Author: Gugu Lourie

Business communication and managed services provider ICTGlobe sees declining local voice margins and the weak SA currency as compelling reasons to seek a global market for ICTLabs. “A US headquarters for the research and development (R&D) subsidiary of ICTGlobe means stronger group earnings off the back of dollar denominated inroads in developed world markets,” says Riaan van Stryp, head of ICTLabs and the former Chief Operating Officer (COO) of member company, ICTGlobe Management (Pty) Ltd. ICTLabs is located in Boston in the US with additional presence in the ICTGlobe group head office in Centurion where it has already rolled out…

Microsoft is buying 4% equity stake in London Stock Exchange as part of its data cloud deal  to jointly develop new products and services for data and analytics. The tech group is buying the stake from York Holdings II Limited and York Holdings III Limited, entities owned by certain investment funds affiliated with Blackstone, an affiliate of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, an affiliate of GIC Special Investments Pte. Ltd, and by Thomson Reuters, the former Refinitiv shareholders. London Stock Exchange and Microsoft have agreed to co-invest in the product development roadmap for the data platform, Workspace, and analytics initiatives.. Satya…

No more time-consuming shopping queues, hour-long waits or crossing fingers for an available delivery slot. Grocery deliveries just became simpler and faster with the launch of on-demand shopping app Yassir Express, which went live last week in Gauteng. Yassir Express offers a one-stop shop for thousands of products including everything from nappies and pharmacy items to pet food, fresh fruit and vegetables, and meat – all delivered right to customers’ doorsteps in just under 30 minutes. Yassir South Africa General Manager Timothy Kiluba notes that speed, variety, and affordability have been central to Yassir’ meteoric popularity in other African markets,…

ChatGPT, created by a company called OpenAi, is the viral AI tool that is immensely powerful and useful in many ways. The software is designed to generate human-like responses to a wide range of inputs by using algorithms. The groundbreaking AI Bot can answer questions on various topics or solve coding problems. Users can also ask the AI to write essays, poems, scripts, or even translate or summarise the text. OpenAI’s mission is to ensure that artificial general intelligence (AGI)—by which we mean highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at the most economically valuable work—benefits all of humanity. ChatGPT was…

Clean technology startup ScarabTech has announced today the successful raise of seed funding from the GIIG Africa Fund. The investment marks the company’s first equity-led round following initial funding from various angel investors, with the capital to be used to finance the development of several commercial projects across Africa, Asia and the Australian subcontinent over the coming year. Founded in 2018, ScarabTech specialises in the production of small-scale and highly efficient plastic-to-energy units called ‘Beetles’. Developed using special software algorithms and design, these machines heat plastic waste, creating a vapor that is then captured and reconstituted into carbon-neutral fuel that…

TymeBank, one of South Africa’s digital banks, has attracted 220 000 new customer in October 2022. The digital bank owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe was launched in February 2019. “TymeBank continues to sustain its onboarding of new customers,” African Raibow Capital Investments informed investors today. “In October the company reported that approximately 228 000 new customers were onboarded for the month, which represents a record level in the number of new customers onboarded in a single month. This compares to the average rate of 130 000 to 140 000 customers onboarded per month in the first half of 2022. ” The company added that…

The 2022 South African Digital Customer Experience Report, released in August of this year, revealed that a brand’s delivery experience was among key reasons why consumers would shop from them again. According to 66% of the survey’s sample, delivery value was critical to their repeat purchase while 81% of those surveyed said they shop online for convenient home deliveries. These insights are invaluable to any brand that has an ecommerce arm – which, thanks to Covid, most now do. Delivery is as much an importance to the buyer as the customer journey of the site is, the price and quality…

State-funded low-cost Community WiFi technology provider, Fibrepoynt, has announced the appointment of Mpho Sefalafala the CEO. Sefalafala’s appointment follows the end of term for Eduard Walker, an innovative engineer and telecoms industry stalwart, who has led the company through the technology development, validation and pilot phases. Sefalafala’s appointment is effective from 15 June 2022. Sefalafala has vast experience in technology entrepreneurship, business incubation, funding and enterprise development, and has over the years, assisted several early technology enterprises to build and commercialize their projects. He has also been an influencer and shaper within the entrepreneurial ecosystems in Gauteng through mentorship, policy development…

Neobank Be Mobile Africa has announced the launch of its cryptocurrency payments gateway which will allow businesses and merchants in Africa to accept and make payments with Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum (ETH), as well as USD stablecoins such as USDC and USDT. Customers will be able to automatically convert incoming crypto payments in ZAR, USD or EUR or have the option to keep crypto with Be Mobile Africa providing full custody. “International payments have always been a pain point for African SMEs. Sending or receiving money from customers outside of one’s country is expensive and often…

Community Holdings No 1 Proprietary Limited (CIH) plans to delist Jasco Electronics (Jasco) from the JSE. CIH, which was founded by buiness women Dr Anna Mokgokong, announced today that it will make a general offer to the holders of Jasco ordinary shares and to consequently terminate the listing of the company’s ordinary shares on the JSE. CIH will offer to purchase all of the issued Jasco ordinary shares for a consideration equivalent to 16 cents per Jasco ordinary share. The offer consideration represents a 4% premium on the 30-day weighted average traded price of Jasco shares on 2 December 2022,…