Former South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has enlisted the “enemy” to fight for global gender equality. After her hugely successful HeForShe initiative attracted over a billion people on social media, in Davos this morning the UN’s Executive Director for Women took the wraps off her latest innovation. This time she has received the commitment from ten global companies to pioneer full gender equality, leading the charge towards corporate transformation. The multinationals are charged with having women filling at least 50% of executive management (and directorates) by 2020. At present their proportions range from 11% to 33%. Their leadership is expected to propel others to follow, helping reach international equality by 2030. Mlambo-Ngcuka, who did a doctorate in mobile technology between her SA and UN jobs, is leveraging her knowledge, contacts and the UN brand in a very smart, public manner. South Africa’s ultimate “cool” Gogo (granny) spoke to Biznews.com’s Alec Hogg this morning after her big announcement at the World Economic Forum annual meeting.

As Davos enters the middle stretch conversation is hopscotching from automation to Donald Trump back to the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Alec spent most of his day with the International Media Council, which had three presidents present. He was most impressed by one of the youngest, Canada's Justin Trudeau, who's got a C++ qualification and is well suited for discussions around the Internet. The most impressive for Alec however was Argentina's newly elected president Mauricio Macri who's taking the country from its socialist days on a path of free enterprise. This is Day 3 of Alec Hogg's Davos Diary.

Day two in Davos and Alec Hogg’s been jumping from session to session as the town engulfs itself with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It was an early start as Alec engaged himself in Edelman’s annual trust barometer. Not the news many South Africans want to wake up to though, only 16% of those surveyed trust government, the, lowest of all countries surveyed. Oxford University’s Ian Goldin spoke about the 17th century Renaissance and how it’s being reflected in the Fourth Industrial revolution of today. Alec also attended the Pravin Gordhan press conference, which didn’t offer anything newsworthy but did offer a glimmer of hope. This is day two of Alec Hogg’s Davos Diary.

Some spectacular individuals choose to promote good causes by testing their bodies to the extreme. Like South Africa’s Lewis Pugh who regularly swims in near freezing seas to highlight the plight of the oceans. Swiss explorer/adventurer Bertrand Piccard is made of the same stuff. I first met him in Davos in 2009 when facilitating a session highlighting his prowess, and have followed his journey ever since. Piccard’s latest obsession is to fly around the world in an aircraft powered exclusively by the sun. Having teamed up with former jet fighter pilot and entrepreneur Andre Borschberg, the duo’s revolutionary Solar Impulse project has captured the attention of millions. They’re half way through their challenge and are sharing experiences to packed WEF audiences in Davos this year. Here’s our interview. Inspirational and insightful – with some interesting comments on nuclear power.

Davos in January is full of fascinating people with illuminating insights. Among the best I’ve been exposed to this year is Oxford University Professor Ian Goldin’s thesis the Fourth Industrial Revolution (or, as some prefer, the Second Machine Age) should rather be called The New Renaissance. Because, like the last period of seismic changes from which emerged the genius of Da Vinci, Galileo and Michelangelo, we now live an age where ideas are paramount and creativity is king. Goldin, a South African who returned from exile to run the Development Bank of SA before moving back into academia, was a star attraction in a packed WEF session examining the history of industrial revolutions. I grabbed him afterwards for a ten minute chat – and prodded him about how these momentous changes will affect his mean homeland. Goldin has some strong opinions on what needs to be done to avoid becoming irrelevant. He didn’t pull any punches.

Alec Hogg's back at the World Economic Forum in Davos and he was given a little crystal again, which denotes that he's been attending for ten years or more. On Day One, Alec caught up with Leonardo DiCaprio, whom is taller than he thought, talking about the ocean economy, and took a selfie with Patrice and Precious Motsepe. This is Day One of Alec Hogg's Davos Diary.

South African Derek Yach is among the heavy hitters in Davos this year, leading the WEF's Global Agenda Council on Longevity. In this interview with Biznews.com's Alec Hogg he unpacks how technology is expanding a human being's lifespan to double the biblical three score years and ten. But living forever with an addles mind is nobody's idea of fun - with that in mind, Yach offers sage advice on how to keep our brains healthy. His team has been taking a close look at an ideal sample group, the 50 000 Japanese who are already over 110 years old - passing on some tips.

