SAPCC Newsletter Oct 2022

SAPCC Celebrates Women in Business

On 28 September 2022, the SAPCC held the fifth annual, Women in Business event, held on the 14th floor deck of sponsors, Sasfin overlooking Sandton. The panel members discussed their personal journey, aspects of leadership and success, their struggles, gender bias, challenges in business, mentorship and much more.

The almost one hundred guests comprised Manuel Graínha do Vale and Economic and Trade Counsellor, Guilherme Lopes, both from Embassy of Portugal, representatives from Spanish Embassy, representatives

from various chambers of commerce, SAPCC Members, entrepreneurs from various sectors of business and the incredible Sasfin team.

Sasfin’s Senior Business Banker, Wesley Mills welcomed all the guests and introduced the Sasfin team. SAPCC director and event team leader, Sofia Pone thanked the Sasfin team for co-hosting the event and introduced the panel and panel moderator.

This year, the panel comprised Melanie da Costa, Jennifer de Mata, Nomsa Macuacua, Laura Ferreira and was moderated by SAPCC director, Rui Marto. The four panellists demonstrated their innovation,

as finding solutions to the challenges employers in South Africa face on a daily basis! Jennifer understands that the services Strata-g provides its clients are critical to the organisation’s success and as a result, all services are offered by an absolutely passionate and professionally qualified team of people, handpicked by Jennifer to provide the best advice and support to clients. All staff at Strata-g are professionally qualified and are selected through a rigorous recruitment process to ensure that Strata-g only employs the best quality expertise available in the market. Staff are passionate about their respective chosen professions and are completely aligned and engaged with Jennifer’s ethos and core values.

Integrity, reliability, consistent and outstanding service delivery is what you can expect when partnering with Jennifer and Strata-g.

Melanie is the Director for Strategy and Health Policy at NETCARE and Managing Director Akeso. She has a Masters in Commerce and Chartered Financial Analyst. Melanie started her career in investments as a healthcare investment analyst and portfolio manager. Her career in investments spanned 11 years and included her role as the Head of Equity Research for UK based HSBC's South African office.

at Strata-g Labour Solutions (Pty) Ltd.

Strata-g is an established and highly respected market leader and preferred partner to employers, when it comes to dealing with Labour Law, BBBEE, Compliance and other Human Resources related needs within the workplace. Strata-g, under the leadership of its Founder and Managing Director, Jennifer Da Mata, has gained the trust and support of some of South Africa`s biggest companies and has become the benchmark within the Labour Law and Human Resources Industry and a leading brand in South Africa.

South African born Jennifer Da Mata is the daughter of Portuguese immigrants and the mother to a 7 year old son, who values her family and the various relationships that she has built over the years. It is perhaps her unwavering passion for building and maintaining good relationships that has enable this fierce Portuguese patriot to grow Strata-g into a national infrastructure that operates across all industries in South African.

With 20+ years’ experience as a labour and employment law practitioner and a BCom, LLB and Masters in Business Administration, Jennifer is truly passionate about business, service excellence as well

Melanie joined Netcare in May 2006 to create a Health Policy Unit to inform healthcare provider inputs on key matters of national health policy. Melanie has had a multi-dimensional role within Netcare including leading Netcare’s review of international opportunities; health policy, funder contracting and strategic initiatives. Melanie is also the MD of Akeso, a portfolio of 13 mental health clinics.

Melanie sits on the Netcare Executive Committee; the Board of National Renal Care and the Hospital Association of South Africa (HASA). Melanie’s also represented Netcare on the Board of BMI Healthcare (UK), the largest private hospital group in the UK.

Melanie has served on the Board of HASA since 2008 and served as the Chairperson from 2012 to 2018 overseeing the sectors strategy on key topics including National Reference Pricing and National Health Insurance and received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022 for her contribution to health policy in SA over the past decade and a half.

Nomsa Macuacua is the CEO of Inodev Africa and Associate Partner of Inodev (Portugal). She is a business woman, business developer, and a 'Solutionist' at heart whose passion lies in creating innovative and sustainable solutions for businesses in Africa and beyond.

In her previous role with WorkWell - Workplace Mental Health, she served as a Stakeholder Relations and New Business Development Executive.

Prior to joining WorkWell she served as an Account Manager Supporting Officer and Membership Administrator at Propay.

She holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of South Africa and is currently studying towards an MBA at a German university.

Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, Laura Ferreira, owner of House of Lucent is a dreamer, independent thinker and intuitive creative with a savvy business mind. Laura grew up envisioning ideas with the hope of one day owning a successful clothing label. Her true passion was ignited after being gifted a sewing machine for her sweet sixteen. She has always wanted to build something beautiful and long-lasting, all while helping as many hands as possible. Mastering her craft in her teenage years by attending sewing lessons, pattern-making classes and illustration courses, Laura graduated with distinction at Spero Villioti Elite Design Academy in Fashion Design and Business.

Her career began in retail which lead her to go on to fashion media and publication. She then progressed to working as a designer and merchandiser in SA’s leading apparel manufacturer for local and international retailers. Laura’s entrepreneurial journey started when she was greatly inspired by a group of ladies at the manufacturing plant. She believes the sewers, steamers and cutters are the true beating heart of the fashion industry. Her wish is to shed light on and revive the fashion industry in South Africa – one stitch at a time.

