Author: Gugu Lourie

The European Union (EU) has launched a digital COVID Certificate, which allows people to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, a recent negative test result, or past COVID-19 infection. The certificate will be available in a national language and English said the EU. The certificate consists of a QR code displayed on a device (like a smartphone or a tablet) or printed, and a digital signature, verified via EU Gateway. The certificate is issued for free by their national authorities and recognised by all EU 27 member states as well as Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. The EU said if a country is not ready…

BMW i Ventures, the venture capital arm of BMW Group, is spending $300 million or R4.2 billion to invest in early-and-mid-stage tech startups that operate in the transportation, manufacturing, supply chain, and sustainability industries. Founded in 2016, BMW i Ventures is the BMW Group’s venture capital unit for investing in fast-growing technology start-ups. The aim of this unit is to make financially attractive investments that create strategic value-added for the BMW Group. With a broad focus that includes areas such as digital vehicle technology, autonomous driving, shared and on-demand mobility, electromobility, Industry 4.0 and customer innovation, BWM i Ventures is…

Zoom announced it has bought Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions – Kites, a start-up dedicated to developing real-time Machine Translation (MT) solutions. Kites was founded in 2015 and has academic roots with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where co-founders Dr. Alex Waibel and Dr. Sebastian Stüker are faculty members. “We are continuously looking for new ways to deliver happiness to our users and improve meeting productivity, and MT solutions will be key in enhancing our platform for Zoom customers across the globe,” said Velchamy Sankarlingam, president of Product and Engineering at Zoom. “With our aligned missions to make collaboration frictionless – regardless…

Microsoft Office suite – Word, Powerpoint, Excel, and their siblings –  is for free for South Africans between the ages of 8 – 24. The offer is under the Mahala scheme, which will enable young people to be able to activate Microsoft licenses for the Microsoft Office 365 suite and 5TB OneDrive cloud-based storage services free of charge. The Mahala.ms offer is part of a broader “Digital Skills Hub”, which aims to position South Africa as a smart, connected, and competitive global player. Through the Digital  Skills Hub, brought to you by Microsoft SA and SAtion, the organisation says it…

I recently met Mobit founder, Njabulo Maphumulo, at MaAgnes Ndlovu’s spaza shop in Hambanathi. The place was lively. There was a boy washing a minibus taxi while playing a popular song by Emtee titled: Ghetto Hero. Hambanathi is in Tongaat, about 10km from King Shaka International Airport in Durban. Not far from the taxi other youngsters were standing in groups peering into their smartphones. A few giggling girls were buying mobile data from the spaza shop. The lyrics of Ghetto Hero goes: “Without you I’m nothing.  You turned me into something, yeah.  I wanna be, I wanna be a ghetto hero, yeah yeah.  I wanna be,…

The Google Assistant-powered Lenovo Smart Clock 2 has a wireless charging dock, which can also act as “a soft, ambient nightlight.” The new Lenovo Smart Clock 2 takes nightstands by storm (sans prying camera for visual privacy). Built for the bedroom, or wherever you need a clock that does it all, the Lenovo Smart Clock 2’s updated design, seamless tubing, and compact footprint blends in with nearly any home décor. Its fabric soft-touch, the organic-looking exterior is offered in three fashionable yet neutral hues: Shadow Black, Heather Grey and Abyss Blue. The Lenovo Smart Clock 2 with a wireless charging dock helps eliminate…

Naspers has published its integrated annual report for 2021, showing what its top executives were paid in the last year. Bob van Dijk, CEO of Naspers and its European-listed spin-off Prosus, took home the largest salary at the group in 2021, earning R235 million or $16.6 million) for the year. Van Dijk total remuneration consists of: Fixed remuneration of $1.48 million or R20.9 million Short-term incentives of $1.42 million or R20.1 million Long-term incentives of $13.6 million or R192 million Pension, Medical insurance, life and disability insurance of $1,42 million or R20.1 million While Naspers and Prosus chief financial officer…

Big data, Artificial intelligence (AI), and business intelligence capabilities are at the heart of Vodacom’s efforts to enhance customer experience. The Vodafone-owned company intends to embed itself in the lives of customers. Vodacom Financial and Digital Services are using data analytics to help spot trends and identify customer behaviour patterns. The analytics allows the Vodacom South Africa subsidiary to better meet customers’ demands. This also enables the company to make the right decisions underpinned by real-life data. “We are currently investing a lot around data analytics, big data, and AI to understand different behavioural insights of our customers to ensure…

