Innovative youth-focused digital platform launches with the aim of unifying thousands of young people across South Africa
Leading research firm In On Africa (IOA) has launched a game-changing digital platform in response to the shift in awareness of the youth in South Africa and the need for these future leaders to become empowered to inform decision-making for a brighter future.
The ‘Voices Unite’ platform, which launched on the 10th of February, will bring together tens of thousands of youth aged 18-34 through a large-scale national research study focusing on a wide range of pertinent topics. These topics include the state of education, youth unemployment, the future of work, media and technology, infrastructure, healthcare and many others.
Voices Unite believes that a platform to unify and amplify the voices of the country’s youth – their views, ideas and dynamism – can inform true change in South Africa. Voices Unite aims to achieve the following core objectives:
- Unify and empower youth in South Africa to become meaningfully involved in the creation of a better South Africa.
- Facilitate more active, collaborative engagement between SA corporates, non-profits, education institutions and government.
- Inform data-driven decision-making today to ensure a brighter tomorrow for the entire country.
Youth who participate on the platform stand the chance to win a wide range of prizes, ranging from small incentives like data, event tickets and gift vouchers to larger prizes like tech gadgets, bursaries, internship positions and R50,000 cash.
According to Voices Unite Founder, Jonathan Mundell:
“IOA conceptualised Voices Unite in an effort to empower young people in South Africa, and ultimately across the African continent. Research that our firm has been doing for more than a decade has led us our belief that bringing youth and key stakeholders together – on a massive scale – to voice their ideas, perspectives and concerns, is essential to ensure effective decision-making.
Voices Unite aims not only to unify youth across South Africa, but to also bring relevant decision-makers to the same table, to collaborate in their efforts to address the various challenges that young people face. And for this collaboration to be guided by the views and insights of the youth, and for decisions to be made together with the youth – not on their behalf.”
Voices Unite has more than 60 confirmed partners, ranging from impact-driven youth development organisations (e.g. Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, SAB Foundation and Mr Price Foundation), through to large corporates like Sanlam, agencies such as the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), public and private universities and colleges, and various others partners.
For anyone interested in joining Voices Unite either as a youth participant (age range is 18-34) or a partner, more information is available at https://voicesunite.co.za.
In On Africa (IOA) Press Release – June 2019
In On Africa (IOA) and African Business Magazine announce partnership for the 2019 edition of the Africa Country Benchmark Report (ACBR)
In On Africa (IOA) and African Business Magazine, two leading African business information providers, have announced a partnership to produce and deliver the third edition of the Africa Country Benchmark Report (ACBR). The ACBR is a ground-breaking 500+ page publication, which provides a comprehensive assessment of 54 African countries, to deliver an all-encompassing picture of the African continent.
The report scores, ranks and insightfully assesses each African country holistically, as well as across ACBR’s four ‘quadrants’: Business, Economics, Politics and Society. Hundreds of infographics, more than 25,000 data points, and critical insights make the ACBR an essential tool to better understand Africa.
In describing the key objectives of the ACBR, Jonathan Mundell, CEO of In On Africa, states that: “Having a deep, all-encompassing understanding of African markets is essential for any business, institution, non-profit or government working on the continent. The ACBR aims to facilitate data-driven decision-making in Africa through the most comprehensive analysis of African countries, guiding our readers in their work on the continent and hopefully playing a central role in Africa’s development.”
Pedro Besugo, Business Development and Strategy at African Business adds, “There has never been a greater need to collate and analyse accurate data on Africa’s economic performance and the activities of the continent’s dynamic business community. African Business Magazine’s partnership with In On Africa to produce the Africa Country Benchmark Report will give readers access to a comprehensive data set for 54 countries, helping them to make better informed business decisions.”
The two organisations are finalising work on the 2019 edition, which has involved the re-engineering and expansion of the report’s assessment models. The report is scheduled to be launched at the end of July and there is currently a limited offer of early-bird access in addition to discounted rates for pre-orders of the report.
You can access the ACBR Info pack or pre-order the publication by clicking the links below:
About In On Africa
IOA was established in
South Africa in 2007 with the goal of becoming the definitive source of expert
research and analysis in Africa, focused on Africa. IOA’s mission is to guide
and inform decision-making to accelerate growth and development in Africa – connecting
Africa’s potential.
IOA has conducted research and advisory projects for private and public sector
clients across the entire African continent. These projects span key industries
and markets, and range from multi-country market attractiveness studies and
landscape assessments through to impact assessments, political risk analyses
and social research.
