Author: Gugu Lourie

In 2023, there have been so many layoffs in the technology industry that TechCrunch labelled it a “reckoning” in its extensive list released late April. To date, across numerous organisations that include Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Dropbox and Zoom, to name but a few, there have been nearly 169,000 layoffs. Meta is expected to lay off 10,000 roles in the next few months and Disney 7,000. And yet, in cybersecurity there are still more “jobs open than people to fill them”. According to Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4 AFRICA, the biggest challenge facing the cybersecurity profession right…

Amazon Web Services (AWS) today announced that Old Mutual has closed its on-premises data centers and migrated its entire information technology (IT) infrastructure, including its banking, insurance, and wealth management systems, to AWS. The migration represents a significant step in Old Mutual’s digital transformation. Old Mutual is using AWS’s proven, secure, and highly performant infrastructure to decrease financial transaction processing time by two-thirds, reduce downtime by 50%, streamline the development of new and more relevant insurance products, and drive innovation across its business with machine learning (ML).  The full migration to AWS involved moving more than 2,000 on-premises servers, 215…

JLR has unveiled a series of subtle but long-awaited updates to the second-generation Range Rover Evoque for the 2024 model year. The new Range Rover Evoque is available to order now with prices starting at R1.25 million. Configure yours here – range-rover/range-rover-evoque Inside, Range Rover’s reductive design philosophy is amplified with a new 11.4-inch curved glass touchscreen, seemingly floating within the driver’s eyeline for improved visibility, while liberating space for interior stowage and Wireless Device Charging. Powered by Pivi Pro, with regular Software Over The Air drops, the new centre console offers clients a seamless, comfortable digital experience. The interface is…

Google for Startups (GfS) has selected three South African startups to be part of its $4 million (R73.6 million) Black Founders Fund for innovators across the continent. The Black Founders Fund, now in its third year, aims to help tackle systemic racial inequality in venture capital (VC) funding by providing equity-free grants and mentoring to early stage Black-led high-growth businesses across Europe and Africa. The selected cohort of 40 startups from Europe and Africa, includes 25 African startups that embody the diverse entrepreneurial spirit across the African continent. Startups led or co-founded by women make up 72% of the group,…

Vodacom will now offer eSIM support for smartphones across prepaid, top-up/hybrid and postpaid contract types. This means that users with selected eSIM-enabled smartphones will be able to connect to the Vodacom network and enjoy the benefits, capabilities, and flexibility that an eSIM provides. eSIMs also known as embedded SIMs are not just the next generation of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card technology, they also help drive the eradication of the need for a physical card entirely. In addition, this also eliminates the need to manufacture and ship the associated plastic, thereby reducing carbon emissions. Traditional SIM cards contain unique identifying…

The Huawei ICT Academy is set to highlight Huawei’s ethos of diversity and inclusion by supporting Youth Month and expanding its successful Women in Tech initiative with a focus on young women. Called the Huawei Young Woman in Tech programme, the course is taking place from 21 to 28 June 2023. The course is open to all young women who are either currently studying in the ICT field or who would like to in the future. The course programmes will take place entirely online and will cover topics including artificial intelligence (AI), big data and cloud computing. The initial training…

Applications for the inaugural Tech Awards will be open from 1 July 2023. The South African Annual Tech for Innovation and Social Impact Awards, soon to become one of the premier annual ICT events in South Africa, will be hosted by the Empire Partner Foundation (EPF) in collaboration with MICT SETA. The awards gala will take place on Saturday 11 November 2023 at Montecasino Ballroom in Fourways, Johannesburg. The South African Annual Tech for Innovation and Social Impact Awards provide a platform for youth, businesses, startups and innovators to showcase their tech solutions. The aim is to promote technological innovation,…

Mobile phone operator Cell C, which is owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, has confirmed the appointment of Jorge Mendes As CEO. His appointment is effective 1 July 2023. IT Web speculated on Wednesday that Mendes will be revealed as CEO today by Cell C. Cell C today said Mendes brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the role and is widely regarded as a strategic leader with a proven track record of driving growth and profitability in the telecommunications industry. “We are thrilled to welcome Jorge Mendes to the Cell C team,” said Joe Mthimunye, Cell C Board Chairman…

