Latest news with #Máxima
Daily Maverick
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Maverick
Royally flush — Queen Máxima on financial health tour of Cape Town
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands is an economist on a mission to promote financial health. She visited Cape Town to learn and share. When I first got the call that there might be an opportunity for me to interview Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, I thought there must be a mistake. However, her role as the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Financial Health put it all in perspective. Personal finance has always been my passion, and for me financial literacy is the pathway to financial health. Queen Máxima is equally passionate about financial health, and her role is an evolution of her work as the UN Secretary-General's Special Advocate for Inclusive Finance for Development, which she had been for 15 years. After years of advocating financial inclusion, Queen Máxima maintains that access alone is no longer enough. Financial service providers and policymakers should be reviewing products with financial health as the desired outcome. Her focus areas are the development of products and services that help people to achieve financial health by enabling them to: Manage their day-to-day finances; Build a buffer to withstand financial shocks; Invest to reach short- and long-term goals; and Gain confidence in their financial future. The queen cuts a striking, statuesque figure, the epitome of elegance. She wore a navy blue pantsuit with her hair tied back simply. The African skies saw fit to welcome her with a shower of rain, or African blessings as some believe. At 1.8m, blonde and slim, the queen would not be out of place on a catwalk – but she is actually a qualified economist. So, when she sets out to promote financial health she knows what she is talking about. Financial inclusion in the Netherlands is 99.7%, and of its roughly 8.4 million households, only about 1.4 million have financial problems. About 726,000 have 'problematic debt'. Problematic debt is a situation where your debt has become unmanageable, resulting in depression and other negative effects. Despite the apparently high numbers, the Netherlands presents a striking difference to South Africa, where only 16% of South Africans are considered financially healthy. As we visited different sites around Cape Town, it quickly became clear that the queen's focus is on financial health, rather than simply financial inclusion. Financial inclusion means ensuring access to financial services such as banking, credit, savings accounts and insurance. Financial health is another rung on the ladder to financial success, building on financial inclusion to achieve the ability to live within your means, save and plan for the future and cope with unexpected expenses. Our first stop was Khayelitsha. As we braved the rain to enter the building, we were met by the Voice of Hope youth choir, who had gathered to sing and dance in the queen's honour. Nedbank launched a branch in Khayelitsha in 2003, which has grown into a 'mega-branch' today, offering self-service kiosks to increase digital banking and mobile banking units to serve customers where they are. Noluvuyo Ndyoko of the Masikhulo Savings Club, a stokvel, told the queen how the stokvel had opened an account with Nedbank in 2008. Today it boasts 142 members. 'We offer our members loans at lower interest rates of 7.5% so that they don't turn to loan sharks,' she said. To instil financial discipline and ensure loans are repaid, the stokvel imposes steep penalties of 30% for missed payments, and members who are absent from meetings without excusing themselves pay a R200 fine. 'In the last month we made about R49,000 in penalties alone,' Ndyoko said. The queen was clearly invested in the conversation. She had done her homework and already understood the concept of a stokvel. Smiling gently as she listened to the stokvel members, she asked questions that revealed her interest. This keen interest in financial health shone through at the next site visit – China Town in Ottery, where we met Namhla Cengani, an entrepreneur with a business based on WhatsApp. Cengani accessed a microloan via Spoon Money, which allowed her to expand her business by taking on more stock. 'Although I have a bank account, the loan criteria are so stringent that, as an entrepreneur with an unstable income, I do not qualify,' she told the queen. Cengani outlined how Spoon Money also supports its clients with financial literacy via a WhatsApp group. 'Before I worked with Spoon Money, I was just living month to month. I didn't know how to manage a business. Now I understand that owning a business doesn't mean using all the profit each month. You have to pay yourself a salary and reinvest the money into your business so it can grow,' she said. The third and final stop on the trip was the Discovery Bank branch in Sea Point. A far cry from the two previous sites, the queen was met there by Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner, who talked her through the concept of Vitality and how the bank uses the same principles as other divisions of Discovery to drive positive client behaviour. The behaviours Vitality Money encourages include spending less than you earn, saving regularly, insuring for adverse events, paying off property and investing long-term. Queen Máxima emphasised that although South Africa has made notable strides in financial inclusion, the lack of financial health is weakening resilience and stalling inclusive growth. She also heard from Discovery Bank clients Jonathan and Latoya Cleary about their journey to financial wellbeing using the Discovery Bank Vitality programme. They enrolled in a financial education course offered on the Discovery Bank app. Then they used the budgeting and financial planning features of Vitality Money to help track expenses, manage debt and set the goals of owning a home and being debt-free. DM This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rotterdam's new museum about migration is also architecturally wow
Rotterdam has a new museum, Fenix, which explores aspects of migration through modern art in an eye-catching building freshly opened by Queen Máxima. Now open to the public, the museum - the first to be dedicated to the topic, say organizers - features a double spiral staircase made of shiny steel as its spectacular centrepiece. Fenix wants to tell the story of migration as a journey, said the museum's director, Anne Kremers. "Migration is universal, timeless and, above all, deeply human." Many of her compatriots are aware that the queen, who was born in Argentina, is also a migrant – she emigrated to the Netherlands over 20 years ago and married then crown prince Willem-Alexander in 2002. Tornado made of steel The huge warehouse, which is over 100 years old, was converted by Chinese architect Ma Yansong. The spectacular centrepiece is 'The Tornado,' a winding staircase reminiscent of a slide in a water park. A whirlwind of steel and wood, it leads from the ground floor to well above the roof, with the city, water and people reflected in the shiny steel. The museum tells the story of migration across 16,000 square metres with artworks, photos and personal items. Plus it has a labyrinth made of around 2,000 suitcases belonging to emigrants and an old, colourfully painted city bus from New York. Millions of emigrants Fenix stands in the centre of the historic port facilities from which millions set sail to the New World, the US and Canada, between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century - including renowned scientist Albert Einstein. Meanwhile Rotterdam was destroyed by German bombing raids 85 years ago but was rebuilt after the war. It is now one of the main attractions in the Netherlands thanks to its impressive skyline and wealth of modern architecture.
Associated Press
08-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Trust, Tech and Transformation at the Mastercard Global Inclusive Growth Summit
Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth These are truly dizzying times, but if there was a single takeaway from the Global Inclusive Growth Summit held last month in Washington, D.C., it was this: The world can't afford to heed the standard advice for vertigo — sit down, lie still. In fact, uncertainty can be an opportunity for action, said Shamina Singh, the president and founder of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, which organizes the annual summit. 'That's what is needed now more than ever,' she said. 'New ways of thinking, new ways of doing, new partnerships that are purpose-built for the world as it is right now, but also how it will be tomorrow.' Among the challenges raised by the policymakers, philanthropists, futurists, NGO leaders and others in the packed auditorium: How do we drive economic growth so people everywhere can reach financial health? How do we foster digital transformation without leaving small businesses vulnerable to growing cyber threats? What kind of leadership is needed in times of change? 'We have to anticipate now that those once-in-a-decade events are every year,' said Henry Timms, CEO of the global consultancy Brunswick Group. 'Leadership during uncertain times requires balancing immediate challenges with long-term vision.' Here are three key insights from the summit: 01It takes a village to build financial health. You can't measure someone's financial health by the balance in their bank account or their annual salary, said Haley Sacks, the financial influencer known as Mrs. Dow Jones, in a conversation with Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, the U.N. secretary-general's special advocate for financial health. 'Having a gym membership doesn't mean you're going to have a six-pack,' Sacks said. Queen Máxima called on financial institutions to listen more carefully to their customers and their needs, and to develop and test tools that people will use to grow financially – and therefore grow as customers too. Employers can also play a greater role in supporting financial health, she said, with initiatives like automatic savings that can provide a buffer for emergencies, improving employees' peace of mind and productivity. As digitization makes deeper inroads across sectors, organizations can work together to create more comprehensive financial services. 'I think you do not see people emerge securely into the middle class until they have an entire toolbox, not one tool like insurance,' said Andy Kuper, CEO of LeapFrog Investments, during a panel on impact investing. 'So I'm hopeful that if we as a world — and that especially requires investors to be smart — back the right kinds of companies, that you will see many billions of people with this toolbox.' Despite the current economic turbulence, the middle class continues to grow globally, with already half of the global population in that income group, and projections indicating more than a billion people will join it in the coming decade, primarily in Asia, said Wolfgang Fengler, CEO of World Data Lab, in a session on the new global consumer with Michelle Meyer, chief economist of the Mastercard Economics Institute. 