affordable

Three-quarters of adult South Africans have bank accounts, and women generally have equal access to formal financial services. Several mobile money payment systems, initiatives to digitise government transfers, and an extensive banking infrastructure all support financial inclusion.

A simple plastic heart valve designed to treat rheumatic heart disease in a cost-effective and accessible way has been developed by a South African company, helping the 1.4-million sufferers of the disease - the vast majority of whom live in the developing world.

SA house prices are going through the roof - so much so that a major bank has revised its definition of a middle-class home. Experts are divided over whether the boom is a bubble about to burst, or holds the potential for sustainable growth.