E-waste is hazardous, but often not properly tracked or recycled. What’s needed? A more formalized re-use economy and future-thinking brands.&nbsp;



It seems like everything and anything these days is connected to the internet. From robotic vacuum cleaners to toothbrushes, smart refrigerators, electronic toys and even running shoes, computerized devices embedded with sensors and controllers have become everyday purchases. But as we pursue smarter and sleeker gadgets, we also have to ask how these devices will be discarded.&nbsp;



Thirty-eight tonnes of e-waste is generated every single minute and by 2021, it’s expected that 57 million tonnes of electronic waste will be produced globally (says the Global E-waste Monitor 2020 report). Compared to the overall amount of rubbish generated – 2,000 million tonnes – this number seems relatively small but when you take into account that e-waste has health and environmental implications, and that it’s often not properly tracked or recycled, it becomes a bigger issue.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Even a USB is technically e-waste.” – Giulio Airaga, a digital marketing specialist at Desco Electronic Recyclers</blockquote>



“Anything that runs on electricity or anything that generates electricity is electronic waste,” explains Giulio Airaga, a digital marketing specialist at Desco Electronic Recyclers. “Even a USB is technically e-waste. Why? Because inside there’s a circuit board and on it, a concentration of metals… sometimes a little bit of gold, a little bit of silver – it’s traces, so finite, but it&#8217;s something.”&nbsp;



Many African countries do not have formal e-waste solutions in place but because of the Basel Convention (which dictates that hazardous waste cannot be moved between nations), e-waste recycling companies are also not allowed to import discarded electronics. They can, however, accept pre-processed, stripped down e-waste, something Desco Electronic Recyclers does with Namibia, Swaziland, Gabon, Botswana and Mozambique.&nbsp;



“The reason for the Basel Convention is that overseas countries are using Africa as a dumping ground. There are some products, like printers, that we get that there is no solution for and we have to send it to a hazardous landfill at our own cost. Most European countries have recycling centers, and they have e-waste companies, but they want to receive ‘good’ e-waste – the recyclables you can get an income from that don’t fill up the landfills,” says Airaga. “Dumping e-waste is illegal but many people don’t realize that. The highest recovery item is a circuit board and a lot of informal recyclers (and sometimes formalized recyclers) without standards in place, cherry-pick the valuables and dump the rest. A smartphone registered in your name with a serial number on can be traced back to you. This could lead to a fine or even jail time. Recyclers need to take the responsibility on themselves to recycle e-waste properly.”



The unregulated disposal of e-waste is a massive problem globally. At least 9.3-million tonnes of e-waste moves between countries and businesses looking for a cheap and easy way to dispose unusable electronics often turn to countries like Ghana, the Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast. Dell was one of the first technology companies to ban exporting e-waste to developing countries, setting up a recycling hub and collection network in Kenya as well as an industry-wide takeback program in Ghana: “When your name is on the company, you have to take responsibility for the way you impact society. The founder of Dell’s pet hate was that he could potentially walk past a landfill and see his name on the items inside…” explains Chris Buchanan, Dell’s director of end user computing for Africa. “One of the challenges when you build product is the full cycle of the components and making sure that they all can potentially be recycled again.”



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“One of the challenges when you build product is the full cycle of the components and making sure that they all can potentially be recycled again.” – Chris Buchanan, Dell’s director of end user computing for Africa</blockquote>



Samsung’s e-waste strategy shifted dramatically in 2017 when the South Korean technology giant decided to make e-waste a part of a R25 million ($) enterprise development program: “As part of the president’s Good Green Deeds campaign, we found two entities – alongside the DTI – with the goal of building up their businesses until they own a beneficiation plant… the full value chain of e-waste,” explains Hlubi Shivanda, Samsung South Africa’s director: business innovation group and corporate affairs.&nbsp;



Located in Benoni, Johannesburg, iLanga E-Waste Management is one of the small businesses Samsung is working with: “The company was registered in 2016 and we started operating in 2018 through the help of the funds we received,” explains Maria Rakgalakane, iLanga E-Waste Management’s director. “We managed to pay a warehouse rental deposit, we acquired two trucks, office equipment and then we also acquired the operating licence – it was so expensive. I’ve found that people don’t value recycling. We have to teach them that e-waste can be hazardous. If they want to plant a crop, it won’t grow. It damages the soil.”



Over and above ramping up these small businesses, Samsung’s role is to ensure enough e-waste gets to these companies to recycle. Working closely with the government means access to old devices sitting in state warehouses across the country. “Municipalities and government departments also need to dispose of their waste responsibly. This is an opportunity for these entities to act as a conduit to dispose of this waste. From a government perspective, we’ll be able to unlock the volume,” adds Shivanda.



What’s interesting is that older electronics can be more lucrative as the concentration of precious metals found is often dependent on the age of the device which is why tapping into discarded government electronics could be a goldmine for these upcoming e-waste entrepreneurs. As the life cycle of electronic devices shortens and our requirements for newer, smarter and better gadgets grows, so does the need for e-waste recycling. A more formalized re-use economy is emerging and future-thinking technology brands like Dell are now designing with sustainability in mind.&nbsp;



“We move a lot of devices around the planet on a daily basis. The real challenge in this whole circular economy is actually on our supply chain. Our traditional suppliers are having to change a lot of their manufacturing capabilities… to make sure that we can honor our commitment to the circular economy,” says Buchanan.&nbsp;



<h2 class="has-text-align-center wp-block-heading">‘There is more gold in a tonne of PC motherboards’</h2>



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="aligncenter size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/circuit-board-with-hemisphere-studs-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-48668" width="424" height="318" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/circuit-board-with-hemisphere-studs-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/circuit-board-with-hemisphere-studs-300x225.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/circuit-board-with-hemisphere-studs-768x576.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/circuit-board-with-hemisphere-studs-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/circuit-board-with-hemisphere-studs-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/circuit-board-with-hemisphere-studs-600x450.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px" /></figure></div>



Gold is the most valuable component of e-waste. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) journal, a circuit board can contain around 60 different chemical elements from nickel to palladium and copper: “There is more gold in a tonne of PC motherboards than there is in the digital gold or that they&#8217;re taking out of the ground,” explains Buchanan.&nbsp;



But where do recycled metals and minerals go? For Ashley Heather, a jeweler in Cape Town, sustainable, single-sourced gold and silver recovered from e-waste made perfect sense. “We started off creating jewelry in silver reclaimed from used photographic chemicals but as dark room photography is a bit of a dying art, sourcing these became increasingly difficult,” explains Heather. “We buy end of life electronics from e-waste aggregators but also take donations of people&#8217;s broken personal electronics. This is all manually dismantled, the non-electrical components are sent their separate ways for recycling and the electrical components are shredded. This shredded material heads to the refinery where the precious metals are extracted and purified before heading to the studio to be crafted into jewelry.”



Heather considers herself an advocate for sustainability first and a goldsmith second. She believes ethical sourcing – fairtrade, recycling or repurposing – is the future of jewelry.&nbsp;



“I think global crises also serve as catalysts for re-imagining the way we do many things. Covid-19 has shone the light on the fragility of the fast fashion model.”



&#8211;By Tiana Cline

Lydia Harper Photography

Where Digital Products Do Not End Up In A Wasteland But Find New Life

Stay-at-home consumers and stimulus checks have been a boon for online installment financing, digital banks and day trading.



In 2015, Nick Molnar was living with his parents in Sydney, Australia, and selling jewelry from a desktop computer in his childhood bedroom. Hocking everything from $250 Seiko watches to $10,000 engagement rings, the 25-year-old had gotten so good at online marketing that he had become Australia’s top seller of jewelry on eBay, shipping thousands of packages a day.



That same year, he teamed up with Anthony Eisen, a former investment banker who was 19 years his senior and lived across the street. They cofounded Afterpay, an online service that allows shoppers from the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Canada to pay for small-ticket items like shoes and shirts in four interest-free payments over six weeks. “I was a Millennial who grew up in the 2008 crisis, and I saw this big shift away from credit to debit,” the now 30-year-old Molnar says today. Either lacking credit cards or fearful of racking up high-interest-rate debt on their credit cards, Molnar’s generation was quick to embrace this new way to buy and get merchandise now, while paying a little later.



Five years later, Molnar and Eisen, who each own roughly 7% of the company, have become billionaires—during a pandemic. After initially tanking at the start of lockdowns, shares of Afterpay—which went public in 2016—are up nearly tenfold, thanks to a surge in business tied to ecommerce sales. In the second quarter, it handled $3.8 billion of transactions, an increase of 127% versus the same period a year earlier.



