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<p>WEF Davos 2024 came to a close with delegates across the globe highlighting challenges impacting the global economy, but also showcasing best solutions and policies to steer trade in a positive direction. This highlights special brings together key voices from WEF as they discuss the AfCFTA.</p>


WEF Davos 2024: Rebuilding Trust: Highlights Special

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<p>This Focus On episode looks at investing in Africa, a continent of 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion under the Africa Continental Free Trade Area deal and how foreign investors are perceiving the continent.</p>


DAVOS 2024: Focus On Financing Africa: Attracting Foreign Investment

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<p>The agenda on today’s Power Table is South Africa’s economy and whether it’s losing its resilience or if the contraction in the third quarter is just a speed bump in its road to recovery. Joining CNBC Africa for this discussion is Carmen Nel, Head of Multi-Asset Strategy, Terebinth Capital and Elna Moolman, Head: SA Macroeconomic Fixed Income &#038; Currency Research, Standard Bank.</p>


The Power Table: State of the South African Economy


<p>As South Africans continue to face the burden of power challenges, the adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) solutions has reached unprecedented levels. While the PV energy solution has emerged as a robust leading technology for commerce, industry, and manufacturing, the financial burdens imposed are significant, especially for SME business owners. This has led to various innovative options emerging, promising access to clean energy.</p>



<p>Commercial and industrial businesses across the spectrum from small to medium enterprises to large corporates find it easier to justify funding these solutions, as they have become a necessity to trade, versus measures taken to contribute to climate matters or just convenience. The immediate arbitrage benefits that solar provides, battery costs dropping gradually, and its application to load shifting the overall backup solution presents greater viability. Any business can benefit from these solutions, however for businesses spending copious amounts on fuel for generators because of load shedding, the adoption of these systems is an essential consideration. These solutions aid in solving for supply interruptions while also providing partial insulation from tariff hikes.</p>



<p>One of the main incentives for business is that the payback period on capital investments has reduced steadily as energy tariffs have risen. Research shows that between 2007 and 2022, the Eskom tariff increased by 653%, effectively quadrupling the cost of power in 14 years. In April 2023, Eskom applied to NERSA for a 32% increase, indicating that this trend is not likely to change. This payback benefit has further been amplified by the recently passed amendment to the 12BA tax incentive, which allows businesses an accelerated wear and tear allowance on Solar PV investments of 125% in the first year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Naturally, the need for financial solutions is a given requirement in this environment and the PV market has evolved rapidly. The current operating environment has seen financial institutions and solution providers offering various financing options. Standard Bank has been solutioning for this with cutting edge Solar PV and battery finance solutions to the market through its <a href="https://www.standardbank.co.za/southafrica/business/products-and-services/borrow-for-your-needs/vehicle-and-asset-finance">Commercial Asset Finance</a> division, for several years now. Opportunities to fund projects present themselves in numerous formats from clients who wish to own their own systems to independent power producers (IPP’s) who sell power.</p>



<p>Standard Bank has also recently provided digital platforms, <a href="https://powerpulse.standardbank.co.za/">PowerPulse</a> for commercial and industrial clients, and LookSee for residential and SME clients. &nbsp;Using these tools clients can source tailored and credible Solar PV and battery solutions. The journey entails a guided path to support clients in not falling into one of the many pitfalls that exist in the Solar PV market currently. It has proven to be a useful resource in shortening the client’s decision-making process through simplification. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>



<p>Against this outlook, the options for acquiring clean energy have increased. Each has its advantages and disadvantages but allows opportunities for the most suitable to be selected. In the list below, the solutions offered by outright purchase, solar loans or solar subscriptions would be the most obvious choice. Options now open include:</p>



<p><strong>1. Outright Purchase:</strong> Purchasing a solar installation outright allows complete ownership and control over the system. The benefits are long-term energy savings and even an opportunity to sell excess electricity back to the grid in areas where this is implemented. For smaller enterprises, however, the capital outlay can be problematic and solutions for clients in this category are now available through collaboration with the government in the <a href="https://www.standardbank.co.za/southafrica/business/products-and-services/borrow-for-your-needs/business-loans/business-solar-loan">Bounce Back Energy Loan</a> programme which has been launched.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>2. Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs):</strong> A popular choice among South Africans, PPAs involve energy companies installing and retaining ownership of the solar system. The purchaser then buys the generated electricity at a predetermined rate, often lower than prevailing utility rates. PPAs require minimal upfront costs, making solar energy more accessible to a wider range of users. Solution providers in this environment are focussed mainly on C&amp;I clients.</p>



<p><strong>3. &nbsp;Solar Leasing:</strong> Involving an agreement with a solar company, solar leasing offers reduced electricity costs during the lease term without owning the system outright. Options for buying the solar assets at the end of the lease may be available.</p>



