Author: Gugu Lourie

More and more people in Ghana and Uganda are adopting the services of aYo, a mobile micro-insurance joint venture between MTN and SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan. Its products, which are designed for the lower-income segment of mobile phone users, focus on digitally enabled, high volume, low-value transactions offering flexible payment and cover options “While aYo clients enrolments increased by a pleasing 233% to 4.0 million year-on-year, it has yet to achieve sufficient scale to fund the overhead costs,” said Momentum Metropolitan in its latest integrated annual report. The JSE-listed insurer said the rollout of aYo to additional markets should…

JSE-listed technology firm Altron said on Friday it has placed executives at one of its subsidiaries on precautionary suspension following an investigation that has revealed potential internal irregularities. The three executives work for Altron Nexus. Altron Nexus provides a variety of converged telecommunication services ranging from the distribution of professional two-way radio products and systems across sub-Saharan Africa through Alcom Radio Distributors, operating the largest trunked radio network in South Africa through Fleetcall and providing end-to-end ICT system integration services through Alcom Matomo. The executives were suspended after an investigation that has revealed potential internal irregularities. The investigation came after Altron received…

Digitisation and automation could result in a net gain of up to 1.2 million jobs in South Africa by 2030, a new report reveals. The Future of Work in South Africa: Digitisation, productivity and job creation report from McKinsey & Company states that technology-related gains could triple South Africa’s productivity growth, more than double growth in per capita income, and add more than a percentage point to its real GDP growth rate over the next decade. South Africa is poised for notable change. The advance of technology – including machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced robotics – is rapid and…

First National Bank (FNB) customers sent more than R26 billion worth of eWallet funds in the year to end-June 2019. This was derived from eWallet transactions processed in the year and was a 25% year-on-year rise in the value of funds compared to R21 billion in 2018. eWallet allows FNB customers to send money to anyone with a valid SA cell number. The money is transferred instantly and can be used to buy prepaid airtime, send money to another cellphone and more. The money can be withdrawn from an FNB ATM or select retail stores. eWallet was introduced in 2009.…

MIC Investment Holdings (MIC) has disposed of its empowerment shareholding in Westcon Southern Africa (Westcon SA). MIC is an investment company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mineworkers Investment Company. The Mineworker’s Investment Company is a 100% black-owned broad-based investment holding company that was established by the Mineworkers Investment Trust (MIT) to provide ongoing funding for the Trust’s social and educational projects. MIC has sold off its 40% stake to Ascension Capital Partners, a private equity investor. “I am delighted to welcome Ascension as our new BEE partner in Westcon SA and thank the MIC for its valued contributions during its nine…

Cell C, South Africa’s troubled mobile phone operator that is half-owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, is being run by an illegal board of directors, Cell C’s empowerment partner alleges. Claims are that 3C, the holding company of Cell C, has since last year been ‘fraudulently’ constituted. Cell C was founded in November 2001 and 3C Telecommunications owned 100% of the mobile phone operator. When Cell C was finally recapitalised in 2017 by Blue Label Telecoms, which ended up owning 45%, JSE and Nasdaq-listed Net1 UEPS Technologies took 15%, 3C Telecommunications reduced its 100% stake to 30%, and Cell C…

Black investors in Phuthuma Nathi, the broad-based black economic empowerment arm of pay-TV operator MultiChoice, will share more than R1.5 billion in dividends. MultiChoice South Africa (MCSA) today declared a dividend to Phuthuma Nathi (PN) shareholders of R1.5 billion, an increase of 13.6% from 2018. The company said the additional 5% share allocation given to PN, as part of MultiChoice Group’s (MCG) listing on the JSE, contributed to the increase in dividend declared to PN shareholders. PN is one of the most successful Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) schemes in South Africa. PN owns a 25% stake in MCSA, the…

This September, the Frankfurt Motor Show will provide the backdrop for the world premiere of the third-generation BMW X6. At the event, BMW will also present a spectacular one-off vehicle with a Vantablack VBx2 nanostructure paint finish that highlights the expressive design language and confident, dominant and muscular appearance of the new BMW X6 to perfection. The BMW X6 is the first and only vehicle in the world to feature a Vantablack VBx2 paint finish. “We turned down numerous requests from various automobile manufacturers in the past,” explains Ben Jensen, founder and Chief Technical Officer of Surrey NanoSystems. “It took…

Mbelieves the state should leverage private-sector expertise in the broadband roll-out, rather than relying exclusively on state-owned companies (SOCs). This was contained in the economic policy paper titled Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth and Competitiveness: Towards an Economic Strategy for South Africa published on National Treasury’s website on Tuesday evening. The economic policy paper outlines bold vision by the South African national treasury calling South African Government to implement a series of growth reforms that promote economic transformation, support labour-intensive growth, and create a globally competitive economy. The plan is aimed at dealing with the country’s moribund GDP growth rate and tackle…

Standard Bank has invested $4 million (R61 million) in South Africa’s FinTech firm Nomanini. The investment has enabled the local bank to have an undisclosed stake in the Cape Town-based FinTech company. The deal will also enable Standard Bank to use Nomanini’s platform to unearth previously ‘invisible’ data on the informal retail economy. Nomanini connects merchants and distributors to each other and global service providers, integrating payments, working capital, and data analytics to unlock the latent potential of Africa’s economy. It turns any mobile device into a retail point-of-sale solution for informal merchants that is connected to an interoperable merchant…