The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report 2016 features perspectives from nearly 750 experts on the perceived impact and likelihood of 29 prevalent global risks over a 10-year timeframe. The risks are divided into five categories: economic, environmental, geopolitical, societal and technological. Alec Hogg is in London and he caught up with the content lead on risks at WEF, Caroline Galvan. There was a specific focus on South Africa, with the top three risks - unemployment and underemployment, social instability and critical infrastructure failure.

Biznews founder Alec Hogg is currently in London on a short tour before tackling the alps of Davos for the next instalment of the World Economic Forum. While in London he caught up with Neville Koopowitz, CEO of Discovery UK. It's a fascinating discussion around Discovery's progress in the market, off the back of the very successful Vitality project in South Africa. Koopowitz talks about the challenges endured and how they used football clubs like Arsenal and Manchester City to grow the brand, going as far as sponsoring newly promoted Bournemouth's home stadium. A lesson learnt in sunny South Africa.

Dr Eli Lewis, professor of clinical biochemistry and pharmacology at Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel. His team may have stumbled across one of modern medicine's most enduring holy grails: a safe, effective way to reverse type 1 diabetes.

Bond specialist Andrew Cantor, chief investment officer at Futuregrowth, explains why foreigner investors panicked at the firing of Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene - and how confidence built up over 20 years wan be destroyed virtually overnight. Canter worries trust in the fiscal prudence of the SA Government has been broken, so potential investors will now "think twice" about South African assets. But the good news is these events prove democracy is alive and well in SA, with the public outrage forcing a rapid reversal of President Jacob Zuma's decision, something which Canter says was welcome but unexpected.

Founder and former dean of GIBS, Nick Binedell, joined Alec Hogg in the Biznews studios to unpack the dramatic events of the past five days. He is delighted at the unexpected turn of events which led to former Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan being reappointed - and suggsts there will be significant implications across the economic cluster. Binedell also believes the nation has learnt a great deal about its status as a democracy, and suggests those lessons are not over yet. He will be among those marching on Wednesday and sees it as a way for South Africans to express their opinions - the right of all who live in a democracy.

For rational minds, the ancient art (science?) of numerology ranks right down there with sangoma soothsaying and gypsy crystal balls. But for thousands of years stretching back to the ancient Greek Pythagoras, numerology has attracted devotees who don’t make any important decision without it. South Africa’s leading numerologist Sandy Smith’s clientele includes many influential business leaders and investment specialists. In this fascinating interview she shares her forecasts for 2016, offering specific predictions about President Jacob Zuma (a bad year), Julius Malema (not much better) and highlighting global investment opportunities, including an especially bullish view on gold. - Alec Hogg

Russell Loubser doesn't know how to sugar coat - and certainly hasn't deviated from his norm in this hard-hitting interview with Biznews.com's Alec Hogg. The long-time ex-CEO of the JSE reflects on his decision to step away from South African Airways in September 2012 because he "had lost confidence in the shareholder." His resignation sparked chairman Cheryl Carolus and half the other directors into following him out the building. In the light of his insights as a director, what has happened since, he reckons, is entirely predictable: in his view the chairman and directors of the airline have long since lost any pretense at running it like a business. Instead, SAA is regarded as a pot of money for the Zuma Administration to dispense largesse and enrich politically connected cronies. The result of this malevolent incompetence will force taxpayers to keep pumping in billions of rand annually - until such time as voters eject the plunderers from office.

While shocking news abounds on almost every media platform you care to engage with, Futuregrowth Asset Management located in Cape Town continues to turn out good news stories year after year. Not only are they engaged in financing and assisting the most incredible developmental projects in South Africa, but they’re able to produce such competitive returns that their funds are included in pension funds nationally. Not sure what we’re talking about? Listen to investment analyst Amrish Narrandes talk passionately about the ways in which Futuregrowth finds, assesses and funds deals which uplift communities, creates employment and makes South Africa a better place to live in.