Lucent was launched in 2018, a day before Laura’s 25th birthday. The business’s focus is on people

empowerment, sustainability, ethical practices and slow fashion. In 2019, Lucent won the coveted award of South African Fashion Week’s ‘New Talent Search’ competition in ‘Shaping the future of Sustainability’. The label celebrates ancient traditions, artisanal crafts, people and the planet.

When Laura is not conceptualising her upcoming collections, she enjoys producing short fashion films, of which two of her productions have received nominations at Mercedes Benz Bokeh international film festival. The young designer was thrilled to receive the nomination as Cosmopolitan’s next generation voices, a selection of 25 females 25 years and younger that are trail blazers in their industry. Laura prides herself in educating consumers on ethical fashion, empowering industry labourers and promoting environmentally conscious business practices.

The panel discussion addressed various topics including entrepreneurship, leadership, workplace transformation, family businesses, human resources, legislation, gender equality, skills and good professional practice. The event also allowed for a Q & A session with questions from the audience.

Sofia Pone presented a thank you gift to each of the panellists. SAPCC director Anabela Diogo presented new SAPCC members with their membership certificates.

The guests then had an opportunity to network and socialise which are essential elements of every SAPCC event.

Thank you to all the members and guests who attended the event. A big thank you to the Sasfin team including Elisheva Gilbert, Wesley Mills, Jonathan van Beek and Hayley Langman.

Leadership Masterclass at the SAPCC FNB CEO Dialogue

A panel of CEOs from diverse sectors delivered a leadership masterclass at the SAPCC FNB CEO Dialogue, held at the Royal Johannesburg & Kensington Golf Club in Johannesburg on 12 October 2022. The SAPCC and FNB co-hosted the first in the CEO Dialogue series, where these leaders discussed their personal journey, aspects of leadership and success, challenges in business, technology, mentorship and much more.

SAPCC director, Rui Marto thanked our co-host and sponsor FNB for sharing the vision for hosting the CEO Dialogue Series which we intend to introduce as an annual event. He welcomed the panellists, guests and introduced the panel facilitator, Thokozani Thwala.

The panel comprised Sandra Lambert - Fmr Managing Director Pharmaceuticals and Vaccines, Andiswa Bata - Transactional Head: SME at FNB, Mario Maio - CEO ACDC Dynamics and Tony da Fonseca - Managing Director of OBC Group.

FNB Team with SAPCC director, Rui Marto

The panel discussion addressed various topics including each one’s journey and development of the business, leadership, qualities of good leadership, entrepreneurship, vaccination for Africa, current challenges in SA (and global), start-up and SME finance, franchising, family business and family dynamics, public-private partnerships, opportunities in SA market, mentorship and more.

Sandra Lambert was the former managing director of a pharmaceutical multinational. She has a medical background and an MBA from WITS University with a thesis on Scenario planning and Strategy. Sandra discussed aspects of her 23 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device industry covering a total of 14 countries in Africa.

She has worked with various product portfolio’s including Vaccines, Cardiovascular, Diabetes, Pain, Antibiotics, Hormone therapies, Contraceptives and Malaria. She has successfully created and implemented long term strategies across various countries which have improved patients access to medicines.

In 2016 Sandra was a speaker at the World Health Summit held in Berlin, as part of a panel who discussed how to improve the Access of Medicines and Commodities in Africa. In the same year, she was also a speaker at the International Aids Summit as part of a panel discussing the Security of ARVs and other essential health commodities in Africa. In April 2019 Sandra was invited as a speaker to the W.H.O AFRO Meeting in Cabo Verde where she presented on the importance of Vaccine Manufacturing on the African Continent.

Andiswa Bata is the Co-Head of SME, FNB Commercial. She joined FNB in 2018 as an executive in the Corporate Advisory team, and subsequently took up a role as a Regional Director within the business bank.

Prior to joining FNB, Andiswa gained 13 years of pan-African investment banking experience between Absa and Standard Bank. During her time within Absa’s corporate and investment bank, she occupied various roles spanning across strategy & planning, loan structuring & execution, loan syndication & distribution; and most recently Andiswa was the Head of Construction & Cement sector client coverage. She also co-chaired the institution’s Banking on Women initiative.

During her time at Standard Bank, Andiswa was the Head of Structured (Derivative) Sales for institutional clients and prior to that, she headed up the Africa (ex-South Africa) loan syndications business. Prior to investment banking, Andiswa was in management/ strategy consulting.

Tony da Fonseca is the Managing Director of OBC Group. Tony shared his career progression starting at a locally owned advertising agency. In 2008, Tony became Managing Director of OBC Chicken. After assuming his new position in 2008, Tony negotiated the sale of the company to a financially strong shareholder, with great synergies. He then set about revamping the company from the bottom up.

Free of financial constraints, Tony built the OBC Group into one of the fastest growing players in its sector, with over 90 stores trading profitably. Most of the OBC Butchery stores are franchised and store count will increase to 120+ stores by the year 2023. Tony is passionate about franchising and keen to give back to the industry. He joined FASA’s Board of Directors in 2012, served as its chairman for two terms during 2018 and 2019.