'Don't bet against digital,' Fengler said, 'and don't bet against the middle class.' 02Trust is the currency underpinning economic growth in the digital world. 'I am optimistic that cybersecurity is table stakes — it's increasingly understood that it is the starting point to an inclusive world,' said Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach. Yet the gap between those with strong cyber defenses and those without is widening at a time when technology has enabled more sophisticated and convincing scams, attack vectors are expanding, and trust in digital spaces is breaking down. Rebuilding trust starts at the individual level: 'We need to reclaim control of personal data, which is essential to one's identity and personhood,' said Frank McCourt, executive chairman of McCourt Global and founder of Project Liberty. He called for 'an intention economy over an attention economy, where individuals benefit economically from their data.' At the systemic level, cyber threats should be viewed as a business and leadership issue, rather than merely a technical one. 'They are a central risk to global economies, to critical infrastructure and to public trust,' said Alissa 'Dr. Jay' Abdullah, Mastercard's deputy chief information security officer. Public-private cooperation is critical, Miebach said, from cyber training and capacity building to real-time information sharing. 'There's a fragmentation of the world that we're currently witnessing, where people look more inside, and this [gets] in the way of sharing effectively,' he said. 'The way to defending is by sharing, being close.' Criminal organizations don't recognize borders, said Valdecy Urquiza, secretary general of INTERPOL. 'The threats are coming from everywhere … We have got to foster collaboration — cross-border collaboration, cross-sector collaboration — we've got to make sure that everyone is included.' 03Invest in closing the digital divide, wherever it exists. Whether it's Alabama or Angola, Montana or Malawi, rural innovation requires addressing fundamental infrastructure needs such as broadband access while also developing skills-based education programs that connect people to higher-paying jobs. Connectivity is one area of critical concern worldwide – as Amy Doherty, chief information officer at the World Bank half-joked, 'I love the new Maslow's hierarchy of needs that has Wi-Fi at the bottom.' In the U.S., that requires more coordination between local, state and federal governments, and with the private sector. 'If you don't have access to high-speed internet, you simply can't compete,' said Ross DeVol, CEO of think tank Heartland Forward. 'It is the number one economic challenge for many of these rural locations.' Julie Gehrki, president of the Walmart Foundation, said employers should work closely with states to close the skills gap — making sure community college classes address the changing needs of the job market. 'If you're investing in a company in rural America that's now going to need people with tech skills, how are you making sure they know the demand there, they know the training program that's relevant, and that they can sign up to be a part of that transformation?' Another key focus area is Africa, which is on the cusp of becoming a bigger global economic player thanks to its modern technology adoption, a young digital-native population, and creative industries. With more investment in the electricity infrastructure of sub-Saharan Africa, AI could even help emerging economies leapfrog developed ones, Doherty said. Take agriculture — agribusiness could use AI to give tailored advice to farmers about their land and help them increase crop yields, which in turn helps their community thrive, she said. At the close of the day, Jon Huntsman, Mastercard's president of Strategic Growth, spoke with James Mwangi, chief executive of African financial services company Equity Group Holdings, which is part of the MADE Alliance, launched by Mastercard and the African Development Bank to extend digital access to critical services to 100 million people and businesses in Africa. 'A transformed Africa is a sustainable world,' Mwangi said. 'Africa is not coming out on this stage as a beggar. It's coming with this human resource to serve the world. It's coming with its agricultural potential to secure.' Banner photo, Mastercard Economics Institute Chief Economist Michelle Meyer, left, discusses consumer spending habits and the resilience of the middle class with Wolfgang Fengler, right, CEO of the World Data Lab. Originally published by Mastercard. Learn more about the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth by following us on LinkedIn and Instagram. See content from the Summit: Visit 3BL Media to see more multimedia and stories from Mastercard
Observer
15-04-2025
- Business
- Observer
Visit reflects long-standing historical ties: HM