After 35 years in journalism, John Battersby became the inaugural London-based driver of Brand South Africa. During more than a decade of waving the flag for investment and tourism, he got to meet global movers and shakers. So there are few better placed than the London-based director of the SA-UK Chamber of Commerce to report back on Julius Malema's visit to London last week where the EFF leader enthralled UK investors, attracting record crowds wherever he went. Battersby spoke to Biznews.com's Alec Hogg.

Alec Hogg says being at PSG Group's 20th anniversary last night was a great privilege. In those two decades, the now R60bn group started from scratch in November 1995 by then recently fired stockbroker Jannie Mouton, has delivered compounded growth of 54% a year to shareholders. An investment of R100 000 back then would be worth R550m today. No other company in the world, even Apple, TenCent and Naspers, matches that growth rate. So impressive, that two of the big names in global value investing, former Morningstar research head Pat Dorsey and author William Thorndike made the trek to Stellenbosch to see how the one-time shop assistant from Carnarvon did it. Mouton's pride shone through in the 45 minutes he gave me immediately ahead of the formalities to tell his and PSG's story. What followed was a night of celebration and some rare showing off by a group that has never strayed from its hard working, humble roots. And, one hopes, never will. Because the next act only gets harder. More than R10bn of PSG's current market valuation is due to the expectations - for the first time ever its shares trade at a premium to the underlying "sum of the parts" value. That puts huge responsibility onto the next generation, what old-times call PSG's "Youth League". Mouton's sons Piet and Jan and colleagues like recently recruited Francois Gouws have huge boots to fill. With two thirds of the company's underlying value ascribed to its 30.7% stake in Capitec and 58.5% of Curro, the next generation start from a solid base. But they will need to find their own unicorns while guarding against the arrogance and complacency that has destroyed many businesses. Mouton, who turns 70 next year, retired once, very briefly. PSG's chairman has no intention of repeating that mistake. Ensuring his Youth League need only pop downstairs to his office for one of the best sounding boards imaginable.

Irina Filatova is a Russian professor who moved to South Africa in 1992 when she joined the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In this fascinating interview with Alec Hogg, the two explore the communist movement in South Africa and how it ties in with the Soviet Union. Filatova says the ideological influence of the Communist Party on the ANC leadership cannot be disputed and is evident if one goes through the ANC documents. And it’s no coincidence Filatova is married to Rhodes scholar, Oxford don, author, journalist and political scientist RW Johnson. On Biznews we have spoken extensively about his book, How long will South Africa survive? which has topped the country’s best-selling non-fiction list for well over a year. The dinner discussions must be extremely insightful.

Martin Wolf warns SA; Putin outrages at Turkey by Biznews.com

In this special podcast, Safari Investments CEO Francois Marais explains the unique strategy which has money managers excited about his company - despite their cautious approach to the sector in general. Safari was a pioneer in township retail shopping centres and is now in the process of building its third Attridgeville mall, complementing others in Sebokeng and Mamelodi. Marais has also tied up with old pal Cal Grillenberger's Advance Health to build Safari's first day clinic in Soweto. Add in the unique waterfront project in Swakopmund and it's no surprise to hear money managers are keen to invest hundreds of millions in fresh capital through a private share placement now being conducted by the company.

Dow Theory, AGMs and Nando's in the headlines by Biznews.com

South America dumps socialism, ANC continues regardless by Biznews.com

SA Govt's inability to execute, Rand, ISIS funding in today's headlines by Biznews.com

The most valuable accolades for any CEO are those spontaneously offered by investment professionals. Over dinner last week, two of SA’s leading money managers, Cy Jacobs (36One) and Duncan Artus (Allan Gray) named Super Group’s Peter Mountford as SA’s most under-rated CEO. To find out why, we invited Mountford into the Biznews studio to tell us his story – one which explains how, in just six years, he managed to transform a near bankrupt business capitalised at just R350m into a group now worth R10bn. It’s a tale of a business scientist backed by a visionary directorate drawing on dollops of wisdom generously shared by business giants Meyer Kahn and Bill Lynch. – Alec Hogg

Wylie lays into Competition Commission, plus Faure, Rupert and Jones make news by Biznews.com