On The Verge

Andreas Cambitsis is the CEO of Business Science Corporation. He’s previously worked as a strategy consultant for the Boston based Monitor group before co-founding the Cyest Corporation (now the holding company of BSC). In this episode we explore life with an electric vehicle in South Africa, some of the potential disruptions from the convergence of EVs and autonomous driving, and the cost/benefit trade-offs to switching to a solar PV system. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Andrew Taylor is an experienced energy professional, entrepreneur and the Group General Counsel for a prominent South African Independent Power Producer, Pele Energy Group. In this episode we explore the impact of climate change, recent innovations in battery storage from Elon Musk & Tesla, and other new exciting technologies that will impact the energy landscape. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode gives an entrepreneur’s perspective of renewable energy disruption.  Abraham Cambridge is the Founder and CEO of Sun Exchange a peer to peer, solar panel, micro leasing platform. Started in 2015 it now generates over 1 Gigawatt hours of energy via solar. During this conversation we explore the Sun Exchange business model, why and how they are using Bitcoin, and we also get some useful facts and figures on the current energy grid in South Africa.  Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode we gain insights from Daniel Zinman, a senior Transactor within the renewable energy space at RMB.  We discuss the South African Renewable energy landscape and explore Eskom’s current challenges. We also look at the pricing of alternative energy, the impact of politics, and predictions for the future of the energy landscape. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mxolisi Mgojo is the CEO of Exxaro Resources & President of the Chamber of Mines of South Africa. Exxaro is a publicly listed company and trades on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE). In this episode we explore Exxaro’s journey to sustainable energy, the unbundling of Eskom, and the social impact that a transition to renewable energy could have. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Arif Ismail is the Head of Fintech at the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). The SARB Fintech unit exists to monitor new innovations like crypto assets, ICOs, peer to peer lending and more. These innovations are increasingly coming from non-traditional players. In this episode we explore crypto assets, innovation hubs and sandboxes, a Central Bank digital currency, and Facebook’s Libra. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more.

Dominique Collett is a Senior Investment Executive at Rand Merchant Investments (RMI) and the Head of AlphaCode. RMI is the holding company for several premier financial services companies and AlphaCode is a startup incubator and accelerator. In this episode we explore the South African entrepreneurship ecosystem, the different funding stages for a startup, where to park your IP and what RMI/AlphaCode looks at when investing new capital. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more.

Etienne Nel is the Co-Founder and CEO of ZAR X, an African stock exchange. Lorien Gamaroff is the Co-Founder and CEO of Centbee, a cryptocurrency payments and remittance company. In this episode we explore blockchains and distributed ledgers, why centralized systems are subject to risk, and how blockchain might disrupt the capital markets. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more.

Hemash Kala is a Blockchain Lead at Rand Merchant Bank who has been tasked to help assess the impact of blockchain technology on the existing banking business model. In this episode we explore the mechanics of Facebook’s Libra currency, how Libra competes against tradition payment systems, and its impact on central and commercial banks. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more.

Annabel Dallamore is the Founder and CEO of Strider, a leading AI company building technology to assist with automation and data processing. Gerald Neves is the Founder & CEO of SovTech, a leading software development company in Africa. In this episode we explore the different types of AI, human biases that can affect machine learning, the pace of regulation and innovation, and the two trends in IOT. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more.

John Campbell is the Chief Digital Officer of Rand Merchant Bank. In his role he seeks to identify what a successful investment bank will look like in five years’ time, and what should be done now, to ensure that RMB continues to remain relevant in this future. In this episode we explore the impact of automation on jobs, 4IR themes that are most relevant, and RMB’s strategy internally and for its clients. Please enjoy the conversation and subscribe for more.