Tag: sustainability

In the nascent era of corporate climate action, carbon mitigation was more tangible and distinctly analogue. Businesses aiming to neutralise emissions would fund projects that planted trees. However, intensifying global climate pressures now demand greater corporate accountability. Consequently, the traditional forestation model is no longer enough.

Across the mobility and mining sectors, tyres play an essential role in enabling economic activity. Yet, at the end of their life, they present one of the industry's most persistent environmental challenges. For decades, the question has remained largely unresolved: how do we responsibly manage the growing volume of end-of-life tyres? The solution must be both scalable and sustainable.

When people picture South Africa’s automotive industry, they still picture a factory floor filled with men in overalls. That image is out of date. Motor Industry Bargaining Council workforce data show that women now account for almost 95,000 employees across the organised automotive retail aftermarket. That represents about 30% of a workforce of nearly 317,000.

Across East Africa, momentum is building around grid digitisation. Smart meters, automation and AI-enabled energy management are increasingly positioned as viable ways to establish efficient, sustainable and resilient energy provision. But there is a fundamental reality that cannot be overlooked - digitisation cannot compensate for gaps in basic infrastructure.

What we wear every day is the result of a global supply chain that few people ever see. That chain often begins far earlier than most realise and increasingly raises questions about the materials used to make our clothes. In many cases, it starts - believe it or not - in a forest plantation. Not in an abstract sense, but quite literally. Wood grown in South African forest plantations is processed into dissolving wood pulp. Producers export that pulp, and manufacturers convert it into fibre elsewhere. They eventually turn that fibre into fabric

For years, many businesses have treated Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) as another compliance requirement that could wait until tomorrow. Tomorrow has arrived. Enforcement under Section 18 of the National Environmental Management Waste Act is now a reality. Organisations that continue to ignore their obligations are exposing themselves to regulatory action, financial penalties and reputational damage.

Imagine this: It’s 7:30 a.m. in Nairobi, and your phone buzzes with an alert from the treasury dashboard. Overnight, a sudden Foreign Exchange (FX) shock in East Africa has threatened to erode your continent-wide supply chain margins by 5 percent. Yet, your factory in Lagos has already executed an automated hedge that caps the risk at 1 percent.

The Middle East conflict continues to destabilise an already volatile global economy. It is driving energy price shocks, inflationary pressure and heightened uncertainty for developing economies, particularly those exposed to energy and currency volatility. In South Africa, economic shockwaves continue to drive up fuel prices, strain energy systems and push the cost of living beyond reach.

Across Africa’s food and feed processing sectors, sustainability is increasingly moving to the centre of operational decision-making. Importantly, this shift is not being driven by environmental commitments alone. Instead, many businesses are driving it through more immediate priorities. These priorities include operational efficiency, profitability, resilience and long-term competitiveness.

South Africa’s office sector has started 2026 on a strong footing. According to the Rode Report for Q4 2025, published by Galetti Corporate Real Estate, the country’s national decentralised office vacancy rate fell year-on-year from 12.5% to 11.7%. Meanwhile, Grade-A office rentals increased by 3.5%. Total rental growth for 2025 averaged around 4%.