Under Tony’s leadership, an independent panel of judges named the OBC Group FASA Franchisor of the year in 2015 and 2016. Moreover, the South African Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (SAPCC) named OBC Large Business of the Year in 2016 and 2017, and Best Franchise in 2018. Tony also serves as a director of the Consumer Goods Council of SA.

The Panel

Panellist Andiswa Bata

Mario Maio is the CEO of ACDC Dynamics. Mario and his business started from humble beginnings. Mario Maio started the business from a garage, baking resistors in his oven at home. Today ACDC dynamics has grown to include five branches housed in six buildings nationwide while employing over 700 people. The company’s five branches are located in Cape Town, Pinetown & Riverhorse Durban, Germiston and at Longmeadow, Johannesburg.

ACDC Dynamics Longmeadow was completed in 2008 and has an impressive 17 000 m 2 footprint, it is connected to the original building by a service tunnel. The building, which took a year to complete, also provides warehousing for some 4500 palettes. ACDC Dynamics Riverhorse Branch was commissioned and completed in 2013.

In 2007, ACDC purchased industrial instrumentation manufacturer Rhomberg Instruments. It now exports locally-made timers and branded Rhomberg modules to Argentina, Australia, Chile, Greece, Kenya and Spain.

In that same year, Maio franchised the company – another milestone – and the first ACDC Express retail/industrial outlet was opened. 40 franchises have since been established and Maio expects another three or four to follow this year. Natasa, his daughter, is also part of the ACDC family as the Project Manager and Interior Designer.

Mario also shared the company’s social development policy of supporting companies in the electrical industry to benefit the sector as a whole. This support takes the form of financial aid, skills development, business guidance and training. These companies are also encouraged to employ unskilled people and to attend ACDC’s national training sessions on its own product ranges free of charge. ACDC Dynamics launched an apprenticeship programme in 2012 and employed 20 apprentices. Maio’s passion for developing talent is also demonstrated in his support for various sporting teams in football cycling and boxing.

Our facilitator, Thokozani Thwala is an economic growth strategist – practitioner, advisor, speaker, and facilitator, with 24 years of experience. He is the founder of GrowthMap

countries in 5 continents over the past 15 years. He also acts as a commercial advisor to large corporates as they develop their engagement with government and other stakeholders. He provides advisory services to national, provincial and city governments on economic growth solutions.

He regularly chairs summits and conferences on economic issues and acts as a moderator for leadership forums and boards. He has served on a few boards as a non-executive director and currently is the board chairperson of the Joburg Market SOC.

The event also allowed for a lively Q & A session with questions from the audience.

SAPCC director, Pedro Pereira presented a thank you gift to each of the panellists and facilitator. SAPCC director Tony de Gouveia presented new SAPCC members with their membership certificates including a Platinum Membership Certificate to FNB. The guests then had an opportunity to network and socialise which are essential elements of every SAPCC event.

Thank you to all the members and guests who attended the event. Thank you to the panellists. Thank you to Thokozani Thwala for navigating the conversation seamlessly. A big thank you to the FNB team including Zak

Facilitator Thokozani Thwala

Audience member, Clifford Ndlovu of AfriCatalyst

Audience

Tony da Fonseca receiving a gift from SAPCC director, Pedro Pereira

Networking

Thokozani Thwala receiving a gift from SAPCC director, Pedro Pereira

Networking

Photos: Rui Fragoso

Congratulations and Welcome to our New SAPCC Members

The SAPCC awarded Premium and Corporate membership certificates and proudly welcomed its new recent members, who were at the recent SAPCC events in September and October. The members received their certificates from SAPCC directors, Anabela Diogo and Tony de Gouveia, respectively.

We thank, congratulate and welcome our new members. Premium membership comprises Platinum, Gold and Silver membership for members that are looking for added value to their membership with a package that includes different levels of advertising in different media and sponsorship or publicity at events.

Platinum Premium membership certificates were presented to Platinum Members, FNB represented by Zak Sivalingum and Andile Ncoyini presented by SAPCC director, Tony de Gouveia and Strata-g Labour Solutions represented by Jennifer Da Mata, Roxanne Gonçalves and Tertius Wessels presented by SAPCC director, Anabela Diogo.

A Gold Premium Member membership certificates was presented to PSG Insure Bedfordview and a Silver membership certificate presented to Eurosaf, both represented by Roberto Teixeira presented by FNB Regional Director, FNB Commercial, Zak Sivalingum and SAPCC director, Pedro Pereira.

Corporate membership certificates were presented to De Oliveira Serrão Attorneys represented by Liz Serrão presented by SAPCC director, Anabela Diogo and MJD Law represented by Jason Dorning and Ralitsa Do Tanque presented by SAPCC director, Tony de Gouveia.

We further welcome other new members who joined during September / October period including Gold premium member Da Rocha Interiors, Silver members Leroy Merlin, Himev, Inter Table Top Company and Africa Truck Part & Wheels.

Photos: Rui Fragoso

PLATINUM PREMIUM MEMBER: Strata-g Labour Solutions represented by Jennifer Da Mata, Roxanne Gonçalves and Tertius Wessels presented by SAPCC director, Anabela Diogo.

