This week, after time away, Charles Savage comes back to something simple, what actually drives growth, and why it starts with access.

The Savage Take is where our CEO shares what he’s seeing and thinking each week, in markets and beyond.

From Charles

Home again.

It was a short work week post my travels. As always, travel leaves me happy to be home, but a little more introspective.

What did I learn? What stood out? What would I bring back with me if I could?

Three things stayed with me.

Mobility drives growth

If you want an economy to grow quickly, you need people to move.

Not just move. Move cheaply and easily.

In Vietnam and Cambodia, it’s obvious. Scooters, bikes, small vehicles everywhere. The system is built for it.

Fuel is affordable. Transport is accessible. And importantly, it works.

When people can move cheaply, they can work cheaply. They can trade. They can show up. They can participate.

Mobility becomes productivity. Simple. But it scales.

Data is oxygen

The second thing is data.

In parts of Southeast Asia, you can get 10GB for around R17.

R17.

Being connected is not a luxury. It’s a given.

People are online. They are transacting. They are learning. They are building.

Data is not a constraint… it’s the unlock.

Participation changes everything

That’s the thread.

Growth doesn’t come from a few people doing more. It comes from more people doing something.

Mobility enables participation. Data enables participation.

And when participation scales… everything accelerates.

Markets held their own

And that’s what you’re seeing in markets.

It was a week where markets chose to look through the noise.

Despite geopolitics and rate uncertainty, equities were resilient.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq continue to grind higher, led by big tech, AI, and the names that continue to attract interest.

Flows are concentrated. Leadership is narrow. But it’s working.

Closer to home, the JSE held up well. Financials steady. Resources stable. South Africa quietly participating.

In a week where markets could have wobbled… they didn’t.

Markets are not pricing panic. They are following flows.

What I’m reading that’s influencing my thinking

Two ideas did the rounds this week. Different lenses. Same signal.

One said Apple is “dead” and pure software is becoming uninvestable.
The other said capital no longer searches for value… it follows attention.

Strip out the noise… and it’s simple.

Markets have changed.

Capital used to search for value.
Now it follows attention.

If you are seen, you get flows.
If you are not, you don’t exist.

The product is no longer the moat.

Distribution is.
Community is.
Being seen is.

BlackRock does not win because it picks the best stocks. It wins because it owns the pipes through which attention becomes capital.

The Savage Take

An Uber from the airport.

R660 for a 30-minute journey. The driver top class. The car in great condition. The roads busy and well tarred. Streets lined with green. Infrastructure everywhere.

And it struck me immediately.

Our opportunity at home is still far greater.

Not because everything is perfect.
Not because everyone is aligned.
And certainly not because everyone is seen or has access.

But because even despite our past, and our current afflictions, we still stand on the shoulders of giants.

We have no excuse not to build something better.

If we put real urgency into mobility, access, inclusion… not words, action… we would scale this country at a pace that would feel extraordinary.

Within decades… it would be unrecognisable to us.

At EasyGroup, if we are to play our part in building an extraordinary South Africa, we must respect where we sit… at the front door of retail investor attention.

Every login.
Every trade.
Every watchlist.

That is attention.

At scale… attention becomes power.

And with that comes responsibility.

We need to respect the privilege of the position we hold.

We are not just a platform.
We are an access point to ambition.

That means we must move more urgently to ensure access scales faster.

More accessible.
More inclusive.
More traffic of all kinds.

That is how we got here.

And it is something we should never forget.

Access at scale is how South Africa wins.
It’s also how we win… and how we ensure everyone is included.

Call me a dreamer.

But as Steve said… dreamers change the world.

What you do next is the only thing that matters.

Full week ahead. Let’s go.

Stay Savage,
Charles

 The Savage Take is published weekly.
Opinions are Charles Savage’s own. Not financial advice. 

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