Author: Gugu Lourie
Vodacom announced today that its Super App, VodaPay, has added 300 000 new users in the quarter ended 30 June 2022. The VodaPay super app is available for download from Apple and Android app stores. VodaPay delivers a digital shopping, lifestyle and financial platform for consumers and businesses. “The rapid adoption rate of our VodaPay super-app in South Africa remains encouraging with 2.8 million downloads and 1.9 million registered users by quarter end,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO. “Given VodaPay is a precursor to M-Pesa’s evolution and further strengthens our fintech position across our footprint, we remain confident about the…
The Council of the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) today announced the appointment of Dr Charley Lewis as the Acting Chairperson. His appointment is effective from 16 July 2022 to 03 April 2023, or until a Chairperson is appointed. The appointment of Lewis comes as ICASA bids farewell to its outgoing Chairperson, Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng, whose last day in office is today. The appointment of the Acting Chairperson is informed by the provisions of section 5(2) of the ICASA Act which provides that “in the absence of the Chairperson, the remaining Councillors must, from their number, elect an…
South Africa’s MTN announced today that it is in early talks to buy Telkom, the partially state-owned fixed-line telephone operator. Africa’s largest mobile phone operator said in a statement it had entered into discussions to buy the entire issued share capital of Telkom in return for shares or a combination of cash and shares in MTN. “Discussions are at an early stage and there is no certainty that the Transaction will be consummated,” stated MTN. “The board of directors of MTN (Board), individually and collectively, accept full responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this announcement and certify…
Today, InterNations publishes its Expat Insider 2022 survey, one of the world’s most comprehensive surveys about living and working abroad with nearly 12,000 survey respondents. Overall, the survey report analyzes 52 destinations around the globe, ranking the best and worst countries for expats and offering in-depth information on expats’ satisfaction with the Quality of Life, Ease of Settling In, Working Abroad, and Personal Finance in their respective country of residence. For the first time, the ranking also includes the new Expat Essentials Index, which covers digital life, admin topics, housing, and language Safety & Security Are Main Concerns for Expats…
Bdeo, a provider of Visual Intelligence solutions for the insurance industry, announced that it has expanded its relationship with Hollard and officially launched in the South African market. The two companies entered into a strategic collaboration to help streamline Hollard’s entire end-to-end motor claims assessment and damage repair process. Bdeo’s Visual FNOL technology allows Hollard policyholders to gather evidence of motor insurance claims through a self-guided image and video capture solution and deliver the information to Hollard Assessors in real-time to perform remote assessments. Bdeo’s Visual Estimate technology also estimates damage costs, enabling Hollard Assessors to generate assessment reports and…
MTN South Africa Chief Consumer Officer Mapula Bodibe takes the helm at MTN Rwanda, bringing with her more than 15 years’ experience with MTN, including in Uganda. She has a strong background in commercial strategy, consumer marketing, customer strategy, brand management and communications, product management and customer analytics. Sylvia Mulinge becomes MTN Uganda CEO, joining from Safaricom, where she served as Chief Consumer Business Officer for the Group. A seasoned executive, she brings with her a passion for transforming customers’ lives using technology. Mulinge replaces Wim Vanhelleputte, who will take on the new MTN Group role of Operations Executive: Markets.…
As load shedding escalates across the country, MTN South Africa is working around the clock to protect customers’ connectivity, with an aggressive rollout of batteries, generators and alternate power supplies. MTN is also reaching out to small businesses to supply generators for its operations. Charles Molapisi, MTN SA CEO, says MTN’s priority is keeping its customers connected and to this end, the company is exploring practical and innovative solutions to the power crisis. “There is no doubt the country is facing a power crisis but at MTN, we want to turn this crisis into an opportunity for small businesses by…
Today, Prosus and Naspers announced the start of an open-ended share repurchase programme of Prosus and Naspers shares. This programme will be funded by regularly selling small numbers of Tencent shares and is designed to efficiently unlock immediate value for shareholders and increase NAV per share over time. The programme will be active as long as the discount to NAV is at elevated levels. Prosus, the Dutch-based technology investor controlled by South Africa’s Naspers, said the programme is designed to increase net asset value per share, taking advantage of both Prosus’s and Naspers’s trading discounts to their underlying net asset…
Takealot, the country’s largest e-commerce platform, reported today a trading loss of $7 million or R111 million, or a 1% trading loss margin, for the year to end-March 2022 similar to the 2021 financial year. The Naspers-owned retailer said it remained near breakeven. Despite increased competitive pressure from bricks-and-mortar retailers, Superbalist, one of South Africa’s leading online fashion destinations, delivered strong revenue growth of 55% and improved its trading loss margin by almost 2 percentage points to 7% during the year. Mr D benefited from increasing awareness of online food delivery, a slower recovery of the restaurant market, and shifting…
South Africa’s internet behemoth Naspers announced today it has sold close to $4 billion or R63 billion worth of stock in JD.com that it received as dividends from investee Tencent. Tencent is China’s largest social media company. Naspers said its subsidiary Prosus, though its unit MIH TC Holdings sold 131.8 million shares in JD it got from Tencent, representing 4% shareholding in the Chinese retailer. JD.com is a leading supply chain-based technology and service provider. Its e-commerce business includes online retail and online marketplace. In the online retail business, JD.com acquires products from suppliers and sells them directly to customers…