Author: Gugu Lourie
Mini to launch Mini sharing in Sandton. Mini Sharing allows Mini owners to make their vehicles available to friends, family or colleagues via app. It’s no secret that Mini offers drivers an unrivalled exhilarating go-kart feel, transforming even the most mundane journey into something much more fun. The car-sharing scheme is being tested for local conditions ahead of its launch in the third quarter of 2020 as a pilot programme in the key urban area Sandton, in Johannesburg. Initially, Mini Sharing will be available to a closed group of users, although plans are afoot to expand the offering to other…
Strategic South African towns, which include Bethal, Jozini, Makhado, Welkom, etc, may receive priority support from the South African government. The support to a group of 61 towns may be in a form of state funding. The South African government revealed the plan this week in a new draft National Spatial Development Framework (NSDF). The plan is open for public comment until 20 March. The NSDF is described as the first of its kind and according to the government it seeks to make a bold and decisive contribution to bringing about the peaceful, prosperous and truly transformed South Africa, as…
Blue Label Telecoms expects its earnings for the six months ended 30 November 2019 to increase by at least 20%. The company informed investors on the JSE on Thursday that this translates to basic, headline and core headline earnings per share improving by at least 2.52 cents, 3.00 cents and 2.28 cents. The company, which owns 54% of struggling mobile phone operator Cell C, attributed the expected improved earnings to Cell C’s writedown. Blue Label Telecoms and Net 1 have written down to zero the value of their stake of the embattled mobile network, Cell C, which last year reported…
Africa’s most valuable company said in a statement on Wednesday that it intends to repatriate the proceeds to South Africa to buy back its own shares.
Skynamo (formerly Honeybee CRM) – a Stellenbosch founded software firm – has secured R434 million ($30 million) from software investor, Five Elms Capital. Skynamo will use the investment to accelerate the adoption of its field sales mobile app and cloud-based management platform, while scaling up operations to improve service to its rapidly growing customer base in the US, UK Apostille and Southern Africa. The software company serves its customers from its South African and London offices and has chosen Atlanta as its US headquarters. Skynamo integrates with ERP and accounting software such as Sage, Acumatica, SAP, Xero and Quickbooks to provide…
by Prabashni Naidoo Autonomous, or self-driving cars will make driving safer, smarter and more efficient. Equipped with internet connections, often wireless local area networks, enables self-driving cars to speak to each other and the environment around them. One feature allows the cars to keep their distance and synchronise braking to avoid accidents. Autonomous cars will include features such as lane assist, collision avoidance and automatic calls to emergency services to create a safer driving experience. Some automotive brands are taking automation a step further, innovating to enable vehicles to communicate with nearby infrastructure and even pedestrians, adding a new dimension…
MTN Cameroon CEO, Hendrik Kasteel, will be leaving MTN at the end of March, due to personal reasons.
Eskom, the state-owned power utility which supplies the country with 95% of the electricity is in crisis and unable to keep the lights on. Electricity is central to the broader development agenda. Electricity is also essential for basic things like charging one’s mobile phone or powering a household water pump and heater. For more read: What lies behind Africa’s lack of access and unreliable power supplies MTN, the country’s second-biggest mobile phone operator, is continuously seeking opportunities to extract energy efficiencies where possible and to maintain investment in renewable sources of energy. This strategy is to help MTN not to be 100%…
Toyota is exploring a new flight path for mobility through a new collaboration with Joby Aviation (Joby), an aerospace company that is developing and commercializing all-electric air taxis. The California-based aerospace company that has been working on electric aircraft for over a decade. The collaboration reflects Toyota’s recognition of the long-term potential of the urban air mobility. Toyota was part of a previous Joby funding round that closed in 2018, helping the secretive startup raise $100 million. As the lead investor in Joby’s $590 million Series C financing, Toyota is continuing to leverage emerging technologies to provide “Mobility for All”,…
Tech giant Naspers boss CEO Bob van Dijk, who is also a CEO of Prosus, has sold shares in in the company worth close to R1 billion. The company announced on Wednesday on the JSE stock news that the shares were awarded by the company through its share incentive scheme. “Bob van Dijk exercised share appreciation rights in the Naspers Global Ecommerce Share Appreciation Rights plan (vesting on dates as per above) and received 414 932 Naspers N ordinary shares in settlement of the gain. He then sold 414 932 Naspers N ordinary shares,” the company disclosed. The tech firms,…