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16 October 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Supplied
Sanlam and Santam
Top 10 finalists of the Sanlam and Santam Economist of the Year competition with Dr Genius Murwirapachena (right) and Prof Johan Coetzee (left).

The Department of Economics and Finance, within the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences (EMS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with Sanlam and Santam, will host the inaugural ‘Sanlam & Santam Economist of the Year’ competition gala event on 18 October 2024. The event, to be held on the UFS Bloemfontein campus, marks the exciting conclusion of this prestigious competition.

About the competition

Prof Johan Coetzee, Chairperson of the Department of Economics and Finance at UFS, explained that the competition, launched in July 2024, is an initiative of the department, sponsored by Sanlam and Santam. ‘’The competition aims to equip our graduates with the essential skills required for the modern workplace, including presentation, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills,” said Prof Coetzee. He also highlighted plans to extend the competition to schools, saying, “We are looking forward to broadening the platform to include school-level participants.”

In addition, Prof Coetzee noted that the competition is designed to train students to become highly skilled economists capable of navigating the challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The competition sees students - ranging from first-year undergraduates to those pursuing master's qualifications within the department - competing against each other by making predictions on key macroeconomic indicators. A schedule of these indicators is provided, and students must predict their values on an online platform before the official release of each indicator. Points are awarded based on the accuracy of their predictions, with the top 10 competitors progressing to the final stage.  

Gala event highlights

Representatives from Sanlam and Santam, the Department of Economics and Finance, the top 10 finalists, and the department’s top academic performers from each year group will attend the gala event. “Besides recognising the competition winners, we will also honour our top academic achievers. As a department, we acknowledge the importance of recognition, and we are proud to be the academic home of these outstanding students,” Prof Coetzee added.

The top 10 finalists will each deliver a six-minute presentation to a panel of four economists from the department, after which the top three finalists will be announced. These finalists will then answer an additional question, and the final judging will determine the winner of the ‘Sanlam and Santam Economist of the Year’ title. The winner will also receive the largest cash prize.  

In addition to the awards, Sivuyile Nzimeni, a data analyst within the EMS faculty and the developer of the competition platform, will address the audience.  Nzimene will discuss the development of the platform and plans for its expansion.

News Archive

UFS in joint venture with Empowerdex
2006-11-17

The University of the Free State (UFS) today became the first tertiary institution in the country to sign a joint venture agreement with Empowerdex, South Africa’s foremost black economic empowerment (BEE) ratings agency, to train BEE practitioners that will implement BEE across all sectors of the economy.
 
The agreement was signed by Mr Vuyo Jack, Executive Chairman of Empowerdex and Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS.
 
Mr Jack and Mr Chia-Chao Wu, Managing Director of Empowerdex, will be appointed as visiting professors in the UFS School of Management as part of the joint venture.
 
“The joint venture entails the establishment of a transformation office within the Centre for Business Dynamics at the UFS which will administer training programmes and conduct contract research on BEE as well as the establishment of a verification agency within the UFS School of Management,” said Mr Danie Jacobs, Head of the Centre for Business Dynamics at the UFS.
 
“The verification agency within the UFS School of Management will be able to verify the BEE compliance of businesses in the Free State and Northern Cape,” said Mr Jacobs.
 
According to Mr Jacobs, the venture originates from the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) directive to draft codes of good practice for businesses as stated in the Broad Based Black Empowerment Act 53 of 2003. The final codes will be announced shortly and will act as a standard framework for the measurement of broad based BEE across all sectors of the economy.
 
The codes comprise seven elements on which basis points are allocated to a business to determine its level of compliance to BEE. 
 
“The UFS is the only tertiary institution in the country which offers a formal certificate whereby BEE practitioners can be trained in order to ensure that they are competent to measure BEE,” said Mr Jacobs.
 
“Being able to utilise the UFS’ experience and expertise in the field of transformation is of great benefit to us and it will assist us in driving BEE in the country,” said Mr Jack. 
 
According to Mr Jack, the UFS is centrally situated, which will make it easy for BEE practitioners to access the appropriate training course to suit their needs. “The venture will have an impact not only on this region, but on the whole country as the extensive networks of both Empowerdex and the UFS will contribute to us reaching and training BEE practitioners,” said Mr Jack. 
 
The training programmes that will be offered by the transformation office within the UFS Centre for Business Dynamics are the Management Development Programme for BEE and Transformation, the Executive Credit Bearing Short Learning Programme and an online Non-Credit Bearing Short Learning Programme for BEE Specialists. 
 
“The expertise and knowledge that Empowerdex brings to the joint venture is invaluable. Empowerdex pioneered the empowerment methodology and has been actively involved in the drafting of broad based BEE legislation, regulations and transformation charters,” said Mr Jacobs.
 
Media release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Media Representative
Tel:   (051) 401-2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
17 November 2006
 

Being empowered: Mr Vuyo Jack, Executive Chairman of BEE ratings agency Empowerdex, and Prof Frederick Fourie, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the University of the Free State (UFS). Empowerdex and the UFS signed an agreement to train practitioners that will implement BEE across all sectors of the economy.

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