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h3 class="has-text-align-center has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">Buy Now, Pay Later</h3>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">After a steep drop in Afterpay’s stock in March, the eCommerce boom and credit card-weary Millennials have propelled the installment payment company’s stock to record highs, nearly doubling its value in six months.</blockquote>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



They are not the only ones whose fortunes have taken off in the last few months. According to Forbes’ analysis, at least five fintech entrepreneurs including the two Aussies have been vaulted into the billionaire rankings by the pandemic. Others include Chris Britt, founder of digital bank Chime, and Vlad Tenev and Baiju Bhatt, the co-CEOs of “free” stock trading app Robinhood. Several other founders from such companies as Klarna and Marqeta have also gotten boosts and are suddenly approaching billionaire status.&nbsp;



As in other sectors, the Covid recession has created both fintech winners and losers. For example, LendingClub, which offers personal loans to higher-risk consumers, laid off&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/04/21/lending-club-is-laying-off-460-employees-or-30-of-staff/#4ddcb1bc3c7e">30% of staff</a>; small business lender On Deck was sold in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/05/11/fintechs-for-sale-post-covid-its-partner-or-perish-for-many-startups-heres-a-buy-list/#2747c79f6b3b">fire sale</a>.



But for a sizable crop of consumer-facing and payments-related fintechs, the virus has delivered a gust of growth, just as it has for e-commerce behemoth Amazon and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2020/09/14/zoom-docusign-okta-work-from-home-stocks-poised-for-further-gains/#76e7336611b2">work-from-home players</a>&nbsp;Zoom, Slack and DocuSign.&nbsp;



“Consumer fintech adoption was already strong pre-pandemic, especially among the 20s to early 40s age group,” says Victoria Treyger, a general partner who leads fintech investing at Felicis Ventures. “The pandemic has become a growth rocket, fueling the rapid acceleration of adoption across all age groups, including 40- to 60-year-olds.”



Several Covid-driven developments are helping specific types of fintech players. For example, consumers’ shift to more online spending and delivery services is a boon to certain companies powering payments. Marqeta, a specialized payments processor whose clients include Instacart, DoorDash and Postmates, has been in talks to go public at an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/07/17/pandemic-power-payments-company-marqeta-could-fetch-8-billion-in-ipo-doubling-value/#3a7e25491c9e">$8 billion valuation</a>, four times&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2019/03/26/it-took-three-tries-but-this-entrepreneur-transformed-his-struggling-startup-into-a-2b-unicorn/#4cdfdd23706d">what it was valued at in March of 2019</a>. That would give CEO Jason Gardner, who owns an estimated 10% of Marqeta, a stake worth $800 million.



Meanwhile, the $2 trillion-plus CARES Act Congress passed in March, with its $1,200 per adult stimulus checks, student loan payment holiday and (now expired) $600 a week unemployment supplements, helped many Americans keep financially above water—and some digital banks like Chime to prosper. 



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



<h3 class="has-text-align-center has-vivid-red-color has-text-color wp-block-heading">Debit It!</h3>



<h4 class="has-text-align-center has-white-color has-black-background-color has-text-color has-background wp-block-heading">Spending on the travel and luxury items U.S. consumers typically put on credit cards has fallen with the pandemic, while spending on debit card necessities is up.</h4>



<hr class="wp-block-separator"/>



In the second quarter of 2020, amid Covid lockdowns and fears, consumers slashed spending on travel, restaurants and luxury items they usually put on their credit cards, but continued to spend on necessities and smaller items—the sort of things they’re more likely to pay for with debit cards. During that quarter, Visa credit card transaction volumes were down 24% from the year before, while debit card transactions were up 10%, according to research firm MoffettNathanson. And debit cards (rather than checks or credit cards) are the spending vehicle most frequently offered by fintech neobanks like SoFi, Dave and MoneyLion.



San Francisco-based digital bank Chime, in particular, has used the stimulus payments to its advantage. In mid-April, about a week before the $1,200 government-stimulus checks started hitting Americans’ accounts, the company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/04/09/digital-bank-chime-now-offering-stimulus-check-advance-to-100000-users/#40758dfb1c10">advanced customers that money</a>, eventually extending over $1.5 billion. “Following the stimulus advance, we had the largest day for new enrollments in the history of the company,” CEO Britt reports.



The pandemic has depressed total consumer spending, and the unemployment rate remains at a high 8.4%—two factors that affect Chime’s middle-income customer base. Yet on a per-user basis, “average spend per customer is up over last year,” Britt says. “Part of the reason for that is the government programs around stimulus payments and unemployment.”&nbsp;



Today, Chime’s annualized revenue is running at a $600 million rate, according to a person familiar with the private company’s numbers. At its eye-popping new valuation of $14.5 billion announced along with a $485 million fundraise in mid-September, venture capitalists are valuing the company at 24 times its revenue. Some investors are asking if Chime should get such a lofty value when Green Dot, a publicly traded fintech that offers checking accounts and prepaid debit cards for low-income customers, trades at two times revenue. “We really look more like a payments-processing business,” answers Britt. That’s because virtually all of Chime’s revenue comes from interchange—the fees merchants pay when Chime’s users swipe their debit cards. The company doesn’t make money on interest through its new secured credit card (that’s a starter card where the holder puts up money to cover his or her credit limit), although Britt says he doesn’t rule out lending in the future.&nbsp;



Now Britt himself has sailed into the “three comma club.” Forbes estimates his Chime stake is at least 10%, meaning his holdings are worth $1.3 billion-plus (Forbes applies a 10% discount to all private company holdings). And he’s planning an IPO. “Over the next 12 months, we have a number of initiatives to get done to make us even more IPO-ready,” he says.&nbsp;



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignleft size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-812x1024.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47930" width="286" height="360" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-812x1024.jpg 812w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-scaled-300x379.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-scaled-600x757.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-238x300.jpg 238w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-768x969.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-1218x1536.jpg 1218w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-1624x2048.jpg 1624w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1027918206-scaled.jpg 2029w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 286px) 100vw, 286px" /><figcaption>Robinhood Co-Founder and Co-CEO Baiju Bhatt. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images for TechCrunch)</figcaption></figure></div>



Then there’s the Robinhood phenomenon. The boredom of being stuck at home, wild stock market swings, and government stimulus checks have turned some Millennials and Generation Zers into day traders and options players. Robinhood’s most recent fundraising round in September gave it an $11.7 billion valuation and its cofounders a paper net worth of $1 billion each. But considering Morgan Stanley’s $13 billion February acquisition of E-Trade and Schwab’s earlier purchase of TD Ameritrade for $26 billion, some think Robinhood could garner a $20 billion valuation if it went public or were acquired. 



If there’s one fintech segment that has been an unalloyed pandemic winner, it’s the business Afterpay is in: online point-of-sale installment financing. It’s benefitting from both consumers&#8217; shift to online buying and their reluctance, in these uncertain economic times, to take on new credit card debt.



While Afterpay’s Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen hit billionaire status in July, their competitors aren’t far behind. Take Klarna, which was founded in Stockholm in 2005 and entered the U.S. market in 2016. Two of the three founders, Sebastian Siemiatkowski and Niklas Adalberth, met while flipping patties at a Burger King in Sweden. They pioneered the buy-now, pay-later model in fintech, calling it “try before you buy” and letting people own products for 30 days before making their first payment. (That’s a lot more attractive than old-fashioned layaway, the store system once popular for Christmas gifts and large appliance purchases, in which buyers had to make all their installment payments before getting an item.)



Klarna charges retailers 3% to 4% of each transaction—slightly lower than the 4-5% Afterpay charges—to offer its service. One key difference that separates the two companies: Klarna is becoming a full-fledged financial services business. It became a licensed bank in Sweden in 2017 and offers longer-term financing of up to 24 months, with interest charged, for high-ticket items like laptops sold through a small number of retailers. Siemiatkowski has already turned Klarna into a digital bank in Europe with a debit card for spending on everyday purchases. He’ll likely do the same in the U.S. soon.



