Author: Gugu Lourie

YeboYethU, the broad-based black economic empowerment arm of Vodacom, says it is trying to find thousands of elusive shareholders who are yet to claim millions of rand in dividend payouts.   Last August, YeboYethu announced it was looking for thousands of shareholders owed close to R74 million.   “As things stand, 11 515 shareholders have not claimed dividends with a total value of R66 178 220.60,” a Vodacom official told TechFinancials.   The revelation that just over R66 million was yet to be claimed suggests that YeboYethu has only paid out R8 million to investors.   Some of the reasons…

Paxos, a blockchain infrastructure company, has raised $300 million (R4,3 billion) from previous investors Declaration Partners, PayPal Ventures, Mithril Capital, Senator Investment Group, Liberty City Ventures, WestCap and more. To date, Paxos has raised more than $500 million (R7,2 billion) in funding and with a valuation of $2.4 billion (R29 billion). Paxos is one of the fastest-growing fintech startups in the world and its technology powers crypto brokerage services of PayPal and PayPal-owned Venmo. Venmo enables millions of users to buy, hold and sell bitcoin and a handful of other major cryptocurrencies. “Demand for our enterprise solutions has accelerated much faster than we could have…

In February, MultiChoice SA – the pay-TV operator invited 22 000 Phuthuma Nathi shareholders, who did not receive dividends between 2006 and 2020, to claim their payouts. However, few shareholders have responded to the call to claim their money. Collen Dlamini, Corporate Affairs Executive Head for MultiChoice SA, told TechFinancials that only about 3 000 shareholders have claimed their money so far. This implies that close to 19 000 other Phuthuma Nathi investors have not claimed their money. Dlamini said MultiChoice SA must still payout R173 million of unclaimed dividends for Phuthuma Nathi. The Randburg-based company has also used social media to inform Phuthuma…

Blockchain developer platform Alchemy announced today it has raised $80 million (R1,1 billion) from Coatue and Addition, valuing the company at ½ billion dollars (R7,2 billion). The company’s platform powers over $30 billion (R428 billion) in transactions for tens of millions of users in 99% of countries worldwide. The blockchain company is fast becoming the blockchain world’s version of Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully-featured services from data centres globally. Alchemy’s developer platform powers the blockchain industry by providing developers with the tools they need to create mainstream blockchain applications.…

South Africa is among the top countries with the highest perceived risk of job automation, with 53% of respondents saying that the risk of having their job automated has increased over the last year, says Rudi van Blerk, Principal and Recruiting Director at Boston Consulting Group, Johannesburg. He added that this is more than the global average of 41% of respondents fearing job automation. “Additionally, 31% of workers in the digitisation and automation fields have a significantly lower perceived risk of automation in South Africa than 46% globally.” As a result, South Africans are more willing to retrain for new…

The FinTech business of retailer Pepkor, previously Steinhoff Africa Retail, continues to report strong growth. Pepkor informed investors today that its FinTech business increased revenue by 3.1% to R4.5 billion for the six months ended 31 March 2021. The company operates its FinTech division through FLASH and Capfin. Pepkor said revenue growth momentum in the FLASH business continued at double-digits as it invests in new products, channels and geographies. The FLASH business has enabled people in townships and rural areas to start their own businesses using FLASH Business devices while existing shop owners are able to increase their business by…

Woven Planet Holdings, the subsidiary of Toyota, is buying  Level 5, an autonomous vehicle division of Lyft, for $550 million (R7, 8 billion). Lyft is one of the largest ride-hailing companies in the world. This marks the first major deal for the newly established Woven Planet. The deal will bring together world-class scientists and software engineers from Level 5, Woven Planet, and researchers from Toyota Research Institute (TRI), already working together with Woven Planet. The resulting combined “dream team” of approximately 1,200 will represent one of the most diverse, well-resourced and talented groups in this field. “This acquisition advances our…

When Andile Ngcaba – a South African tech entrepreneur and founder of Convergence Partners – moved to Silicon Valley in California, United States, few people paid attention. He set up his office in Mountain View, the suburb, where big tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn are headquartered. Ngcaba was daring enough to swim with the sharks of the tech industry. “If you swim with sharks, make sure you have the appetite of a whale,” to quote Matshona Dhliwayo, a Canadian-based philosopher and entrepreneur. Speaking to TechFinancials, Ngcaba confirms he has “been part of the Silicon Valley community for…

Eventhose with little interest in private equity space have likely heard of Convergence Partners, owned by ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba. The Rosebank-based company is a pan-African ICT–focused private equity player, delivering enhanced investment returns while underpinning Continental development. Convergence Partners has a proven record of accomplishment of developing new investment opportunities and actively adding value to investments across the lifecycle of ICT assets. Private equity firms play an essential role in the economy: They can help small enterprises grow and, in turn, generate returns for investors. Brandon Doyle, a co-founder of Convergence Partners, who serves as CEO, told TechFinancials…

MTN’s black economic empowerment scheme, MTN Zakhele Futhi, gets R75 million bailout to avert a cashflow crisis. The liquidity of MTN Zakhele Futhi has been impacted by MTN’s decision not to declare a dividend in its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2020. The scheme is a ring-fenced special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating investment by previously disadvantaged South Africans in MTN Group (MTN). MTN had suspended its final dividend as it focuses on faster debt reduction at its holding company even after posting a surge in 2020 earnings. Furthermore, on 10 March 2021. MTN announced that as a result of…