<p>With the ever-increasing gap between supply costs and earnings at Eskom, the need for alternative energy sources becomes even more critical. Solar installations offer a promising avenue for reducing the strain on the national utility, and widespread adoption of PV systems will play a pivotal role in driving this energy revolution.</p>



<p>As the solar industry matures, more flexible and imaginative financing options are emerging, making solar energy accessible to a broader spectrum of users. The future of renewable energy in South Africa is undoubtedly bright, and with continued innovative approaches, solar power will pave the way to a greener and more financially sustainable future for all.</p>



<p><a href="https://www.standardbank.co.za/southafrica/business/products-and-services/borrow-for-your-needs/business-loans/business-solar-loan">Click here</a> to learn more about Standard Bank’s Energy Bounce-Back Loan Scheme for businesses.</p>


GoSolar

Solar pricing alternatives for business are now adding impetus to South Africa’s energy revolution.

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<p>Electric vehicles, autonomous driving and sustainability. These are some of the trends moving the automotive industry worldwide. Joining CNBC Africa to map out how these trends navigating Africa’s car market are Ndia Magadagela, CEO, MAXUS Electric Vehicles; Amith Singh, National Manager: Manufacturing, Nedbank and Adrian Hammond, Mining Equities Analyst, Standard Bank.</p>


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The Power Table: The future of EVs

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<p>Trade in Africa has grown modestly in recent decades, expanding from 49 per cent of GDP in 2000 to 53 per cent by 2019, according to the International Monetary Fund’s 2023 report on Trade Integration in Africa. This Focus On episode gives an overview of African trade and some of its unique challenges as we scope the CIIE, AGOA, and the IATF &#8211; three trade forums that all occurred in November.</p>


Focus On: Exploring trade integration in Africa


<p>Africa’s largest financial institution, Standard Bank, is on a mission: to find ways to set itself apart so that the bank can meet its customer needs in today’s complex, ever-changing world. Operating in more than 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and globally, the Bank aims to show customers that <em>It Can Be.</em></p>



<p>This means that it needs the right tools, resources and platforms to enable the innovation, resilience and efficiencies required to empower its customers. For Standard Bank, that means using <a href="https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/">Microsoft’s Power BI</a> platform to harness data insights and predictive and prescriptive analytics through AI and machine learning. This allows the bank to better serve customers through more accurate targeting and service delivery.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="820" height="389" src="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Standard-Bank_30-Baker-Street_Interior_2-1-820x389.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-417477" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Standard-Bank_30-Baker-Street_Interior_2-1-820x389.jpg 820w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Standard-Bank_30-Baker-Street_Interior_2-1-300x142.jpg 300w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Standard-Bank_30-Baker-Street_Interior_2-1-160x76.jpg 160w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Standard-Bank_30-Baker-Street_Interior_2-1-768x364.jpg 768w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Standard-Bank_30-Baker-Street_Interior_2-1-1536x728.jpg 1536w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Standard-Bank_30-Baker-Street_Interior_2-1.jpg 1920w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /><figcaption>Standard Bank Baker Street</figcaption></figure>



<p>In 2017, the organisation moved from a traditional centralised business intelligence team to a self-service BI model because its value-added capabilities allowed more accurate and effective targeting and serving of customers. “Power BI helps make citizen data scientists out of anyone who wishes to be one,” says Ziyaad Valli, Lead Analytics Engineer on the BI Data Visualization team at Standard Bank.</p>



<p>By 2020, adoption of the company’s self-service BI was such a success that Standard Bank’s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software">Microsoft Teams</a>&nbsp;channel for Power BI included more than 3,000 members.</p>



<p>The bank’s data visualization team was using a descriptive analytics model to evaluate what had already happened. But Valli wanted to explore the predictive (what might happen) and prescriptive (what are the possibilities) paths to add to the toolsets for internal teams. As a result, the data visualization team collaborated with the bank’s Insurance Business group to use AI and automated machine learning to predict and accurately target customers.</p>



<p><strong>Using data to tell a more accurate story</strong></p>



<p>In July 2020, Standard Bank Insurance launched a funeral cover product – insurance to cover funeral expenses – that sold well: customers were queuing at branches and phoning the bank’s call centres. Mohammed Tootla, Manager of Data Visualization for the Insurance Business group at Standard Bank, decided they needed more from their data. </p>



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<p>“We started looking at alternatives to tell a better story with our data,” says Tootla. “We wanted to explore machine learning, but we had no data scientists on our team.”</p>



