Opportunity - Issue 94
Quarterly journal for business and industry in South Africa Business unusual It has been estimated that the economy will take two to three years to recover from Covid-19 and the subsequent economic collapse. From now to there, the journey will indeed be business as unusual. My pledge, as the new editor of Opportunity magazine, is to provide cutting-edge content that guides our readers on how to rise above the current business trajectory and to circumvent the consequences that are now laid before them. In this issue, Mike Townshend from Foord Asset Management writes, in ‘The evolving politics of oil’ (page 8), that oil has caused wars, assassinations, man-made disasters, coups and still affects every person in the world today. On page 10, Rebecca Major from leading global law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills, shares her insight on how to navigate African oil and M&A deals in these volatile times. Both of these writers will present more on these topics at Africa Oil Week. The transport services sector has been severely affected by the pandemic, but help is at hand. Digital transformation is set to disrupt the sector – technology has transformed the railway industry globally and implementing technological innovations could be a game-changer for rail transport in South Africa. Read more on page 17. Celebrating Women’s Month in August, Opportunity interviews the newly appointed CEO of Petroleum Agency South Africa, Dr Phindile Masangane (page 12), as well as founder and owner of Nemesis Accounting, Shani Naidoo (page 14). The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) has a pivotal role to play in guiding the business of its 22 000 members. The Chamber believes that businesses should actively engage in the strategic and recovery implementation processes towards inclusive growth – read more in the CEO’s message on page 4. Let’s work together in building a resilient, risk-savvy and formidable nation. Alexis Knipe, Editor
Quarterly journal for business and industry in South Africa
Business unusual
It has been estimated that the economy will take two to three years to recover from Covid-19 and the subsequent economic collapse. From now to there, the journey will indeed be business as unusual. My pledge, as the new editor of Opportunity magazine, is to provide cutting-edge content that guides our readers on how to rise above the current business trajectory and to circumvent the consequences that are now laid before them.
In this issue, Mike Townshend from Foord Asset Management writes, in ‘The evolving politics of oil’ (page 8), that oil has caused wars, assassinations, man-made disasters, coups and still affects every person in the world today. On page 10, Rebecca Major from leading global law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills, shares her insight on how to navigate African oil and M&A deals in these volatile times. Both of these writers will present more on these topics at Africa Oil Week.
The transport services sector has been severely affected by the pandemic, but help is at hand. Digital transformation is set to disrupt the sector – technology has transformed the railway industry globally and implementing technological innovations could be a game-changer for rail transport in South Africa. Read more on page 17.
Celebrating Women’s Month in August, Opportunity interviews the newly appointed CEO of Petroleum Agency South Africa, Dr Phindile Masangane (page 12), as well as founder and owner of Nemesis Accounting, Shani Naidoo (page 14).
The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) has a pivotal role to play in guiding the business of its 22 000 members. The Chamber believes that businesses should actively engage in the strategic and recovery implementation processes towards inclusive growth – read more in the CEO’s message on page 4.
Let’s work together in building a resilient, risk-savvy and formidable nation.
Alexis Knipe, Editor
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TECHNOLOGY<br />
Are you missing out<br />
on the TRUE<br />
AI?<br />
potential of<br />
Artificial Intelligence is top of mind, but is its impact understood?<br />
Research suggests that the short-term impacts are vastly<br />
overstated and the longer-term implications remain unexplored.<br />
We see this same misapplied focus in enterprises where efforts either target<br />
micro-sized use cases with disproportionate expectations of returns or<br />
oversized, abstract dystopian concepts like replacing large chunks of<br />
the workforce. The structural implications are often unexplored. For<br />
example, with the adoption of smartphones and mobile broadband, the<br />
effect on the quality of phone voice connections is insignificant compared with<br />
the effect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on industry value chains and the creation<br />
of new ones like the sharing economy, with disruptors such as Uber and Airbnb.<br />
A similar wave of structural change is likely with the widespread adoption of<br />
AI – embedded AI. Embedded AI refers to the deep intertwining and widespread<br />
adoption of AI in every step of the value chain (think Internet). Here’s what<br />
organisations can expect from a world of embedded AI.<br />
would be continually tested against claims, which<br />
could reimagine the “actuarial” model upon which<br />
DISRUPTING INDUSTRY VALUE CHAINS<br />
the insurance industry is based. Insurance premiums<br />
Embedding AI in the organisation has the potential to disrupt entire business measured in cents, anyone?<br />
models, much the way Amazon is using digital technology to upend retail.<br />
For example, consider the impact these changes could have on the insurance RECONFIGURING CURRENT OPERATIONS<br />
industry. Dynamically mining consumer preference and behaviour data could The multitude of micro use cases of AI being considered<br />
lead to faster, more accurate and personalised risk profiles. These profiles today is premised on wildly unrealistic expectations of<br />
www.kearney.com<br />
4 FACTS<br />
EVERY MANAGER<br />
SHOULD KNOW<br />
ABOUT AI<br />
FACT 1: THE AI BOOM IS SUSTAINABLE AND SHOULD NOT BE IGNORED<br />
For the first time, machine-learning algorithms are beating humans in tasks such as image<br />
recognition and voice-to-text translation, and complex games such as Go. This AI boom is<br />
fuelled by a convergence of three factors: a breakthrough in deep-learning algorithms, the<br />
proliferation of big data (structured data) to train these algorithms and an exponential<br />
speedup in processing power for machine-learning hardware, such as the graphics processing<br />
unit (GPU) chipsets that cut down a machine’s training time from months to days and hours.<br />
24 | www.opportunityonline.co.za
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