Author: Gugu Lourie

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey is stepping down as chief executive of the company. The social media giant said he will be replaced by the current chief technical officer, Parag Agrawal. Agrawal is currently the chief technology officer of Twitter. The company said Dorsey would step down immediately but that he would remain on the board until Twitter’s shareholder meeting in 2022. “I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders. My trust in Parag as Twitter’s CEO is deep. His work over the past 10 years has been transformational. I’m deeply…

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) has concluded its analysis of applications for provisional assignment of radio frequency spectrum under the new ICT COVID-19 National State of Disaster Regulations, 2021, and resolved to grant licences to six electronic communications network operators. The licences are valid for a period of seven months, commencing from 1 December 2021, and ending on 30 June 2022 – or three months after the termination of the National State of Disaster – whichever comes first. By the closing date on 17 November 2021, the Authority had received 6 applications, from: Rain Networks, Vodacom, Cell…

The MR Price app remains the highest-ranked South African fashion shopping app in the Google Play store. The South African retailer Mr Price says the Mr Price app has 1.1 million users and ranks highest in engagement with the most monthly active users amongst competitors, according to SimilarWeb. “The online channel remains key to the group’s future growth plans and to keep it closely connected to its digitally engaged customer base,” says Mr Price. The JSE-listed retailer also said that online sales continue to increase in retail sales contribution, up to 2.9% (2.7% excluding acquisitions). According to the retailer, online sales growth…

South African retailer Mr Price, which uses cellular handsets and accessories to drive footfall traffic into its stores and online platforms, reported strong growth in sales from its telecoms segment in the 26 weeks ended 2 October 2021. Today, the JSE-listed retailer reported that its Telecoms Business recorded a 22.8% rise in sales to R522 million against solid growth in the base of 18.6%. Mr Price attributed the strong growth in Telecoms Business to the inclusion of Power Fashion’s cellular sales. “Cellular handsets and accessories gained 80bps of market share according to GfK (100bps including acquisitions),” Mr Price informed investors. Telecoms Business sells cellular products and services. Mr…

Today, the South African retailer Mr Price reported that its Financial Services business saw a 2.7% increase in revenues to R337 million in the 26 weeks ended 2 October 2021. The retailer said the Financial Services business debtors’ interest and fees were adversely affected by significantly lower repo rates experienced during the full year 2022 period relative to the staggered impact in the full year 2021. “Collections continue to improve against a weak base and have additionally been aided by the successful introduction of alternate collection methods,” Mr Price informed investors. “The quality of the debtors’ book continues to improve,…

Africa’s tech investor Naspers reported that its e-commerce business saw revenue swelled by 52% $4.6 billion or R72 billion in the six months ending 30 September 2021, outpacing revenue growth at Tencent. The company said this performance was led by 100% growth in Classifieds, 86% growth in Food Delivery, 51% growth in Edtech, and 44% growth in Payments and Fintech. Analyst consensus estimates of the value of the e-commerce portfolio (excluding Tencent and VK/mail.ru) are increasing and is now approaching $50 billion or R786 billion. “This substantial value appreciation translates to a 22% internal rate of return (IRR) on the…

Electric vehicles (EVs) are key to a more sustainable future. In 2020, we saw a rapid acceleration in uptake, with sales of EVs rising by 43%. COP26 earlier this month has similarly reinforced the importance of net-zero and sustainable initiatives, which we expect to lead to further market growth. Yet, while EVs are predicted to represent 48% of all new cars sold in 2030, for this to come to fruition, an unbundling is required in the software and hardware which makes up the vehicle. “We believe that consumers will buy cars on the strength of their software,” Mina Samaan, VC…

MTN Group announced on Thursday it has sold its majority stake in MTN Yemen to an affiliate of its minority shareholder, Zubair Corporation LLC. Effective 17 November 2021, MTN Group transferred our majority shareholding in Yemen operations to Emerald International Investment LCC. Emerald is a subsidiary of Zubair Investment Centre LLC, an affiliate of Zubair Corporation LLC, which is the minority shareholder in MTN Yemen. “The decision to exit Yemen was driven by a need to simplify the portfolio and focus our limited resources on executing a pan-African strategy,” said MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita. “We would like to thank…

