© 2017 South Africa - The Good News
2017 # 3: SA’s Global Rankings – People, Crime, Environment, War and Peace – compared to the rest of the World:
Nathanael West “Numbers constitute the only universal language.”
Every year the Economist ‘Pocket World in Figures’ brings out a varied set of global rankings covering 190 countries. These range from fastest-growing economies to highest per capita consumption of marijuana to which countries imprison the most people.
And every year the measures are changed – somewhat! It makes for interesting reading!
by Steuart Pennington
The stats in red have been added this year. Some have been removed from last year, all have been updated for 2017.
(The Economist tends to rank the top 1-50 best and the bottom 1 – 50 worst (sometimes the range is less), very often SA in not placed in either, that’s what this newsletter will reflect, unless I can find out more via Google)
There are 230 countries in the world, only 190 are ‘serious enough’ to provide data, and only 80 have a population of more than 10 million.
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RCS HOSTS STARTUPBOOTCAMP FASTTRACK EVENT IN PARIS
On Wednesday 14 June 2017, The RCS Group (RCS) hosted the latest Startupbootcamp FastTrack event at BNP Paribas Personal Finance Head Office in Paris. RCS, which is owned by BNP Paribas, one of the largest banks in the world, is South Africa’s most prominent and innovative financial services provider in the retail credit market.
Startupbootcamp is a global startup accelerator that connects top startups from around the world with a mentor network of renowned industry experts, entrepreneurs and major players in banking, insurance, consultancy, leasing and technology. Startupbootcamp aims to identify and develop disruptive startups, particularly in the FinTech/Insurtech industries, that will create the innovative technologies that will build the economy of tomorrow.
RCS partnered with Startupbootcamp Africa as a key sponsor earlier this year and hosted Startupbootcamp’s first Cape Town-based FastTrack event at their head office in Cape Town in May. The success of the Cape Town event inspired RCS to host the next FastTrack session at their Paris Head Office with the view to introducing the Startupbootcamp initiative to their global network.
BNP Paribas PF SUN Region CEO Benoit Cavelier says, “At BNP Paribas Personal Finance we have positioned ourselves as the bank for a changing world. Innovation is thus at the forefront of everything that we do. It is through innovation that we will come to greater solutions to serve our partners and customers. We are excited to have partnered with this global initiative and are certainly impressed with the talent that the Paris FastTrack event revealed.”
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Beyond the River goes beyond borders
Hot on the heels of its cinema run, Beyond the River, is set to hit the international circuit. Requests for the movie, which will be available on DSTV’s Box Office from 24 June, and on DVD for rental or retail from mid-July, have been received from as far afield as Belgium, Australia, Argentina, Britain and Tasmania.
“We have received several messages from international canoe clubs, expats as well as locals who didn’t manage to see the film in cinemas. Beyond the River tackles universal themes around trust, understanding and tolerance; we want to make it available to audiences far and wide,” says Heartlines CEO and Beyond the River Executive Producer, Dr Garth Japhet.
Inspired by the true story of Piers Cruickshanks and Siseko Ntondini, who together competed in one of the toughest river races, the Dusi Canoe Marathon, the widely-acclaimed locally produced film is an adventure drama, which highlights racial tension, inequality and social gaps.
Reviewers have called the film “pure gold” (Independent), and “beautifully shot… the performances nothing short of epic” (Sunday Times). The movie has been well received across the board, with rave audience reviews, several company block bookings and interest from schools, churches and community groups.
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THIS WEEK'S FAST FACT
Economist
The Economist Pocket World in Figures ranks South Africa 28th out of 190 countries in terms of Cinema Attendance with 20.9 million ‘visits’ per annum. India is # 1 with 2,117 million visits per annum followed by the USA with 1,270 million visits per annum. Iceland has the most ‘visits’ per person @ 4.3.