<div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><figure class="alignright size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1193300011-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47928" width="350" height="233" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1193300011-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1193300011-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1193300011-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1193300011-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1193300011-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1193300011-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" /><figcaption> Co-founder and CEO of Klarna Sebastian Siemiatkowski . (Photo by Noam Galai/Getty Images for TechCrunch)</figcaption></figure></div>



The pandemic has catapulted Klarna’s business onto a steep trajectory. By the end of 2020’s first half, its U.S. customer base hit nine million, up&nbsp;<a href="https://www.klarna.com/assets/sites/15/2020/08/27060125/Press-release-Klarna-interim-report-January-June-2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">550%</a>&nbsp;from the same period the year before. Globally, 55,000 consumers are downloading the Klarna app every day, more than two times last year’s pace. Klarna is now available in 19 countries, has 90 million users and expects to bring in more than $1 billion in revenue this year. When it raised a new round of funding last week, its valuation nearly doubled from a year ago, hitting&nbsp;<a href="https://www.klarna.com/international/press/klarna-announces-650m-funding-round-to-further-accelerate-global-growth" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$10.7 billion</a>.



Cofounder Victor Jacobsson has a 10% stake, while Siemiatkowski’s has 8% in the still-private company. (Niklas Adalberth retains just 0.4% after selling some shares to fund his philanthropic organization and investing in startups. Neither he nor Jacobsson are still involved in Klarna.)



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;Affirm has also enjoyed a special Covid kicker from pricey home fitness gear. Since 2015, it has powered financing for Peloton, and it now finances purchases of Mirror </blockquote>



Not surprisingly, as the installment purchasing fintechs gain more customers and attention, they’re also facing additional scrutiny from regulators. In March, Afterpay agreed to fork over&nbsp;<a href="https://dbo.ca.gov/2020/03/16/point-of-sale-lender-afterpay-agrees-to-cease-illegal-loans-pay-refunds-in-settlement-with-the-department-of-business-oversight/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$1 million</a>, including $905,000 in consumer refunds, after California’s Department of Business Oversight (DBO) concluded the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.afterpay.com/en-AU/terms-of-service#:~:text=Late%20Fee%3A%20%2410%20Late%20Fee,the%20payment%20is%20still%20unpaid." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">late fees</a>&nbsp;Afterpay charges meant it was running an unlicensed lending business. “Afterpay rejects the view that the Company operated illegally,” the Australian company said in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.afterpaytouch.com/images/17032020-US-Regulatory-Settlement.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">statement</a>. “While Afterpay does not believe such an arrangement required a licence from the DBO, Afterpay has agreed to conduct its operations under the DBO licence as a part of this settlement.” A spokesperson adds that Afterpay “has been applying for, and has been granted licenses [in other states] where needed.” In 2017, Klarna was fined $15,000 in New Hampshire for operating without a lending license. Today Klarna has such licenses in every U.S. state.&nbsp;



Another fintech winner in the installment-payment business is Silicon Valley-based Affirm, the creation of serial entrepreneur Max Levchin, a founder of PayPal, which itself<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffkauflin/2020/08/31/paypal-enters-installment-loan-business-targeting-fintechs-affirm-and-afterpay/#1b1568291478"> jumped into the installment business</a> just last month. Between <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/4VcgC4xW0MfEm41WiO1FBR?domain=affirm.com" target="_blank">November 2019</a> and <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/f0yMC5yAGNi3xkGKtO8dp_?domain=affirm.com" target="_blank">July 2020</a>, Affirm nearly doubled its U.S. users to 5.6 million. It raised $500 million last week at a valuation of more than $5 billion, up from $2.9 billion last year. While Levchin’s exact stake is undisclosed, it’s likely worth hundreds of millions. 



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-style-default"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1155293772-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-47929" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1155293772-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1155293772-scaled-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1155293772-scaled-600x400.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1155293772-768x512.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1155293772-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/GettyImages-1155293772-2048x1365.jpg 2048w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption> PayPal Co-Founder &amp; Affirm CEO Max Levchin. (Photo by John Lamparski/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Affirm has also enjoyed a special Covid kicker from pricey home fitness gear. Since 2015, it has powered financing for Peloton, whose sales have surged as affluent young consumers, missing the motivation of group exercise classes, have flocked to buy the $2,000-plus stationary bikes with their streaming workout classes. Affirm also now finances purchases of Mirror, the hot $1,495 in-home fitness coaching device acquired by Lululemon this summer.&nbsp;



Of course, the fintech companies’ current lofty valuations depend on consumer spending staying strong and consumers retaining some of the online shopping habits they’ve developed over the past six months. With a pre-election agreement between Congress and the White House on a new stimulus package looking unlikely and the future course of Covid-19 unknown, there are no guarantees. But for now, these fintechs are riding high.



By Jeff Kauflin, Forbes Staff &amp; Eliza Haverstock ,Forbes Staff



With additional reporting by Max Jedeur-Palmgren.

TechCrunch Disrupt NY 2016 – Day 2

The Pandemic Plutocrats: How Covid Is Creating New Fintech Billionaires

As millions of people continue to rely on video-conferencing amid the coronavirus pandemic, Zoom is benefiting—shares of the e-video company surged by over 40% on Tuesday morning, a day after it reported blowout second quarter earnings that easily topped analyst estimates.



KEY FACTS



The tech company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/31/2086444/0/en/Zoom-Reports-Second-Quarter-Results-for-Fiscal-Year-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">posted revenue</a>&nbsp;of $663.5 million last quarter, compared to the $500.5 million forecast by analysts, and profits of 92 cents per share (versus 45 cents per share expected).



Revenue more than quadrupled from last year, growing 355% on an annualized basis.



Zoom added nearly 105,000 new customers in the second quarter, with new customers’ subscriptions delivering&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/31/2086444/0/en/Zoom-Reports-Second-Quarter-Results-for-Fiscal-Year-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">81% of revenue growth</a>.&nbsp;



Zoom is one of the best performing stocks so far in 2020, largely weathering the pandemic-induced sell-off in March and rising by more than 370% year to date.



The company now expects revenue between $685 million and $690 million in the third quarter, and also raised its financial guidance for the full fiscal year to almost $2.4 billion as it takes into account growing “demand for remote work solutions for businesses.”



“Zoom crushed its second-quarter results and once again substantially raised full year revenue guidance,” says Morningstar analyst Dan Romanoff, adding, “While it was virtually impossible to top last quarter’s once-in-a-generation results, Zoom delivered a tremendous encore.”



CRUCIAL QUOTE



“Organizations are shifting from addressing their immediate business continuity needs to supporting a future of working anywhere, learning anywhere, and connecting anywhere on Zoom&#8217;s video-first platform,” said Eric Yuan, Zoom’s founder and CEO, in a&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2020/08/31/2086444/0/en/Zoom-Reports-Second-Quarter-Results-for-Fiscal-Year-2021.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">press release</a>.



SURPRISING FACT



At the beginning of the year, Zoom had a market cap of $19 billion. Today, that number has risen to more than $125 billion.



CHIEF CRITIC



While Zoom is a “recognized market leader in meeting software,” Morningstar still sees the stock as overvalued. Although the firm significantly raised its estimates, assigning a fair value of $153 per share—from $116 per share, that is still far below the more than $450 per share that the stock is trading at today. “We still cannot support the current share price within our discounted cash flow model,” Romanoff wrote in a note on Tuesday.



KEY BACKGROUND



Zoom reported revenues of $328 million in the previous quarter, a yearly increase of 169%. Its stock has been on a tear for much of 2020, rising steadily as demand for remote working solutions like video-conferencing skyrocketed amid the pandemic. More and more people have become dependent on Zoom for business, education and personal usage as government officials directed people to stay at home around the world.



FURTHER READING



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/08/31/stocks-just-had-the-best-august-since-1984-but-history-shows-trouble-is-on-the-way/">Stocks Just Had The Best August Since 1984, But History Shows Trouble Is On The Way</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/08/31/billionaire-leon-cooperman-warns-investors-of-stock-market-euphoria-and-shares-three-big-risks-to-an-economic-recovery/">Billionaire Leon Cooperman Warns Investors Of Stock Market ‘Euphoria’ And Shares Three Big Risks To An Economic Recovery</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/08/28/us-tech-stocks-are-now-worth-more-than-9-trillion-eclipsing-the-entire-european-stock-market/">U.S. Tech Stocks Are Now Worth More Than $9 Trillion, Eclipsing The Entire European Stock Market</a>&nbsp;(Forbes)



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/08/28/heres-why-a-tiktok-deal-makes-sense-for-walmart/">Here’s Why A TikTok Deal Makes Sense For Walmart</a> (Forbes)



-Sergei Klebnikov, Forbes Staff

In this photo illustration a Zoom Video Communications logo

Zoom Stock Skyrockets Over 40% After Blowout Quarter, And It Expects To Keep Rising

TikTok will begin financing emerging creators on its short-form video platform with a $200 million fund that it announced today, an unusual move by a social media company and one that comes after several weeks of concerns about TikTok’s future.