The VodaTrade platform developed by Vodacom Financial and Digital Services is starting to come alive ahead of the launch of its Super App. The Super App, known as VodaPay, will be the central hub for its financial services and e-commerce offerings. It will be hosting most of South Africa’s leading retail brands across all key verticals for both consumers and merchants. VodaTrade is a supplier portal, where the small supplier will go digital and connect with big business partners. VodaTrade is a one-stop interface for small businesses to interact with all aspects of their trade. Some key features include analytics,…

Technology is changing how business is conducted, and companies such as Vodacom Financial and Digital Services are at the centre of this transformation. Lenders have already taken to the Internet to loan out money and applications can be done online, even via smartphone or USSD code. For those looking to get loans, this is just the beginning of exciting new things to come. Vodacom Financial and Digital Services, a subsidiary of Vodacom South Africa, is positioning itself to be at the centre of that excitement. Vodacom Financial and Digital Services have created Africa’s first Super App with Alipay. Vodacom Financial…

Naspers announced today it had spent $54.8 million (R786 million) to buy out non-controlling shareholders in Takealot, South Africa’s largest online retailer. As a result, the JSE-listed company now holds a 100% interest (96% fully diluted) in Takealot. Naspers added that this deal resulted in the cancellation of the written put option liability for this subsidiary which will be derecognised. The group is assessing the impact of this transaction on equity. Furthermore, Naspers announced that the Takealot group in South Africa also had a solid year, growing revenue by 55% to $606 million (R8, 6 billion). At the same time,…

EdTech (education technology) is a considerable focus for Prosus, which invests in companies that help democratize access to quality education worldwide. Prosus, one of the largest technology investors in the world, announced today that after just five years of investment, it would reach well over 500 million learners every month in this rapidly growing sector. “We see exciting opportunities to deepen their learning experience over time,” the Naspers-owned company said. “If this past year has shown us anything it is that technology can fundamentally change a sector and enable it to scale much quicker, and this is especially true in…

OLX Group – the world’s leading classifieds platform focused on emerging markets, both mobile and online – has attracted 22 million new customers in full-year 2021. The Prosus-backed classified group announced today that average monthly users reached 322 million by year-end, compared to 300m the previous year. The classified group also recorded 58 million new listings and 116 million active app users, with 19 million unique listers each month and 4,1 million paying listers. Prosus said in a statement that OLX Group became profitable overall in 2020 and remained so this year, despite the initial challenges of the pandemic and…

You can now buy wine at BP petrol stations after the retailer was granted a liquor licence. The retailer today launched a wine to-go offer through the Pick n Pay Express forecourt convenience store at BP Radiokop, north of Johannesburg. “In line with bp’s new strategy to ‘adapt to and grow its convenience and mobility business,’ our primary objective is fully to leverage innovation to unlock new value for our customers,” said Belinda Petersen, bpSA head of convenience. “Our strategic partnerships with South Africa’s leading brands such as Pick n Pay and Mr D place us on the front foot.”…

In South Africa, Vodacom has to maintain and improve its extensive network to differentiate itself, remain competitive and ensure positive consumer sentiment. Furthermore, the Vodafone-owned telco has to ensure that the quality of its service is in line with government regulations. The South African Government has also recently introduced a carbon tax that will further increase the operating costs of running Vodacom’s network sites. Vodacom also felt the pressure of the increased demand for digital products during COVID-19. In South Africa, Vodacom says this was further exacerbated by load shedding, which adversely affects its electricity supply and thereby increased dependency…

Maya Makanjee, a former Chief Officer, Corporate Affairs at Vodacom, has been named as the non-executive chairman of JSE-listed tech group Datatec. Makanjee replaces long-serving non-executive chairman Stephen Davidson on 1 March 2022. Davidson was appointed as non-executive chairman of Datatec on  1 February 2007. “I am delighted to be passing the chairmanship of Datatec to such a distinguished successor who has been a highly respected and trusted board colleague for the past few years,” Davidson said. Maya Makanjee has also been appointed to the Nominations Committee with effect from 1 July 2021 and her current role as Chairman of…

A  black-controlled consortium called K2020893770 is buying Sybrin, a subsidiary of JSE-listed tech firm EOH, for R334 million. The business currently sits under EOH Mthombo. The consortium comprises of One Thousand & One Voices Management (Mauritius) Ltd (“1K1V”) and Crossfin Technology Holdings (Pty) Ltd (CFTH) and their black economic empowerment partners led by Isaac Mophatlane. Mophatlane is co-founder of Business Connexion, rebranded by parent company Telkom into  BCX, with his late brother Benjamin Mophatlane. EOH said the base purchase price, after adjusting for net debt, non-operating assets and working capital, equates to an enterprise value (EV) of R410 million implying…

