Author: Gugu Lourie

As artificial intelligence reshapes industries worldwide, one of South Africa’s most established retailers is taking a notably different path.  Lewis — the country’s largest furniture chain, valued at R4.5 billion on the JSE — has drawn a clear line in the sand: technology should support workers, not replace them. In an era where automation often signals job cuts, Lewis is doubling down on its people-first philosophy. The company, which has been synonymous with furniture retailing in South Africa since its founding in Cape Town in 1934, now employs almost 11 000 permanent staff across its trading brands including Lewis, Best Home…

In a strategic move for African travel technology, Cape Town-founded ground transportation software provider Ratality has officially become part of the newly launched global parent company, Terra Mobility, which has simultaneously secured a $40 million credit financing from Vista Credit Partners, the credit-investing arm of Vista Equity Partners. Ratality, known for its specialised bus and coach operator software used extensively across South and Southern Africa, was originally acquired by Canadian travel-tech firm Busbud in 2024. Today, the launch of Terra Mobility represents a strategic evolution, elevating the combined enterprise into a unified global powerhouse that bridges consumer booking marketplaces with cutting-edge operator infrastructure. Under…

Nedbank Group has reported robust financial results for the six months ending 30 June 2026, with headline earnings reaching R8.4 billion, significantly outperforming the bank’s initial expectations for the year. The results reflect a robust combination of digital adoption, strategic restructuring, and disciplined expense management that has positioned the bank for sustained growth in an evolving economic landscape. Digital Banking Momentum Drives Client Growth The bank’s digital transformation strategy continues to yield impressive results, with digitally active retail clients increasing by 8% to 3.5 million in Personal and Private Banking (PPB). In the Nedbank Africa Regions (NAR):: SADC business, digital…

Irvine, CA (PinionNewswire – Deserve to Win Podcast Episode 44 just dropped and Troutman Amin, LLP’s new format, new rules, and awesome guests have received rave reviews from its nationwide audience.  This week Troutman Amin, LLP’s famous Deserve to Win podcast features an interview with a panel of CEOs–Contact Center Compliance leader Ron Allen, PureCaller ID chief Derek Oberholtzer and the new head of Sonera Mark Mitchell. Sonera results from the combination of CCC and PCID and looks to shake up the industry in a move the Czar–attorney Eric J. Troutman– believes will force consolidation across call center solutions.  The…

Gurhan Kiziloz has won a first appeal to unfreeze a combined $527 million in Tether company holdings and other assets tied to a Brazilian tax dispute. The ruling does not release the funds at once. It narrows the freeze and opens a route for the full amount, including roughly $213 million in USDT, to be released by October 2026. Here is what happened, and why it matters beyond Brazil. The core of the decision was restraint, not reversal. The court did not order the money returned. It ordered a narrower review, requiring authorities to separate assets with a direct Brazilian…

Datatec (JSE: DTC), a leading international Information and Communications Technology (ICT) group, has announced that its subsidiary, Logicalis USA, has successfully acquired 100% of the share capital of Loial, a prominent technology solutions provider based in New Mexico. The strategic acquisition, which became effective on July 31, 2026, significantly strengthens Logicalis USA’s managed services portfolio and cybersecurity capabilities. It also establishes a permanent Logicalis USA physical presence in New Mexico, expanding the company’s operational footprint across the Southwest region. Logicalis USA is a digital enablement partner that accelerates the business and technology transformation of its clients. It offers a comprehensive suite of managed…

Nedbank Group has announced a major leadership change in its technology division, appointing Nikos Angelopoulos as its new Group Chief Information Officer (CIO). The appointment, effective 1 September 2026, signals a significant shift for South Africa’s “green bank” as it looks to double down on digital innovation. Angelopoulos joins the financial services giant from MTN Group, where he served as Group CIO since 2018. During his tenure at the telecommunications leader, he was responsible for overseeing information technology strategy, investments, and governance across 16 markets, serving a combined customer base of more than 300 million people. A Global Technologist with…

For decades, the business model of terrestrial internet service providers was built on a simple premise: if you wanted fast, reliable internet, you needed wires. Fibre, copper, or coaxial cables were the arteries of the digital age, and the companies that laid them enjoyed something close to geographic monopolies, particularly in rural and small-town markets where the economics of infrastructure investment were marginal at best. Then the sky arrived. Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, led by SpaceX’s Starlink and soon joined by Amazon’s Project Kuiper, now branded Amazon LEO, have fundamentally altered the competitive landscape. The question was no longer…

