Author: Gugu Lourie

Telecommunications network provider MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi’s empowerment scheme will list on the JSE on November 25, the Johannesburg-based telco said on Monday. MTN’s previous scheme, MTN Zakhele, listed on the JSE in 2015, but delisted in the next year as the scheme was wound up. Recently, MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi’s scheme was found to be inconsistent with South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act. In July, the BBBEE Commission disclosed that the scheme, which was announced by MTN on 12 September 2016, is inconsistent with the act that provides a legislative framework for the promotion of BBBEE. “The Commission found that the…

Vodacom doles out R3.4 billion ($224 million) to buy 26% stake owned by Mirambo Holdings in Vodacom Tanzania. The South African-based mobile phone operator now owns 75% of Vodacom Tanzania. Mirambo Holdings is the investment vehicle of Tanzanian business tycoon Rostam Aziz. The Vodafone-owned group acquired 588 million shares in Vodacom Tanzania. The transaction was effective on 27 September 2019, and purchase consideration to the value of $224 million (R 3 417 million) was paid in cash, Vodacom said on Monday. Vodacom Tanzania controls 32% of the market share of the country’s 40 million mobile subscribers, ahead of Tigo Tanzania,…

Vodacom has disclosed on Monday that it could pay as much as R1 billion to acquire Internet of Things (IoT) innovator IoT.nxt. In May, Vodacom announced plans to buy 51% stake in IoT.nxt for an undisclosed amount to enhance its current IoT offering. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone firm disclosed on Monday that it bought the 51% stake in IoT.nxt for R1 billion, of which R469 million was settled in cash, with the remainder being contingent on the future performance of the business. IoT.nxt creates data-connectivity between new data sources and legacy systems which allows for real-time data availability across a…

Vodacom’s diversification into financial services is slowly paying off for the Vodafone-owned mobile phone operator. The company announced on Monday that revenue from its Financial Services business jumped by 37.1% to almost R1 billion, as Airtime Advance, insurance and its recently launched VodaPay service all gained in popularity. “Our strategic focus on financial services supported strong performance, growing revenue by 37.1% to R972 million,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’s CEO. The mobile phone operator said it has advanced R4.9 billion in airtime via its Airtime Advance platform to 9.9 million customers. Furthermore, Vodacom added that its insurance revenue rose 21.8%, and…

Vodacom South Africa’s streaming service Video Play continues to attract more customers. Video Play is now bigger than Netflix South Africa, the world’s biggest streaming service. The Vodafone-owned company announced on Monday its Video Play service has more than 1 million customers engaged on our video platform, with 14.8 million daily, weekly and monthly subscriptions over the last six months. The company added that its digital services in video, music, sports and gaming are providing customers with more reasons to consume data as it increases engagement through our strategy of “one more service” to the customer. Netflix is projected to…

Greenlight Planet, a pay-as-you-go solar player, is pursuing a strong telecom-focused strategy that aims to have a far-reaching impact on more than 600 million unelectrified consumers across the African continent. Since its founding in 2009, the company has become a leading global provider of solar energy products to over 27 million rural consumers in more than 60 countries. The company has sold over 12 million Sun King solar home energy products to off-grid households around the world.  It also reaches remote, off-grid customers through a unique business model involving a vast network of micro-entrepreneurs, more than 300 global strategic distribution partners.…

The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), in collaboration with Investec and supported by Sanlam Investments, has named AgriTech firm Aerobotics as 2019 Best Startup or Venture Capital Company. SAVCA is the industry body for the private equity and venture capital industry in Southern Africa. Aerobotics is a South African AgriTech company that builds advanced analytics on top of aerial drone and satellite imagery to deliver precision farming tools for clients. In 2018, Nedbank partnered with Aerobotics to conduct an initial experiment by flying drones over pecan nut farms of a prospective agricultural client at the time.…

ProfitShare Partners has secured a R25 million capital line from the Vumela Fund, which is managed by Edge Growth Ventures. Launched in 2018, Vumela’s third fund focuses on supporting high growth SMEs in the banking supply chain with good economic and impact returns – a key driver of ProfitShare Partners value proposition to the SME market. The Vumela Fund is a R588 million Social Venture Capital Fund that Edge Growth manages on behalf of the Vumela Trustees. The fund is a business with the objective of creating stakeholder value by investing in, growing and divesting of SMEs and providing value-added growth…

Health workers in rural and remote areas continue to seek advice from specialists on behalf of their patients. So it’s no surprise that Vula Mobile, a medical referral startup, is seeing its health app gaining traction as more people start to utilise its online services. Vula Mobile is the brainchild of Dr William Mapham, who conceived the idea for the app while working at an Eye Clinic in rural Swaziland. He experienced first-hand the difficulties faced by rural health workers when they need specialist advice. In 2015, the app which was then only available to assist with eye health and…

Jamii Cities, a platform that connects the needs of the best tenants with the best landlords, has been awarded an additional R450 000 of grant funding by AlphaCode. This was after Jamii Cities and other startups completed a AlphaCode Incubate programme, one year of intensive mentorship, startup principles bootcamps and being connected with an extensive network. The eight startups were awarded entrepreneurial packages of R2 million each in 2018. Jamii Cities is a FinTech startup that focuses on property. The business attracts, selects, onboards and rewards tenants for good financial behaviour related to rental payments, which incentivises a longer stay…