over the past few years, Africa’s corporates and consumers went solar at an unprecedented speed. Statista found that as of the end of 2022, South Africa was in the lead with more than 6 gigawatts followed by Egypt (1.7 gigawatts), Morocco with 858 megawatts, Algeria with 460 megawatts and Senegal at 263 megawatts. The total gigawatts across the continent have increased significantly over the past 10 years from only 331 megawatts in 2011 to 12.6 gigawatts in 2022 – a 16-fold capacity increase. Burkina Faso, Cameroon and Tanzania are currently expected to see the most rapid transitions to clean energy by 2030, while Namibia’s growth is the fourth-fastest in the world as per research group Zero Carbon Analytics’ 2023 report Africa’s Energy Transition: Solar and Wind Fuel Energy Security.



The region is gaining traction. Research from the above report found that deployment of solar energy is the fastest-growing resource on the continent and accounted for 57% of renewable investments between 2010 and 2021. Investments in the off-grid sector were the highest in Africa over a similar 10-year period (2010-2020) at 70% and a value of $1.7 billion. When this level of investment is wedded to the life-span of the technologies used to power solar panels and farms, there’s another question companies and governments should be asking about solar – where’s the bin? If millions of solar panels and batteries are being imported into Africa, with a lifespan of around 20 years, what is being done to ensure that countries investing heavily in solar today are putting the right recycling plans in place?



“Typically, when we speak about solar waste, it includes solar panels, PV panels, inverters, solar PV batteries, rooftop solar frames, ground-based frames, junction boxes and embedded cables,” Mervin Olivier, Eastern Cape Chair at the Institute of Waste Man- agement of Southern Africa, tells FORBES AFRICA. “There’s a lot of solar waste and typically people just talk about the PV panel. As they reach end of life, thousands of panels will need replacing and recycling will become absolutely critical.”



The International Renewable Energy Agency has predicted that by 2050, 78 million metric tons of solar panels will reach the end of their lives. The issue is the toxicity of the materials within solar installations. Solar panels have lead, cadmium, silver, and arsenic that, at certain levels, are quantified as hazardous waste, the batteries used to power solar installations are lithium-ion phos- phate batteries which are flammable, and difficult to contain. The problem is that most solar panels and their detritus are dumped in landfills because there’s no profit in their ethical dismantling and destruction – the few precious metals locked within the e-waste are difficult to extract and their value too low for the effort.



“Solar PV panels contain aluminium and glass which can be re- cycled, but the harmful chemicals in the batteries and the panels are difficult to recycle, which is why a lot of companies in Europe are sending them to countries in Africa, like Ghana, where they strip elements like copper out of the equipment and sell it,” Minnette Le Roux, Head of the Environment Department, Principal Environ- mental Specialist at law and consultancy advisory firm NSDV tells FORBES AFRICA. 



“Then counties in Africa are left sitting with these massive amounts of hazardous waste. Some countries in Africa are part of the Basel Convention preventing the transport of waste but some are not part of the convention and accept the hazardous waste. There are no plants in Africa that actually recycle what’s left of the batteries – this is one of the biggest concerns – and no landfill sites designed to handle this type of waste.”



It’s a sentiment echoed by Ashley du Plooy, CEO at ERA NPC (E-waste Recycling Authority), who adds that countries like Nigeria and Ghana have become major dumping grounds for electronic waste with strips of urban land covered in e-waste that’s being smashed and burned for the extraction of metals. “Quantifying the problem is very difficult,” he says. “Especially since solar waste is new and growing at a pace four times higher than solid municipal waste.”



Solar waste across all its iterations is a growing risk to human and environmental health across Africa. As solar installations reach end of life, particularly over the next few years, there’s a need for innovative startups to step up and help reframe the con- versation for the continent.



One such startup is EWaste Africa and Managing Director Pravashen Naidoo tells FORBES AFRICA: “In the past 12 months, we recycled close to 16,000 solar panels. I think we’re the first in Africa doing this – we haven’t been able to find anyone else doing it and getting the financial value from the process.” EWaste Africa is ISO 14001 compliant with a focus on environmental compli- ance, and one of its facilities is currently commissioning a patented technology for the extraction of rare earth metals and can be used to transform significant quantities of electronic waste.



“Government landfill sites are not designed with the right levels and layers to handle these hazardous materials, and with nearly 17 million installed panels as of the end of 2023, we need to make a plan that works,” says Naidoo. As Olivier concludes: “It’s essential that African countries develop a solar panel end-of-life plan similar to one recently published by Australia. 



More of a focus on enforcement to ensure compliance, and increased consumer pressure holding manufac- turers responsible – and this includes importers and distributors. They need to provide safe transportation of old materials and drive the implementation of a lifecycle methodology with cradle- to-the-grave opportunities.” There is, he says, time to prepare, innovate and implement a responsible plan before the waste tsunami hits. But will people listen?

Author: Forbes Africa

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA