Author: Gugu Lourie

MTN Group on Wednesday disclosed that its instant messaging platform, Ayoba, has reached 5.5 million monthly active users as of December 2020. To ensure Africa doesn’t miss out on the instant messaging revolution, MTN launched its instant messaging platform, Ayoba, in March 2019. Ayoba is an advanced communications application localised for African and Middle East consumer needs, under an independent Over the Top (OTT) brand with unique features for MTN customers. “We expanded our instant messaging platform Ayoba making good strides in the year, to record 5,5 million monthly active users, an addition of 3,5 million,” the company disclosed in…

The latest data released today shows that the value of MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) transactions were at $152 billion (R2.3 trillion) as of December 2020. The mobile phone operator added that it processed 12 400 MoMo transactions per minute (up 35% from 9 200 in 2019). Furthermore, the group disclosed that the number of active MTN Mobile Money users increased by 11,7 million to 46,4 million, generating a monthly ARPU of $1,2. “While COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of mobile financial services, growth in fintech revenue was moderated by reductions in transaction fees to support our customers, lockdown restrictions on agents and…

aYo, a mobile micro-insurance joint venture between MTN and SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan, is firing on all cylinders. MTN Group announced on Wednesday that aYo insurance joint venture had 11 million registered policyholders and 6 million active policies as of December 2020. The company said in total, aYo generated $6,4 million (R106 million) in service revenue and $10,5 million (R172 million) premium income. aYo provides you with a fast, convenient and easy to use insurance right on your cell phone. You enjoy hospital and life insurance cover through airtime deduction (Recharge with Care) or when you send MoMo (mobile money) to your family or…

MTN is planning to demerge its Fibre and FinTech business and to bring third party investors to unlock value trapped in the company. Ralph Mupita, MTN CEO, said Wednesday MTN plans to separate the two businesses are already underway structurally. “Further to our previous announcement regarding our intention to focus on our pan-Africa strategy, we completed a comprehensive strategy review in Q4 2020 and are excited to introduce ‘Ambition 2025’,” he said. At its core, Ambition 2025 sets the context of how we will drive the business forward to take advantage of the digital acceleration trends, capture growth opportunities and reveal…

MTNGroup announced on Wednesday that it has attracted 29 million new subscribers in 2020 and grew adjusted headline earnings per share (HEPS) by 52%. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The company also recorded a four-percentage point increase in return on equity to 17% and a more than doubling in operating cashflow to R28,3 billion. MTN Group now has more than 280 million customers as of December 2020 in 21 markets. As well as managing the risks of COVID-19, MTN Group remains alive to the opportunities presented by the pandemic, particularly the accelerated need for digitalisation evidenced in the…

Discovery Bank said that it is well-positioned for growth as it flirts with 300 000 customers in the six months to end-December 2020. The bank, which is powered by the country’s largest medical aid provider Discovery Health, said value drivers are trending in the right direction and is well-positioned for growth. The bank has 556 000 accounts held by 298 000 clients; Discovery disclosed on Tuesday in a presentation for the Domestic Medium Term Note Programme “non-deal” roadshow. The company informed investors that any forecast financial information in the presentation is unaudited and has not been reviewed or reported on by its external auditors.…

ICASA has resolved to exhaust all legal avenues in respect of the planned spectrum auction, the Chairperson of ICASA, Dr. Keabetswe Modimoeng, said on Tuesday. Yesterday, Telkom and e.tv secured an interdict against communications regulator ICASA, preventing the spectrum auction planned for later this month from taking place until the merits of their case can be heard by the high court. The auction was scheduled to take place by no later than 31 March 2021 — this will now not happen. “We have never been so close to licensing high demand spectrum. We were literally three (3) weeks away from…

Iconic beauty products firm Avon plans to leverage the vast appetite for mobile services in Africa to grow women entrepreneurs. Angela Cretu, Avon CEO told TechFinancials, that the emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East have immense potential. “The younger population, coupled with the growing disposable incomes from the increasing middle class, make for a very compelling case for expansion and investment,” says Cretu. “Africa and the Middle East have a young tech-savvy population that is open to using digital services. “We’re seeing a huge uptake of digital services in Africa and we plan to leverage the…

Thabo Mokgatlha has been appointed as the new chairman of YeboYethu, the black economic empowerment (BEE) scheme of Vodacom. BEE is designed to widen the South African economy’s ownership, mainly in white hands 26 years after apartheid. Mokgatlha will replace Zarina Bassa, who will step down with effect from the next annual general meeting, scheduled for 27 July. He is the CEO of Baphalane Ba Mantserre Investment Holdings and serves as a non-executive director on various other boards. Baphalane Ba Mantserre Investment Holdings is the investment holding arm of the Baphalane Ba Mantserre Community Trust. The Baphalane Ba Mantserre Community is a…

Square, the digital payment company, run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, has bought Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter’s streaming platform Tidal. As part of the transaction, Jay-Z will move to Square’s board of directors. Square is paying $297 million (R4,5 billion) in cash and stock for a “significant majority ownership stake”, and existing artist shareholders will be the remaining stakeholders. Tidal will operate independently alongside Square’s other ventures. Jay-z bought Tidal for $56 million (R852 million) in 2015 and announced plans to turn it into the first artist-owned streaming service, following a star-studded launch featuring Madonna, Daft Punk, Kanye West and more.…