Author: Gugu Lourie

Patrice Motsepe-backed ARC Investments today announced that TymeBank South Africa (TymeBank) and Tyme Global have completed a $70 million or R1.1 billion Series B capital raise. The capital raise was led by China’s Tencent and CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution. The investment makes  Tencent and CDC Group shareholders of both TymeBank and Tyme Global. “The investment will enable Tyme to use its digital infrastructure to accelerate the rollout of financial services to TymeBank’s historic mass-market customer base,” ARC Investment informed shareholders today. “The two investors’ capital and expertise will be used to strengthen Tyme’s ability to manage risk…

South Africa’s FinTech player Crossfin is eyeing acquisition opportunities in the remittance market. The plan is for the company — which is backed by ARC Financial Services, a unit of billionaire Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Capital, and private equity firm Ethos —  to bulk up its remittance capability. Dean Sparrow, Crossfin CEO, has big plans to pursue a remittance acquisition. “What we don’t have is a remittance competence. Remittance will be a complementary additional capability to our base platform. So, we will be looking at our pipeline of opportunities,” he said. The remittance market is huge in the rest of…

SA’s investment holding company Labat Africa, which is expanding into the fast-growing market for medical cannabis, has received a regulatory nod to float the business on the Deutsche Börse. The global market for CBD products is rapidly growing, with Labat saying earlier in 2020 the legal African cannabis market could be worth R104billion by 2023, and SA’s market worth R10.5 billion. Labat Africa said in a statement that the application to list its equity shares on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) has been approved by the Deutsche Börse in an official announcement on Friday, 3 December 2021. The JSE-listed company…

Twitter announced Tuesday that it is revising its privacy policy to block the sharing of photos and videos of people without their consent. In a blog post, the company said there are growing concerns about the misuse of media and information that is not available elsewhere online as a tool to harass, intimidate, and reveal the identities of individuals. “Sharing personal media, such as images or videos, can potentially violate a person’s privacy, and may lead to emotional or physical harm,” Twitter said in the blog post. “The misuse of private media can affect everyone, but can have a disproportionate…

The BMW Concept XM provides a first glimpse of the new front-end design for BMW’s forthcoming luxury-class models. It will also introduce its audience to a highly progressive and distinctive take on BMW X model design and an all-new form of luxury and sense of space for the interior. The series-production model – the BMW XM – will be built from the end of 2022 at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in the USA, the most important sales market for the new high-performance car. BMW M will therefore be introducing its first standalone vehicle since the legendary BMW M1 in the…

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,…