<p>Tootla then contacted Valli, explaining that his team wanted to move forward with predictive and prescriptive analytics. Valli’s and Tootla’s teams began collaborating in Power BI. They aggregated and analysed sales for the funeral cover across multiple dimensions, discovering a surprising insight that aligned with feedback from business leads: millennial customers were creating higher demand than any other generation.</p>



<p>The other key learning was that sales were happening on a particular day of the week. According to marketing and industry standards, most sales are expected to happen on Wednesdays and Thursdays. However, data showed that funeral cover sales were happening on Fridays.</p>



<p>“We were able to uncover these patterns and key insights solely because of the AI analytics capabilities within Power BI,” says Tootla.</p>



<p>Understanding these trends in the data allowed Standard Bank to make proactive adjustments to target the right audience and prepare for sales accordingly.&nbsp;</p>



<p><strong>Better serving customers and mitigating customer cancellations</strong></p>



<p>Next, Valli and Tootla delved into the forecasting models to compare what sales might look like if factors remained unchanged, with “what-if” parameters – adjusted policies forecast – such as: what happens if South Africa returns to a hard lockdown because of COVID-19 and movement is restricted?</p>



<p>They created hindcast data models for four time periods to compare predictions to actual results and presented them to business leads, who determined the hindcasts accurately stayed within the upper and lower thresholds of the actual numbers.</p>



<p>Because of the forecasting model, the leads now use predictive and prescriptive insights to more properly staff employees in branches and call centres to better serve customers.</p>



<p>Tootla’s team also had another objective: to analyse the high churn rate in his group’s short-term insurance book. The previous report already utilised descriptive analytics models, but these only offered insights as to why a customer had cancelled insurance in the past. They didn’t indicate what might happen in the future.</p>



<p>Valli and Tootla built a binary classification model using the automated machine learning (AutoML) feature in Power BI, which quickly yielded value in affecting the bank’s bottom line.</p>



<p>Using the churn model, 88,000 customers were evaluated—40,000 active and 48,000 previously cancelled. The churn model predicted the risk of losing approximately 8,000 active customers and broke down the 8,000 customers by segment, policy persistency, age, province, and income, so the insurance group could target them when running retention campaigns.</p>



<p>“We were highly impressed with the fast turnaround time with which the Power BI AutoML led to outputs,” says Tootla. “A data scientist would come in and might not produce a report for months. We produced the first binary classification model within three weeks.”</p>



<p><strong>Uniting datasets and adding value</strong></p>



<p>Valli and Tootla agree that the project is still in its infancy. Tootla envisions expanding the forecasting and churn models to the full Standard Bank insurance product line. Beyond that, he foresees uniting the sales, cancellations, and retentions datasets.</p>



<p>“We’d like to bring in customer demographic information and build an all-in-one dataset model we can use as an input into our customer lifetime value model,” he says.</p>



<p>The collaboration and outcomes have altered how Valli contemplates data by assessing any new features broadly and contemplating how they can add value to any business unit his team supports. He says AI analytics is about helping the bank extract value and demonstrating the robust capabilities of the Power BI tools.</p>



<p>“This is only the start. We&#8217;re going to be doing a lot more going forward and we’re all really excited about that,” says Valli.</p>



<p>To find out what value Power BI can add to your business, visit <a href="https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/">https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/</a>.</p>


Standard Bank_30 Baker Street_Interior_2 (1)

Standard Bank shows ‘it can be’ by using AI and analytics to improve customer service

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<p>The Standard Bank Group announced an offer to buy the rest of Liberty Holdings it doesn&#8217;t already own. Liberty shares jumped more than 30 per cent in early trading today. Standard Bank Group CEO, Sim Tshabalala joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Standard Bank CEO: What the full integration of Liberty means for Africa strategy

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<p>The second half of 2020 saw the emergence of moderate to strong La Niña conditions. La Niña, which refers to the abnormal cooling of surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, brings about water scarcity in some areas and floods in others. According to the latest report from Standard Bank, La Niña conditions are now weakening. However, they could emerge again in early summer. Joining CNBC Africa to discuss the implications of that on agriculture and soft commodity prices is Penny Byrne, Research Analyst at Standard Bank.</p>


La Niña conditions: Here’s what it means for soft commodity prices

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<p>Standard Bank’s headline earnings per ordinary share slumped 43 per cent year-on-year. The bank’s revenue line came out on the soft side, in part due to the strain on Personal &#038; Business Banking. A final dividend of 240 cents per share has been declared, albeit 76 per cent lower than the previous year. Sim Tshabalala, Group CEO at Standard Bank joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Standard Bank eyes African opportunities for growth

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<p>Standard Bank CEO, Lungisa Fuzile shares his insights into President Ramaphosa&#8217;s reform drive with CNBC Africa’s Godfrey Mutizwa.</p>


