Author: Gugu Lourie

Facebook is taking a giant leap on how it works with the media industry as it launches its first Facebook News in the UK. This is Facebook’s first market outside of the U.S. for its dedicated, curated news portal. The portal will launch with a number of new partners, including Channel 4 News, Daily Mail Group, DC Thomson, Financial Times, Sky News and Telegraph Media Group. These are in addition to outlets already announced including The Economist, The Guardian, The Independent, STV and hundreds of local news sites from Archant, Iliffe, JPI Media, Midlands News Association and Reach as well as…

A 44-year-old former IT manager for mobile network service provider Cell C was arrested by the Hawks in connection with an alleged tender scam amounting to R64 million Mohamed Ismail Adamjee appeared in the Palm Ridge Commercial Crimes Court on Friday facing charges of fraud and corruption. The case was postponed to January 26 for a bail application. More arrests are expected. The National Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya commended the team for the arrest and looks forward to seeing all those involved have their day in court. “The suspect was an Information…

South African retailer Mr Price uses cellular handsets and accessories to drive footfall traffic into its stores and online platforms. Driving in-store traffic is the daily mission for every brick-and-mortar retail business. Catching the customer’s eyes and attracting them to a store and the cash register has always been a challenge for retailers. However, Mr Price’s footfall tactic of positioning cellular handsets and accessories as a strategic offering is paying off for the retailer. On Friday, the JSE-listed retailer reported a 5.8% rise in total retail sales for the 13 weeks ended 26 December 2020 and attributed this growth to cellular…

Ovex, a Cape Town-based cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Wednesday a strategic investment from quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research, developer of the 5th largest crypto derivatives exchange in the world by trading volume, FTX. Founded in February of 2019, Ovex is a South African cryptocurrency exchange platform, specializing in OTC trading and arbitrage, offering South Africa’s largest selection of digital asset markets. The company is dedicated to improving the efficiency of the crypto market in South Africa and improving financial market inclusivity. Ovex has partnered with several leading cryptocurrency companies and firms, including Invictus Capital, Hyperion, and TrueUSD. With $270…

The SABC has called for an inquiry to determine licence conditions and tariff structure for digital sound broadcasting (DSB) services. “The Authority must conduct an inquiry to determine the licence conditions, obligations, and tariff structure for signal distribution including the regulatory regime for multi-channel distribution services and convergence,” the public broadcaster said in a submission to ICASA. The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) will be holding (virtual) public hearings on the draft DSB Regulations, 2020 on 20 and 21 January 2021. On 13 November 2020, the Authority published a Draft DSB Regulations 1, and the deadline for written…

In a submission to the country’s communications watchdog ICASA, broadcaster Primedia has recommended that the regulator ensures final Digital Sound Broadcasting (DSB) regulations make no mention of the switch-off of analogue sound broadcasting services. The Independent Communications Authority (ICASA) will be holding (virtual) public hearings on the draft DSB Regulations, 2020 on 20 and 21 January 2021. On 13 November 2020, the Authority published a Draft DSB Regulations 1, and the deadline for written representations thereon was 29 December 2020, which was subsequently extended by notice to 8 January 2021. By the closing date, ICASA had received fifteen written submissions…

Naspers announced on Wednesday a R250 million ($17 million) investment in AgriTech business Aerobotics. The Series B round that was oversubscribed was led by Naspers, one of the world’s most powerful and lowest-flying investment firms, with significant participation from Platform Investment Partners, FMO: Entrepreneurial Development Bank and Cathay AfricInvest Innovation. Last May, Naspers invested a R100 million investment in Aerobotics, through its earlystage business funding initiative Naspers Foundry. Aerobotics is a subscription-based artificial intelligence (AI) company that provides intelligent tools for the agricultural industry to manage its crops. Aerobotics, founded by James Paterson and Benji Meltzer in 2014, is a…

Microsoft has invested in Cruise, General Motors (GM) driverless car unit, pushing the company’s valuation to $30 billion (R447 billion). The global tech company has invested R29 billion ($2 billion) in funding in cruise. Cruise was bought by GM in 2006 for $1 billion (R14.9 billion). Founded and headquartered in San Francisco, Cruise’s goal is to drive change by building the world’s most advanced self-driving, all-electric, shared vehicles that safely connect people to the places, things, and experiences they care about. Cruise and General Motors on Tuesday announced they have entered a long-term strategic relationship with Microsoft to accelerate the…

The South African financial regulator, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) supports the liquidators of Mirror Trading International (MTI) to recoup money paid to investors. MTI is a bitcoin Ponzi scheme started in South Africa. The FSCA has finalised its investigation into Mirror Trading International (Pty) Ltd (MTI) and will share its report with the liquidators appointed by the Master of the High Court. The appointed liquidators are Mr. AW van Rooyen (Investrust Insolvency Practitioners), Mr. H Bester (Tygerberg Trustees), Mrs. J Barnard and Mrs. D Basson (Tshwane Trust Co). The FSCA said in a statement that it understands that…

DeHaat, an Indian online platform technology-based platform offering end-to-end agricultural services to farmers, has raised $30 million (R453 million) in a new financing round to help the business scale up in both size and scope. The funding round has been led by Prosus, which is owned by South Africa’s Naspers. RTP Global co-invested in the round with participation from existing investors, Sequoia India, FMO, Omnivore & AgFunder. DeHaat, which is Hindi for village, aim to aggregate 10 million Indian farmers while helping them to also increase their profitability. The platform integrates a digital marketplace with a rural network of last-mile…