With headquarters in South Africa and consultants spread across the African
continent, IOA combines in-country presence and expertise with a holistic
understanding of our local and international clientele, making IOA a definitive
strategic partner in Africa.
Find out more here
About African Business
African Business is
published by IC Publications, a pan-African media and communication group with
over 50 years’ experience in publishing magazines, country supplements,
industry reports and market intelligence on Africa, reaching +2.6 million loyal
readers in more than 100 countries.
African Business and its award-winning team is widely respected for its
editorial excellence. We provide the all-important tools enabling you to
maintain a critical edge in a continent that is changing the world. Our special
reports profile a wide range of sectors and industries including Energy, Oil
and Gas, Aviation, Agriculture to name but a few.
With our vast experience in the field of communications, public relations and
contract publishing, IC Publications offers a one-stop shop solution to serve
all its clients’ needs both for those wishing to expand into Africa or for
African entities seeking international exposure.
Find out more here.
African stock exchanges hold the key to unlocking the continent’s economic growth and development
By Jacqueléne Coetzer
Analysis in brief: Due to increased economic growth and development, largely as a result of improved political stability, African exchanges offer great investment value for both African and foreign investors. Although there are still some difficulties to overcome to make African Exchanges more attractive to international investors, with the political will and dedicated efforts by governments and exchanges, these difficulties can be overcome.
Few people are aware of the business, economic and IT successes being achieved in Africa. Mauritius is poised to become Africa’s first high-income economy within the next 10 years and there are a number of other African countries that are working actively to achieve the same. The former-President of Botswana, Ian Khama, has famously remarked that Africa has the ability to solve its own problems and he was right.
Read more
IOA at a glance
Over the past decade, In On Africa (IOA) has positioned itself as one of the top research, intelligence and publishing firms in and focused exclusively on Africa. The company works with a wide array of clients across the African continent through its complementary divisions, service offerings and insight-driven products.
The infographic provides a snapshot of IOA – its core offerings, mission, values, vision and key differentiators.
Sustainability & Redefining African Development
Meeting targets or creating change?
IOA was privileged to participate in the 2016 Sustainability Summit at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) – a two-day event founded and organised by Blank Canvas International. The Sustainability Summit is a platform for trusted collaboration between business leaders and building of relationships towards more sustainable, agile business for Africa.
IOA and Blank Canvas International collaborated to develop the Sustainability & Redefining African Development report. The report assesses Africa’s efforts and progress toward ‘sustainable development’ and argues that what is needed is real, transformative change to unlock the incredible potential within Africa’s diverse communities, businesses, economies and cultures.
Battle over Africa’s oceanic treasures
Surprisingly, no shots have been fired by African navies against foreign vessels that illegally plunder fish and undersea mineral resources from Africa’s territorial waters. However, as fish stocks diminish and African peoples’ understanding of the value of sea minerals grows, aggressive responses will replace government’s lackadaisical attitudes.
The scenario in which Mozambican, Namibian, Tanzanian and South African warships or boats from other African countries’ navies chase off or even fire upon an ever-growing fleet of foreign pirate ships is easy to imagine. No, the pirates are not the old-fashioned type that raid commercial vessels or kidnap ship crews or well-heeled guests on luxury yachts as is practiced off Somalia in East Africa and in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa. Rather, the invading armada is comprised of industrial-capacity vessels whose aim is to loot Africa’s aquatic natural resources.
In so doing, Chinese fishing ships decimate fisheries, rendering African fishermen who for generations have depended on the waters for their livelihoods unemployed and made fish expensive or unavailable to local markets and their customers who rely on fish for basic nutrition. Aquatic life is just one resource that is being looted. Mineral resources have also drawn pirates. Read more
IOA Redefining African Development Report
Meeting targets or creating change?
African nations are currently in the process of adopting two new ambitious and often overlapping development agendas: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – the successor to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – is an effort to confront global development challenges, while Agenda 2063 is a 50-year action plan launched by the African Union (AU) directed at addressing continent-specific issues.
With the international development agenda now set for the foreseeable future, ‘Redefining African Development’ explores the mixed success of the MDGs in Africa and investigates how the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) compare to their precursor, and how they overlap with the AU’s Agenda 2063. Specifically, the question of whether apolitical development agendas can fuel transformative change without equal focus on strengthening key institutions and expanding civil liberties and political freedoms.