Author: Gugu Lourie

Standard Bank Mobile announced today the introduction of fixed LTE starting from R139 a month for 20GB of anytime data. The operator said its fixed LTE offers Standard Bank customers a subsidised router and data. The company added that data allocations vary depending on which bank account you hold. Customers can also top up their data with recurring or once-off data bundles depending on their needs. “We are able to offer customers an opportunity to purchase devices for less, to access affordable and even in some cases, free data – simply for banking with us! Giving back value to individuals…

The Cabinet has reminded South Africans to submit their applications for the R350 COVID-19 Grant to support people who have no income. Applications for the grant opened on Friday, 6 August 2021. In a statement on Thursday, the Cabinet said it is conscious of the hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent public violence in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The Cabinet said the R350 per month grant is an important safety net for families who would otherwise be devastated by the scourge of poverty and unemployment. People between the ages of 18 and 60, who have…

Old Mutual is scouting for investment opportunities in the InsurTech industry as Africa’s oldest insurer seeks to enhance every aspect of our business through technology. Old Mutual, founded in Cape Town in 1845 and generates about 80% of its revenue in South Africa, announced today plans to expand its investments in innovation. The insurer said this would be done through a new collaboration with venture capital firm Anthemis Group. The company said through Anthemis Insurance Venture Growth Fund (AIVGF) it will deploy capital focused on series B and C companies in InsurTech. “While we have a number of investments in…

MTN Group is taking complete control of aYo, a mobile micro-insurance joint venture with SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan. The insurer is exiting the partnership. “We concluded an agreement to increase our shareholding in aYo to 100% as MMH exits the partnership,” MTN informed investors. “At the same time, we have announced a strategic alliance with Sanlam, which will help to accelerate our InsurTech growth on the continent, in line with our pan-African strategy. “ The aYo platform will form the base of the alliance with Sanlam, said the telco. The company said aYo insurance business had more than 13.6 million registered…

MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) business is riding high, adding millions of new users and attracting agents. MoMo allows users to purchase airtime, prepaid electricity, and pay for their municipal bills and DSTV subscriptions. Registered mobile money accounts in Africa grew 12% to 562 million in 2020, while monthly active accounts were 161 million, an 18% increase, according to the GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2021.08.16 The report also found that total transactions hit 27.5 billion (up 15%) valued at $495 billion or R7.3 trillion (up 23%). It has 171 active mobile money services. MTN seems to…

Phuthuma Nhleko, former CEO and executive chairman of MTN Group, has stepped down from Africa’s biggest mobile phone company’s international advisory board (IAB). “MTN wishes to advise shareholders that Phuthuma Nhleko has stepped down from the IAB, effective 6 August 2021,” the MTN statement reads. As announced at its inception, the IAB is MTN’s non-statutory body and does not have any fiduciary responsibility. “Phuthuma’ s contribution to the IAB, since 2019, has been invaluable and the board of directors of MTN wishes to extend its gratitude for his exemplary leadership and dedication to MTN and to his role as a member…

MTN Group on Thursday disclosed that its instant messaging platform, Ayoba, had reached 8 million monthly active users as of June 2021. Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator by subscribers said Ayoba has added 2.5 million new users since December 2020. MTN said the instant messaging platform has now been integrated into 18 MTN markets. “We rolled out an updated version of Ayoba, which includes music, gaming, channels and money transfer services.” In Nigeria, MTN’s biggest market and Africa’s populous market, the digital business continued to gain traction on the back of a strong partner ecosystem and the uptake of products…

MTN Group announced on Thursday it had initiated an exit of Syria, by abandoning the operation given the regulatory actions and demands that make operating in the market untenable. “We reserve our right to seek redress through international legal processes given the actions of the Syrian authorities that have left us with no other choice than to exit,” the company said in a financial results note to investors. MTN said in the first quarter Syria operation represented less than 1% of MTN Group EBITDA, before deconsolidation in February 2021. On 25 February 2021, the Administrative Court of Damascus placed MTN…

MTN GlobalConnect, a digital wholesale and infrastructure services company and an operating company in the MTN Group, is making inroads into the rest of the African markets as it clinches new fixed wholesale deals. MTN informed investors on Thursday that MTN GlobalConnect has recorded a healthy commercial and financial performance, signing new fixed wholesale deals to the value of $27.3 million or R400 million in total contract value terms during the first quarter. The company added that the unit also delivered growth in external revenue of 40.0% year-on-year to $45.5 million or R668 million (total revenue of $248 million or…

MTN SA has committed R10 million to support qualifying spaza shops in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng that were decimated in the unrest. In the days following the unrest. MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa made a public plea for big businesses to work closely with small and micro-businesses to help re-establish and support those entities that were amongst the hardest hit during the rioting and looting. MTN has completed its review of the spaza shops with which it already has existing relationships, that were impacted by the unrest. Next week, MTN will open applications for other spaza shops that may be…