Vodacom today announced it has added 6.2 million new customers to reach a total 0f 129.9 million customers, including Safaricom on a 100% basis, in the six months to end-September 2021. The Vodafone-owned group said its local operation delivered service revenue growth of 3.6% driven by connectivity demand, an additional 1.1 million data customers, incremental wholesale revenue and growth in our new services. “This was an impressive result given the demanding comparative associated with lockdowns in the prior period.” Vodacom added that financial services customers, including Safaricom on a 100% basis, reached 57.3 million in the period. “Looking ahead, we…

Vodacom has increased its capital expenditure for its South Africa network expansion by 11.1% to R5.6 billion in the six months to end September 2021. The Vodafone-owned telco said the capital expenditure was directed at improving the capacity and resilience of the network and increasing the 5G roll-out. “We now have 97.7% (1H21: 96.4%) 4G population coverage and have extended our 5G sites to 521.” The company added that in the current financial year it will invest more than R10.5 billion into its world-class network, in addition to the R47 billion spent over the past five years alone. “This is…

South Africa’s JSE-listed retailer Woolworths is trialling electric delivery vans to deliver goods ordered online to people’s homes. “In line with our vision to be one of the most sustainable retailers in the world, in collaboration with DSV and Everlectric we are trialling electric panel vans into our online shopping delivery fleet, a first in the South African retail space,” Woolworths said in a Twitter post. https://twitter.com/WOOLWORTHS_SA/status/1458014172801818624 Woolworths wrote that to power the vans it sourced electricity from renewable and sustainable sources including rooftop Solar PV installations. “Where onsite generation of renewable energy is not available or practical, we offset…

Econet, which is owned by billionaire and philanthropist Strive Masiyiwa, has created Cassava Technologies, a parent company that will house its cloud and cybersecurity, FinTech, digital services and infrastructure activities including broadband networks, data centres, and renewable energy. The pan-African telecoms group said Cassava Technologies aims to empower individuals and businesses in Africa through digital solutions which drive the vision of a digitally connected future that leaves no African behind. The London-headquartered firm, which will be led by CEO Hardy Pemhiwa, will act as the parent company of Econet brands including Liquid Intelligent Technologies, Africa Data Centres, Liquid Cloud, Sasai…

Services group CSG Holdings is to be delisted from the JSE after the Patrice Motsepe-backed ARC Fund acquired its remaining shares. CSG offers staffing solutions and facilities management. The offer to buy CSG for cash consideration of 35c a share is being done through UBI General Partner, in its capacity as general partner of the ARC Fund, which through its wholly-owned portfolio investment company, Gemcap, is a 24.8% indirect shareholder in the company. CSG advised its shareholders that one of the conditions for the offer is that the company must be delisted from the JSE. “The transaction will be implemented…

JSE-listed banking group Nedbank’s super app Avo, launched during the national lockdown height, announced today it has  reached the 500 000-customer mark. The milestone comes as Avo launches its ‘Green is the New Black’ campaign for the hotly anticipated Black Friday season. With incredible up to 70% off deals in shopping, to R1 shock takeaway deals, Avo has something for everyone this month. “The growth we have seen on Avo has not only been exponential but inspiring in terms of how hungry South Africans are for the convenience of digitisation,” says, Ciko Thomas, Managing Executive: Retail and Business Banking at…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has finally given an approval in principle towards the licensing of MoMo Payment Service Bank (PSB) by MTN Nigeria. MTN Group announced today that MTN Nigeria, as promoter, received an approval in principle dated 4 November 2021, from the CBN for its application to operate the proposed MoMo Payment Service Bank. “This is the first step in the process towards a final approval, subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions as stipulated by the CBN,” MTN informed investors. The company affirmed its commitment towards financial inclusion agenda of the CBN and the Federal Republic…

MTN Group announced on Thursday its plans to proceed with a public offer to sell up to 575 million shares in its Nigeria business by way of a bookbuild to institutional investors and fixed price to retail investors. The company said the offer is anticipated to open in November 2021 with a bookbuild to institutional investors, after which a fixed price is expected to be announced for retail investors also in November 2021. MTN added that the offer is expected to close in December 2021. “This is the first step in our previously communicated statement of intent to sell down…

MTN Group announced on Thursday that it has added Active MTN Mobile Money (MoMo) customers increased by 2.2 million to 51.1 million. “We advanced financial inclusion, reaching 51 million MoMo customers in 16 markets, processing almost 20 000 transactions a minute, with the value of transactions up 67.2% year-on-year to $175.5 billion or R2.7 trillion,” said Ralph Mupita, CEO of MTN Group. Mupita said the group as it establish and scale its payment platform, the number of active merchants accepting MoMo payments increased by 58.3% year-on-year to 626 033 and the total value of MoMo merchant payments rose by 46.5%…