The company, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, didn’t provide many specific details about how it will give out that money or who may qualify for it. It may be directed toward users from minority groups—with the press release about the fund’s debut singling out creators like Boman Martinez-Reid, a LGBTQ comedian who has signed with CAA, and Tabitha Brown, who’s become famous for her videos about family life and veganism.



TikTok is in a multi-front battle right now. The Trump Administration is considering banning the app over concerns it may share data with the Chinese government, and the users who flocked to TikTok over the past year have been exploring other platforms for their content. In the past few weeks, TikTokers have posted videos urging their fans to also follower them on apps like Instagram, while others have turned to rival music-and-video apps such as Dubsmash and Byte to produce work.



The best way to keep them on TikTok is to offer a clear path toward earning money. Instagram and other social platforms have struggled to do that, and YouTube’s ad-sharing scheme—based on the views generated by someone’s videos—remains the quickest and simplest monetization for influencers. Companies such as Chipotle and E.L.F. cosmetics are already paying for sponsored content on TikTok, where influencers post videos advertising these companies for a fee, as much as six figures now for the top stars. But those deals are typically hashed out between the brands and the influencers without the social media companies getting involved.



TikTok’s $200 million fund is a different step, something neither Instagram nor YouTube have done. It theoretically would allow more creators to flourish as they start out and begin searching for commercial work, such as the sponsored content posts.



&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/abrambrown/">Abram Brown</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/business">Business</a>

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TikTok Launches $200 Million Fund To Finance Up-And-Coming Stars

The world is awash in streaming services, and Meg Whitman already had her fortune — but then Jeffrey Katzenberg came calling with a mobile-focused startup. With nearly $1.8 billion raised and America on lockdown, consumers may have no choice but to try Quibi.



Minutes after Meg Whitman announced she was stepping down as CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise in November 2017, her phone rang. It was Jeffrey Katzenberg, whom she has known since they both worked for Disney in the late 1980s and early 1990s — Whitman was in strategic planning; Katzenberg ran the film studio.&nbsp; ‘What are you doing?’ ” Whitman remembers her friend asking. “I don’t know,” she replied.



“I’m the chairman of Teach for America. I’ll probably do stuff with my husband and travel.” She continues: “He goes, ‘No. What are you doing tonight?’ And I said, ‘Knowing you, Jeffrey, I’m having dinner with you.’ ”



Katzenberg flew to Silicon Valley and, over dinner at Nobu in Palo Alto, pitched his idea for bringing high-caliber entertainment to mobile phones. For Whitman, the idea checked all her boxes: The potential market for the service was huge, prevailing trends were right and it occupied a unique niche.



“I ultimately said, ‘You know what? I think I have another startup in me,’ ” says Whitman, 63, who first got rich (she’s worth $3.3 billion) working with another visionary founder, Pierre Omidyar. She helped build eBay from 30 employees and $4 million in revenue when she joined in 1998 to more than 15,000 employees and $8 billion in revenue when she left a decade later.



“We’re pioneering into a space that only exists because of two things: YouTube, and Steve Jobs and the iPhone,” Katzenberg says. “Those two things have now created a new piece of real estate, and that real estate is 7 in the morning until 7 at night… That’s the thing that’s exciting to me.”



Two years after that dinner, Quibi (an awkward portmanteau of quick and bites) is poised to launch its mobile streaming service offering original movies, reality TV, comedies and news edited into bite sized nuggets of 10 minutes or less, optimized for viewing on phones.



Many in Hollywood think it’s a terrible idea. At a time when viewers are awash in entertainment options, many of them free, who is going to pay for another? “If I’m going to watch Game of Thrones in eight-minute chunks, what’s the difference between what he’s doing and me hitting the pause button?” scoffs one powerful Hollywood insider, who requested anonymity because his clients sell shows to Quibi. Barry Diller, perhaps the greatest Hollywood visionary of his generation, recently called Quibi a “gutsy speculation” for his former protégé (Katzenberg, 69, worked for Diller at Paramount in the ’70s). “He’s so naked out there with this.”



It’s not a new idea. Back in 1999, Katzenberg tried something similar with Pop.com, which was supposed to deliver short animated and live-action films across the internet. With the technology for viable video streaming still in its infancy, it was an uncertain notion at best. Despite being backed by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen, Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Paul Allen, Pop.com was dead within a year.



This time around, Katzenberg raised enough money to play it out, including $1 billion in August 2018 from the likes of Alibaba, Disney and Sony. It fortuitously wrapped up a $750 million follow-on round in March, just days before the coronavirus froze the country. “I’ve never seen an environment change this fast,” Whitman says. “Every day is a new day, with new data and new concerns.” Luckily, Kevin Hart and Jennifer Lopez already finished work on their shows, and Spielberg has a movie in the works, attracted by a “cash plus” deal that lets them retain rights to their material. After two years, they can stitch together their “quick bites” and release them as a full-length movie.



Inadvertently, America’s lockdown might have created the perfect moment for Quibi. Nielsen projects media viewing will spike by as much as 60% due to COVID-19. People will certainly know it’s available: Quibi is spending a gargantuan $400 million to promote its new service and in mid-March announced that it will offer the service free for three months.



“This is a moment in time in which we have a chance to do something that is putting some happiness and some joy and some fun and some laughter into people’s hands,” Katzenberg says.



Quibi also has the advantage of being loaded with fresh content just as the production of all new shows and movies has been stilled by the pandemic. Quibi has been stockpiling programming since last September in anticipation of a possible writer’s strike, fearing a replay of 2008, when a union walkout halted new production for 100 days.



The service debuts on April 6 with 50 original shows, including movies offered in cliff-hanger chapters such as the thriller Survive, starring Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones) and Corey Hawkins (BlacKkKlansman); 120 reality shows and documentaries; plus news, weather and sports. In all, Quibi promises to deliver 8,500 quick bites from 175 shows in its first year.



But the $1.8 billion question remains: Will anyone pay to watch them? Some Hollywood players are adopting a “DBA Jeffrey” — Don’t Bet Against Jeffrey — attitude.



“Jeffrey has only taken a couple of big swings in his life, and he’s hit it out of the park,” says a senior executive at one of Hollywood’s major talent agencies. “If you had blindly bet on Jeffrey Katzenberg for the past 30 years, you’d have made a lot of money.”



&#8211; Dawn Chmielewski

Young Chinese colleagues working together in a busy co-working space from above

The Billionaire’s Startup

The home will be hub and flexible working the norm. The result? Renewed employee trust, wellness and cost savings, say more companies.



Even the words out-of-the-box seem out of date at a time when shipping containers are turning into ICU hospitals and arms firms are making ventilators and personal protective equipment.



If technology is being repurposed, so too homes and humans.



Over the last few months the world over, the pandemic-induced ‘new normal’ has seen homes turning into head offices, with the volatile economy forcing businesses to rethink long-term strategies in a work from home (WFH) environment that looks here to stay.



Even the big corporates say this could extend post-pandemic.



Barclays CEO Jes Staley said its staff will not revert fully to its pre-January work habits. “There will be a long-term adjustment in how we think about our location strategy; the notion of putting 7,000 people in a building may be a thing of the past,” he said after the company reported its first quarter profits for 2020.



Internet giant Google said all staff are expected to work from home until 2021, according to a May 2020 report in Bloomberg. S,imilarly, Facebook will let staff work remotely through 2020. Twitter, on the other hand, announced a short while later it would let staff work from home “forever”.



Euromonitor International’s Global Consumer Trends 2020 report has highlighted areas that Covid-19 will have an impact for the year ahead. Some of these include multi-functional homes where, in the long-term, the home becomes the hub and businesses will adapt accordingly; private personalization, which will put privacy concerns on hold in the short term but will return in the long term; and inclusivity for all would see disabled communities benefitting from technology.



In South Africa, the government has stipulated five levels of lockdown dictating how businesses may be carried out, including which sectors can operate as levels change. This requires flexibility and being able to adapt from one week to the other.



Jordan Rittenberry, Edelman Africa CEO, says the company’s transition towards more flexible working policies has been sped up by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the process has been a success with renewed trust in employees.