CORPORATE MEMBER: De Oliveira Serrão Attorneys represented by Liz Serrão presented by SAPCC director, Anabela Diogo.

GOLD PREMIUM MEMBERS: PSG Insure Bedfordview and Eurosaf represented by Roberto Teixeira presented by FNB Regional Director, FNB Commercial, Zak Sivalingum and SAPCC director, Pedro Pereira.

CORPORATE MEMBER: MJD Law represented by Jason Dorning and Ralitsa Do Tanque presented by SAPCC director, Tony de Gouveia.

Fostering resilient organisations

The last two and half years have seen an increased focus on the concept of resilience. What then is resilience? Oxford Languages1 defines the noun resilience as:

1. The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.

2. The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity.2

Both of these definitions can be said to apply to individuals and by default, organisations. Individuals are said to have resilience, if they can quickly “bounce back” from difficult situations and re-commence their normal activities with limited negative impacts from their difficulties. Resilient organisations can be described in a similar manner i.e being able to rebound after a challenging period. The link between individuals and organisations, as I have defined it, is the fact that organisations are a collective of individuals working towards a common goal. It is often said that the “tone is set at the top”, meaning that the behaviours of an organisation i.e the corporate culture of an organisation is set by its leadership. If the leadership shows resilience, the corporate culture emulates resilience and we then have a resilient organisation.

By Natércia Faustino*

The above all seems logical. Resilient leaders, inculcate resilient behaviours which leads to a resilient organisation. The resilient organisation in turn is then able to better weather turbulent trading conditions and rebound, when the business climate improves. The question is then, how is resilience inculcated?

One of the ways in which resilience can be instilled is through having a balanced rhythm of work and rest. Our bodies naturally work in a system of rhythms. We have, for example, our circadian rhythms:

Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioural [sic] changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark and affect most living things, including animals, plants, and microbes….One example of a light-related circadian rhythm is sleeping at night and being awake during the day.3

There are longer and shorter rhythms, such as the beating of the heart or the oscillation of brainwaves. The way in which our brain and body function together is intricately connected with the environment in which we find ourselves. What is a commonality amongst the system of rhythms, in our body and brain function, are the rest periods. The space between heartbeats, is the heart resting, before it starts pumping again, for example. The same applies to activities that involve our higher order functioning and that is where organisations come in.

Organisations, as previously mentioned, are a collective of individuals working towards a common goal. As individuals function on the basis of a collective of brain

Natércia Faustino

and body functions, organisations can then be said to function in a similar manner, because they comprise individuals. Therefore, if the brain and body functions more effectively by balancing work and rest, then organisations too function more effectively by balancing work and rest.

Taking breaks allows the individual, both cognitive and physically, the opportunity to take a step back and evaluate what has taken place. “Taking a break has been shown to predict higher levels of proactive behavior [sic] and increase creativity (Fritz, et.al., 2013).”4 Resting, taking a break, affords the mind an opportunity to rejuvenate and refresh. When individuals do not take breaks or breaks with sufficient opportunities to evaluation what has taken place, then “…you are also more likely to experience chronic stress, burnout, increased levels of exhaustion, disengagement, or other health-related issues.”5

that encourages people to take breaks and connect with each other.

• Lunch hours. Ensure that your employees take a lunch hour. An easy way to do this is to ensure that meetings do not take place over lunch. This means not scheduling meetings over lunch and not accepting meeting requests that take place over lunch, where possible.

• Ensure your organisations polices support taking leave and taking breaks. Make taking breaks and applying for leave a positive experience. There are many ways in which this can be done, including random prizes for taking leave or simply an encouraging message when leave is approved.

• When taking leave, ensure that here has been a minihandover. Leave hand-over processes are an effective way of ensuring that when the individual comes back from leave, they are not overwhelmed by the backlog.

• Taking regular breaks plays an important role in employee wellbeing. Psychological detachment from work allows for an evaluation of what has taken place, in a nonjudgemental manner.

Kleinhans & Van der Walt6 talk about seven steps to create a culture or work-rest rhythms.

• Don’t reward over-working. Reframe overwork as a negative trait. From a behavioural economics perspective, re-framing is essentially presenting the same type of information in a different manner so as to obtain different results. By presenting overwork as a negative trait, the desired behaviour of taking a break is reinforced.

• Sharing non-work experiences creates crucial connections and a sense of safety. Normalise worklife balance. Work-life balance is only a fallacy if it is not supported by the organisational culture. An organisation that supports work-life balance, will “enforce” work-life balance. Leaders can begin to instil this in their culture by sharing what they did over a weekend or what are their hobbies.

• Create an environment that motivates employees to take breaks and forge relationships. Create “break rooms”. Break rooms are not necessarily only physical spaces where people can take breaks, but it is fostering a culture

When wanting to implement the steps above, it is important to take cognisance of who the people are in the team / organisation. For example, not all individuals enjoy “forced” socializing. Facilitating different ways of socializing will accommodate different types of individuals. It may be beneficial to do an audit of the current organisational culture so that the implementation of the above steps does not become a textbook exercise.