While geopolitical turbulence has stalled many global mining projects, Kumba Iron Ore is charging decisively in the opposite direction. The company is aggressively marching ahead with its flagship R11.2 billion (approx. $631 million) Ultra-High Dense Medium Separation (UHDMS) project at the Sishen mine in South Africa—a bold technological leap designed to rewrite the economics of low-grade iron ore processing. The mission is clear: transform material once considered marginal waste into a highly profitable, premium product that commands top dollar in the global green steel market. Kumba is owned by global mining resources group Anglo American. Current Progress: Construction Firing on…

South Africa has officially welcomed its first fully integrated primary and surgical health village, as Growthpoint Healthcare Property Holdings (GHPH) completes the landmark R100 million Epione Health Village in Rosebank, Johannesburg. This flagship facility does more than just house medical practitioners, it fundamentally redefines the patient journey by bringing primary care, specialist care, day surgery, pharmacy, and diagnostics together under a single, welcoming roof. For the first time in the country, patients can move seamlessly from a GP consultation to a specialist visit, undergo a same-day surgical procedure, collect medication, and access advanced laboratory testing—all within one purpose-built, community-facing space. Co-developed…

French media group Canal+, which is also listed on the JSE, today published its results for the six months to 30 June 2026. The company owns MultiChoice, Africa’s biggest pay-TV operator that owns DStv and GOtv. With the publication of the results today, one expected to analyse the figures in detail of the performance of MultiChoice. But the company has elected to join most of the global companies that operate in South Africa by placing a technical blackout on local figures and performance. The Silencing of South African Metrics MultiChoice delisted from the JSE on 10 December 2025, and Canal+…

Vodacom Group has announced a significant reduction in its dividend policy, pivoting from generous shareholder payouts to aggressive reinvestment as the telecommunications giant embarks on an ambitious expansion phase following its landmark acquisition of Safaricom. In a trading update for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, the vVodacom board revealed it has revised the dividend policy to a payout of at least 65% of headline earnings, down from previous levels. This strategic shift signals the company’s determination to prioritize network infrastructure investment, digital and financial services scaling, and deleveraging over immediate shareholder returns. Despite the reduced payout ratio, Vodacom expects…

Standard Bank, Africa’s largest financial services institution, has officially entered the scaling phase of its artificial intelligence deployment across the continent, following a transformative partnership with Huawei that has already delivered substantial cost savings and operational improvements. Speaking at the Huawei South Africa Connect 2026 conference at the Sandton Convention Centre, Khomotso Molabe, Standard Bank’s Chief Information Officer for Personal & Private Banking and Deputy Group Chief Information Officer, detailed the bank’s progress in a presentation titled “Beyond Cloud: Building a Resilient, Intelligent and Client Centred Bank.” “Not only have we started executing part of that partnership a lot more earlier…

South Africa’s power utility, Eskom, is undergoing one of the most significant technology resets in its 104-year history. With load shedding costing an estimated R1 billion per stage per day in lost economic output, the stakes could not be higher. Speaking at the Huawei South Africa Connect 2026 event in Sandton, Eskom Group Chief Technology and Information Officer Len De Villiers laid out a bold vision for how the utility is harnessing artificial intelligence, drones and strategic partnerships to secure the nation’s energy future. AI: From Efficiency to Survival “For us, AI is not just about efficiency—it is about survival,”…

Kumba Iron Ore (SIOC) has taken a decisive step toward carbon neutrality, signing an Energy Offtake Agreement (EOA) for the Sishen Solar Photovoltaic (PV) plant. The project will supply 63MW of renewable electricity directly to the Sishen mine, with first power expected to flow in the fourth quarter of 2027. The initiative underscores Kumba’s commitment to the “Healthy Environment” strategic pillar and positions the company to significantly reduce its environmental footprint. At steady state, the new solar facility is expected to displace approximately 35% of Sishen’s current scope 2 carbon emissions, a crucial milestone in the company’s journey toward net-zero operations. Innovative Engineering…

In a decisive power play for South Africa’s connectivity future, Amazon’s satellite internet venture (formerly Project Kuiper) has sidestepped regulatory gridlock to partner with the nation’s largest ISP, firing a direct shot across the bow at a rival that remains conspicuously absent from the market. While Elon Musk’s Starlink has successfully rolled out across neighboring African nations, it continues to face a regulatory standstill with South Africa’s Independent Communications Authority (ICASA), having failed to secure the necessary operating license. Enter Amazon Leo, which is capitalising on this vacuum by securing a first-mover advantage through a strategic, localised distribution agreement with…