Jorge Mendes, former chief consumer business officer at Vodacom South Africa, is to become Cell C’s new CEO, according to a report published by IT Web on Wednesday. According to the report, Cell C did not deny that Mendes is the new man taking control of the company when asked for comment. Instead, Cell C told the technology publication that the company will announce the appointment of its CEO tomorrow. Mendes will replace Brett Copans, chief restructuring officer, who had been interim CEO, succeeding Douglas Craigie Stevenson, who stepped down as Cell C’s chief executive in March. In January, Mendes…

Spar announced on Wednesday that it had delivered a commendable trading performance in the six months to the end of March 2023 in a challenging environment. Group revenue increased by 7,9% to R72,9 billion. It added that over the past 12 months, all regions have come under significant inflationary cost pressures. “The cost pressures, coupled with SAP software go-live challenges at the KwaZulu-Natal distribution centre (KZN DC) and subsequent loss of turnover during the latter half of the period, resulted in a decline in operating profit of 17.5%to R1,5 billion,” Spar said. “Due to rising interest rates across all geographies,…

JSE-listed retailer Spar said South Africa experienced unprecedented levels of electricity loadshedding which directly is impacting trading performance and profitability of its retailers. Higher levels of loadshedding are expected to impact retailer profitability due to the additional energy costs associated with back-up solutions required during loadshedding hours, said the retailer. “Our retailers have experienced a significant increase in operating costs, primarily driven by the increased cost of diesel required to run generators during the higher levels of loadshedding, coupled with higher repairs and maintenance costs, and product wastage, as generators occasionally fail under extended periods of usage,” said Spar. Spar estimates…

South African supper app VodaPay, which is operated by Vodacom, has launched a feature that makes the platform to look like a bank. Two new Deposit and Send Money services have been added to the VodaPay super app, according to Vodacom Financial and Digital Lifestyle Services. “VodaPay’s new Deposit and Send Money services support our intention to accelerate digital and financial inclusion. Both banked and unbanked users can deposit and/or send money from their VodaPay Wallet, securely, cost-effectively and instantly. By building broader, more convenient offerings onto VodaPay, such as deposit and cash-out networks, we aim to enable more people…

South Africa’s Telkom announced today that it has come through a year marred by unparalleled levels of loadshedding and an alarming number of incidents of theft and vandalism targeting network infrastructure. Despite these challenges, Telkom said its team replaced over 5 000 backup batteries and undertook repair work on over 1 600 sites, which was crucial in restoring services and maintaining network stability. The partial state-owned entity added that it had spent R655 million on diesel and back-up batteries in the year to end-March 2023 to ease Eskom’s load shedding on its business. Cumulatively, Telkom said there were 5 585…

Telkom has formally appointed advisors to drive the process to seek a strategic equity partner for BCX, its limping IT business that has been losing money for a few years now. BCX was founded by Benjamin and Isaac Mophatlane in 1996, and was later acquired by Telkom in 2015, in a deal worth R2.6 billion. Telkom announced on Tuesday that BCX had a challenging year but managed to maintain stable revenue levels at R14.2 billion in the year to end-March 2023. The company said the performance was driven by a 9.1% growth in the IT business, which was offset…

Telkom announced on Tuesday that the disposal of its masts and towers business, Swiftnet, is at an advance stage. Telkom also announced that Swiftnet continued commercialising its productive portfolio and saw marginal revenue growth of 0.9% to R1 304 million in the year to end-March 2023. The company said this was driven by construction of 66 additional towers and eight new in-building coverage solutions (IBS) sites. “Continued modernisation by mobile network operators (MNOs) on our sites, coupled with new base station sites and the deployment of 5G by our clients, grew revenue from continuing customers by 10.3%, mitigating the impact…

Telkom Mobile has increased its subscriber base by 7.8% to 18.3 million customers in the year to end-March 2023, Telkom announced on Tuesday. The mobile service revenue growth of 1.8% was supported by the growth in subscribers. “The post-paid strategy paid off as the post-paid base grew by 11.0% to reach the 3 million customers. The pre-paid base grew by 7.2% to 15.3 million,” said Telkom. “We extended our network footprint, using the newly acquired spectrum to enhance LTE coverage and launch 5G services,” says Serame Taukobong, Telkom CEO, said. “This benefited the mobile broadband subscriber base, which grew 9.2%…

Inflationary pressures and increased operational costs plunged South Africa’s Telkom full year headline earnings per share (HEPS) by 76.6% to fell to 134.6 cents from 575.3 cents in the previous year. The company also said HEPS – South Africa’s main profit gauge – was impacted by lower EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation). “This was due to a 19.8% decline in EBITDA and a 9.5% increase in depreciation, amortisation, impairments and write-offs*, partially offset by a lower tax expense compared to the prior year,” said Telkom. The company said it was also attributable to the impact of accelerated…

