In the next 20 years, the number of people aged 15-24 in sub-Saharan Africa will increase by a 100 million. Genesis works in many of the critical areas in which the prospects for this generation of young people will be determined, including health, agriculture, communications, financial services and youth economic empowerment. This newsletter presents some of our current work. 

MERL Tech, which has been successful in London and DC, came to Jozi for the first time. Its purpose was to bring together development practitioners at the intersection of M&E and technology to share and learn how we can, together, tackle the fourth industrial revolution and use technology to do our jobs better.

Richard Ketley asks whether in all the hype about fintech we have lost track of the importance of finding ways to support mobile network operators to establish the infrastructure required for mobile money and to encourage regulators to balance the reward for investment in mobile money while preventing excessive pricing. 

Genesis has proposed a number of changes to the economic provisions in the SA Competition Amendment Bill to avoid the potentially large negative unintended consequences of the current Bill, while still achieving the objective of assisting SMEs and firms owned/controlled by historically disadvantaged persons to participate in the economy. 

Much has been written about the growth of the cashless economy, but new product innovations are giving South African consumers fewer and fewer reasons to open or maintain a bank account. Cash, it seems, is making a comeback.

Rapid urbanisation and industrial growth are exacerbating demand for water but also generating increased volumes of wastewater/effluent that can be re-used by industry. 

Digital technology is transforming economies and the world of work in profound ways. Traditional jobs are being transformed while new forms of work are being created. But is South Africa preparing young people to find employment in the fourth industrial revolution?

The Competition Appeal Court’s recent decision in the Media24 case has brought clarity to the law of predatory pricing in South Africa – the practice of dominant firms cutting prices to levels where equally efficient competitors cannot compete and ultimately exit the market. 

Our Evaluation for Development practice conducted a review of the Jobs Fund's enterprise development (ED) portfolio to capture lessons around which models work best and why. We broke down the programmes into five core elements, and identified four key success drivers in SA. Check out this learning brief for more:

The research into the impact measurement and management landscape in SA conducted by Genesis Analytics and Impact Amplifier, presents key findings in an interactive format, accompanied by a supplementary guide to support your IMM efforts. 

Data – it’s the buzzword of the 21st century and it’s getting bigger and bigger, but for investors, more data does not necessarily mean better investment decisions. Genesis partner Neil Lightfoot questions our ability to use this data in making better investment decisions.

Genesis Analytics is a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact. This report re-confirm the firm's continued support of the Ten Principles of the UN Global Compact with respect to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

Small enterprises employ between 50 and 60% of South Africa’s work force and contribute around 34% of GDP, but they have been relatively stagnant over the past decade. Genesis Analytics worked with the World Bank and the IFC to produce "The Unseen Sector” report, an in-depth assessment of the micro, small and medium enterprise landscape in South Africa and opportunities to support the sector’s growth. Read more about what can be done to grow this sector.

Impact investing is becoming one of the largest forces in driving social and environmental change globally. However, how one defines, measures and communicates this impact is not well defined or consistently implemented. Members of the Evaluation for Development practice examine three case studies in the African Evaluation Journal.

Our Agribusiness, Climate Change and Market Development practice works across the design-and-implement project spectrum, combining deep technical expertise with context-specific knowledge and management. 

On behalf of the CEOs’ Initiative, Standard Bank asked Genesis Analytics to work with the largest companies in the Vaal Region and four public sector partners to prepare a joint Action Plan to bring business and government together to address the decline of the Vaal Region and prevent it from becoming the “rust belt” of South Africa. This trend mirrors the decline of manufacturing in South Africa over the past 10 years.