“We believe that flexibility, particularly in the current environment, is a useful way for companies to treat their staff right and foster mutual trust,” he tells FORBES AFRICA. “The pandemic has required a rapid mind-set change as companies take on new responsibilities towards the people that work for them and employee wellness is the first port of call as we navigate these uncharted waters.



“Every crisis presents opportunities and new ways of doing things. The shift we are seeing now is one of those that could help to meaningfully improve employer-employee relationships if managed carefully.



“As more people work from home, we will naturally require less space over time and this will yield cost savings to the business that can be passed on to clients.



“Besides employee costs, real estate is our biggest expense,” he says. Pieter Bensch, Executive Vice President at Sage Middle East and Africa, has come to a similar conclusion. “We realized that we do not need as much office space going forward and working remotely using cloud technology tools has maintained productivity levels from our colleagues,” says Bensch to FORBES AFRICA.



“Our entire workforce began working remotely before lockdown and are in no rush to return until it is safe but have encouraged video calls so they can see each other.



“Our cloud accounting and payroll product sales have increased, which is a clear indication that our customers now understand the power and benefits of cloud solutions to maintain business continuity.”



The mental wellbeing of employees has also been top priority.&nbsp; “All Sage colleagues received a free subscription to Headspace, a brilliant award-winning app and guide to everyday mindfulness,” adds Bensch. The company also formed a ‘Family@Sage’ community for staff looking for peer support on how to adapt with differing family needs and challenges.



A Johannesburg-based agency called BetterWork that specializes in design thinking for human resources has been hosting weekly lunchtime Zoom calls since the beginning of lockdown in South Africa. Attendees include a mix of its professional network, members of The GoodWork Society and other members of the general public. Some of its takeaways have proven that WFH is more productive than working in the office, which cited minimal distractions and the extra hours gained from not having to sit in traffic. Additionally, introverts seem to be thriving and tend to feel more comfortable with contributions to teamwork. On the other hand, BetterWork says parents on the call have expressed being overwhelmed with not just their own work but also the additional responsibility of being teacher-guides to their children.



The company believes the home-office is now the responsibility of the employer where people-focused services such as tele-therapy, support for parents and social programs become an additional duty to ensure a healthy, productive team. It adds that an obvious benefit would be the compensation or subsidizing of laptops, stable internet connectivity, webcams, etc.



Palesa Sibeko, Co-founder of BetterWork, says offices are typically expertly assessed and constructed to suit an organization’s work activity needs, but the same is not true for the millions of homes that are now acting as places of work. “There is not a concerted effort to view home-work life more holistically, to identify the needs and address them to create environments conducive to doing great work.” BetterWork says it is currently looking into how to support organizations on this important mission.



&#8211; Nafisa Akabor

Young man distracted while on  video call from his home during lockdown

‘WFH’ here to stay?

If governments don’t focus on strong privacy protections in their COVID-19 contact tracking tools, it could exacerbate domestic abuse and endanger survivors, according to a warning from women’s support charities.



They’ve urged the U.K. government to include domestic abuse and violence against women and girls (VAWG) experts in the development of such initiatives.



Though the U.K. doesn’t yet have a widely available track and trace app, the charities &#8211; including Women’s Aid and Refuge &#8211; are already anxious enough about the current tracing program, where infected people are called up and asked to register themselves online as someone who has contracted COVID-19. They’re then asked to share details on people with whom they’ve been in contact so they too can be informed.



In a joint whitepaper, the nonprofits said they were anxious about contact tracing staff inadvertently leaking contact details of survivors to perpetrators. They also raised fears the program could be turned into a “tool for abuse.” 



“For example, perpetrators may make fraudulent claims that they have been in contact with survivors in order for them to be asked to self-isolate unnecessarily, and in these circumstances survivors will have no means to identify the perpetrator as the original source,” they warned. “Perpetrators or associates may also pose as contact tracing staff and make contact with victims [or] survivors requesting they self-isolate or requesting personal information.”



The paper also claims abusers are already using the coronavirus pandemic for “coercive control,” in some cases deliberately breathing, spitting and coughing in survivors’ faces. As <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/05/09/online-child-abuse-complaints-surpass-4-million-in-april-this-is-how-cops-are-coping-despite-covid-19/">Forbes previously reported</a>, the sharing of child abuse material has also spiked during global COVID-19 lockdowns.



As for apps, the report warned they required location services to be switched on. “While the NHS app itself doesn’t collect location data, if a perpetrator has installed spyware onto a survivor’s phone or is able to hack into it, then turning on location services will expose their location.”



Problems with Palantir?



The charities also raised concerns about a number of companies who’d partnered with the U.K. on the contact tracing initiatives. They said Serco, which is handling recruiting for contact tracing staff, “has a significant track record of failings and human rights violations, including running a controversial women’s immigration detention centre where&nbsp;<a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/serco-given-yarl-s-wood-immigration-contract-despite-vast-failings-9880772.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">staff have been accused of sexual misconduct</a>&nbsp;and involvement in unlawful evictions of asylum seekers.” Serco also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/20/serco-accidentally-shares-contact-tracers-email-addresses-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recently had to apologize for leaking email addresses</a>&nbsp;of contact tracer staff.



Serco denies that it has any kind of significant track record of failing and human rights violations and that the evictions to which the charities are referring were in Scotland and were ruled legal. It also said that in seven years there had been no substantiated complaints about any sexual wrongdoing at the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, where reports had revealed allegations.



“We are proud to be supporting the government’s test and trace programme with our Tier 3 contact centre team working from pre-approved Public Health England scripts. This is important work and we would like to thank all our teams who have stepped forward. In just four week we mobilised many thousands of people, which is a huge achievement, and we are focussed on ensuring that all our people are able to support the government’s programme going forwards,” a Serco spokesperson said.



Palantir, the $20 billion big data crunching business, also raised an eyebrow. The company, which has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/03/31/palantir-the-20-billion-peter-thiel-backed-big-data-giant-is-providing-a-coronavirus-monitoring-tool-to-the-cdc/">secured millions of dollars in contracts to help health agencies manage the outbreak</a>, has come in for criticism for assisting U.S. immigration authorities on finding and ejecting illegal aliens.



Palantir hadn’t responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">UK’s delayed COVID-19 app</h2>



The charities’ warning comes as the U.K. announced its contact tracing app would be shifting to the Apple and Google models, which promise stronger privacy protections than the app being tested by the government. The main difference is in where user information goes. In the government’s app, anonymized phone IDs of both the infected person and the people they’ve been near are sent to a centralized server, which determines who to warn about possible COVID-19 infection. In the Apple and Google model, only the phone ID of the infected person is sent to a centralized database. The phone then downloads the database and decides where to send alerts. The latter means the government has access to far less data on people’s phones, pleasing some critics but aggravating the government.



Health secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday that Apple&#8217;s restrictions on third-party apps&#8217; use of Bluetooth may’ve been one reason the government’s own app wasn’t as successful as hoped. Bluetooth is being used to determine whether an infected person has been in close proximity with another person’s phone.



Earlier this week, Amnesty International cybersecurity researcher Claudio Guarnieri&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/06/16/covid-19-tracking-apps-a-privacy-trash-fire-as-norway-nixes-its-own/">warned</a>&nbsp;that global rollouts of contact tracing apps were a privacy “trash fire.” After analyzing 11 apps, he found many contained privacy shortcomings. So concerned was Norway that it suspended its tool.



Even with lockdowns easing, those who’re infected are still being advised to isolate. However,  the NHS guidance <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.hpft.nhs.uk/information-and-resources/coronavirus/domestic-violenceabuse-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/" target="_blank">says</a> that “the household isolation instruction as a result of Coronavirus (COVID-19) does not apply if you need to leave your home to escape domestic abuse.” That message may not have been amplified as much as it should’ve been.



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/">Thomas Brewster</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/cybersecurity">Cybersecurity</a>

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Warning: COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps Could Be Turned Into Tools For Domestic Abuse

TOPLINE Twitter announced Wednesday that it will test a new feature that will prompt users to open up a link to an article before sharing it, which appears to be a move to further combat the spread of misinformation on the platform.



