KZN Open for Business

Palesa Mbali Group, Director, Happy Ralinala was honoured to form part of the adjudication panel for the inaugural KZN Investment Awards held last week at the Durban ICC. We congratulate the worthy winners and nominees on their notable achievements in business.

These first Investment Awards in the province highlighted the contributions both local and international businesses were making to the KZN economy. The glitzy event also marked the launch of Durban Aerotropolis, spearheaded by Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs, KwaZulu- Natal and driven by Trade & Investment KwaZulu – Natal.

It was encouraging to see how business in the province was thriving in spite of a sometimes challenging social, political and economic environment. The Department of Trade and Industry seems committed to making it simpler to attract foreign investment, include the wider community in the economic prosperity vision and to continue to leverage KZN as a tourism destination of choice.

Mzamo Masito of Google Africa gave a frank (and entertaining) talk on the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) in the context of South Africa and Africa. What stood out to me as a South African recruiter is that the 4IR presents solutions for youth unemployment. He urged the parents in the room to encourage their children to learn to code from primary school level so that by the time they are teenagers, they are advanced coders and have the potential to be employed anywhere in the world, without a university degree. This is perhaps a jarring concept when we’ve grown up being encouraged to be accountants and lawyers, however as recruiters we can testify that our clients are always recruiting programmers, data and analytical skill sets. The 4IR is upon us.

The event was followed by the KZN International Investment Conference where delegates were treated to local and international experts speaking on various topics related to creating a climate in KZN and South Africa that is conducive to investment. The common theme running through all the digital and infrastructure talk was that relationships are ultimately what matters in realizing the vision of prosperity. While being connected online is critical to business, being connected to real people is ultimately what will move business forward.

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