A work-rest culture is likely to foster resilience. Given the South African economic state as well as the global economic state, resilient organisations have a better chance of survival. Resilient organisations are made up of resilient individuals, who have a better chance of surviving turbulent times and emerging whole.

*Natércia Faustino is currently the General Manager of the South African Institute of Stockbrokers (SAIS), a position she has held for the last 2.5 years. She was formerly Processing and Quality Assurance Director for the Finance and Accounting Services Sector Education Training Authority (FASSET). She also held the position of Acting Risk Officer, chaired a number of bid evaluation committees (BECs) and was a member of a number of BECs. Her responsibilities included overseeing the disbursements of grants approximating R160 million. Natércia previously worked as the Education and Training Manager at a global professional body for 6.5 years and ran her own consultancy before joining Fasset. She holds masters’ degrees in International Relations and Industrial Psychology. Natércia is interested in human behaviour specifically the way in which individuals think and what impacts their thinking and decision making. She has a keen interest in neuroplasticity and how the brain functions.

4 Kleinhans, L. and Van der Walt, E. Work Rest Rhythm: https://blog.neurozone.com/work-rest-rhythm-0

Portugal, Spain and France agree on a Green Energy Corridor

Portugal, Spain and France agreed on the creation of a Green Energy Corridor, therefore overcoming one of the oldest blockages around the subject of interconnecting the Iberian Peninsula with the rest of Europe.

When entering the European Council, and following a meeting with the President of the Spanish Government Pedro Sánchez and the President of France Emmanuel Macron, the Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa stated:

"Today we reached an agreement to definitively overcome the old project called MidCat and develop and develop a new project we called the Green Energy Corridor, which will allow us to complement the interconnections between Portugal and Spain, between Celorico da Beira and Zamora, as well as connecting Spain with the rest of Europe, connecting Barcelona

and Marseille by sea".

According to the Prime Minister, the agreement reached is a good contribution by the three countries "for the whole of Europe" and for "the spirit of joint solidarity that we all need to face this [energy] crisis".

"This is good news at a time of energy crisis", the Prime Minister noted.

António Costa said that "we still need to adjust the details from a technical perspective" when it comes to European funding, namely through what the European Commission can allocate to the European interconnections and also to define with the Commission the financing of this new connection through the European interconnection facility".

Prime Minister António Costa, the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron during the meeting to agree on the creation of Green Energy Corridor, Brussels, 20 October 2022

G A s Pi PEli NE W ill BE For G r EEN hydro GEN AN d oT h Er r ENEWAB l E GA s Es

António Costa said that this gas pipeline will be "for green hydrogen" or other renewable gases, even if temporarily it can be used "to transport natural gas up to a certain proportion" adding that "the energy interconnections will also be strengthened".

He also noted that the three countries will meet again in Alicante, Spain, on 9 December, before the meeting already scheduled for the Summit of the EU Southern Countries so that there is time for the details on this connection to be adjusted from a technical perspective. António Costa noted the diplomatic, technical and political work undertaken in the last year to reach this agreement.

sPEE di NG UP T h E ENE r Gy T r AN si T io N

The Prime Minister highlighted two "absolutely fundamental" points of the new agreement:

"The change of the energy context in Europe and the understanding that we have to diversify the energy supply routes and sources; as well as the opportunities that existed with regard to natural gas", since today we have "the technology that allows us to invest in green hydrogen and other renewable gases", thereby contributing "to the joint effort we all need to make to speed up the energy transition".

As such, as he states, this solution "instead of insisting on the environmental difficulties in the Pyrenees, found a sea alternative and, of the two possible, the best one was found and the one that allows us to connect to the backbone of the European green hydrogen network".

Add Ed vA lUE To Por TUGA l

In what concerns Portugal, the Prime Minister said that the 162-km-connection between Celorico da Beira and Vale do Prado was already envisaged for green hydrogen, as "it does not make sense to start a project that isn’t heading this way".

António Costa noted, however, that the transport of natural gas using this pipeline must be proportional to ensure Europe’s energy security "without losing our focus: to speed up the energy transition to green energy".

For the Prime Minister, the fact that this pipeline will reach the Spanish border is already of huge added value to Portugal, as it allows us to increase "our capacity of being connected with the market, where it’s not just 10 million people", rather "60 million in the Iberian Peninsula as a whole".

Joi NT ENEr Gy s Tor AGE

António Costa also said that alongside this pipeline, a project to store energy with Spain is being developed, which is "a major challenge in the energy transition".

A project which, he adds, helps to enhance the lithium resources, in the Iberian Peninsula, to build "batters that can help store energy on a large scale to respond to crises such as these we are experiencing and the drought where we, together, need to keep up our capacity for hydroelectric generation".

Source: https://www.portugal.gov.pt/en/gc23/communication/ news-item?i=portugal-spain-and-france-agree-on-a-greenenergy-corridor

Mental health and wellness in the Workplace during the postCovid era

By Tony de Gouveia*

The World Health Organization (WHO) commemorates World Mental health Awareness Month specifically on 10 October, which is Mental Health Day. This follows the commemoration of Suicide prevention week in September. The WHO’s, theme for this year is “Make mental health for all a global priority”. According to the WHO, Mental Health is a state of wellbeing in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community (https://www.who.int).