KEY FACTS



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Some Twitter uses may be subject to a prompt to click on a link if they try to retweet without reading the article first, billed by Twitter as a feature “designed to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1270821434462539783?s=20" target="_blank">empower</a> healthy and informed public conversation.”</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>English speakers on <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1270783537667551233?s=20" target="_blank">Android devices</a> will be the first to see the tests.Users will still have the ability to retweet a message without clicking the link first if they chose to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1270783537667551233?s=20" target="_blank">tap through</a> the prompt.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>According to Twitter Support, an official company account, the platform will only check if a user has clicked the article link recently <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1270804405886091266?s=20" target="_blank">through Twitter</a>, not elsewhere on the internet.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Twitter denied some skeptical users’ accusations that the platform is testing the feature to establish a revenue stream via click-through to outside websites, saying the platform is not <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1270821781843124227?s=20" target="_blank">testing ad products</a> with the prompts.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Twitter Support told one user it would watch to see if reminding users to read an article before they share it leads to more <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://twitter.com/TwitterSupport/status/1270809139917225985?s=20" target="_blank">informed discussion</a>.</li></ul>



<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Sharing an article can spark conversation, so you may want to read it before you Tweet it. To help promote informed discussion, we&#39;re testing a new prompt on Android –– when you Retweet an article that you haven&#39;t opened on Twitter, we may ask if you&#39;d like to open it first.&mdash; Support (@Support) <a href="https://twitter.com/Support/status/1270783537667551233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



CRUCIAL QUOTE



“It&#8217;s easy for links [and] articles to go viral on Twitter. This can be powerful but sometimes dangerous, especially if people haven&#8217;t read the content they&#8217;re spreading. This feature (on Android for now) encourages people to read a linked article prior to retweeting it,” Twitter product lead Kayvon Beykpour&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/kayvz/status/1270788548002631681?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">commented</a>&nbsp;upon the announcement of the feature testing.



KEY BACKGROUND



The new prompt tests are the latest Twitter effort to curb the spread of misinformation on the platform. Twitter last month displayed <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2020/05/29/twitter-flags-trump-tweet-threatening-violence-against-minneapolis-protesters/#5684bf57bc33">fact-check tags</a> on two of President Donald Trump’s tweets that featured misleading information regarding mail-in ballots and voter fraud. Twitter also rolled out testing for a new feature to allow users to <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.theverge.com/21286855/twitter-articles-prompt-unread-feature-conversations" target="_blank">limit</a> who can reply to their tweets. The platform has faced <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackbrewster/2020/05/27/heres-why-twitter-is-facing-attacks-from-both-trump-and-democrats/#3a95dad95df0">criticism</a> from both sides of the aisle in recent weeks, from conservatives over accusations of censorship and from the left for not doing enough to stifle misinformation.



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/">Carlie Porterfield</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/business">Business</a>

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Twitter Begins Asking Users To Actually Read Articles Before Sharing Them

People’s safety concerns about transmission through contact has resulted in Covid-19 becoming a catalyst for the adoption of cashless payments globally and even more so in South Africa, with the disruption expected to effect lasting changes in the way people transact with cards and cash.  



While consumers had already begun to embrace digital payment options prior to the pandemic, the health crisis is rapidly accelerating the adoption rate with more consumers seeking safer, contact-free payment methods.



This rapid adoption of digital payments will help shape a new normal as businesses begin to emerge from the more stringent levels of lockdown regulations and attempt to navigate their post-Covid-19 futures.



Derek Cikes, Commercial Director at Payflex, says the pandemic represents a watershed for the payments industry.



“The acceleration towards a cashless society is one of the key opportunities that has emerged from the pandemic, bringing the advantages of digital payments&nbsp; to the fore including lower fees,&nbsp; convenience, seamless delivery, greater security, and more flexible payment options,” says Cikes who adds that what makes this trend so interesting, is that historically, people used to hoard cash in times of crisis. Now, the opposite is occurring.



<a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="http://newsroom.mastercard.com/mea/press-releases/mastercard-study-shows-south-african-consumers-make-the-move-to-contactless-payments-for-everyday-purchases-seeking-touch-free-payment-experiences/" target="_blank">A study</a> by MasterCard revealed that since the beginning of Covid-19 in South Africa, 89 percent of South African respondents have been using contactless methods to pay for groceries, 60 percent for pharmaceutical items, 39 percent for other retail items, 15 percent for fast food, and eight percent for transport.



Similarly, recent figures from <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.bain.com/insights/the-covid-19-tipping-point-for-digital-payments/" target="_blank">Bain</a> echo this, with estimates that by 2025, the adoption of digital payments could accelerate by a 5 &#8211; 10 percentage point increase globally, above what was previously anticipated at 57% before Covid-19 to 67% after Covid-19.   



Are contactless payments here to stay?



Cash is perceived as a vehicle for the transmission of the virus.&nbsp;As stores, restaurants and other merchants begin to open their doors again, contactless payments are key in providing consumers with a much-needed sense of comfort and reassurance.



 “Businesses have no option but to rethink their use of shared payment surfaces, with customers more conscious than ever of what they touch. People don’t want to touch ATM or PIN pads or have to hand their cards to store tellers.&nbsp; Once viewed as a convenience or nice-to-have, digital payments are now viewed as a critical service, providing a solution to limiting contact with other surfaces,” says Cikes.



Creation of new payment habits



From banking facilities like tap-to-pay, payment apps such as Zapper and Snapscan, to digital banking&nbsp;and&nbsp;e-wallet providers, South African fintech firms have reported significant increases in the use and adoption of digital payment methods since the outbreak began in March. The simple truth is, while these channels provide a convenient way of paying, they are also contactless, allowing consumers to pay for their goods while not having to exchange cash or cards with merchants.



“The perception of cards and cash as vehicles for transferring microorganisms has changed how people physically interact with their payments in favour of contactless options. With health and safety being top priorities, we anticipate this trend to become more permanent with hygiene measures and social distancing likely to become part and parcel of our daily realities for years to come,” says Cikes.



Retailers drive adoption of digital payments



Both online and brick and mortar retailers are helping to accelerate this trend with stores like Mr Price enabling consumers a contactless way to pay in-store pay via their app, and most South African retailers offering tap-to-pay-methods.&nbsp;There is also an expected uptick in omnichannel capabilities (being able to sell your goods through many channels such as website, app, retail, third-party platforms such as Amazon or Shopify) which bridges payments in any environment, physical or digital.



Another contactless payment method driving this trend is e-wallets with over&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theafricareport.com/25846/africa-over-500-million-mobile-money-users-expected-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">500 million mobile money</a>&nbsp;users expected on the continent in 2020. In addition, it is anticipated that the capabilities of digital wallets will expand to offer features such as digital IDs and transaction monitoring and reporting, which is expected to create even more growth for this payment mechanism.



 Flexibility needed more than ever



According to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.transunion.com/blog/financial-hardship-study/South-Africa" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TransUnion’s Financial Hardship Survey</a>,&nbsp;conducted in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, India, Hong Kong and South Africa, one in six people lost their job in early May, with defaulting on their bills just seven weeks away. 82% of consumers indicated their household income had been impacted, and on average, consumers who were impacted, expect they will be short by R 7 542.90 when paying bills or loans.



“Many people are financially stretched and need the support of alternative payment solutions to help manage their cash flow without incurring further credit card debt,” says Cikes.



A report by&nbsp;<a href="https://blog.globalwebindex.com/trends/coronavirus-international-study/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">GlobalWebIndex&nbsp;</a>shows that 83% of South African consumers are expecting flexible payment options from brands.



“We have seen this play out in the increased uptake of our Payflex&nbsp;Buy Now Pay Later&nbsp;payment solution, which allows people to make interest-free payments over two paychecks,” says Cikes.



With health, safety and financial security at the forefront of consumer sentiments, companies will need to provide payment options which meet these consumer needs.



“Digital payment solutions provide an avenue which safeguards against physical interaction, enabling both consumers and business to navigate the environment as the economy is restarted.&nbsp; These digital adoptions will not only help manage the current situation but will also have far-reaching benefits, facilitating a more customer-centric, efficient and resilient economy,” concludes Cikes.



-Derek Cikes, Commercial Director, Payflex

Financial technology concept.

Op-Ed: From Cashless To Digital: The Covid-19 Tipping Point

One man working alone at night using notebook during quarantine

Covid-19: The Ultimate Disruptor

A preliminary screening test app from the Philippines that can help individuals and healthcare systems diagnose Covid-19 symptoms sooner – and in a safer way.



