Author: Gugu Lourie

Synthesis Software Technologies is planning to invest in Mauritius and employ top local talent. The company, owned by JSE-listed FinTech firm Capital Appreciation (Capprec), planned to open its fourth office in Mauritius in 2020, however, was delayed by the spread of COVID-19. The company said in a statement that it still intends to open a local office in Mauritius. Synthesis has partnered with BYRD Consulting as one of its first steps to invest in the island. BYRD, a Mauritian company led by CEO Alex Bechard, offers management consultancy services that help companies elevate financial strategy, accelerate growth, and raises capital.…

JSE-listed technology company Jasco has promoted Warren Prinsloo to the position of CEO. He will replace the interim CEO, Pete da Silva. As committed to the market, Da Silva stepped in as interim CEO to ensure stability to the group following the resignation of the previous CEO nine months ago, the company said. Da Silva will resume his role as alternate non-executive director to the Deputy Chairman. Prinsloo, who has been the company’s group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the last 15 years, will takeover as CEO with effect from 1 March 2021. He is also currently filling the role…

The Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) Innovation Hub has announced the launch of Project Khokha 2 to explore the policy and regulatory implications of innovation in financial markets driven by distributed ledger technology. Distributed Ledger Technology, such as blockchain, is all about the idea of a “decentralised” network against the conventional “centralised” mechanism. The IFWG was established to respond to changes in the the financial sector is driven by financial technology (FinTech) and promote responsible innovation. The IFWG is made up of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the National Credit Regulator (NCR), National Treasury,…

Teddy Daka, the chairman of JSE-listed group Etion, is joining engineering group Zutari as a joint-CEO. Daka will co-lead Zutari together with current CEO Dr Gustav Rohde. He will focus on digital transformation, technology, strategic partnerships and future growth of Zutari. He is no stranger to the Zutari business, having served as a strategic partner since 2007. As Global Chairman of the Aurecon board from 2013 to 2019, Daka was a key driver of demerging and establishing Zutari. The company officially launched in July 2020 following the decision by the owners of Aurecon Africa in October 2019 to demerge from…

IG, a  global firm based in London that specializes in online derivatives trading, has appointed Ndabezinhle Mkhize as an independent chairman of IG Markets South Africa. The company said Mkhize brings over 20 years of local financial services experience to the board. The company ahs been operating in the country for more than 10 years. Mkhize joins IG as it embarks on a significant expansion in its operations in Johannesburg. The company is creating more than 40 new, high-skilled, high-tech jobs, representing a 65% increase in the Johannesburg workforce. Mkhize is the Chief Investment Officer at Eskom Pension and Provident Fund.…

The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team in Germiston arrested Adriraan Pillay (39) for alleged fraud and corruption involving approximately R130 million tender scam at Cell C. It is alleged that Pillay and his co-accused, Ismail Adanjee Mohamed (44) were both Information Technology (IT) executives at Cell C. He is the second former Cell C IT professional to be arrested and charged in relation to the case. It is allegedly that Pillay and Mohammed colluded with a director of a contracted entity responsible for IT and network service provider, falsely inflated invoices which resulted in an actual loss of over…

Self-driving startup Aurora announced that it entered a partnership with Toyota and auto-parts supplier Denso to develop autonomous ride-sharing vehicles at scale, beginning with a fleet of Toyota Sienna minivans. Engineering teams from Aurora and Toyota will work together to develop and test driverless-capable vehicles equipped with the Aurora Driver, starting with the Toyota Sienna, the self-driving startup said in a blog on Tuesday. Aurora added that by the end of 2021, it expects to have designed, built, and begun testing an initial fleet of these Sienna’s near our areas of development. “Toyota has an unparalleled legacy, engineering expertise, leadership,…

Kia has announced a new brand strategy which will see the automaker transition to electric cars and redefining the entire mobility ecosystem. The company stated that under the new “Plan S” strategy it plans to launch seven new electric cars globally by 2027. It is starting with the launch of its first dedicated electric vehicle (EV) later this year. Kia will strengthen its EV lineup by 2026 with 11 new models – seven dedicated EVs built on the Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) architecture, and four based on existing ICE derivatives. EVs built on E-GMP aim to set new benchmarks in All-Electric…

MTN announced it plans to sell its 20% associate stake in Belgacom International Carrier Services SA (BICS) to Proximus Group for R1 billion (€100 million). The Proximus Group is the largest telecommunications company in Belgium, headquartered in Brussels. In 2009, BICS and MTN announced the next step in their strategic co-operation by combining their international carrier services, resulting in MTN holding an equity stake in BICS. At the time, the current shareholders of BICS were Belgacom and Swisscom. In terms of the transaction, MTN contributed to BICS the assets of MTN ICS, its international wholesale subsidiary, which generated revenues of…

Facebook said in a statement that it plans to remove posts with false claims that COVID-19 vaccines are “toxic, dangerous or cause autism”. The social media company said it made in consultation with groups like the World Health Organization (WTO), to expand the list of false claims it will remove on its platforms, including Instagram. In October, Facebook prohibited people and companies from purchasing advertising that included false or misleading information about vaccines. In December, it threatened to remove posts with claims that the WTO or government agencies had debunked. The social network says it will also remove posts that claim COVID-19 is human-made…

Telkom’s mobile business is a company reborn. A few years ago, Telkom Mobile, which was known as Heita and 8ta and launched in October 2010, was facing an uncertain future as South Africa’s fourth mobile operator. Fast forward to today, and Telkom Mobile is back in the game and has surpassed struggling Cell C to become South Africa’s third-largest mobile operator. Today, Telkom announced that Telkom Mobile is gaining more market share. Telkom Consumer Business, which is run by Serame Taukobong, continues to be the driver of growth. The Mobile company sustained its growth trajectory with mobile service revenue growing by…

A British woman has been detained and faces a R2 million (AED500,000) fine in Dubai after her flatmate reported her for saying ‘f**k you’ in a private WhatsApp row during the lockdown. She has admitted sending a ‘f*** you’ message during a row over the use of a dining room table last October. The MailOnline reported that the 31-year-old unnamed women face charges under the United Arab Emirate’s (UAE) strict cyber-crime laws. Saying ‘f*** you’ is considered a crime in Dubai, as the word “disgraces the honour or the modesty” of a person, according to Article 373 of the UAE…

The Nigerian Central Bank has instructed banks to immediately close accounts related to cryptocurrencies, stating such deals are “prohibited”. In a letter published on its website dated February 5, 2021, the Nigerian Central Bank warned Nigerian financial institutions against having any transactions in crypto or facilitating crypto exchanges. The Nigerian Central Bank’s circular notified Deposit Money Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions, other financial institutions and the public against doing business in crypto and other digital assets. The circular, which you can find here, reads: “The Central of Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) circular of January 12, 2017 ref FPR1DIR/GEN/C1R106/010 which cautioned Deposit…

Telkom announced on Friday that it has promoted Dirk Reyneke to the position of Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) His appointment is effective from today. Last December, Reyneke was appointed as the acting CFO after the resignation of Tsholofelo Molefe. Molefe joined the MTN Group board and took over from Sugentharan Perumal who has been acting in the position of GCFO since 1 September 2020. Perumal took on that role following the appointment of Ralph Mupita as MTN’s new president and CEO, replacing Rob Shuter. For more read: MTN Taps Telkom CFO As New Finance Chief Reyneke was the CFO of…

US-based LegalTech startup Lupl, an open industry platform for legal matters, wants to digitise South Africa’s legal sector. The company recently secured $14 million (R210 million) in a recent funding round as it builds momentum for its launch this year. Lupl’s latest funding round is in addition to the more than $10 million (R150 million) raised before its beta launch, taking its overall financing to over $25 million (R375 million) and making it amongst the most well-backed legal technology startups at its stage of development. The platform is currently in beta testing and will have its public release in 2021. The…

Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator in terms of subscribers, continues to make inroads into the insurance space as it attracts more customers. The Vodafone-owned company is pushing into the insurance market by covering life, funeral, device insurance and various short-term insurance services to existing and new customers. The Accenture Disruptability Index 2.0 ranks insurance as the fourth most disrupted sector, the most susceptible to future disruption, and one of the least innovative sectors. Insurance has lagged many other sectors in adopting digital technologies to transform its core, embrace customer-focused experience design, and weave its offering into people’s daily lives and organisations’…

Jeff Bezos announced on Tuesday that he was stepping down as CEO of the e-commerce giant Amazon in the third quarter of 2021. He will retain the title of chairman. The new CEO of the e-commerce giant will be Andy Jassy, ​​currently head of the group’s cloud arm Amazon Web Service (AWS). The company announced the news alongside its financial results with net sales increasing 44% to $125.6 billion (R1.8 trillion) in the fourth quarter of 2020, versus $87.4 billion (R1.2 trillion) in fourth quarter 2019. “I’m excited to announce that this Q3 I’ll transition to Executive Chair of the Amazon Board…