The COVID-19 pandemic, it goes without saying, has had and, for some time in the future, will continue to have a major impact on people’s mental health. Some groups, especially health and other frontline workers, students, people living alone, and those with pre-existing mental health conditions, have been particularly affected negatively by the impact of COVID-19. It has been described in many ways by various commentators- including the “game changer” “disruptor”, the “equaliser”, etc. One of

the main areas of its impact has, besides its effects on our social relationships and norms, forms of greeting and interaction, has been its effects and impact on our world of work. And this impact continues to show…

To emphasise this point, a speaker at the recent SAPCC CEO dialogue event said that “what kept her awake at night” was the expectation of Resilience amongst employees in Corporate SA which was not being reflected in reality with people experiencing strokes and other stress related breakdowns at an earlier age. Her comments appear to be supported by the statistics. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, some 42% of employees globally have reported a decline in mental health. While a recent study revealed symptoms of burnout are increasing among employees and leaders alike. And even more concerning is the following: The WHO found poor mental health can manifest itself in workplace as increased absenteeism and presenteeism,

Tony de Gouveia

as well as the loss of productivity. They estimate depression, anxiety disorders, and other conditions cost the global economy $1 trillion per year in lost productivity!

While there are many factors that can affect workplace mental health, the current pandemic has highlighted several areas of concern for employers and employees. Besides the important issue(pandemic?) of Burnout(discussed in a previous issue) one of the major changes brought by Covid-19 has been the phenomenon of Working from Home(WFH) which had been predicted over twenty years earlier, in the form of a social trend called “Cocooning”( it refers to “insulation and avoidance, peace and protection, cosiness and control-a sort of hyper-nesting”). But this trend never took off until now, with the Covid related lockdowns of 2020.

On the employee side of the issue various anomalies have arisen from the WFH practice. Most important among these is the issue of “Boundaries”. WFH implies that the employees are now technically “available” 24/7; the line between work and home becomes blurred. Previously, for most there was a distinct barrier or boundary between work and home, punctuated by a twice daily commute ranging between 20 minutes to 2 hours in some cases. The absence of this commute “boundary” for many in the current Covid-19 era has had different results for different people. For some the extra time available (because of not having to commute) has allowed for greater productivity. On the other hand the daily commute for some provided a “time-out” reflection period for planning and thinking about the day which is no longer available. This can result in a certain level of disorientation for some who regard this “empty space” or punctuation as important.

In high intensity/high-tech jobs the pressure to be “at work” all the time can create huge amounts of stress within the conflicting demands that most employees have to face and balance as married and family persons together with their working role. Anecdotally in my professional experience I have had clients who have moved their “office” into their bedrooms with disastrous results- being overwhelmed by the proximity of their workplace to their supposed “safe space”. Another client who had been working from home since the start of lockdown and had taken leave(at home) experienced fear at the thought of “going back to work” the next week because he was afraid of the high volume of emails and other media inputs he was going to have to face when “back at work”. In the above scenarios, the concept of work-life balance takes on a different meaning and unless people have sufficient ego-strength or self- belief to put down clear boundaries for themselves and their work colleagues and superiors, they could run into the difficulties described

The other major factor or dynamic in working from home(WFH) post the Covid-era has been the presence for some of the whole family, spouse and children, within

the same space for lengthy periods of time, sometimes the whole day. This for many can be a crowded space like a flat or small townhouse where there is insufficient space for a stand-a-lone office.. Besides the “cabin fever” caused by living for long periods in cramped space, there is the social dimension where Covid-19 has hurt us most- some people miss their colleagues. "If I need help we can talk more easily in the office. IT issues make communicating and asking questions much harder". Teamwork takes a different dimension and is far more difficult virtually, particularly if there is no pre-existing positive relationship between the team members. For some people, work provided one of the few avenues for social interaction, particularly during lunch breaks etc. On the other hand, working alone at home can also be difficult, particularly on complex projects requiring creativity and innovation.

In conclusion, the WFH vs. office debate is ongoing, leaving many people unsure about how their working day will actually look like whilst others are uncertain if they will even have a job in the current socio-economic climate. And, while flexible home working has been a positive for many, for others it’s brought the blurring of the work/ life balance, feelings of being emotionally-separated from work and of not being supported or motivated by colleagues or managers.

It seems likely that society will transition over time to a “hybrid” model as the “new Normal” in which people will divide their working hours or days between their home and their office. Many working people will find adapting to this process difficult and unsettling and negatively impacting on their Mental Health which as we have noted is no longer a “nice to have” but essential for our overall functioning as human beings. If at any time during this transition process you feel your symptoms e.g. anxiety or depression are more than your colleagues are experiencing or is causing major upheaval in your life, please consider talking with a Mental Health professional(Psychiatrist or Psychologist), General Practitioner(GP) or your EAP counsellor for support. It’s the right thing to do! Acknowledgement:

http://tonydeGouveiaPsychologist.webs.com

*Tony de Gouveia is a Clinical Psychologist and Resilience Coach in Private Practice at the Akeso and Life Brackenview Clinics in Alberton. He is the founder of the Positive Psychology Group (PPG) in Johannesburg and has made numerous presentations on the topic of Positive Psychology and Resilience.

