Author: Gugu Lourie

African payments company pawaPay has secured a $9 million or R134 million seed raise. The round was co-led by MSA and UK-based investment fund 88mph, with participation from Vunani Capital,  Kepple Ventures and Zagadat Capital. The capital will be deployed to scale pawaPay’s operational presence, find more talent to join the team, and expand into new markets on the continent. Founded in 2020, pawaPay is focused on the mobile money infrastructure provided by telecommunications companies (telco) in Africa. Each telco in each country provides its own unique mobile money product, which makes the mobile money infrastructure as a whole  -…

Telkom today named Lunga Siyo as the new CEO of Telkom Consumer effective 1 October 2021. Siyo is set to take over from Serame Taukobong when he assumes the position of Group CEO Designate. Making the announcement, Telkom GCEO Sipho Maseko said, “as CEO of Telkom Small and Medium Business, supported the transition of Yellow Pages from a print to a digital business.” Siyo joined Telkom just over three years ago. Using his experience in the mobile and financial services sector, he led the introduction of Telkom’s value propositions in FinTech, e-commerce and mobile payments. “Lunga’s experience in mobile and…

Standard Bank Mobile announced today the introduction of fixed LTE starting from R139 a month for 20GB of anytime data. The operator said its fixed LTE offers Standard Bank customers a subsidised router and data. The company added that data allocations vary depending on which bank account you hold. Customers can also top up their data with recurring or once-off data bundles depending on their needs. “We are able to offer customers an opportunity to purchase devices for less, to access affordable and even in some cases, free data – simply for banking with us! Giving back value to individuals…

The Cabinet has reminded South Africans to submit their applications for the R350 COVID-19 Grant to support people who have no income. Applications for the grant opened on Friday, 6 August 2021. In a statement on Thursday, the Cabinet said it is conscious of the hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent public violence in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The Cabinet said the R350 per month grant is an important safety net for families who would otherwise be devastated by the scourge of poverty and unemployment. People between the ages of 18 and 60, who have…

Old Mutual is scouting for investment opportunities in the InsurTech industry as Africa’s oldest insurer seeks to enhance every aspect of our business through technology. Old Mutual, founded in Cape Town in 1845 and generates about 80% of its revenue in South Africa, announced today plans to expand its investments in innovation. The insurer said this would be done through a new collaboration with venture capital firm Anthemis Group. The company said through Anthemis Insurance Venture Growth Fund (AIVGF) it will deploy capital focused on series B and C companies in InsurTech. “While we have a number of investments in…

MTN Group is taking complete control of aYo, a mobile micro-insurance joint venture with SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan. The insurer is exiting the partnership. “We concluded an agreement to increase our shareholding in aYo to 100% as MMH exits the partnership,” MTN informed investors. “At the same time, we have announced a strategic alliance with Sanlam, which will help to accelerate our InsurTech growth on the continent, in line with our pan-African strategy. “ The aYo platform will form the base of the alliance with Sanlam, said the telco. The company said aYo insurance business had more than 13.6 million registered…

MTN’s Mobile Money (MoMo) business is riding high, adding millions of new users and attracting agents. MoMo allows users to purchase airtime, prepaid electricity, and pay for their municipal bills and DSTV subscriptions. Registered mobile money accounts in Africa grew 12% to 562 million in 2020, while monthly active accounts were 161 million, an 18% increase, according to the GSMA’s State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money 2021.08.16 The report also found that total transactions hit 27.5 billion (up 15%) valued at $495 billion or R7.3 trillion (up 23%). It has 171 active mobile money services. MTN seems to…

Phuthuma Nhleko, former CEO and executive chairman of MTN Group, has stepped down from Africa’s biggest mobile phone company’s international advisory board (IAB). “MTN wishes to advise shareholders that Phuthuma Nhleko has stepped down from the IAB, effective 6 August 2021,” the MTN statement reads. As announced at its inception, the IAB is MTN’s non-statutory body and does not have any fiduciary responsibility. “Phuthuma’ s contribution to the IAB, since 2019, has been invaluable and the board of directors of MTN wishes to extend its gratitude for his exemplary leadership and dedication to MTN and to his role as a member…

