Author: Gugu Lourie

Gotbot AI, Africa’s tech startups, has received a significant investment boost to the value of R2,5-million from venture capital firm Capacitech. The first such investment of its kind for Gotbot AI will mean the company’s co-founders Nick Argyros and Chris Green, along with Chief Operational Officer, Craig McLeod, will be able to accelerate new developments and move the three-year-old start-up into the fast lane. In 2016, Gotbot AI launched an automated social commerce product called Get It, and have since shown steady growth with the development of their flagship product Custom Care. They quickly acquired key clients such as Toyota,…

Teraco announced on Monday that Jan Hnizdo, currently the company’s executive director, has been named as the CEO of Africa’s largest vendor-neutral data centre. The appointment is effective 1 January 2020. Hnizdo will replace Lex Van Wyk, who will step down as CEO. Van Wyk will remain a shareholder in Teraco and will continue to serve on the board in the capacity of non-executive Director. “This transition has been carefully planned over the last few years. The current management team is focused and stays in place with the same goals. Importantly, Jan has been an outstanding part of the leadership…

MTN announced yesterday the launch of its mobile money diaspora service, MTN Homeland. The aim of this service is to facilitate money and airtime transfers from Europe to Africa and parts of the Middle East. The service is powered by Johannesburg-based FinTech startup MFS Africa, the largest digital payments hub on the continent. It connects over 180 million mobile wallets on the continent. Through a single API, MFS Africa connects mobile wallet systems, banks, money transfer operators, and merchants to enable real-time, cross-border and cross-network transactions. With MTN Homeland, remittances can be made from Europe to Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana,…

Troubled Cell C has once again pushed back against efforts by Telkom to buy it, as its board sent a letter bluntly telling the South African telco it’s not interested in the offer. “Telkom has received written notice from the Cell C board of directors rejecting its non-binding proposal,” Telkom informed investors on Friday. “The Telkom Board continues to believe the offer is a compelling proposition that would have created significant value for all stakeholders including Telkom’s shareholders. “As the offer has been rejected by Cell C’s board of directors, Telkom shareholders are advised that they are no longer required…

Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub is to join Vodafone executive committee. British mobile phone giant Vodafone is a majority shareholder of Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator. Vodafone will simplify its management structure with the removal of the rest of world regional organisation, from the beginning of full-year 20/21, Vodacom spokesperson told TechFinancials in an email. Vodacom was responding to TechFinancials query that Joosub will be joining Vodafone as its head of Africa operations. For more read: Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub ‘Quits’ to Head Vodafone Africa “Following this reorganisation, Shameel Joosub, the Chief Executive of Vodacom Group, will be joining…

There are some unconfirmed rumours swirling around long-serving Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub, who recently was sent on study leave at Harvard Business School. For more read: Vodacom CEO on ‘Study Leave’, Vuyani Jarana ‘May’ Rejoin the Operator The alleged imminent departure of Joosub follows the resignation of chief financial officer Till Streichert and chief technology officer, Andries Delport. However, in an internal communique seen by TechCentral, Joosub assured his team early on Thursday morning that “contrary to what may be speculated, there is nothing sinister about this and no link to Andries’s announcement”. But, Joosub might have been trying to…

The performance of the share price of Welkom Yizani, the black economic empowerment (BEE) shares of Media24, continues to disappoint investors. Investors paid in a subscription of R10.00 per share at the establishment of the scheme in 2006. In the past 12 months, the share price has reached a low of R6.51 per share and at the same time shot up to a high of R13.00 per share. The stock on Tuesday was trading at R7.52 per share and yesterday was at R7.50 per share. This is way below the subscription price of R10.00 per share. Investors of Welkom Yizani…

Vodacom Group CFO Till Streichert will leave the company in June 2020 to pursue an external opportunity outside of Vodacom. The Vodafone-owned telco said Streichert will step down from his role on the Vodacom Group board at around the same time or at an earlier mutually agreed date. Streichert departure follows the resignation on Monday of Vodacom’s chief technology officer, Andries Delport. For more read: Vodacom Says CTO Andries Delport Leaves the Company Streichert was seconded to Vodacom from Vodafone in February 2014. During his tenure at Vodacom, he evolved the finance team into a successful intelligence unit focused on…

The listing on the JSE of MTN Zakhele Futhi, the black economic empowerment scheme of MTN Group, disappoints investors. The shares of MTN Zakhele Futhi debuted on Monday on the JSE. Yesterday, the stock opened at R6 and peaked at R9,20 to close at R4,80. By 1153, the stock was trading at R5.50 a share. Investors of MTN Zakhele Futhi are disappointed as this implies the stock has lost close to 90% of its value. The shares are trading way below its net asset value which was more than R22 in September 2018. Black investor spent R20 each, with a…

SA Taxi, a vertically integrated minibus taxi platform, wants to use technology to modernize the South African minibus taxi industry and make travelling safe. The company announced on Tuesday is using its telematics and other data accumulated from its rewards programmes to proactively drive behavioural changes in the minibus taxi industry. The company said using telematics and data in the taxi industry would have a positive social impact and enhance commuter safety. SA Taxi will expand its tailored rewards programmes within the minibus taxi ecosystem. “Ultimately, the division intends to leverage its telematics and rewards programmes data to connect to…