Author: Gugu Lourie

Vodacom announced today that it has invested over R2 billion in batteries alone to enhance the resilience of our network so that we keep customers connected during extended periods of loadshedding. “At the same time, we continue to work closely with Eskom to find a renewable energy solution for the benefit of our planet and customers, having announced in September 2022 an in-principle agreement with South Africa’s energy utility to pilot a programme that would see Vodacom South Africa source its electricity from renewable independent power producers and contribute this into the national grid,” Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’s CEO informed investors…

The state’s role in terms of what we call regulation should change to be an enabler. This is the view of Andile Ngcaba, the executive chairman and founder of private equity firm Convergence Partners, noting that the telecommunications industry should strive to remove the word regulation in-laws, vocabulary, and terminologies. Ngcaba participated in a roundtable on “Looking Back, Going Forward: How Africa’s Tech History Contains the Roots of its Future” at Africa Tech Fest and AfricaCom 2022 in Cape Town. He was joined by Nic Rudnick – CEO of Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Nika Naghavi – Executive director of MNOs at…

Liquid Intelligent Technologies, which is owned by Strive Masiyiwa, is spending more than R350m into delivering Software Defined Network (SDN) offering known as Dataport. The client-controlled network can be scaled and customised to suit the datacentre and SME user market, and South Africa’s 20 000 connected buildings. SDN connections are typically used to connect enterprise networks, including branch offices and data centres, over local and long distances. Users have complete control over their operations through an efficient, easy-to-use web portal, from choosing destinations, speed and bandwidths, managing traffic demand, checking costs, and more. With Dataport, customers have complete oversight of…

The first regional Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) adoption in Africa has to be led through policies, said Anderson Amlamba, director of the AU’s Management Information System. Speaking at the launch of “Africa IPv6 Development White Paper” by the African Telecommunications Union (ATU), African Union (AU) and Huawei at the 4th Broadband Africa Forum at AfricaCom 2022, Amlamba said that’s the only way Africa will be able to get IPv6 adoption through all the different industry sectors and verticals. This first regional IPv6 white paper on the African continent systematically analyses the development of IPv6 in Africa and shares the…

MTN SA service revenue grew by 3.5% in the third quarter to end-September 2022, impacted by loadshedding and concessions to support the Cell C recapitalisation. Service revenue in the prepaid consumer business unit (CBU) grew by 0.4%, with postpaid CBU increasing by 4.2%. The enterprise business unit (EBU) continues to deliver strong double-digit growth of 19.7%. Furthermore, the wholesale business delivered 0.7% growth despite revenue concessions amounting to R82 million on the Cell C national roaming agreement geared to enabling the conclusion of their recapitalisation. In the nine months to September 2022, MTN SA grew its subscriber base by over…

MTN announced today that its FinTech business saw revenue rose by 12.9%, with Mobile Money (MoMo) active monthly users up by 23.3% in the third quarter of 2022. In Q3 2022, MTN recorded a 32.7% increase in transaction volumes to 9.5 billion transactions, with transaction value up by 12.1% to $166.7 billion. The number of active merchants accepting MoMo payments increased by 64.4% to over 1.0 million, and the total value of MoMo merchant payments rose by 64.9% to $10.8 billion. In BankTech, MTN facilitated a total loan value of $1 billion, a 57.9% year-on-year increase, as it capitalised on…

MTN GlobalConnect, a digital wholesale and infrastructure services company and an operating company in the MTN Group, announced today that it has signed $28.2 million or R516 million fixed external infrastructure deals. MTN GlobalConnect is driving MTN’s fibreco ambitions in Africa. The telco is planning to demerge its Fibre and FinTech businesses and bring third-party investors to unlock value trapped in the company. External revenue grew by 16.9% year-on-year to $247.9 million or R4.5 billion, with Mobility revenue up by 18.3%. “Building scale infrastructure assets across Africa remained a key priority as MTN GlobalConnect expanded terrestrial fibre into its markets,” MTN informed investors. “We rolled…

MTN announced today that its Nigerian operation has added 5.7 million new susbcribers in nine months ended 30 September 2022 The telco said mobile subscribers rose by 9.7% to 74.1 million MTN aaded that active data users increased by 14.6% to 38 million, adding 3.7 million new active users. The operation’s active fintech subscribers rose by 68.7% to 11.2 million or 1.8 million active MoMo wallets since the launch of MoMo Payment Service Bank (PSB). “The investments we make to enhance the quality and coverage of our network continue to yield positive results, driving higher data usage and an expansion…

