Yet another reason for firms to make better use of their existing technology in the next two years is that the current exchange rate is about to make imported technology products substantially more expensive. Our currency has weakened by some 45% in the past few months, and unless the Rand strengthens, we could see a similar increase in prices of imported products once forward cover runs out. Most affected will be hardware products – which are nearly all imported, as well as the international software brands such as Microsoft Office, operating systems, databases, anti-virus software, and digital dictation.
