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Innovation

latest news & developments

NTT DATA backs South Africa’s first national AI Awards as exclusive platinum partner

NTT DATA South Africa has joined the inaugural South African AI Awards as Exclusive Platinum Partner, providing major backing to recognise and promote local artificial…

Singularity Summit South Africa 2026 unveils full programme of over 40 global speakers

Singularity Summit South Africa 2026 has announced its full speaker line-up and programme, bringing over 40 global innovators to Johannesburg to tackle AI, exponential…

The 2026 NRF Awards celebrate South Africa’s research and science stars

The 2026 National Research Foundation (https://www.nrf.ac.za/) (NRF) Awards honoured South Africa’s top researchers and scientists at a prestigious ceremony held on Thursday, 3…

Africa would do well to note China's rise

Defying Western forecasts of stagnation, China has broken into the world's top 10 innovative nations. An analysis of the strategic policies, R&D investments, and institutions…

Changemakers driving innovation to feature at Singularity Summit South Africa 2026

Singularity South Africa announces a new lineup of world-class speakers for its 2026 Summit in Johannesburg, featuring experts in AI, digital transformation, urban development,…

FALF DAY 2026: Commercialisation of South African Intellectual Property from Universities

The Female Academic Leaders Fellowship (FALF), sponsored by Standard Bank Private Banking, hosted its annual gathering in South Africa. The event focused on advancing dialogue,…

YuLife announced as a sponsor of the South African AI Awards

YuLife South Africa, an Insurtech company focused on employee benefits and wellbeing, has announced its bronze sponsorship of the inaugural South African AI Awards, a platform…

Personal touch: A bank knows a customer through transactions, documents and a credit score. A community finance group knows its members as people. Photo: Suppplied

Africa's women have invented finance's future

Across Africa, women are driving financial innovation through community finance groups like stokvels. These sophisticated institutions pool money, provide loans, and support…

Christopher Welile Mpehle

Christopher Welile Mpehle sees balance sheets differently. For him, finance is not simply about numbers — it is about widening access to healthcare and changing lives. The loss…

Aphiwe Khambule

Grief rarely ends with a funeral and Aphiwe Khambule believes neither should the support families receive. The chief operating officer of 21st Century Funeral Services is…

Palesa Mnyaka

At 34, Palesa Mnyaka is changing how Johannesburg remembers itself. As a cultural policy specialist and public heritage practitioner, she is using innovation to bring history out…

Dr Sivuyisiwe Mapukata

The future of mining will be defined not only by what we extract from the earth, but by what we create from it. Dr Sivuyisiwe Mapukata is at the forefront of that transformation,…

Dr Shelly Mona

Engineering is often judged by the products it creates, but Dr Shelly Mona is equally focused on the opportunities it unlocks. At 35, she is helping turn research into real-world…

Tobie Loftus

Mining's future will depend not only on what lies beneath the earth, but on how intelligently those resources are recovered. Tobie Loftus is helping redefine that future,…

Chumani-Nande Sishuba

Today's vehicles are no longer defined solely by horsepower or design — they are intelligent, connected systems powered by millions of lines of code. At 27, Chumani-Nande Sishuba…