South Africa’s retailer Pick n Pay has been approved for a secondary listing on A2X Markets. The Pick n Pay Group, with a market value of R27 billion, informed shareholders that its primary listing on the JSE  and issued share capital will be unaffected by the secondary listing on A2X. “Shareholders are hereby advised that Pick n Pay’s ordinary shares have been approved for inclusion in the list of qualifying equity securities to be traded on A2X with effect from 1 November 2022,” Pick n Pay informed investors. Pick n Pay’s  Pick n Pay’s shares will commence trading on A2X…

Throughout its launch across Africa, top global streaming platform Spotify has demonstrated its commitment to bolstering the careers of African creators through on- and off-platform support programmes. In line with this, the company has announced a first-of-its-kind podcast initiative on the continent, the Africa Podcast Fund, with the goal of supporting podcasters and further amplifying their stories. The $100,000 or R1.8 million fund aims to bolster the careers of these podcast creators through financial grants, workshops and networking opportunities. The Africa Podcast Fund is offered to select creators from African countries with the biggest podcast listenerships, namely South Africa, Nigeria,…

Telkom announced on Wednesday that MTN had halted talks over its proposed takeover of the country’s biggest fixed-line telephone group. “MTN terminated discussions in relation to the MTN Proposal on 18 October 2022, as Telkom was not in a position to provide MTN with assurances around exclusivity,” Telkom informed investors. Discussions were at an early stage and had not progressed to due diligence nor had a binding offer been received by the Telkom board, said the company. “The Telkom Board has a legal and fiduciary duty to consider all bona fide offers. Shareholders are therefore advised that they no longer…

Struggling Eskom implemented Stage 4 load-shedding early Tuesday morning. The power utility said five generation units at five power stations broke down overnight. Eskom said as a result of the breakdowns, Stage 4 load-shedding was “implemented from 5-30 this morning until further notice”. Also read: Eskom Signs Leasing Agreements With Renewable Energy Companies ESKOMhas signed leasing contracts with four renewable energy companies to build new renewable energy facilities on land owned by the power utility. The four companies – HDF Energy SA, Red Rocket SA, Sola Group and Mainstream Renewable Power Developments SA – are expected to be connected to the national grid within 24…

Naspers through its Dutch-based technology investor Prosus is selling its Russian classified business Avito for RUB 151 billion or R45 billion to Kismet Capital Group (Kismet). Kismet is a private investment group with a track record of investing in technology and telecommunications businesses in Russia. All relevant regulatory approvals have been received. The South African-based group said the closing pf the deal is expected to occur in October 2022. “Since announcing our intention to sell Avito on 20 May 2022, our aim has been to manage the sale of the business in a responsible and orderly way,” said Naspers. “We…

Lexus today announced the global debut of the new Lexus UX 300e, a significant evolution of the brand’s first production BEV model. Globally, the updated UX 300e will join the new UX 200/250h announced earlier this year, with deliveries scheduled to begin in later in 2023. Lexus South Africa plans to introduce a big spec change before the end of the year. Since the 2005 launch of the RX 400h, the world’s first hybrid SUV, Lexus has been a pioneer of electrification in the luxury market. Based on the electrification vision “Lexus Electrified” announced in 2019, Lexus aims to meet…

Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) has invested an undisclosed amount for a 24.85% stake in TooMuchWifi, a network infrastructure and communications company. TooMuchWifii has been announced as the latest investment in the impact investing portfolio of MIC. The strategic investment will play a major role in enabling the Cape Town-based business to achieve its ambitions of providing economic internet solutions to all South Africans. This funding will be used to appoint a South African CEO and expand the local leadership team to drive expansion. The company that was established back in 2016. TooMuchWifi was conceptualised by Ian Thomson and Jonathan Endersby.…

German carmaker Mercedes-Benz deliveries reach 517,800 units or up 21% in Q3 in a volatile market with ongoing semiconductor supply bottlenecks. Mercedes-Benz added that EV ramp-up continues with Q3 Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) sales more than double to 30,000 units or up+115%. Mercedes-Benz is transforming at full speed. On the way towards a fully electric future, Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars increased BEV sales between July and September to 30,000 units, up 28% compared to Q2 and an increase of 115% compared with the year-earlier period. In the first nine months, sales of BEVs doubled to 75,400 units (+126%). September deliveries of…

