Author: Gugu Lourie

An ENSafrica report has revealed evidence of a number of governance failings and wrongdoing at EOH. Following submission of a forensic report and its recommendations to the board of directors of EOH, the company said its board has assessed the findings of the ENSafrica report and has prepared an interim update on the forensic investigation The report by the law firm unearthed wrongdoings including unsubstantiated payments, tender irregularities and other unethical business practices. The wrongdoings are primarily limited to the public sector business centralised in EOH Mthombo and to a limited number of EOH employees, the company said. Suspicious transactions…

We are entering a digital, intelligent, and fully connected era where everything will be sensing, connected, and intelligent. As part of its plans to respond to this technological revolution, Huawei wants to make digital services more affordable and equally accessible to all. “Huawei has been creating value for its customers through innovation. We are doing everything we can to bridge the digital divide and meet the world’s needs for connectivity,” Liang Hua, Chairman of Huawei, said. “We want to make digital services more affordable and equally accessible to all, and to do our part in contributing to social and economic…

VC4A is looking for 10 innovative, high-growth scale-ups to showcase at Africa Early Stage Investor Summit on Nov 13-14 in Cape Town. Are you operating in Africa, generating revenue and looking to raise your Series A round in the range of $250 00 and $5 million (R69.6 million)? VC4A is looking for you. The applications are closing on 31 July. The initiative is called ‘VC4A Venture Showcase – Serie A’. This is an exclusive opportunity to introduce your company at once to everyone who’s anyone in Africa’s early-stage investment space. In 2017-2018, VC4A showcased 30 scale-ups from across the continent as…

JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms has moved to reassure investors about the concerns about Cell’s prospects. Blue Label Telecoms, the biggest shareholder in Cell C, said that no material concerns or issues have been uncovered as a result of Cell C’s new management conducting a deep dive into the business practices of Cell C in a drive for efficiencies. “This is an on-going process and shareholders will be updated as progress is made.” On Wednesday, it emerged that Cell C’s management has finally accepted (publicly) that the company faces financial and other challenges. The struggling mobile phone operator is planning to implement…

The shares of JSE-listed technology group Blue Label Telecoms fell by as much as 15% in early trade on Thursday, as concerns around the latest development in the mobile phone operator Cell C battered sentiment. By 1136 am, Blue Label Telecoms was down 10.3% at R3.50 pushing the company’s market cap to R3.5 billion. The company’s shares have dropped 27% year-to-date and fell 17% in the past 30 days. Blue Label Telecoms owns 15% in Cell C, which has been a drag on its share performance. On Wednesday, it emerged that Cell C’s management has finally accepted (publicly) that the…

JSE-listed pay-TV group Multichoice has appointed Jabu Mabuza and Dr Fatai Adegboyega Sanusi as independent non-executive directors. Their appointment is effective from 5 July. Mabuza was recently appointed as the chairman to the board of Sun International. He was previously the Group CEO and later the Deputy Chairman of Tsogo Sun. He recently retired as chairman of Telkom SA and as president of Business Unity South Africa. Mabuza currently serves as the chairman of various companies including Anheuser – Busch InBev / SAB Miller – Africa, the Casino Association of South Africa and Eskom. Outside South Africa, Jabu has served…

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says the government would find a solution to the prolonged e-tolling impasse. Mbalula was addressing the 38th annual Southern African Transport Conference (SATC) in Pretoria. His utterances followed the spat on social media between Gauteng Infrastructure Development and Property Management MEC Tasneem Motara, Premier David Makhura and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni regarding the controversial e-tolls. “The President has established a task team, led by myself, about the options on the table. A report will be tabled before him and from there will be given to the Cabinet,” he explained. “We know that there are robust views…

JSE-listed technology group Datatec has acquired Mars Technologies for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition was facilitated via Logicalis SA, a subsidiary of Datatec. Mars Technologies, an IT services business, has offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth, Durban and East London employing 76 staff. It delivers Managed IT services ranging from the remote monitoring of networks and servers, managed desktop, anti-virus, cloud backup, and printers, to full outsourcing, targeting small and mid-market enterprises. Software solutions and application development complement the services offering. With the acquisition, the Logicalis South African operation strengthens and expands its managed services business in IP telephony,…

