LONDON — Research on Alzheimer’s disease that afflicts an estimated 40m people worldwide has experienced a major setback when pharma company Biogen and its Japanese partner, Eisai announced that they are ending their phase three clinical trials for the drug aducanumab. They concluded that the drug had little chance of succeeding. It wiped almost a third off Biogen’s shares. The end of the trial was a blow for the theory by scientists that the symptoms of Alzheimer’s could be stopped if you manage to clear the build-up of amyloid plaques in ageing brains that destroy connections between nerve cells. And the conclusion at this point, has to be that we really do not know what is causing the disease and how to create an intervention with a pharmaceutical. The likely effect of the Biogen setback is that Big Pharma will retreat from research on Alzheimer’s disease for now, but hopefully this void will be filled by more government and public market funding. Trials are continuing at several universities who are looking at the possibility of using drugs already on the market for diabetes and inflammation, while there are other pharmaceutical companies looking at other approaches to tackle Alzheimer’s, but their research is at a very early stage. Bloomberg’s Carol Massar and Jason Kelly spoke to Senior Biotech Analyst, Asthika Goonewardene and Brian Skorney, Biotech and Pharma Analyst at Baird about the future of Biogen and whether it is time to abandon the amyloid plaque hypothesis. - Linda van Tilburg

JOHANNESBURG — Peter Gent is a former veteran of the banking world having occupied top roles at RMB, including the bank's head of project finance. These days he's in a very different role as Head of Sales and Marketing at NGO Columba Leadership. This NGO is doing incredibly valuable work by running leadership programmes at schools located in economically disadvantaged areas in several provinces around the country. In this interview, Gent tells us about the impact that Columba is having on young people's lives. - Gareth van Zyl

LONDON — The cornerstones of the world’s insurance business, the prestigious Lloyd’s of London has been accused of having a deep-seated boozy, sexist culture. Female brokers say they feel uncomfortable working there and that the alcohol-filled, long lunches are a major contributing factor to lecherous behaviour. These women generally fear that there will be repercussions if they come forward and in many instances the harassers describe sexist comments as ‘banter’. This is not the first institution accused of sexual harassment in London. The President’s club had to close its doors last year after a backlash following a raucous all-male charity event in Mayfair during which female hostesses were groped and harassed. Lloyd’s of London has responded to the allegations saying they are developing a plan of action to address complaints. Bloomberg’s financial crimes reporter, Gavin Finch who interviewed women at Lloyd’s told Carol Masser that he believes Lloyd’s is the most archaic corner left in global finance and the sexist culture is driving women out of the insurance business. - Linda van Tilburg

JOHANNESBURG — For several years now, technology company Dimension Data has been linked to a charity organisation called Qhubeka. What's incredible about Qhubeka is that it does something that, from the outside, looks very simple: delivering bicycles to children and communities who need them most. What amazed me about this story is the massive difference these bicycles make to these people's lives. Amid a lack of transport, many people and children in far-flung areas of South Africa spend hours walking to get to schools and clinics. Having a bicycle can cut down this travel time by up to 75%, making a huge difference in people's lives. In this interview, Dimension Data's Albi van Zyl explains the importance of its partnership with Qhubeka, especially in light of a recent auction. - Gareth van Zyl

LONDON — South Africa has a serious problem in literacy rates among Grade 4 pupils. It ended at the bottom of a list of 50 countries in the Progress in International Literacy Study known as PIRLS conducted in 2016. It is estimated that 78% of Grade 4 pupils cannot read for meaning. Compare this figure to 3% in England, 4% to the United States,13% in Chile and 35% in Iran, where gender discrimination takes place. The most common cause of difficulties in reading, writing and spelling is dyslexia, which account for 5-10% of the world’s population. It is estimated that 70-80% of people who have reading difficulties, are dyslexic. A Cape town speech language therapist Elizabeth Nadler-Nir has come up with a computer programme, Virtual Reading Gym to help delayed older readers and it has been recognised at the London Book Fair where she won the Educational Learning Resources Award and came second in the Education Initiatives category. Elizabeth who is none other than the sister of colleague Chris Bateman spoke to Biznews in London and said that dyslexia is largely undiagnosed in South Africa. - Linda van Tilburg