The 100% Witwatersrand University-owned digital incubation hub, Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Pretoria, announced the call for entries for their Digital Twin Hackathon. Entries are open to 15 students from South Africa and 15 students from the Netherlands. The Digital Twin Hackathon holds the potential to benefit policy-making for the City of Johannesburg. 30 university students hold the power to combine their diverse experiences to solve problems that could change the narrative of municipalities in South Africa. The goal is to transform their hypotheses into theories and, ultimately, action. “Globally, the use of…

Pepkor IT, a division of JSE-listed retailer Pepkor, says it is continuously growing and seeking talented and skilled individuals to bring positive energy to its culture. On its website, Pepkor IT said it researches modern technologies and applies best practices to develop a centralized infrastructure that reduces costs and strengthens productivity for the Pepkor global group. Pepkor is a retailer with 28 million in-store customers and a footprint of 5,400 retail stores. The company owns stores such as Pep, Ackermans, Shoe City, etc. Pepkor IT said it was looking for a skills base in the following areas: Integration Developer Senior…

The City of Tshwane on Tuesday imposed a Stage 2 water restriction that includes a ban on the use of hosepipes to wash cars, clean driveways or patios, and fill up swimming pools. The move follows a notification by Rand Water, the water utility, informing the City of Tshwane, City of Johannesburg, and City of Ekurhuleni about the implementation of Stage 2 water restrictions. The water utility indicated that it had noted over the last 2 weeks that water consumption had increased significantly resulting in a decline in their overall reservoir storage capacity from 52% to 38%. Rand Water said…

Telkom informed investors today that it has received a non-binding offer from data-only network provider Rain. In a statement, Telkom said it was proceeding with its strategy to unlock value for its shareholders, underpinned by the view that its share price does not reflect its intrinsic value. “The Telkom Board of Directors, conscious of economic and market dynamics and in accordance with its legal obligations, is considering various strategic options, including non-binding merger and acquisition proposals received to date.” The company added: “Further to the SENS issued by Telkom on 12 August 2022, shareholders are advised that Telkom received a non-binding…

Capitec Bank announced yesterday that funeral plan income soared by 72% to R629 million in the six months ended 31 August 2022 compared to R366 million in the same period last year. The banking group said the increase was driven by growth in the active book, increased average premiums per policy and improved claims experience. Capitec informed investors that active policies increased to 2 million versus 1.5 million in the same period in 2021. At the end of August 2022, 8.9 million South Africans were covered by a Capitec funeral plan. “Persistency in the 12 months after a policy is issued is…

SA’s digital banking group Capitec informed investors today that its rewards programme, Live Better, now reaches 8.5 million customers. “Now fully-fledged, Live Better is already the fastest growing rewards programme in South Africa with 8.5 million clients that are registered,” Capitec said on Thursday. “Clients benefit from Bank Better rewards, automated savings tools, and Spend Better partner discounts as we aim to help clients save R1 billion by the end of February 2023.” The Live Better rewards programme encourages clients to Bank Better, Save Better and Spend Better. All credit card holders get 1% cash back on the value of…

Capitec Bank rewards shareholders with an interim dividend of 1,400 cents a share for the six months to end-August 2022, as the bank signs up 165 000 new customers a month for the past year. The bank informed investors today that directors resolved that a gross interim dividend of 1,400 cents per ordinary share be declared for the 6 months ended 31 August 2022  versus 1,200 cents a share on 31 August 2021. There are 116 099 843 ordinary shares in issue. The banking group added that on average, over 165 000 new clients have joined the bank every month…

BMW has unveiled the BMW XM, the first M car to deploy a plug-in hybrid system comprising a V8 petrol engine and an exceptionally powerful electric motor. The BMW XM is also the first BMW M original since the BMW M1. Production of the BMW XM will get underway at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in the USA in December 2022 before it arrives at dealers worldwide in spring 2023. The M HYBRID drive system in the BMW XM delivers an overall output of 480 kW (generated by the combination of the combustion engine with up to 360 kW and the…

Vodacom in Johannesburg stole the show in terms of being the fastest mobile operator across 12 African cities, a report by speed test service Ookla revealed on Monday. Ookla said Johannesburg led the pack, with a median download speed of 66.54 Mbps, ahead of Cape Town at 49.22 Mbps. Vodacom got ahead of MTN in Johannesburg and was the fastest operator across 12 cities we analysed, with a median download speed of 81.36 Mbps in Q2 2022 compared to 73.83 Mbps in Q1 2022. MTN was faster in Cape Town. “Taking 5G out of the equation, Orange in Gaborone, the…