MTN Group on Thursday disclosed that its instant messaging platform, Ayoba, had reached 8 million monthly active users as of June 2021. Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator by subscribers said Ayoba has added 2.5 million new users since December 2020. MTN said the instant messaging platform has now been integrated into 18 MTN markets. “We rolled out an updated version of Ayoba, which includes music, gaming, channels and money transfer services.” In Nigeria, MTN’s biggest market and Africa’s populous market, the digital business continued to gain traction on the back of a strong partner ecosystem and the uptake of products…

MTN Group announced on Thursday it had initiated an exit of Syria, by abandoning the operation given the regulatory actions and demands that make operating in the market untenable. “We reserve our right to seek redress through international legal processes given the actions of the Syrian authorities that have left us with no other choice than to exit,” the company said in a financial results note to investors. MTN said in the first quarter Syria operation represented less than 1% of MTN Group EBITDA, before deconsolidation in February 2021. On 25 February 2021, the Administrative Court of Damascus placed MTN…

MTN GlobalConnect, a digital wholesale and infrastructure services company and an operating company in the MTN Group, is making inroads into the rest of the African markets as it clinches new fixed wholesale deals. MTN informed investors on Thursday that MTN GlobalConnect has recorded a healthy commercial and financial performance, signing new fixed wholesale deals to the value of $27.3 million or R400 million in total contract value terms during the first quarter. The company added that the unit also delivered growth in external revenue of 40.0% year-on-year to $45.5 million or R668 million (total revenue of $248 million or…

MTN SA has committed R10 million to support qualifying spaza shops in KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng that were decimated in the unrest. In the days following the unrest. MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa made a public plea for big businesses to work closely with small and micro-businesses to help re-establish and support those entities that were amongst the hardest hit during the rioting and looting. MTN has completed its review of the spaza shops with which it already has existing relationships, that were impacted by the unrest. Next week, MTN will open applications for other spaza shops that may be…

MTN South Africa has cut data prices by as much as 60% with the price of the 1GB of ad hoc data reduced to R85. “This further data price reduction as well as our efforts to supporting small businesses, are some of the most impactful ways we believe we can reignite the economy. Our efforts in this regard will be further enabled by the allocation of much-needed spectrum,” says Godfrey Motsa, MTN South Africa’s CEO. “A successful and sustainable South Africa needs large and small businesses prospering side by side and immediate release of the high demand spectrum that continuously…

Nedbank’s super app Avo, launched during the national lockdown, continues to scale significantly and targets business-to-business opportunities. Since its launch in app stores on 19 June 2020, Avo has signed up more than 265 000 customers, along with over 17 500 businesses registering and offering their products and services on this e-commerce platform. Nedbank informed investors on Wednesday that product orders continue to grow exponentially, up 45% in the second quarter of 2021 compared to the fourth quarter of 2020, which is seasonally a substantial period for retail sales. “Avo has been the first super app to market, and we intend…

Sbu Shabalala stepped down Tuesday as chief executive of Adapt IT, a JSE-listed software group helped found in 1998 and is now valued at R934 million. On May 10, Shabalala was granted a three-month leave of absence to attend to personal matters after he was accused of masterminding an attack on an Ethekwini municipality manager. Tiffany Dunsdon, chief commercial officer, who is interim CEO while Shabalala is on leave, will continue in her role, Adapt IT announced on Tuesday. “Shabalala has since taken the decision to terminate his employment with Adapt IT and resign as director of Adapt IT and…

South African mobile and fixed-line telephone customers seem to be generally doing well, thanks to the number portability regulation giving them more options: to choose when to stay or dump either Vodacom, MTN, Telkom Mobile and Cell C. By the end of July, the average mobile ports per month were more than 73,624, according to recent stats published by the Number Portability Company (NPC). The NPC was founded in 2006 to protect the customer by enabling him or her to vote with their feet when they are not happy with the Telco services, seems concerned with service woes. From November 2006 to the end…

The application channels for the R350 COVID-19 grant will be opened from Friday, 06 August, Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu, announced on Wednesday. The first payments will be made by the end of the month. President Cyril Ramaphosa announced last month that the government would reinstate the grant. How to apply for the R350 COVID-19 Grant? “Noting that R350 COVID-19 grant is still very much upon us, we will continue with measures to limit face to face interactions to manage social distancing and use the frontline application systems which had proven to be successful during the initial implementation of this…