Foreign Investment has grown every year with more companies entering Portugal than ever

"In the first half of 2022 we had once again more companies entering Portugal than in the previous years", claimed Prime Minister António Costa at the "Exports and i nvestment 2022 Conference" of the Portuguese Foreign i nvestment and Trade Agency held in Viseu, Portugal.

The Prime Minister recalled that foreign investment has grown every year, noting that "last year, while still in the pandemic, we beat the record of contracted investment again, a record beaten in 2019, when we beat the record set in 2018".

"At the same time as a systematic increase in foreign direct investment, we also witnessed extraordinary

evolution of the rise in the country’s exporting capacity. Fifteen years ago, the weight of exports on GDP was 31%; in 2021 it was 42%; and this year we are close to the 50% we had set as the target for the middle of this decade", he said, adding that "we still have another target: 53% of exports on GDP in 2030".

Co MPAN i Es’ CAPAC i T y To A dAPT

António Costa claimed that "this path showed that these goals are neither optimistic nor too ambitious. Quite likely we will reach the 2025 target before the year and quite likely we will reach the 2030 target before the date".

Prime Minister António Costa delivers the award for Best Investment at the AICEP Conference in Viseu, 12 October 2022 (photo: Paulo Novais/Lusa)

This "is down to AICEP’s work", but "essentially, the Portuguese companies’ capacity to quickly adapt to new market contexts and reinvent their exports".

The Prime Minister claimed that "our companies’ capacity and resilience is what must bring us more trust given the challenges we face", adding that "our attitude in an age of uncertainty is to properly identify the fundamental aspects we need to focus on and with which we will build our future strategy".

dE v Elo PMENT M od El

"Our development model in a global economy needs to be based on skills and innovation, that is, on talent". The country "cannot stop investing to continue bearing fruits" of this investment, which is "to increasingly attract companies that generate greater added value" and "in our companies, to have increasingly greater value-added products", "because that is what allows us to continue growing in a sustained manner".

As for the digital transition, "this is the first industrial revolution in which Portugal doesn’t take off from a disadvantage, lacking natural resources, for being in an eccentric geographical position or due to capital shortage. This time, we have the talent, and our geographical position is central", of which he noted the submarine cables that recently landed in Portugal.

Portugal is therefore "an excellent location for all the activities that relate to the fundamental raw material that is data – all data centres are excellently located in Portugal".

"Another fundamental aspect is safety and security. Portugal is one of the safest countries in the world, which today is vastly important", and it requires "stability in fundamental decisions for the country’s future", such as the agreement on the methodology to decide on the location of Lisbon’s new airport and the medium-term agreement.

Noting that Portugal "boasts the third highest rate of engineering graduates and, in the 20-year-generation, a 47% rate of higher education attendees, higher than the EU average, which stands at 42%", he said that this means that "in the next 10 years we will have more human capital to sustain this attractiveness for investment and to lever our companies’ capacity".

António Costa pointed out the "two major challenges that the European economy is facing in the coming decade, which were identified in the NextGnenerationEU: the green tradition and the digital transition".

E NEr Gy AN d di G i TA l

"According to the European Commission, Portugal is the country under the best conditions to be carbon neutral by 2050" – 59% of the electricity we consume already comes from renewables", he said.

As such, "we can look to the future and say that everything that happened in these 15 years can happen in the next 15, multiplied manifold, and this is what we need to invest in and on this we must build our future", he further claimed.

Source: https://www.portugal.gov.pt/en/gc23/communication/ news-item?i=foreign-investment-has-grown-every-year-andmore-companies-are-entering-portugal-than-before

Complacency, the rule of doubling efforts

By Allon raiz*

Over the past 20 years, Raizcorp CEO Allon Raiz has learned many tough lessons and overcome many entrepreneurial challenges. He has also had the privilege of learning from the journeys of over 13 000 entrepreneurs who have passed through Raizcorp. In a series of articles which SAPCC

will be sharing, Allon shares some of the most important lessons he has learned using a sequence that mirrors the typical stages of any entrepreneurial journey – from ideation through to scaling a business.

Allon Raiz

I often tell the story about my mentor who, in my early years as an entrepreneur, gave me the sage advice not to let any positive press I received go to my head. “You should never believe what is written about you. For now, they are writing wonderful things, but one day someone will write not-so-nice things about you. And if you believe the good things, you will be encouraged to believe the bad things too. Do not let the good press go to your head, and do not let bad press get into your head.”

This advice has been a guiding axiom for me over the years. I have not only applied it to good and bad press coverage but, more importantly, I have applied it to good and bad news – especially winning or losing a sale or surpassing a competitor in a particular context.

The idea of not allowing oneself to become complacent is clichéd. It is covered in so many books on business and entrepreneurship. But what these books do not teach is how to not become complacent. The literature is filled with lessons of entrepreneurs, far better than myself, who fall prey to the intoxication of complacency.