Relativity Space, a 3D printed rocket startup, has secured $650 million (R8,8 billion) in funding to scale its Terran R, its fully reusable, entirely 3D-printed launch vehicle. Investment round led by Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC, with new investors including funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Centricus, Coatue, and Soroban Capital, in addition to participation from existing investors Baillie Gifford, K5 Global, Tiger Global, Tribe Capital, XN, Brad Buss, Mark Cuban, Jared Leto, and Spencer Rascoff The Terran R will be entirely reusable and capable of launching 20,000kg to low Earth orbit, starting in 2024 at the company’s launch…

Telkom has unveiled the June Big Deal, which brings more streaming, gaming and monate to your home. The June Big Deal is a SIM-only package that is available for R199/m x24. You get a total of 80GB on SmartBroadband 20GB Wireless. That’s 40GB Anytime data + 40GB Night surfer data. Make it an even bigger deal, and a smoother connection by adding a WiFi router for an extra R70 PM. “Connect to a mobile device of your choosing and take monate with you wherever you go. Let your friends and family join in on the monate with a LTE WiFi…

Huhtamaki, a global key advanced manufacturer of sustainable packaging solutions, is setting up a new manufacturing unit in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The new manufacturing unit is to serve its existing and new egg packaging customers in the KwaZulu-Natal area with a broad range of locally produced packaging solutions. The new facility will be located close to one of South Africa’s main export ports, enabling competitive exports of egg packaging for customers across East Africa. “The addition of a unit in KwaZulu-Natal is an important addition to our fiber packaging footprint in South Africa not only providing efficiencies in our…

PnP Mobile, which was launched last November, is introducing 1G of data for R20 less at R79 with a 12-month data expiry term. The offer is available to purchase until 11 July 2021. PnP Mobile customers also qualify to earn free data rewards each month when linking their Smart Shopper card to their SIM. A tiered rewards system for Smart Shoppers enables them to earn up to 2.5GB in free data rewards each month. In addition, Smart Shoppers earn loyalty points when purchasing PnP Mobile service products. Smart Shoppers will earn data rewards in addition to loyalty points when shopping…

Retailer Pepkor – the owner of Pep, Flash, Capfin, Incredible Connection – has appointed new independent non-executive directors to its board including ICT industry veteran Isaac Mophatlane. Today, the JSE Listed retailer Pepkor announced new five directors to its board consisting of Mophatlane, Paula Disberry, Ian Kirk, Hester Hickey, Zola Malinga. “The appointments have been made with the objectives of enhancing and widening the skill set of the board and to strengthen the independence and diversity components of the Board,” said the company. Herewith below the profiles of the new non-executive directors Mophatlane is the Managing Director of Randvest Capital…

The FinTech business of retailer Pepkor, consisting of Flash and Capfin, reported a 68.8% rise in operating profit to R336 million for the six months ending 31 March 2021. Pepkor also disclosed that the FinTech business increased revenue by 3.1% to R4.5 billion for the period. The retailer also revealed that the Flash business continued double-digit revenue growth as it invests in new products, technology and channels. “There are currently 196 000 traders who are empowered to grow their businesses and create job opportunities in their local communities,” the company said. “Virtual turnover per device increased by 20% year-on-year, which speaks to a…

Today, South African retailer Mr Price reported lower credit sales and increased write-offs in its Financial Services business, pushing the segment revenue lower. The retailer said Financial Services business revenue decreased 14.5% to R653 million in the year to end April. The Financial Services segment manages Mr Price’s trade receivables and sells financial services products “Lower credit sales, increased write-offs, lower interest rates and fewer new account approvals, all results of COVID-19 consumer impact, affected performance,” the company said. “The total debtors’ book decreased 14.0% to R2 billion, and the group’s impairment provision increased to 13.4% of the debtors’ book…

South African retailer Mr Price, which uses cellular handsets and accessories to drive footfall traffic into its stores and online platforms, reported strong growth from its telecoms segment in the year to end-April 2021. The company said online traffic increased 65.7%  in the year to end-April 2021, with 86.4% of this traffic generated from mobile devices, placing the brand firmly in the hands of its customers. Today, the JSE-listed retailer reported that its Telecoms Business grew 11.6% to R862 million in the year to end-April, driven by cellular growing 35.9% and gaining 90 basis points (bps) of market share according to GfK. Double-digit…