MTN Group announced on Thursday that it has added 4.1 million new data users in the quarter to September 2021 to reach 119 million total data subscribers. The company attributed this a robust demand for work-from-home services, digital entertainment as well as online education. Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator said this growth reflected a 52.6% growth versus the same period in 2020. The group said as a result data revenue grew by 34.5%. “It’s been a busy quarter, and I’m particularly pleased with the sustained operational momentum across our businesses,” said MTN Group President and Chief Executive Officer Ralph Mupita.…

Anglo American has appointed local insider Duncan Wanblad as its new CEO, replacing Mark Cutifani, the  JSE-listed mining group announced on Wednesday. Cutifani is retiring next year after nine years in the role. South African-born Wanblad will assume his new role on 19 April 2022. “I am honoured that the Board has given me the opportunity to lead this great company and our wonderful colleagues around the world. Having started my career underground as a junior engineer, I have never lost sight of what it takes to produce the metals and minerals that are ever more vital to support our…

South Africa’s online farm-produce marketplace HelloChoice is now reaching over 2,300 agricultural produce buyers and sellers. They have joined HelloChoice via its website and mobile app, trading over R150 million in the first three years. The marketplace aims to modernise the traditional buying and selling of agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, meat, dried beans and grains. HelloChoice also announced today an upgraded and enhanced version of the mobile app, bringing new features for both buyers and sellers. Responding to buyers’ needs to get the latest and up-to-date real-time offers as soon as they are available, the updated mobile app…

Mercedes-Benz today announced that it will be offering Dolby Atmos Music to a range of its top car models, providing the ultimate in-car audio experience to its customers and allowing listeners to connect with music to its fullest. The Dolby Atmos experience will be built into the optional Burmester high-end 4D and 3D sound system as well as integrated into the Mercedes-Maybach and shortly afterwards in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, turning the Mercedes-Benz vehicles into state-of-the-art concert halls on wheels. Powered by a total of 31 loudspeakers and eight sound transducers, also known as exciters, which will also be mounted into…

Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta as part of its bet on the next digital frontier called the metaverse. The change came after the social network giant came under fire for spreading misinformation and other issues. On Thursday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced Meta, which brings together our apps and technologies under one new company brand. Meta’s focus will be to bring the metaverse to life and help people connect, find communities and grow businesses. “As we embark on this next chapter, I’ve thought a lot about what this means for our company and our identity,” Zuckerberg said in the…

Pick n Pay ASAP!, formerly known as Bottles, is firing on all cylinders as shoppers see value in the grocery delivery mobile app. The retailers announced on Wednesday that comparable headline earnings per share (HEPS) swelled by 90.9% year-on-year, a resilient performance in a period marked by unprecedented civil disorder in South Africa and the resumption of government restrictions on alcohol sales in response to the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. Pick n Pay said it entered the financial year with positive trading momentum, and delivered a strong first-quarter result, with sales…

SA’s Telkom has recently partnered with Shop Lenovo to offer broadband solutions to customers of Lenovo. Through this partnership, Lenovo customers can now get laptops with varied Telkom Smart Broadband data packages. Telkom deals that are now bundled with selected Lenovo laptops are available through the Lenovo online store at www.shoplenovo.co.za on 24 months and 36 months contracts. These launch offers include a Mi-Fi router and for a limited period a wireless mouse, Microsoft Office 365 and a backpack. “We are thrilled to partner up with Lenovo to expand our customer reach and address their technology needs; it’s the perfect…

SEACOM, a fibre-led telecoms provider and owner of extensive ICT infrastructure across Africa, has announced a 100 Gbps upgrade for its IP network. This investment will allow Internet Service Providers (ISPs), CDN’s, Global and African Providers to leverage SEACOM’s network infrastructure to access the increased flexibility, scalability, and capacity that this upgrade will enable and will also benefit downstream connected business and Internet end-users in the region. SEACOM launched the first submarine cable system on the East Coast of Africa in July 2009, providing the continent with fast, reliable, and cost-effective fibre connectivity. In 2014, SEACOM pioneered 10 Gbps IP…