PayU, Naspers’ global FinTech company, is expanding into Southeast Asia after it announced a deal to buy a majority stake in Singapore-based Red Dot Payment. PayU has acquired a majority stake in Red Dot Payment in a transaction valuing the company at $65 million (R million). The founder will continue to retain a stake in the company, while the majority of other shareholders will exit. Evolve Capital Asia acted as the exclusive financial adviser to the Founder and selling shareholders. According to one Google-Temasek study, Southeast Asia is one of the fastest growing digital payments markets in the world and is expected…

Naspers has appointed Phuthi Mahanyele-Dabengwa to the global Naspers management team as CEO, South Africa. Mahanyele-Dabengwa to report to Bob van Dijk, Group CEO of Naspers. She will be based in Johannesburg to lead the group’s day-to-day business in South Africa and represent its interests in country. Mahanyele-Dabengwa will also be responsible for Naspers’ recently announced units, Naspers Foundry and Naspers Labs, which are designed to help stimulate the South African tech sector and tackle youth unemployment, respectively. Naspers is one of the foremost investors in the South African technology sector and is committed to building its existing internet and…

A South African cyclist has been cycling from London to Istanbul to raise awareness and funds for autistic and neurodiverse children in South Africa. Grant Cameron-Smith, a South African, has been cycling from London since 18 March 2018. Yesterday, he arrived in Istanbul, Taksim square at 11 am. He is known as the ‘CrazyBikeGuy’ and this is no surprise as he took on his arduous 8,800+ km unsupported, solitary charity mountain-bike ride from London to Istanbul that he started in March 2019. This solo journey has never been done by any cyclist to raise funds and awareness for autism. The…

South African healthcare company Netcare And Founders Factory Africa (FFA) have joined forces to design, build and scale over 35 healthcare startups across Africa. FFA, the Johannesburg-headquartered, corporate-backed tech accelerator and incubator, and Netcare, will provide a platform for entrepreneurs to build and scale health-tech startups across Africa. The partnership includes an investment of an undisclosed amount by Netcare in FFA. Entrepreneurs can apply for the Founders Factory accelerator programme to build a new concept from scratch. A full-time team of over 40 digital and technical experts across Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos and London will build and grow the startups across Africa.…

South Africa’s Naspers is likely shopping around for ideal investment opportunities now that the Cape Town-based group has filled up its coffers. The internet technology investor announced on Friday that strong balance sheet with net cash of $6.3 billion (R90 billion) positions it well to pursue growth. “We executed well during the past financial year, growing revenue 29% to US$19.0bn, and trading profit 22% to US$3.3bn. With a continued focus on accelerating growth in our core segments, the Classifieds and core payments service provider businesses are now profitable. Trading-loss margins in etail and the rest of the payments and fintech…

Naspers today announced it has delayed the listing of its international internet assets on Euronext Amsterdam and secondary, inward listing on Johannesburg Stock Exchange until September. The company attributed the delay to an administrative error by an external service provider. The error has resulted in certain of the copies of the circular delivered to shareholders being incorrectly labelled, said the firm. Naspers is planning to spin off assets including a $134 billion stake in Tencent Holdings Ltd. on the Euronext exchange. The Johannesburg-based company said the service provider concerned has advised that the error occurred in pairing the names and…

ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba’s company Synergy Communications has snapped up operations of Vodacom Business in Nigeria, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire. Synergy Communications, a subsidiary of the Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund, will acquire 100% of Vodacom Business Africa’s operations in these markets. Convergence Partners, which is owned by Ngcaba, is an investment management firm focused on the TMT sector in Africa. Synergy Communications’ flagship investments included Internet Solutions Mozambique, Skyband Malawi and, most recently, Virtual Business Network Services in Botswana. The two entities are in the process of concluding the acquisitions, which are subject to the approval of the…

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) will soon be conducting an inquiry into Must-Carry TV Regulations. The communications regulator said the aim of the inquiry is to reach a comprehensive and accurate conclusion on the effectiveness of these regulations and consequently decide whether the current Regulations require an amendment. In 2008, ICASA introduced “must carry” regulations, compelling pay-TV companies to carry the SABC’s free-to-air channels — SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 — in support of universal access. The regulations allow MultiChoice and other pay-TV operators to carry the SABC’s three public-service TV channels at no cost. The public broadcaster,…

SA Taxi, a vertically integrated minibus taxi platform, has revealed that KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are on on the radar for future expansion to provide complimentary business services to the minibus taxi industry. This move is part of the company’s strategy to extend products and services to new verticals, unlocking value in the industry. “We are planning next year to set up the same operation you see here [a mechanical workshop, an auto parts centre, a panel shop, a dealership, and finance and insurance operations] in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, Moroba Maduma, an executive at SA Taxi, told…