Lars Jeppesen, the CEO and Co-Founder of Enadoc, a tech company based in Manila in the Philippines, and Wasantha Weerakoone, its CTO and Co-Founder, have always been passionate about healthcare. Although running Enadoc, which they co-founded in 2017 with technology solutions integrator Tech One Global, in the Covid-19 pandemic, Jeppesen says they saw an opportunity to not only make a difference, but also “expand the bandwidth and depth” of their services. Enadoc has now developed a screening test app that individuals can use at home, while healthcare institutions can use it on people who have developed symptoms of Covid-19. The Denmark-born entrepreneur shares more:



How did the Covid-19 screening test application come about?



In emerging economies and markets, even big countries like the US and many European countries, the number of doctors per person is limited… Now, we have a virus that has been spreading since November and if the doctor would have been some kind of AI in the background, maybe this data could have been available earlier saying ‘ok, we have some abnormal amount of people who are having the same symptoms, what is happening here?’ But because each doctor in each country, district and village deals with their own situation differently, all of us have our basic education but how do we keep ourselves up-to-date all the time with the latest? So it was always in my head ‘what can we do in this situation to bring more healthcare to more people, and help the healthcare systems in the early days of the disease to screen people or to help diagnose better?’



I think the diagnosis could be done more and more by AI sitting behind some application. And maybe with some telemedicine in between&#8230; Because of that, doctors can deal with more patients in a day and don’t need to deal with patients that could be contagious. The first paralyzing situation in the healthcare system was so many doctors and nurses got sick in the early days because they didn’t know what they were dealing with. So, if we had some kind of way of saying ‘ok, there’s something happening here, this patient needs to arrive in the hospital and be put in isolation before, or we need to have certain equipment to make sure we deal with this patient in a different way’, that made us think. Then you start to see the emergence of people coming up with some screening tools and we said ‘ok, maybe we could take all the information available that we could find in the World Health Organization, Department of Health, and all these different sources and put together some kind of framework to help in screening’. We did that and now the application is in data.



How are African countries using the app?



Right now, we have seen around six or seven countries using the app in Africa including Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. We don’t know the exact location of the user, we just know the app has been used there. We don’t know the individual user, we don’t have an IP address or any phone ID. The platform we are using for the app is Microsoft services.



One of our intentions is to bring this product together with the healthcare app from Microsoft… We bring on the global healthcare AI into the backend of the app and create a kind of an app chat bot where you can say what your symptoms are, not only for Covid-19, but for any kind of disease.

Lars – Images

Covid-19: ‘Help Healthcare Systems In The Early Days Of Disease’

It’s everyone’s dream to get paid to do nothing. Bitcoin miner Layer1 is turning that dream into reality — having figured out how to make money even when its machines are turned off.&nbsp;



Layer1 is a cryptocurrency startup backed by the likes of billionaire&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/profile/peter-thiel/#20734ccc533a">Peter Thiel</a>. In recent months, out in the hardscrabble land of west Texas,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2020/02/28/why-is-this-peter-thiel-backed-startup-mining-bitcoin-in-west-texas/#57cf2dc55174">the company has been busy</a>&nbsp;erecting steel boxes (think shipping containers) stuffed chockablock with high-end processors submerged inside cooling baths of mineral oil. Why west Texas? Beause thanks to a glut of natural gas and a forest of wind turbines, power there is among the cheapest in the world — which is what you need for crypto.&nbsp;



“Mining Bitcoin is about converting electricity into money,” says Alex Liegl, CEO and co-founder. By this fall Layer1 will have dozens of these boxes churning around the clock to transform 100 megawatts into a stream of Bitcoin. Liegl says their average cost of production is about $1,000 per coin — equating to a 90% profit margin at current BTC price of $9,100.&nbsp;



So it’s odd how excited Liegl is about the prospect of having to shut down his Bitcoin miners this summer.&nbsp;



Already this year west Texas has seen a string of 100-degree days. But the real heat and humidity don’t hit until August, which is when the Texas power grid strains under the load of every air conditioning unit in the state going full blast. During an intense week in 2019, wholesale electricity prices in the grid region managed by the Electricity Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) soared from about $120 per megawatthour to peak out at $9,000 per mwh. It was only the third time in history that Texas power hit that level. And although the peak pricing only lasted an hour or so, that’s enough to generate big profits. Analyst Hugh Wynne at research outfit SSR figures that Texas power generators make about 15% of annual revenues during the peak 1% of hours (whereas in more temperate California grid generators only get 3% of revs from the top 1%).



Turns out that running a phalanx of Bitcoin miners is a great way to arbitrage those peaks. Layer1 has entered into so-called “demand response” contracts whereby at a minute’s notice they will shut down all their machines and instead allow their 100 mw load to flow onto the grid. “We act as an insurance underwriter for the energy grid,” says Liegl, 27. “If there is an insufficiency of supply we can shut down.” The best part, they get paid whether a grid emergeny occurs or not. Just for their willingness to shut in Bitcoin production, Layer1 collects an annual premium equating to $19 per megawatthour of their expected power demand — or about $17 million. Given Layer1’s roughly $25 per mwh long-term contracted costs, this gets their all-in power price down 75% to less than 1 cent per kwh (just 10% of what residential customers pay).&nbsp;



It may seem like grid operators are paying Layer1 a lot for something that might not even happen, especially with coronavirus reducing electricity demand, but it makes total sense, says&nbsp;<a href="https://uh.edu/uh-energy/about-uh-energy/energy-fellows/blog-posts/ed-hirs/index.php" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ed Hirs</a>, a lecturer in energy economics at the University of Houston and research fellow at consultancy BDO: “It’s a lot cheaper option than building a whole new power plant or battery system just to keep it on standby.”&nbsp;



And although this may be a new concept for cryptocurrency miners, it’s been done before. Two decades ago industrialist Charles Hurwitz bought up power-hogging aluminum smelters in the Pacific Northwest and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2001/0402/053.html#34cccc1d3da9">made more money reselling electricity</a>&nbsp;than making metal. “It used to be called load management,” says Dan Delurey, a consultant with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wedgemere.com/team/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wedgemere Group</a>. “In old commercial buildings you might still find telephone wires connected to air conditioning systems so that grid operators could send a signal to shut off.” More recently we’ve seen companies install radio-based devices to control hot water heaters and lighting systems. Indeed, grid management is a hot enough area that in 2017 Italy’s power giant Enel bought Boston-based Enernoc for $250 million and Itron&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/itron" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ITRI</a>&nbsp;bought Comverge for $100 million. What’s emerged are entities, like Layer1, that Delurey calls the “prosumer” — producing consumer.&nbsp;



As for Layer1, Liegl says his next step is to vertically integrate into financial products, including Bitcoin derivatives and more. “We are building an in-house energy trading division to leverage this into being a virtual power plant.”&nbsp;



His message to any pikers still trying to mine cryptocurrencies from their bedroom PC or even via cloud services: “I can’t think of something more irrational at this point. It’s like if I wanted to dig a hole in my backyard and try to get oil out of the ground.”&nbsp;



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/">Christopher Helman</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/energy">Energy</a>

gettyimages-1130794858-170667a

How This Billionaire-Backed Crypto Startup Gets Paid To Not Mine Bitcoin

Google released its seventh consecutive diversity report on Thursday, revealing modest gains in representation for women and people of color, and a disproportionately white, Asian and male workforce.



The percentage of black hires in the U.S. grew from 4.8% in 2018 to 5.5% in 2019, a .7% increase. The percentage of black hires in technical roles also grew by .7%, the largest increase in the share of black technical hires since Google first started publishing diversity data. Latinx employees, on the other hand, saw a dip in hiring, dropping from 6.8% in 2018 to 6.6% in 2019. The percentage of Latinx employees in technical roles increased by a mere .2%.



Female employees didn’t fare much better, dropping from 33.2% of global hires in 2018 to 32.5% in 2019. Over that same time period, the percentage of women hired for technical positions remained at about 25.6%—a far cry from gender parity. But hiring only shows one side of the coin, which is why Google began to include attrition rates in 2018.



As in previous years, women continued to have a lower than average attrition rate in 2019, while Latinx attrition in the U.S. dipped below the Google average. Attrition was highest for Native Americans and increased significantly for black women.



Overall, Google’s workforce representation—defined as hiring minus attrition—saw a slight uptick for most underrepresented groups. Black and Latinx employees represented 9.6% of the U.S. workforce in 2019, up from 9% in 2018, and women represented 32% of Google’s global workforce, up from 31.6%.



