NEWSLETTER – SPECIAL EDITION

Dear Readers,

As you know we almost never send out emails between the monthly Newsletter, however, this month we have a number of important meetings coming up, which we felt required special attention. In particular the Competition Commission’s Workshop.

Best wishes

Alastair

Talking About the Effects of the WTO Moratorium on Women in Business, 13 June

Readers will recall that this Newsletter has written many times about the WTO Moratorium on Customs Duties on Electronic Transmissions.  The TradeExperettes with the support of the  Australian Mission to the WTO has organised an online event on WTO’s Ecommerce Moratorium and Women, focusing on the Africa region on Tuesday, June 13th, 18:00h EAT (Nairobi), 17:00h CEST/CAT; 11:00h EDT (Washington, DC); 9:00h CDT (Mexico City), for a discussion on how the Moratorium impacts women’s living standards, job opportunities, and business productivity, and how discontinuing the Moratorium may adversely impact the role of women in the digital economy.  Join the meeting for a lively discussion featuring Rutendo Hlatshwayo (representing EFSA), Anne Wambui Gaitha, Rose Ronoh, Sarah Meinert; moderated by Hanna Norberg & Johanna Hill. The panel discussion will last 45 minutes and then we will open the floor for an interactive session.  Click here to register for this event. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

The SA Competition Commission, Unpacking the Buyer Provision – A Talk with the Competition Commission workshop, Sandton, Johannesburg, 14 and 15 June

On 18 May 2020, the SA Competition Commission published its Buyer Power Enforcement Guidelines (the Guidelines). The Guidelines present the general principles that the Commission will follow in assessing what conduct contravenes the Act and delves into detail on each element required to establish a contravention against dominant buyers. The workshops will cover the Commission’s approach to assessing complaints under the buyer power provisions as well as its application of the Buyer Power Guidelines to investigations. Attendees will be given an opportunity to ask questions and get clarity on the buyer power provisions and the Guidelines. The Competition Commission has asked us to let our members and anyone else interested know that they will be holding 2 meetings on this coming Wednesday and Thursday which are open. The first will be for Big Business on 14 June. The second meeting will be for Small Businesses and will be held the following day, 15 June. The meetings are from 09.00 to 12.00. To register follow this link: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=L2jrs_ux-UGKq_Zoys8qfUXp5ciQJmVCvYFGFRgcf35UNkRJSDdFM0dZWUNNWEwyQVRBWDI1RFNOTi4u

African Union Ecommerce Strategy – Workshop, Kigali, 15-16 June

EFA will be attending this Workshop in Kigali, which promises to be very interesting and insightful.

SAITEX, Gallagher Conference Centre, Midrand, 18-20 June

SAITEX facilitates tangible international and local trade relationships and enables the private sector to demonstrate their innovations, solutions, and services to thousands of buyers, retailers, distributors, and wholesalers from multiple trade sectors. EFSA will host a session on 20 June – do join us! Free entry. Register REGISTER TO VISIT 

The Ecommerce Transformation Conference, The Maslow Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg 28-29 June.

During a time of digital acceleration, Knowledge Integration Web events  will help top brands and ecommerce leaders leverage their sales, ecommerce, marketing and media capabilities to take control of their own digital futures.This important conference is supported by EFSA – the link for more information is : Ecommerce Transformation Conference, 28- 29 June 2023

Vibe Martech Fest, South Africa, Two Oceans Aquarium, Cape Town, 26 – 27 July

The event will gather the region’s leading CMOs, CX and martech experts to learn about the latest trends, products, and technology to accelerate their business, upgrade their tech stacks, and expand their network. EFSA is supporting this event. For more information follow this link: – http://bit.ly/414YHDe

The Eastern Cape Export Symposium, East London, 17-18 August

Registration to attend the Conference as a delegate is open, delegates can also access the proceedings online. There is no fee. Register to attend at www.ecexportsymposium.co.za

Ecommerce Live, Sandton Conference Centre, 12 Sept

Prepare for the future of online retail at Ecommerce Live, and learn from the country’s top ecommerce leaders. EFSA will be hosting an event at this conference to introduce our Trustmark. To register follow this link: www.ecommercelive.co.za

EFSA’s Plans for an Online ‘Trustmark’ to Promote Trust and Combat Fraud

We have been speaking about introducing a blockchain based certification or verification service to promote trust in ecommerce. This article from ITWeb provides an excellent over-view of the plans: https://www.itweb.co.za/content/O2rQGMAEr8RMd1ea

Startups at the Seamless Africa 2023 Event, Sandton Convention Centre, 19 – 20 of September.

Seamless Africa brings together the entire financial ecosystem to discuss, debate and evaluate the future of the industry

Seamless is offering startups the following: a stand at the start-up pavilion on the exhibition floor; their logo and profile on the event website, platform / digital show guide;  exhibition-only passes for your team members to man your stand and attend the exhibition; access to their networking app – to set up meetings with attendees.

To qualify, a startup must be less than 3 years old and not owned by a larger corporation/holding company. For more information please see: www.terrapinn.com or contact [email protected]