Over my 20 years in Raizcorp, I have not been impervious to the surreptitious, subtle and insidiously corrosive spell of complacency. Thank goodness that in all these instances I have woken up quickly enough from each of the trances to which I succumbed. Sadly, this is not true for many of my friends and fellow entrepreneurs who remained beguiled by the allure of complacency until they were forced to sell their fancy sports cars (one of the indicators of potential complacency) or, worse, their businesses.

The very subtle and slow nature of complacency is what makes it so hard to detect and respond to. I needed a mechanism, a rule so to speak, to ensure that I remained alert and healthily paranoid about complacency. In Andrew Grove’s book Only the Paranoid Survive, he demonstrates how, in the technology industry with its high levels of constant innovation, only those organisations that are culturally paranoid about becoming irrelevant last the long game.

I remember attending a World Economic Forum talk where the twenty-something-year-old Brian Chesky, cofounder and CEO of Air BnB, was being interviewed. He was asked what kept him up at night. His answer was, “A 16-year-old sitting in their bedroom writing a piece of software that will make Air BnB’s software irrelevant.” He went on to say that Air BnB constantly tests and retests their assumptions, and continually improves their software to ensure that challengers will find it hard to compete. They are paranoid about the 16-year-old.

After feeling the consequent sting of complacency one too many times, I decided to create a rule which I call the Double-Up Rule. Every time we win an account, we need to double our efforts. Every time we lose a deal, we need to double our efforts. Every time we achieve an internal target, we need to double our efforts, and every time we miss an internal target, we need to double our efforts.

The Double-Up Rule comes paired with the 24-Hour Rule. If we win a deal, we can celebrate for a maximum of 24 hours and, if we lose a deal, we can feel sorry for ourselves for a maximum of 24 hours. We do need to

celebrate to punctuate our success and we do need to bask in self-pity to help us reflect and process our failure. But then it’s over. Time to move on, and time to double our efforts.

In my opinion, the more natural of the two doubleup responses happens when you lose. You naturally feel upset and can channel that anger into the energy you need to double up. The caution here is to remove the anger from the equation because anger tends to cloud rational thinking and, although it might create the energy, that energy has a high probability of being focused in the wrong direction.

The less natural double-up response comes after winning at something. Your feedback from this winning experience is that you have what it takes to win. Doubling up while in this mindset can, if not checked, result in over-confidence and blindness to potential threats. Doubling up on positive results requires confident paranoia. Remember, the deal you have just won means that someone else has lost, and they are likely to respond to that experience but, more importantly, they will be learning from their losing experience and making sure they improve on their weaknesses and understand yours better. The next time you are up against them, they will probably be more formidable opponents.

None of us and none of our businesses are immune to the invisible power of complacency. However, those who set up processes, culture and, in particular, rules to loudly ring the bell to wake themselves up when in danger of succumbing to complacency are the ones who will retain their relevance in the market for decades to come..

*About Allon r aiz

Allon Raiz is the CEO of Raizcorp. In 2008, Raiz was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and in 2011 he was appointed for the first time as a member of the Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. Following a series of entrepreneurship master classes delivered at Oxford University in 2014, 2015 and 2016, Raiz has been recognised as the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Follow Allon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/allonraiz

SAPCC

11 Smith Street, Bedfordview, South Africa

Tel: +27 11 616 6420 • Email: admin@sapcc.co.za

Advertising on Newsletter / Website: Rui Marto - rui@sapcc.co.za

Membership / General: Manny Moutinho - admin@sapcc.co.za www.sapcc.co.za

AICEP Portugal Global - África do Sul Trade and Investment Agency 599, Leyds Street, Muckleneuk, Pretoria Tel: +27 12 341 2340 Email: guilherme.lopes@portugalglobal.pt www.portugalglobal.pt

Embaixada de Portugal em Pretória www.embaixadaportugal.org.za

SAPCC Gala and Business Excellence Awards

5 November 2022

SAPCC MEMBERSHIP

How the SAPCC can raise the profile of your business

KEY BENEFITS of membership are:

• Create networking opportunities

The chamber’s most fundamental mission is to generate more business activity for its members. The chamber initiates business-to-business commerce and more opportunities for networking and connecting local business.

• Increase your visibility in the community

As a new member of the Chamber of Commerce, you will be listed for free in the chamber e-newsletter (1/3 page banner), website and social media.

You also can grow your business by advertising with the chamber and sponsoring events. Our Business Excellence Awards also attract much publicity for the finalists.

• Gain a voice in government Through the SAPCC’s representation in the EU Chamber of Commerce, the chamber takes on the tough issues and opposes new legislation.

• Receive chamber newsletters Newsletters provide new member information, interesting information about operating a local business, articles about the local community, a community calendar and details about up-andcoming chamber events, among other things. I attach latest newsletter for your interest.

• Advertising Opportunities

There are advertising opportunities for your business at discounted member rates on our website and newsletter.

• Assist SAPCC in providing job and business opportunities for Portuguese youth.

• Discounts or special offers made to members from other members or third parties.

OUR BANKING DETAILS ARE:

Acc. Name: SA Portuguese Chamber of Commerce Bank: Mercantile Branch Code: Bedford Centre / 450 205 Account Nr. 1050 6652 79 (Cheque account) Ref: [Your name] / Membership