Uber announced on Tuesday that it is buying alcohol delivery service Drizly for $1.1 billion (R16.5 billion) in stock and cash. The US-based on-demand alcohol marketplace is available in more than 1,400 cities across US states. Drizly works with thousands of local merchants to provide consumers with an incredible selection of beer, wine, and spirits with competitive, transparent pricing. After the completion of the transaction, Drizly will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber. The marketplace of Drizly will eventually be integrated with the Uber Eats app while maintaining a separate Drizly app. “Drizly has spent the last 8 years building…

Vodacom Financial Services business continues to attract more customers as it experienced strong growth for the period to end 31 December 2020. Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’s CEO, informed investors that the Financial Services business remains a strong performer having increased revenue by 24.3%, as the business continues to scale. “Our partnership with Alipay will add new dimensions to our Financial Services’ proposition and in particular, VodaPay, which will become our single lifestyle super app.” Vodacom plans to create a ‘super app’ in partnership with digital payment provider Alipay, part of China’s Alibaba group, to allow consumers in South Africa to shop…

Vodacom is providing fibre to more than 110 000 home and business customers in South Africa. The Vodafone-owned company said on Tuesday that its fibre customers more than doubled year-on-year to 110 000 homes and businesses connected. “Also, our owned fibre roll-out continued, and we passed 139 000 homes and businesses as at 31 December 2020, up 39.8%,” the company said in a statement. The company also announced strong growth for its business unit. Vodacom Business service revenue grew 6.1% to R3.9 billion in the quarter ended 31 December 2020, with corporate and university data demand moderating from the elevated levels…

Israeli automotive data firm Otonomo announced on Monday it is to list on Nasdaq through a business combination with Software Acquisition Group Inc. II. The deal gives Otonomo a valuation of $1.4 billion. As part of the transaction, Otonomo will fetch $307 million in cash, including a $172.5 million private investment from investors such as Fidelity Management & Research Co and BNP Paribas Asset Management Energy. The company also said strategic investors Dell Technologies Capital and Hearst Ventures, would provide support of $25 million of cash currently on hand. The company said cash proceeds from the transaction would be used to fund…

Yesterday Mybroadband reported that R219 million was paid to three top executives at struggling Cell C. We note with amusement that this is the same story TechFinancials published three years ago. Original story: R219 Million Paid To Three Top Execs At Cell C in 2017 Yesterday’s Mybroadband story did not make any reference to TechFinancials. Here is their story: Cell C execs paid R219 million while the company burned For more read: Cell C CEO Got A Chunk Of R219 Million Payout, No bonus For Workers and Cell C Move To Terminate Franchisees Stores Backfires However, Financial Mail on the 27 September…

The Cortex Group in South Africa says Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven platforms can help transform health and financial wellness for everyone. “There is a magnificent opportunity to create a scalable AI-driven platform for health and financial wellness for our people and the rest of the African continent and beyond,” said Dr Jacques Ludik. The founder of both the Cortex Group (and subsidiary Cortex Logic, which is an AI Engine for Business and developer of the AI-driven platforms) and Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa made the remarks on Sunday. Speaking to TechFinancials via Microsoft Teams, Dr Ludik said his Cortex Group had…

The Progressive Blacks in ICT (PBICT), a lobby group, today took a swipe at the ‘elite privileged black consortium’ for its stance in the debate about the licensing process for Wireless Open Access Network (WOAN). Late last year, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) published an invitation to invest in the country’s planned WOAN, a creation of a private sector-led wholesale operator to compete with Vodacom and MTN. The South African government anticipates the WOAN will eventually lead to lower mobile data retail prices. It is envisaged that WOAN will bring much-needed competition into the services layer of…

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) says it will oppose MTN’s court action over the upcoming 5G spectrum auction. MTN filed papers in the high court in Pretoria on Wednesday to declare unlawfully, and to review, correct or set aside two decisions made by ICASA which relate to the spectrum auction process. The mobile phone operator MTN asks the court to declare Icasa’s process for awarding the 3.5GHz spectrum unlawful. In December,  Telkom in December filed an urgent court application saying it considers the regulator’s spectrum auction process to be irregular and unlawful. ICASA said in a statement on…