JOHANNESBURG — In May 2018, I interviewed the team at InvestSure, which developed a world-first insurance technology product which protects buyers of shares from management teams that mislead and deceive shareholders. The product is aimed at protecting shareholders from Steinhoff-styled meltdowns that are sparked off by managers behaving badly. And in the last year, there's been plenty more meltdowns on the JSE - you just need to look at the likes of EOH and Resilient. Interestingly, InvestSure has raised more capital and it's even eyeing the Australian market in combination with a push by its partner EasyEquities into that market. Shane Curran and Ignatius Nkwinika, who are the founders of Investure, tell me more in this interview. - Gareth van Zyl

LONDON — Roughly two-thirds of the world, including South Africa have grounded the Boeing 737 Max as airlines see a connection between the crash of an Ethiopian Airline jet that killed 157 people and a similar disaster involving the same plane last October in which 189 people were killed when a Lion Air flight crashed into the Java Sea in Indonesia. Yet, America’s Federal Aviation Authority decided not to take action and said it had no basis to order the grounding of the aircraft. This is despite pressure from several senior politicians in the US and two unions representing flight attendants calling for it. The New York Times says there is a very cosy relationship between Boeing and the FAA, and Boeing could even choose its own employees to sit on the authority and help to certify planes. President Donald Trump initially tweeted that he thought aeroplanes were becoming far too complex to fly, “Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT”, he tweeted after the Ethiopian crash. He has a very close relationship with Boeing and the FAA decision on standing by the safety of the Boeing 737 Max came after a telephone conversation between President Trump and Boeing Chief Dennis Muilenburg. This raises the question whether Boeing’s influence at the FAA is the reason for the United States’ decision to keep the Boeing 737 Max in the air raising serious safety concerns for passengers who are likely to choose not to fly on the jet. Bloomberg’s Jim Alice explains to Carol Massar how important the Boeing 737 Max is to Boeing’s profitability… - Linda van Tilburg  

JOHANNESBURG — The most recent edition of The Economist has described how there is a new 'scramble' for Africa amid foreign involvement in the continent reaching new levels. A record number of new embassies, as well as renewed interest from emerging economic giants such as India, are resulting in new opportunities. Africa, of course, also faces several key challenges and risks. In this interview, Neville Mandimika, an economist and fixed income analyst at Rand Merchant Bank, talks about the key risks that the continent faces in the year to come. - Gareth van Zyl

LONDON — We are waking up to the fact that barely anything we do online is private. I had a stark wake-up call when friends were talking about the European ski season on a WhatsApp group and ideas to borrow ski jackets were discussed; one brand name came up and hey presto, next moment we all saw ads for the brand on our Facebook pages. So, is Facebook actually using our private conversations to target ads on its other apps, could it be a coincidence? Facebook owns both Instagram and WhatsApp. And now Mark Zuckerberg talks about a privacy-focused new branded Facebook with ‘simple, intimate' places where no one else can see your data. Or does he mean, no one else but Facebook and its apps can and will use it as they see fit. And to make our new-found fear of privacy even worse is the warning from prof Amy Webb, she is a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business. Prof Webb says only nine tech titans, three from China and the rest from the US are deciding the future of Artificial Intelligence for all of us. She discusses her book The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and their thinking Machines could Warp Humanity with Bloomberg’s Paul Sweeney. – Linda van Tilburg

JOHANNESBURG — In a previous podcast with BizNews in 2018, Cape Town-based Adi Kaimowitz told us all about his interesting startup 'Virtual Actuary', which has been dubbed the 'Uber of Actuaries'. Almost a year later and Kaimowitz's model has been hailed globally amid him being invited recently to speak at a discussion on actuaries hosted by the Hartford InsurTech Hub in the US. Kaimowitz is now also planning a US expansion for Virtual Actuary amid interested demand from that side of the globe. We catch up with Kaimowitz to find out more. - Gareth van Zyl

