Author: Gugu Lourie

South African healthcare company Netcare And Founders Factory Africa (FFA) have joined forces to design, build and scale over 35 healthcare startups across Africa. FFA, the Johannesburg-headquartered, corporate-backed tech accelerator and incubator, and Netcare, will provide a platform for entrepreneurs to build and scale health-tech startups across Africa. The partnership includes an investment of an undisclosed amount by Netcare in FFA. Entrepreneurs can apply for the Founders Factory accelerator programme to build a new concept from scratch. A full-time team of over 40 digital and technical experts across Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos and London will build and grow the startups across Africa.…

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South Africa’s Naspers is likely shopping around for ideal investment opportunities now that the Cape Town-based group has filled up its coffers. The internet technology investor announced on Friday that strong balance sheet with net cash of $6.3 billion (R90 billion) positions it well to pursue growth. “We executed well during the past financial year, growing revenue 29% to US$19.0bn, and trading profit 22% to US$3.3bn. With a continued focus on accelerating growth in our core segments, the Classifieds and core payments service provider businesses are now profitable. Trading-loss margins in etail and the rest of the payments and fintech…

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Naspers today announced it has delayed the listing of its international internet assets on Euronext Amsterdam and secondary, inward listing on Johannesburg Stock Exchange until September. The company attributed the delay to an administrative error by an external service provider. The error has resulted in certain of the copies of the circular delivered to shareholders being incorrectly labelled, said the firm. Naspers is planning to spin off assets including a $134 billion stake in Tencent Holdings Ltd. on the Euronext exchange. The Johannesburg-based company said the service provider concerned has advised that the error occurred in pairing the names and…

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ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba’s company Synergy Communications has snapped up operations of Vodacom Business in Nigeria, Zambia and Cote d’Ivoire. Synergy Communications, a subsidiary of the Convergence Partners Communications Infrastructure Fund, will acquire 100% of Vodacom Business Africa’s operations in these markets. Convergence Partners, which is owned by Ngcaba, is an investment management firm focused on the TMT sector in Africa. Synergy Communications’ flagship investments included Internet Solutions Mozambique, Skyband Malawi and, most recently, Virtual Business Network Services in Botswana. The two entities are in the process of concluding the acquisitions, which are subject to the approval of the…

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The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) will soon be conducting an inquiry into Must-Carry TV Regulations. The communications regulator said the aim of the inquiry is to reach a comprehensive and accurate conclusion on the effectiveness of these regulations and consequently decide whether the current Regulations require an amendment. In 2008, ICASA introduced “must carry” regulations, compelling pay-TV companies to carry the SABC’s free-to-air channels — SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 — in support of universal access. The regulations allow MultiChoice and other pay-TV operators to carry the SABC’s three public-service TV channels at no cost. The public broadcaster,…

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SA Taxi, a vertically integrated minibus taxi platform, has revealed that KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape are on on the radar for future expansion to provide complimentary business services to the minibus taxi industry. This move is part of the company’s strategy to extend products and services to new verticals, unlocking value in the industry. “We are planning next year to set up the same operation you see here [a mechanical workshop, an auto parts centre, a panel shop, a dealership, and finance and insurance operations] in KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape, Moroba Maduma, an executive at SA Taxi, told…

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new factor of production and has the potential to introduce new sources of growth, changing how work is done and reinforcing the role of people to drive growth in business. IBM has recognised 40 Women Business Pioneers in AI  from across the world at its Inaugural AI Women Leadership Event hosted in New York at the IBM Watson Experience Centre. The list recognizes and celebrates women across a variety of industries and geographies for pioneering the use of AI to advance their companies in areas such as innovation, growth, and transformation. Out of the 40…

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The case of Cell C versus its empowerment partner CellSaf has become a David and Goliath battle. CellSaf, a small lightweight empowerment partner, is battling against a heavyweight opponent backed by three conglomerates – Cell C, JSE-listed tech firm Blue Label Telecoms, and JSE and Nasdaq-listed Net 1 UEPS Technologies (Net 1). The background to this battle is rooted in 2001 when Cell C launched, and CellSaf was celebrated as a victory for empowerment owning a 40% of the mobile phone operator (which has since shrunk to 7.5% with no benefits to the shareholders). For CellSaf, however, since then, it…

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Broadband Infraco announced on Friday that the South African Government is looking to assign it as the entity that assists in the development of the ‘fibre super highway’ in Southern Africa. The state-owned entity said the SADC super highway, which is a fibre super highway, is created through the joint investment of SADC countries. “The ultimate outcome of this initiative is that at least at an infrastructure level, we can ensure that the reach of optical fibre, which is what you need for backhauling high volumes of data, reaches South Africa, but also large parts of our neighbouring countries,” said…

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The country’s competition watchdog still needs more time to investigate further before it decides whether to declare the recapitalisation of Cell C as a large merger conducted by both Blue Label Telecoms and Net 1 UEPS Technologies (Net 1). In 2017, JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms and Nasdaq-listed Net 1 completed its recapitalisation of Cell C. After that in December 2017, Cell C’s empowerment partner CellSaf submitted a complaint to the Competition Commission accusing Blue Label Telecoms and Net1 of trying to hijack and secure dominant (75%+) control of Cell C. The deal amounts to a blatant attempt at corporate capture,…

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