Telkom announced today, the appointment of Serame Taukobong as Group CEO Designate with effect from 01 October 2021. TechFinancials speculated as early as February that Taukobong might be in the race to occupy the hot seat at Telkom. For more read: Is Serame Taukobong Heir Apparent to Telkom Boss Sipho Maseko? Making the announcement, Sello Moloko, Chairperson of Telkom said the organisation was pleased that its extensive search process confirmed the calibre of Telkom’s people. “Serame is a seasoned executive, with deep experience in the ITC sector in South African and the continent. “His appointment of Serame ensures continuity of…

Telkom Mobile – a growth engine for Telkom Group – continues to experience strong mobile and data subscriber growth for the first quarter ended June 2021 despite concerns from experts that this growth would taper off as competition intensifies. Telkom, valued at more than R20 billion, informed investors today that its revenue rose 3.5% year on year to R10.6 billion, mainly driven by the mobile business. The company, led by Sipho Maseko, who is leaving next year, said the Mobile business and the Masts and Tower (M&T) portfolio sustained their growth trajectory into the first quarter. While, the Consumer business, which includes Telkom…

MTN South Africa is planning to expand 5G – the fifth-generation wireless network – into Gqeberha and East London. The company said on Tuesday the plans are part of its R170 million investment in the Eastern Cape to offer consumers and businesses greater access to the world of digital opportunity in this important economic hub. “Our investment in the Eastern Cape will, in the short-term, ensure improved connection and data speed in areas that may have had connectivity challenges in the past while our longer-term strategic intent includes network modernization, network resilience, building new sites and 5G expansion, with the aim…

South African AgriTech Startup Khula has closed a seed round to the value of R20 million led by JSE-listed chemicals giant AECI. The company said on Wednesday that the funds will be used to expand to the rest of the African continent. The AgriTech startup provides small-scale and commercial size farmers with software and a marketplace to grow their business. Khula has been in an intensive pilot over the last three years, working with farmers of all sizes across South Africa. AECI has acquired a minority interest in Khula, as they believe that the platform will enable greater access to…

Sherry Singh, CEO of Mauritius Telecom, today launched the my.t 5G Experience Zones at the Hennessy Park hotel, Ebene, in the presence of Honourable Deepak Balgobin, Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation. With the deployment of four 5G Experience Zones in Ebène, at the University of Mauritius, at Bagatelle Mall and La City Trianon, Mauritius Telecom is propelling Mauritius on the world map of countries that have launched 5G. The country is now among the Top 10 African countries that have deployed this technology. Taking up the 5G challenge on the Mauritian market Singh stated that 5G is a…

MTN announced today that is a step closer to resolving the Afghanistan terrorism lawsuit. In the court papers, American families argue that for more than a decade, MTN has been integral to the Taliban’s terrorist campaign against Americans in Afghanistan. Africa’s and the Middle East biggest mobile phone operator faces a lawsuit filed United States District Court for the District of Columbia for violation of the anti-terrorism act. For more read: MTN To Defend Itself Against US Lawsuit for Alleged Funding the Taliban The American families argue alleges that the company paid the Taliban for protection, providing the insurgency with money…

Payments company Square today announced it is buying Australian “buy now, pay later” provider Afterpay in a $29 billion or R417 billion all-stock transaction. The acquisition aims to enable the companies to better deliver compelling financial products and services that expand access to more consumers and drive incremental revenue for merchants of all sizes. For Square, whose chief executive Jack Dorsey is also Twitter’s CEO, “Buy Now, Pay Later” (BNPL) presents an attractive opportunity supported by shifting consumer preferences away from traditional credit, especially among younger consumers, consistent demand from merchants for new ways to grow their sales, and the…

Telkom today unveiled the August Big Deal, which is data-packed and here to save you big bucks. The SmartBroadBand 20GB Wireless LTE SIM-Only August big deal offer with 80GB of data is available for R199 a month. The price for the SmartBroadband Wireless Unlimited Business Hours SIM-Only shall be available for the period from 1st July 2021 until 31st July 2021. The Telkom August Big Deal deal includes the following: 20GB Anytime data 20GB Night Surfer data Plus 20GB Anytime data 20GB extra Night Surfer data Huawei or D-Link router for an extra R70 R99 Once-off activation fee Also read: Telkom Enters The…