LONDON — The South African Constitutional Court ruling in September 2018 on the decriminalisation of marijuana for personal use has increased pressure on the government to change its policy on the cannabis industry. In his Budget speech in February 2019, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni acknowledged that there is a need for a shift in policy so that it can become a potential source of revenue. But he is passing that joint… sorry he said ball to the leadership of the ANC to come up with a policy. It is hard not to use clichés with this one. And where legalisation falls, businesses move in to see whether they can make money from new opportunities. With the shift in mood in South Africa, a host of industries are poised to take advantage as can be seen at a series of Cannabis Expos all over the country. There is no doubt that many countries are moving towards some form of legalisation of marijuana. In the United Kingdom, one of the magic circle law firms, Allen & Overy now has a cannabis legal team. Canada, which legalised recreational and medicinal cannabis in October last year is seen to be the country that is paving the way for the cannabis industry. But as Craig Wiggins explained to Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal the industry has been besieged by problems. - Linda van Tilburg

LONDON — We are all starting to slowly wake up to the fact that the minute detail of our daily lives that we share when we google, post our pictures on Instagram and Facebook are monitored, turned into big data and sold on to target specific advertisement to our tastes. We may think it is just a bit of fun, but it becomes quite a different matter when it can be used to up your premiums for medical insurance or when you find advertisements next to your profile that reveals information that you did not want to share. In a new book, THE AGE OF SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM, Professor Emerita at Harvard Business School, Shoshana Zuboff claims that the digital era has been hijacked with specific commercial goals in mind and it is aimed at changing our behaviour. She speaks to Bloomberg’s Lisa Abramowicz and Paul Sweeney. - Linda van Tilburg

LONDON — It looks as if 2019 will be the year when a number of high profile tech companies are going public. Ride-haling company Lyft is first in line, followed by its bigger rival Uber. They are not the only companies who have signalled their intention to float; messaging start-up Slack, image company Pinterest and food delivery company Postmates are all moving closer to IPOs. There is good intentions in the flotations of Uber and Lyft for their drivers, as both companies have indicated that they are planning to offer cash bonuses to some of their longest-serving or most-active drivers which they can put into shares in the company. Estimations for the value of two ride-haling companies have been estimate at between $20bn and $30bn for Lyft while Uber comes in at around $120bn. In an interview with Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal, Rett Wallace of Triton.ai gave a list of factors that investors should consider before investing in newly-listed IPOs. He says big IPO listings have become less common. - Linda van Tilburg

JOHANNESBURG — It's not often that one hears the stories of emerging farmers in South Africa and the challenges they go through. Amid noise around land reform and the politics that go with it, it's these voices that get lost in the cacophony. So, it was an interesting opportunity to chat with Ncebe Jakavule, a chicken farmer in King William's Town, in the Eastern Cape. Jakavule recently benefited from financial training from Santam and is busy trying to acquire a farm in the region with the help of government. - Gareth van Zyl

Facebook is standing first in the firing line of criticism of the big tech companies who are accused of selling users private data, channelling propaganda and fake news and damaging democratic elections. More countries around the world are now starting to talk about regulating Facebook and other social media platforms. Zuckerberg did not help his case by refusing to appear before a Parliamentary committee in the United Kingdom which concluded that Zuckerberg failed to show leadership or personal responsibility over fake news on Facebook. This forced the country’s Digital Minister, Jeremy Wright to fly to San Francisco to see Zuckerberg about their concerns. Following that meeting, Facebook has announced that controversial far right-wing British agitator, Tommy Robinson also known as Stephen-Yaxley-Lennon would be permanently removed from their platform. In Britain there is overwhelming support for tougher regulation: 80% of people surveyed by a private data security firm Eskenzi PR wanted tighter government control. A former mentor of Zuckerberg, Roger McNamee has written a book about Zuckerberg, titled “Zucked: Waking up to the Facebook Catastrophe”. In an interview with Bloomberg’s Lisa Abramowicz and Paul Sweeney he explains why he changed his mind about Zuckerberg…

JOHANNESBURG — Many people in South Africa may have never heard of Lobster Ink before. It's a company that's quietly gone about its business providing online video training to staff in the hospitality and tourism sector. From small beginnings in South Africa, Lobster Ink has grown rapidly to service the world's biggest hotel groups from Africa to the Middle East and the US. But even more impressively, Lobster Ink was recently acquired by Ecolab for an undisclosed sum. US-headquartered Ecolab is a global provider of water, hygiene and energy technologies and services to the food, energy, healthcare, industrial and hospitality markets. In this interview then, Fasie Malherbe, the President of Lobster Ink, tells us the story of his company. - Gareth van Zyl