Every prompt typed into a generative AI chatbot, every minor correction a worker makes, and every nuanced evaluation a team runs is quickly becoming the new corporate currency and Microsoft’s top executive warns that businesses are spending it blindly. Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella has issued a stark caution to enterprises racing to adopt artificial intelligence: the monthly subscription fee is the least of your worries. The true cost, he argues, is the proprietary institutional knowledge that organisations are unknowingly handing over to model providers with every single interaction. In a recent blog post framing the dilemma as the “Reverse…

South Africa’s youth unemployment rate stands at a staggering 60.9% for those aged 15-24, with 3.9 million young people not in employment, education, or training. For first-generation students navigating a fragmented system of universities, funders, and employers  – each operating in isolation – the journey from classroom to career has become an impossible maze. TechFinancials sat down with Nozuko Mzamo, a social entrepreneur, Youthpreneur Enabler, and Youth Advocate with over 20 years of experience advancing education access and economic inclusion in South Africa. Featured in Business Day newspaper for her pioneering work in youth development, Mzamo is the Founder of…

Session Telecoms has instructed its legal team to seek a review of a ruling by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) that imposed a R6 million administrative fine together with additional sanctions. The ICASA Council adopted the recommendations of its Complaints and Compliance Committee on 18 June 2026. The Committee found that Session Telecoms had contravened two provisions of the Numbering Plan Regulations following a complaint lodged by MTN. The ruling imposed a R3-million fine for each contravention, together with the barring and withdrawal of certain numbers, mandatory monthly reporting for a period of 24 months, and ongoing…

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has handed down a hefty fine and multiple sanctions against local telecommunications company, Session Telecoms Proprietary Limited (Session), following a lengthy investigation into numbering resource abuses. The regulatory action comes after a formal complaint was lodged by Mobile Telephone Networks Proprietary Limited (MTN) against Session in April 2023. MTN alleged that Session was misusing numbering resources allocated by the Authority—specifically pointing to activities like Calling Line Identification (CLI) manipulation, call refiling, and SIM-boxing. These practices are commonly linked to interconnect bypass operations, which disrupt the normal flow of communications. Background of the…

 The South African Bookmakers Association (SABA) is calling for urgent action, not further debate about blocking illegal offshore gambling websites. This follows the recent position adopted by the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) regarding proposals by the National Gambling Board to block illegal offshore gambling websites. While SABA agrees that technical interventions must be supported by clear legislation, appropriate regulatory oversight and constitutional safeguards, it says that the debate should no longer centre on whether illegal offshore gambling can be addressed, but how quickly South Africa is prepared to act. SABA’s Comprehensive Approach to Combating Illegal Online Gambling For many…

HyperDev, a burgeoning generative AI software development platform operating across Europe and South Africa, has successfully raised more than $1 million (R16 million) in a pre-seed funding round. The investment comes from a network of venture capital investors based in Europe and the UK, signaling strong confidence in the startup’s unique approach to AI-assisted coding as it approaches a user base of 100,000. While the current market is flooded with AI coding assistants, HyperDev is carving out a distinct niche by solving the “last mile” problem of software development. Instead of merely generating code snippets, the platform’s proprietary “Guided Mode”…

South Africa’s AI Leadership in Africa: A Data-Driven Analysis South African enterprises are deploying artificial intelligence at a scale unmatched by any other African nation, according to new data from the 2026 Global Outsourcing AI Readiness Index published by Ataraxis. The comprehensive index, which ranks the world’s top 25 outsourcing destinations on AI adoption, workforce literacy, enterprise readiness, and education pipeline, positions South Africa at number 8 globally and number 1 in Africa, with an overall AI readiness score of 66.5 out of 100. The Continental Gap: South Africa vs. The Rest of Africa South Africa’s dominance in AI readiness across…

South Africa’s escalating cybersecurity crisis is inflicting a devastating blow to the national economy, with costly data breaches potentially knocking at least 1.81% off the country’s annual GDP, a series of avoidable own-goals that experts warn are entirely preventable. According to Cube ICT Solutions, a leading managed ICT services provider, the average cost of a single data breach now stands at R44.1 million in South Africa, based on the latest IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025. With a staggering 3,219 data breaches reported to the South Africa’s Information Regulator in the 2025/2026 period, the cumulative cost to the economy has reached an astonishing…

The Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) has formally cautioned the government that compelling internet service providers to block illegal offshore gambling platforms is not only technically futile and easily circumvented but also carries significant legal and constitutional risks. In a position paper published on Thursday, ISPA laid out its objections to a formal request by the National Gambling Board (NGB) , which asked the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) to implement internet blocking in an effort to curb illegal online gambling platforms targeting South African consumers. While ISPA – South Africa’s official internet Industry Representative Body (IRB) – acknowledges that there are…