Standard Bank’s Lungisa Fuzile shares his views on Ramaphosa’s reform agenda

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<p>Food security has been one of the major problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, Standard Bank’s OneFarm Share platform has provided over 1 million meals for food relief their target is 30 million in 2021 and so far they have delivered 7400 tonnes of food across all nine provinces. Standard Bank CEO, Lungisa Fuzile joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Standard Bank delivers 7400 tonnes of food in COVID-19 relief initiative

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<p>Africa’s growth has been set back by the impact of COVID-19, with the continent demanding a new approach to economic development.</p>


COVID-19: How the pandemic has highlighted the need for sustainable finance

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<p>UN Women and Standard Bank have partnered up to equip female farmers in Africa with the skills and resources needed to grow their businesses, and succeed over the long term. This project is closely aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals; particularly when it comes to gender equality, access to decent work, and economic growth. Nidhi Tandon, Socio-economic Advisor for the East &#038; Southern Africa Region, UN Women joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


UN Women

UN Women, Standard Bank collaborate to empower female farmers in Africa

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<p>The increase of digital transactions in South Africa, has given rise to fears of fraud. To mitigate those risks, Standard Bank has bought a 35 per cent stake in Trade Safe. The fintech company provides a platform to keep a buyer’s funds safe, until they receive the goods or services. Joining CNBC Africa to discuss this deal is Kuben Chetty, Head of Client Solutions at Standard Bank and Jethro O’Brien, CEO of TradeSafe.</p>


Standard Bank acquires 35% stake in fintech Trade Safe

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<p>As we know, banks have been operating in a very uncertain and difficult environment. Adding pressure to the sector have been consumer financial constraints and cuts on interest rates. Standard Bank has reported a 43 per cent fall in headline earnings per share in the interim. However, the bank has left the door open for a final dividend. Standard Bank South Africa CEO, Sim Tshabalala joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Standard Bank sees H1 HEPS down 43% in tough market conditions


<p>JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) &#8211; South Africa’s Standard Bank said on Wednesday that its profits for the six-months to June 30 could be as much as 50% lower as the coronavirus crisis hits its performance.</p>



<p>Africa’s biggest bank by assets said in a trading update the hit to its headline earnings per share &#8211; the main profit measure in South Africa &#8211; for the period would likely be between 30% and 50%, compared to the 837.4 cents it reported in the same period last year.</p>


Standard Bank

WEF Davos 2024: Rebuilding Trust: Highlights Special

DAVOS 2024: Focus On Financing Africa: Attracting Foreign Investment

The Power Table: State of the South African Economy

Solar pricing alternatives for business are now adding impetus to South Africa’s energy revolution.

The Power Table: The future of EVs

Focus On: Exploring trade integration in Africa

Standard Bank shows ‘it can be’ by using AI and analytics to improve customer service

Standard Bank CEO: What the full integration of Liberty means for Africa strategy

La Niña conditions: Here’s what it means for soft commodity prices

Standard Bank eyes African opportunities for growth

Standard Bank’s Lungisa Fuzile shares his views on Ramaphosa’s reform agenda

Standard Bank delivers 7400 tonnes of food in COVID-19 relief initiative

COVID-19: How the pandemic has highlighted the need for sustainable finance

UN Women, Standard Bank collaborate to empower female farmers in Africa

Standard Bank acquires 35% stake in fintech Trade Safe

Standard Bank sees H1 HEPS down 43% in tough market conditions

South Africa’s Standard Bank warns of up to 50% profit slump

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Standard Bank

WEF Davos 2024: Rebuilding Trust: Highlights Special

DAVOS 2024: Focus On Financing Africa: Attracting Foreign Investment

The Power Table: State of the South African Economy

Solar pricing alternatives for business are now adding impetus to South Africa’s energy revolution.

The Power Table: The future of EVs

Focus On: Exploring trade integration in Africa

Standard Bank shows ‘it can be’ by using AI and analytics to improve customer service

Standard Bank CEO: What the full integration of Liberty means for Africa strategy

La Niña conditions: Here’s what it means for soft commodity prices

Standard Bank eyes African opportunities for growth

Standard Bank’s Lungisa Fuzile shares his views on Ramaphosa’s reform agenda

Standard Bank delivers 7400 tonnes of food in COVID-19 relief initiative

COVID-19: How the pandemic has highlighted the need for sustainable finance

UN Women, Standard Bank collaborate to empower female farmers in Africa

Standard Bank acquires 35% stake in fintech Trade Safe

Standard Bank sees H1 HEPS down 43% in tough market conditions

South Africa’s Standard Bank warns of up to 50% profit slump

News Tips

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