JOHANNESBURG — In 2016,  a consortium comprising dealmakers at RMB Ventures, Pan-African Capital Holdings, MIC Capital Partners and Smit Amandla Marine employees acquired Smit Amandla Marine from a Dutch maritime group. Known as African Marine Solutions Group (Amsol), the new venture that emerged from this deal embarked on a journey of transforming the maritime business into a South African owned entity that would seek to empower its workers as well as driving transformation. In this interview, Mbongeni Madonsela, a private equity transactor at RMB Ventures and Paul Maclons who is the CEO of Amsol talk about their journey thus far. - Gareth van Zyl 

JOHANNESBURG — BizNews doesn't only keep its readers up-to-date with the latest happenings in the business world, but it can even inspire new entrepreneurs to kickstart their own exciting ventures. This has been the case with Henco Wiid and Francois Liebenberg who - after listening to Alec Hogg interview the now late Professor Matthew Lester about the 2017 National Budget  - decided to start their own business to help the so-called 'missing middle' with paying their family members' school or university fees. Wiid and Liebenberg subsequently launched 'SmartFunder' which now helps around 70 companies with reducing their employees' educational expenses through an innovative form of tax relief that forms part of national legislation. Take a listen to my interview with these innovative founders to find out more. - Gareth van Zyl 

LONDON — The question being asked by economists tonight is whether Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has managed to avoid a ratings downgrade by Moody’s. At the news conference before the budget speech, Reserve bank governor, Lesetja Kganyago said the banking system had planned for this scenario and that the system will be able to withstand a downgrade, while Minister Mboweni said the conversations with the ratings agencies were difficult, but he believed the practical steps taken by the Government should be seen as positive. - Linda van Tilburg

LONDON — Finance Minister Tito Mboweni has drawn the battle lines with Public Protector, Busisiwe Mkhwebane. At a news conference before his budget speech in Parliament, Mr Mboweni came to the defence of his Director-General Dondo Mogajane saying that he is reviewing the report of Mkhwebane that ‘Speedy Dondo’ as he called him, should be disciplined because he did not disclose a criminal record for a speeding fine. The Public Protector has since responded, expressing ‘disquiet’ at Mr Mboweni’s effort to trivialise the matter. - Linda van Tilburg

LONDON — Finance Minister Tito Mboweni warned the cash-strapped state owned enterprises and Eskom in particular at a news conference before his budget speech that the government will not allow the SOEs to continue wasting tax payers money. Shortly after the conference, he unveiled that Eskom will receive an annual grant of R23bn from taxpayers over the next three years. - Linda van Tilburg

LONDON — Many of the state owned enterprises in South Africa became synonymous with state capture and can be blamed for the economic crisis that the country finds itself in. Looting and sheer incompetence at Eskom, the SABC and SAA pushed them to the brink of financial collapse. At a media conference before his budget speech, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni said the future of the state owned enterprises could be debated at a summit…

LONDON — The man accused of being involved in smuggling cigarettes and falsifying documents, Adriano Mazotti found himself to be in the firing line of a new drive by SARS to clamp down on the illicit economy. High Court Sheriffs attached and removed all movable property from his house and a warehouse in Johannesburg. SARS says Mazotti, who is a known backer of the Economic Freedom Fighters, owns the taxman R71.9m. In a news conference before Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s budget speech, acting SARS Head, Mark Kingon did not want to comment on the Mazotti case, but warned that it is not only the tobacco space that they will be focusing on. - Linda van Tilburg

LONDON — Finance Minister Tito Mboweni announced in his budget that the government will offer early retirement to civil servants which will reduce the public sector wage bill by R20bn over the next three years. He said at a news conference before the speech that early retirement will be offered without pension penalties. - Linda van Tilburg

LONDON — There was an acknowledgement by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni that many of South Africa’s economic woes are self-inflicted. At a news conference before his budget speech in Cape Town, he gave the backdrop of his budget and says the Government was taking steps to fix the problems and “go back to the plum years.” And there was a warning to those not paying their taxes… ”Ceasar can break your bones!” - Linda van Tilburg