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new factor of production and has the potential to introduce new sources of growth, changing how work is done and reinforcing the role of people to drive growth in business. IBM has recognised 40 Women Business Pioneers in AI  from across the world at its Inaugural AI Women Leadership Event hosted in New York at the IBM Watson Experience Centre. The list recognizes and celebrates women across a variety of industries and geographies for pioneering the use of AI to advance their companies in areas such as innovation, growth, and transformation. Out of the 40…

The case of Cell C versus its empowerment partner CellSaf has become a David and Goliath battle. CellSaf, a small lightweight empowerment partner, is battling against a heavyweight opponent backed by three conglomerates – Cell C, JSE-listed tech firm Blue Label Telecoms, and JSE and Nasdaq-listed Net 1 UEPS Technologies (Net 1). The background to this battle is rooted in 2001 when Cell C launched, and CellSaf was celebrated as a victory for empowerment owning a 40% of the mobile phone operator (which has since shrunk to 7.5% with no benefits to the shareholders). For CellSaf, however, since then, it…

Broadband Infraco announced on Friday that the South African Government is looking to assign it as the entity that assists in the development of the ‘fibre super highway’ in Southern Africa. The state-owned entity said the SADC super highway, which is a fibre super highway, is created through the joint investment of SADC countries. “The ultimate outcome of this initiative is that at least at an infrastructure level, we can ensure that the reach of optical fibre, which is what you need for backhauling high volumes of data, reaches South Africa, but also large parts of our neighbouring countries,” said…

The country’s competition watchdog still needs more time to investigate further before it decides whether to declare the recapitalisation of Cell C as a large merger conducted by both Blue Label Telecoms and Net 1 UEPS Technologies (Net 1). In 2017, JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms and Nasdaq-listed Net 1 completed its recapitalisation of Cell C. After that in December 2017, Cell C’s empowerment partner CellSaf submitted a complaint to the Competition Commission accusing Blue Label Telecoms and Net1 of trying to hijack and secure dominant (75%+) control of Cell C. The deal amounts to a blatant attempt at corporate capture,…

South Africa’s Vodacom, MTN and BCX – a unit of JSE-listed Telkom – have expressed interest to buy the City of Jo’burg (CoJ) failed broadband network assets, according to sources. The network – which consists of a total of 900km of fibre, covering large parts of Johannesburg, including Orange Farm, Diepsloot, Alexandra and Soweto – is currently housed in the Metropolitan Trading Company (MTC). The City wants to sell the broadband network assets to a winning bidder for between R853 million and R1 billion. The service provider will sign a 12-year contract to own the asset, maintain and upgrade it and commercialise the…

The City of Jo’burg (CoJ) is to sell its failed broadband network assets to a winning bidder for between R853 million and R1 billion. The network – which consists of a total of 900km of fibre, covering large parts of Johannesburg, including Orange Farm, Diepsloot, Alexandra and Soweto – is currently housed in the Metropolitan Trading Company (MTC). MTC is CoJ owned entity established in 1999 with no expertise of running the broadband network. Recently, MTC issued a request for bids for a single buyer who will also serve as a service provider to sell the network assets to the…

Aerobotics, South Africa-based agritech startup, is eyeing growth opportunities in Europe as the company seeks to deploy its innovative artificial intelligence solutions to help farmers look at their farms in a smart way using drones and data analytics. While our operations headquarters is based in Cape Town, South Africa, a few months ago, we set up our commercial headquarters in Los Angeles, USA,” Tim Willis is Aerobotics’ COO, told TechFinancials. To date, Aerobotics have 10 000 hectares of paying clients in the USA, said Willis. When asked whether the startup was planning to expand into Europe, Willis said: “In terms…

American Tower has acquired African masts business Eaton Towers for an enterprise value of $1.85bn (R27 billion) to give the New York-listed firm a bigger footprint in the fast-growing African market. The deal includes the assumption of existing Eaton Towers debt. Eaton Towers owns and operates about 5,500 communications sites across five African markets [Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Burkina Faso and Niger]. Eaton Towers was co-founded in 2009 by current CEO, Terry Rhodes. Alongside the majority shareholder, Capital International, investors include Development Partners International, Ethos and Standard Chartered. The assets are expected to generate approximately $260 million in property revenue and approximately $165 million in…