The representation of women and Latinx employees in leadership roles also grew, increasing by .6% and .4% respectively. The percentage of black employees in leadership positions didn’t change year-over-year and dropped by .2% for Native American employees.



Although the needle has barely budged for women and people of color in tech over the last year, Google has made it a point to invest in diversity programs. Through its philanthropic arm,&nbsp;Google.org, the company committed $10 million to support low-income students and students of color in Bay Area STEM classrooms in 2019.



Internally, the company has launched smaller initiatives, such as running all job postings through a bias removal tool, which it says has led to an 11% increase in applications from women. And in an effort to retain diverse talent, Google expanded its retention case management program for underrepresented employees who are considering leaving the company.



Looking at its most recent diversity figures, however, Google concedes that there is considerable room for improvement. “The Native American population is one of those areas where we remain flat and so we will continue to invest more focus in 2020 to make sure that we&#8217;re targeting this population as well,” says Melonie Parker, Google’s chief diversity officer.



While she wouldn’t specify what that investment would entail, Parker says that the company is moving forward on its 2020 diversity goals and will continue to focus on representation and creating an inclusive culture companywide. She also notes that&nbsp;even the smallest percentage gains represent&nbsp;thousands of jobs for underrepresented groups.&nbsp;



One area where Google has seen significant progress is in its internship program: Globally, 40% of interns in technical roles were women in 2019 and 24% of U.S. interns were black and Latinx.



&#8211;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ruthumoh/">Ruth Umoh</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/diversity-inclusion">Diversity &amp; Inclusion</a>

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Google Diversity Report Shows Little Progress For Women And People Of Color

TOPLINE Former Facebook moderators will receive at least $1,000 each after Facebook agreed to pay $52 million to settle a lawsuit over allegedly failing to protect moderators being exposed to harmful content online.



KEY FACTS



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Moderators were exposed to the worst types of content online including terrorism, pedophilia and animal abuse. They were hired by Facebook through third-party firms.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The settlement covers more than 11,000 current and former moderators across California, Arizona, Texas and Florida. It was filed at San Mateo County Superior Court on Friday.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Plaintiffs who have been diagnosed with a mental illness, including PTSD, qualify for additional compensation of up to $50,000.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>The social media giant says it will change its policies in response to the case, and introduce compulsory group counseling sessions for moderators, while third-party firms will be required to step up support for moderators’ mental health.</li></ul>



CRUCIAL COMMENT



Lawyer Steve Williams, representing the plaintiffs, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/may/12/facebook-settlement-mental-health-moderators" target="_blank">told</a> The Guardian: “The harm that can be suffered from this work is real and severe. So the fact that we got some real, meaningful relief going forward just feels really good.”



KEY BACKGROUND



Facebook was sued in September 2018 by former content moderator Selena Scola, who developed PTSD after nine months in the job, thanks to regular exposure to images of rape and murder. The scale of the mental toll on moderators was exposed by The Verge last year. The outlet <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/25/18229714/cognizant-facebook-content-moderator-interviews-trauma-working-conditions-arizona" target="_blank">reported</a> that some Facebook content moderators working for IT firm Cognizant <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.forbes.com/companies/cognizant" target="_blank">CTSH</a> in Arizona had developed fringe views after exposure to extreme right-wing and conspiracy theorist content, while some had developed PTSD. To cope, some moderators at the firm smoked weed to numb their emotions, while being paid just $28,800 a year. A Guardian report last year found that moderators for Facebook based in Berlin were becoming <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/17/revealed-catastrophic-effects-working-facebook-moderator" target="_blank">addicted</a> to extreme content, were overworked and paid little. 



<figure class="wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">Thank you and the team for all of your diligent efforts, work, and support on this case for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/content?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#content</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/moderators?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#moderators</a> at <a href="https://twitter.com/facebook?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Facebook</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/instagram?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/lydiaannewright?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@lydiaannewright</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/d_charest_law?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@d_charest_law</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MentalHealthMatters?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MentalHealthMatters</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MentalHealthAwareness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MentalHealthAwareness</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MentalHealthMonth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MentalHealthMonth</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PTSD?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PTSD</a> <a href="https://t.co/fXhq7UyS8n">https://t.co/fXhq7UyS8n</a>&mdash; Selena Scola (@selena_scola) <a href="https://twitter.com/selena_scola/status/1260321806633721858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
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&#8211; <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/isabeltogoh/">Isabel Togoh</a>, Forbes Staff, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/business">Business</a>

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Facebook Will Pay Out $52 Million After Failing To Protect Moderators From Dangers Of Extreme Content

Tech entrepreneur Mandla Ngcobo dabbled in everything from poultry farming to selling airtime and electricity, until he found his niche in telecom – and his connections are growing.



Mandla Ngcobo represents everything the digital age stands for.



He’s young, happening and ubiquitous, with hopes and ambitions in every sector: from the poultry business to IT and everything in between.



&nbsp;Born in Newcastle, in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, Ngcobo is the founder of Accelerit Technologies that’s heading forth in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.



“Entrepreneurship is something that has always been around me,” he says resolutely, taking a sip of his drink, when we meet him at an upscale restaurant in Sandton, Johannesburg.



“My father was a taxi owner. My mother was unemployed but used to sell clothes and plait people’s hair from home. She was a firm believer that one must have multiple streams of revenue. My mother used to do whatever it took to put food on the table.”&nbsp;



This attribute made him resourceful too, as he saw it work. He was employed but was inspired to start his own business.



His job for six years at a global technology and consulting firm in Johannesburg exposed him to the inner workings of the ICT business.



The computer had been a loyal companion since high school.&nbsp;



In the mid-1990s, his brother bought him his first TV game console, then gave him his old Pentium One computer with 133 megabytes of data.



“I was fascinated by the fact that you could program a computer to do certain things,” says Ngcobo.



Graduating from the University of Cape Town in South Africa with a BSc in 2005, he wasn’t particularly passionate about theory, but was driven by formulae.



“I also did business as an elective because I was thinking about the trade. So, varsity was mostly about computers and business and that’s where it all began.”



Two years later, he ventured into the chicken feed business as his mother had started a chicken farm.



He ran the business for five years with a fair turnover and employing three.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“That money was able to pay for my car; I saw it had legs. I tried so many businesses; I even sold prepaid airtime and electricity around where I grew up.”



The chicken business didn’t take off but at least he was now lured into the art of making money.



In 2011, the 36-year-old serial entrepreneur registered Accelerit Technologies, a small and medium enterprise providing turnkey ICT solutions. He needed to have licences to run a telecom business to do business with other companies and consumers.



He was still an employee with the company he worked for, but time had come to go on his own.



“I had to be billable as a consultant, so I had to work. There was a project I worked on that absolutely almost broke me; I didn’t enjoy it at all, so I was in a space knowing I didn’t have to do what I was doing. If I could dedicate a little bit of my time to pursue my own venture, I could make it work and that was it, I was done, and I resigned in 2013,” he says.&nbsp;



Having tasted entrepreneurship, he knew he could do it, but this time, he had to be fully present and committed.



“I sold my fancy white Audi TT car, and moved out of my lavish apartment in Sandton. I had to downgrade my life, I needed to bring it back to a level where I could manage my month’s expenditure and align with the fact that I was no longer an employee,” he says.



He shared office space but had a business address; it was time to get his first customer.



He set up a Wi-Fi base station at his sister’s house and sold vouchers; expanded to Greyhound Lines, an intercity bus carrier; then a student commune around the Johannesburg CBD, and within months, Ngcobo was turning over R10,000 ($617) a month.



“That made me feel chuffed,” he says. His sister was his first employee and two other friends soon were on his payroll.



“I was coming from a job that paid me R60,000 ($3,700) a month, and the R10,000 ($617) had me super excited. I knew I never had to work [for someone else] a day in my life. If I put in 10 times the effort, then I would be making R100,000 ($6,168) a month and that is how the journey started.”



Business was growing and within 24 months, Ngcobo set up Wi-Fi base stations in estates around Midrand still using the voucher system; at the time, it was massive.



In early 2017, Accelerit Technologies moved to fiber optic technology delivering high-speed data.



“That made us very competitive; we went from north Johannesburg to providing services nationwide, turning over R900,000 ($55,512) at the end of the 2018 financial year.”



Currently, Ngcobo is projecting R30 million ($1.85 million) for the financial year 2020 and employs 20 full-time staff.



It’s big numbers and wired ambitions, but as always, he is sure he can make it work.

Tag: Technology

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