King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and his spouse Queen Máxima hosted an official dinner in honour of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, on Tuesday. Prior to the dinner, His Majesty shook hands with the distinguished guests. His Majesty then delivered a speech, reading as follows: 'Your Majesty the King... Your Majesty the Queen... It is a great honour to be here in the Netherlands to celebrate the firm friendship between our two countries. We extend our sincere gratitude for the gracious hospitality we have received and for the valuable contributions that have fostered our partnership over the years. The warm welcome we received reflects deep-rooted cooperation between our two peoples which has flourished over centuries through maritime trade, exploration, and the shared pursuit of knowledge. "This visit reflects the long-standing historical ties between the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Early Dutch traders and navigators built bridges of friendship since the 17th century, laying the foundation for the fruitful cooperation we are witnessing today. "This legacy is embodied at present in the Port of Sohar, the fruit of a joint venture between Asyad Group and the Port of Rotterdam to manage and operate Sohar Port and Freezone. This port symbolises our shared maritime heritage and our collective commitment to innovation, cooperation and a forward-looking vision. The port has become a vibrant hub for global trade and investment demonstrating what can be achieved when nations work together in a spirit of openness and determination. "The Netherlands' expertise in clean energy and water management is globally recognised and appreciated and we are grateful that this visit provided an opportunity to discuss our cooperation and initial successes we have achieved particularly in the production of green hydrogen and innovative water solutions. "In addition to economic cooperation, the countries continue to foster ties through political consultations, academic exchange, and cultural dialogue. Mutual understanding between our peoples is at an all-time high. As we continue to uphold our shared values of justice, pluralism, and the rule of law, we are confident that our cooperation will contribute to promoting peace and stability in Europe and the Middle East. "Based on the achievements we have made together in the fields of transport, logistics, trade and energy, we have to expand our cooperation to address urgent global challenges, particularly in upholding international law and ensuring security for all. In these endeavours, we must be wise in our visions, bold and courageous in our actions, and aware that our shared responsibility for shaping a better future extends beyond the borders of our two countries. Your Majesty the King... Your Majesty the Queen... As we move forward towards realising this shared vision, allow us in conclusion to reiterate our strong appreciation for the deep-rooted friendship between the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. We are looking forward to the honour of welcoming you, Your Majesty the King and Your Majesty the Queen, in Muscat soon. We are also looking forward to continuing our joint efforts in the upcoming months and years. Thank you.' King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands also delivered a speech on this occasion, in which he reiterated his welcome to His Majesty the Sultan and his accompanying official delegation, affirming his country's keenness to diversify areas of partnership and investment between our two countries to enrich the economic growth of the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of the Netherlands at various levels. The dinner was attended by the official delegation accompanying His Majesty, and a number of senior officials from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. — ONA
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Princess Catharina-Amalia Has a Rare Tiara Moment
Princess Catharina-Amalia continues to prepare for her role as a future monarch with another appearance at a state visit—and she did so in full princess regalia. For the occasion, the princess chose the Mellerio Ruby Parure Tiara, paired with the "Ginkgo" dress by British label Safiyaa in lavender. The tiara, from the Dutch royal family's collection, was made for the family by French jewelry maker Mellerio, founded in 1613. According to The Court Jeweller, the tiara was created 'for Queen Emma around 1888 as a part of a larger ruby parure.' Every Dutch queen since Emma has worn the tiara, including Queen Máxima, who wore it last at a state banquet welcoming in honor of Portugal this past December. At that banquet, Princess Catharina-Amalia donned the Dutch Star Tiara. The Princess of Orange appeared with her parents, King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, on Tuesday as they welcomed Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said of Oman during a state banquet on the first night of a two-day state visit. This is Princess Catharina-Amalia's third state banquet, nearly a year to the day of her first one on April 17, 2024, welcoming King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain. The princess, who turned 21 in December, is first in line to the throne to the throne of the Netherlands, and her presence at the banquet highlights her rising profile. Princess Catharina-Amalia, eldest child of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, has used the title 'Princess of Orange'—a title that can only be held by the heir to the throne—since her father's investiture as King of the Netherlands in 2013. She has two younger sisters, Princess Alexia, 19, and Princess Ariane, 18, neither of whom were present this evening. Princess Catharina-Amalia is currently studying for her bachelor's degree at the University of Amsterdam. You Might Also Like 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game
