₦airaland Forum

One sector that is often unreported when it comes to the rolling loadshedding that South Africa has been enduring over the past few years is the banking sector. The impact of power cuts on this all important sector has been devastating. It has led to increased expenditure on the part of the banks trying to cushion themselves, a development that will likely see the costs being passed on to consumers.

But how are banks affected by power cuts? Some of the effects are direct, while others are indirect. One direct effect of load shedding has already been highlighted above. Banks have been forced to come up with mitigatory measures in the face of rolling blackouts. As an example, some banks are being faced to invest in alternative power sources, such as generators, to stay in business. The cost of running these can add up, particularly when the country is facing stage 6 or more blackouts.

Indirectly, loadshedding translates into a loss of clients for banks. As an example, Nedbank a while back that power cuts have had a negative impact on their SME accounts. Small businesses are particularly being hurt by the outages. And where there i no business, there is no banking. The result is reduced activity on accounts belonging to these companies. In extreme instances, businesses are actually going out because of the power shortages, a development that also impacts on banks.

What can banks do to protect themselves?

Loadshedding looks set to continue across South Africa well into the foreseeable future. So, what can banks do to protect themselves? A lot of them have been investing in power backup equipment. One approach is to choose renewable energy sources. Solar, as as an example, is a good way through which banks can reduce the impact of loadshedding while cutting costs in the long run. The good news is that the banking sector in South Africa is very resilient. Chances are high that the sector will whether the storm. But that can only be the case through innovation.

The latest version of WordPress, version 6.3, has made my life really difficult. And I am not alone. The people behind WordPress are seemingly determined to hide all the useful features behind some Advanced tag. That makes life really difficult for content writers.

Just to give an example, they have hidden the option to open a link in a new tab behind the Advanced section. Where previously I needed 1 click to set a link to be opened in a new tab, I now need an astonishing 6 clicks. That makes it rather annoying to work on any article in WordPress.

I have also noticed that they have hidden the preview section behind a fancy computer icon. That is well and good if you know what to look for. However, I suspect new users will have difficult navigating their way to this.

Have engaged the guys on Github but hey, it doesn't seen like they want to listen. Hope Joomla is better

Well, very good reasons but I am coming anyway