It has been “nose to the grindstone” since taking over as editor from my esteemed colleague Piet Coetzer, as Blue Chip strives to bring you insider opinions from the people who count in the world of finance and beyond.

Chief executive officer of MMI Holdings Nicolaas Kruger opens the batting in this edition, giving readers the lowdown of the successful merger between Metropolitan and Momentum. With rock-solid profits in its opening stanza this year, he now heads one of South Africa’s largest insurance companies.

PricewaterhouseCoopers director Charles de Wet, and CEO of Absa Islamic Banking Amman Muhammad, lend their pens to this edition as they unpack the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill and provide insights into Absa’s African expansion, respectively.

The heavy hitters continue, as intellectual CEO of The Innovation Hub McLean Sibanda provides a porthole into future innovations that will shape the way we do business on various levels, from green technologies to information and communication technology.

We introduce a new motoring and travel section to Blue Chip as we welcome the iconic new Jaguar XJ onto our pages, before jetting off to Zimbali for the highlight of the celebrity golf calendar, with the Black Knight himself – Mr Gary Player.

Contents aside, the final part of 2011 has shed some light on the bitter recession: South Africa’s conservative credit/spending policies have saved her from the worst of the fallout experienced by Europe and America. Largely funding their economies on credit, they were doomed to eventual downfall.

South Africa – and Africa in general – has a golden opportunity to leapfrog the so-called developed markets as the preferred investment destination. Indeed, Europe has reached its ceiling of development, while Africa has hardly touched the surface; its natural resources vastly outweigh the northerners’ treasure chest.

The news of our dear friend Julius Malema’s five-year suspension will only boost international confidence in South Africa as a viable investment option, given the swift nature of the ANC’s disciplinary action. Some analysts say the ANC is now a middle-class party. Ironically, the Democratic Alliance has been pushing for greater social grants, while the ANC top brass reportedly hold their noses in disgust at the idea.

Taking a look at the employment figures since 1995, we have created a reported four million new jobs. Not bad for a country that was written off by the international press years ago – and our local newspapers make a living out of bashing, too! It is time for us to be truly, proudly South African, and take our place as a market leader in the new world order that the credit crunch is shaping.

Gregory Simpson