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) said on Friday that it intends to issue a tender to appoint a consultant to assist it in the licencing of the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) spectrum. ICASA said the consultant’s duties will include conducting an auction in several IMT bands. The auction of the IMT spectrum is expected to be completed in 2024. The amended Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations mandate the market-based approach for efficient spectrum management. This includes the use of an auction process for licencing spectrum where demand exceeds supply. “This important process seeks to ensure universal availability of broadband…

JSE-listed retailer TFG, formerly known as The Foschini Group, said TFG Africa conservatively estimated to have lost about 360,000 trading hours in the 12 months to 31 March 2023 due to Eskom’s load shedding. However, as previously reported, the retailer estimates the actual impact to be more than double this figure (i.e. approximately 730,000 lost trading hours) as customer demand is significantly dampened by the associated disruption and inconvenience with reduced customer footfall before, during and immediately after load shedding periods. “We estimate the financial impact of load shedding to have reduced TFG Africa’s retail turnover by in excess of…

JSE-listed retailer TFG, formerly known as The Foschini Group, today announced a 6.6% increase in online retail revenue for the year ending March 2023. The retailer said online retail sales contributed 9.1% to the group’s total sales. TFG Africa’s retail sales increased by 17.2% compared to the same period in the previous financial year. The retailer added that TFG Africa’s online retail sales increased by 33.2% and now contribute 3.5% to TFG Africa’s total retail sales. TFG Africa’s outlet retail turnover, increased by 16.7% and now contribute 96.5% to TFG Africa’s total sales. “This region experienced heightened consumer pressure, unprecedented…

TymeBank is onboarding more than 300 000 customers a month in both South Africa and the Philippines, according to its majority shareholder, African Rainbow Capital (ARC), which is owned by billionare Patrice Motsepe. ARC said Tyme (including TymeBank and GoTyme) has an annual revenue run rate of over R1.9 billion. The company added that across its two markets – South Africa and the Philippines – the business is growing at a pace of 300,000 new customers a month as it works to provide consumers, particularly the underserved and financially excluded portion of the population, quality financial services. TymeBank now serves…

Volvo Car South Africa has confirmed the freshly revealed EX30 is destined for local roads, while also announcing the brand-new fully electric SUV’s highly anticipated starting price. That figure looks set to render the EX30 one of the most affordable full-size electric vehicles (EVs) in South Africa. Having just made its global premiere, the new small SUV represents the cornerstone of Volvo’s electrification growth ambitions. It debuts as the fastest-accelerating Volvo ever, completing the 0-100 km/h sprint in a mere 3.6 seconds in 315 kW Twin Motor Performance guise. The extended-range version of the Single Motor (rear-wheel drive) powertrain, meanwhile,…

Discovery Bank today announced a partnership with Rubicon, a trusted industry leader in solar solutions. This partnership will offer savings to Discovery Bank clients on high-quality solar and back-up power services for their homes. This reflects the Bank’s commitment to providing its clients with trusted, convenient, and flexible solutions. Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Bank, says,” While South Africans are resilient, the increased and ongoing interruption of electricity impacts all aspects of our lives and drives a need to find alternative ways to power our homes. We’re pleased to launch a financing solution that enables our clients to embrace solar,…

There is good news for drivers on Wednesday as the price of petrol and diesel will be dropping. The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Mr Gwede Mantashe, announces the adjustment of fuel prices based on current local and international factors with effect from the 7th of June 2023. South Africa’s fuel prices are adjusted on a monthly basis, informed by international and local factors. International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation costs, e.g. shipping costs. The main reasons for the fuel…

inq. Group today announced the appointment of seasoned industry leader Glad Dibetso to succeed Nick Reed. Dibetso will become CEO Designate from 1 July 2023 working alongside Reed who will remain on as part of the transition process. The move is part of the Board approved succession plan. inq. recently completed its acquisition of Syrex, a provider of hyperconverged cloud technology solutions, adding South Africa to its footprint across the Continent. Dibetso hopes to continue to bolster inq. to become a truly pan-African business, consolidating its traditional connectivity business and accelerating EdgeDock, inq.’s unique digital service offering. Dibetso said, “I…