Author: Gugu Lourie

London-listed telecom firm Airtel Africa announced today plans to sell $200 million or R2.9 billion stake in the mobile money business, the Airtel Mobile Commerce BV.  Qatar Holding, an affiliate of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), will invest $200 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV. AMC BV is the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations, and ultimately is intended to own and operate the mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries. Airtel Africa is exploring the listing of the mobile money business. For more read: Airtel Africa Mulls Floating The Mobile Money Business “With today’s…

JSE-listed technology group Altron has appointed Nicholas Bofilatos as Group Chief Financial Officer with effect from 29 July 2021. Bofilatos, who takes over from Cedric Miller, joined Altron in 2019 and was Finance Executive: Change Management. He has more than 15 years’ experience in finance leadership positions and was previously Group CFO at Ctrack Holdings. A Chartered Accountant by training, Bofilatos holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Pretoria as well as a Bachelor of Accounting Science (BCompt Hons) and Certificate in Theory of Accountancy from the University of South Africa. “I am delighted to take over…

“I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and make way for a new leader who will take Telkom to even greater heights,” Sipho Maseko, Telkom CEO, said on Friday. Telkom informed investors today that Maseko will leave Telkom next year. “I will stay on until June 2022 to ensure a smooth transition for my successor. I am most thankful to my colleagues across our country, for trusting me to lead Telkom, and for supporting me throughout this journey of transition.” Maseko joined Telkom eight years ago from rival Vodacom at a time when the organisation…

Sipho Maseko is stepping down as CEO of Telkom after nine years in the job. The company informed investors on Friday that Maseko will depart on 30 June 2022. “The process to appoint a successor is well underway and a designate Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) will be announced in the not too distant future. Sipho would, for the remainder of his tenure, ensure the incoming Group Chief Executive Officer designate’s orderly transition into the role,” Telkom said in a statement. Maseko joined Telkom on 1 April 2013 at a time when the organisation faced severe challenges. During his eight-year…

Vodacom today announced financial results for the first quarter ended 30 June 2021. The Vodafone-owned telco recorded a strong revenue of R24.8 billion, which was up 9%, and if the rand did not strengthen normalised growth would have been 14.2%. The rand appreciated by 20% against a basket of our international currencies, impacting reported growth. Vodacom added that its international portfolio delivered normalised service revenue growth of 13.5%, marking a meaningful recovery from the prior financial year. The company said this performance was supported by M-Pesa revenue growth, up 43.2% on a normalised basis, which benefited from the increased customer…

5G– the fifth-generation wireless network – is about astounding speeds and almost zero latency – the lag time between when your phone pings the network and when it responds. MTN South Africa continues to invest in 5G across the country and is switching on the network in various towns. The company announced today that it has switched on the network in Mpumalanga at eMalahleni (previously Witbank) and Polokwane in Limpopo. “MTN is making strides with its 5G technology rollout strategy,” says Kagiso Moncho, MTN General Manager for Northern Region. “We have already activated 5G in greater Polokwane and Witbank, and…

Pick n Pay has rebranded the Bottles app into Pick n Pay ASAP! as the retailer sees a jump in online sales spurred by a pandemic-led digital boom in South Africa. In November 2020, Pick n Pay said it purchased the application system infrastructure and the related intellectual property relating to the Bottles on-demand mobile application for a purchase price of R33 million. The company launched in 2016 as South Africa’s first alcohol on-demand delivery app and partnered with Pick n Pay in 2018.  Its offer was the first of its kind, promising that orders would be fulfilled within 60 minutes. Following the…

Woolworths reported today a 118% rise in online food sales as the retailer benefited from a pandemic-led digital boom in South Africa. “Online sales grew by 117.9% over the current year, contributing 2.3% to our South African Food sales,” the retailer informed investors today. “This was further supported by the expanded Click-and-Collect offering and the roll out of our on-demand delivery service, Woolies Dash.” The Woolworths Food business grew both market share and volumes during the period despite the high base set in the prior year driven by stockpiling ahead of the first lockdown. Sales for the current year grew…

Revix, a FinTech investment platform, is exploring ways to enable South Africans to invest in popular technology such as artificial intelligence (AI), BioTech, and 5G. The company, led and founded by Sean Sanders, aims to be the first provider in South Africa to launch various themes one can invest in. “South Africans haven’t been able to invest in some of the exciting industries like biotech, AI, and 5G technologies,” Sanders told TechFinancials in an interview today. “We want to be the first player in South Africa to essentially allow people to invest in these areas and enable them to do…

MTN has retained its position as the fastest mobile operator in South Africa, according to new research from credible network speed-testing services. The second-biggest mobile phone operator is ahead of rival Vodacom in terms of the speed available on their respective networks. The reports from Ookla reveals MTN was the fastest mobile operator among top providers in South Africa in Q2 2021 with a Speed Score of 60.44 on modern chipsets. The operator that is led by Godfrey Motsa also came up tops in the highest Consistency Score. Ookla said that in measuring the consistency of each operator’s performance, we found that MTN had the highest Consistency Score in South Africa…