Author: Gugu Lourie

South African FinTech group Capital Appreciation Limited (Capprec) today delivered strong growth for the six months ended 30 September 2020 boosted by ongoing acceleration in digital transformation and electronic payments. Capprec said on Wednesday revenue grew by 15% to R323.7 million and EBITDA by 20.2% to R81.6 million. The group’s headline earnings increased by 7.8% to R54.2 million. In the prior period, Capprec concluded and successfully executed a transaction that included the share repurchase and cancellation of 245 million shares. The lower number of shares in issue benefited headline earnings per share (HEPS), which grew by 29.7% to 4.45 cents…

Herotel, South Africa’s junior fibre network operator, on Monday announced the milestone of reaching 100 000 subscribers with its fibre and fixed wireless networks. Founded in 2014 with the stated goal of providing a single national fibre and wireless broadband provider that can better service South Africa’s growing internet connectivity needs, Herotel acquired around 39 owner-operated businesses and 45 000 customers over a four-year period. Operating in over 400 towns, Herotel is at the forefront of building, selling and maintaining its own next-generation fibre and fixed-wireless networks across the country, which requires servicing areas that many other industry players have not…

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) announced today that it had approved the amendment of the ICT COVID-19 National State of Disaster Regulations to extend the validity period of the temporary assignment of the radio frequency spectrum. In April, ICASA assigned a temporary emergency spectrum to telecommunications operators to ensure connectivity for all during the National State of Disaster period. The regulator has extended the temporary emergency spectrum to telecommunications to no later than 31 March 2021. The initial date within which the temporary spectrum was supposed to be returned to the Authority was 30 November 2020. “The…

Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) has selected Vodacom as partner to provide in-car streaming services. The new streaming service will be available to Toyota Connect and Lexus Connect. In August 2019, Toyota South Africa teamed up with Altron and Vodacom Business, to roll-out connectivity features and in-car Wi-Fi on all new Toyota and Lexus models. Known as Toyota Connect, the new connectivity hub will be housed within the MyToyota App which was launched in 2014. The technology allows Toyota owners access to a myriad of convenience, connectivity and safety benefits. Through its subsidiary, Netstar, Altron jointly designed and developed the…

The outgoing boss of Etion, Teddy Daka, has been appointed as the non-executive chairman of the struggling JSE-listed company. The appointment is effective from 1 February 2021. The diversified digital technology company announced earlier this month that Daka has resigned as CEO of the group. His resignation is effective from 31 January 2021. Daka replaces Dr Snowy Khoza, the chairman of the group, who will resign on 31 December 2020 from the diversified digital technology company. The company also announced the appointment of Nerishini Naidoo as the Group Chief Financial Officer with effect from 1 February 2021. The JSE-listed firm…

The latest data released today by MTN shows the value of MTN MoMo (mobile money) transactions was $61,2 billion (R926 billion) in the first half of 2020. Africa’s largest mobile phone group said in the first half of 2020 processed 11 752 MoMo transactions a minute across its markets, up 28% from 9 193 transactions a minute in 2019. The group said it remains committed to leveraging its technology to enable a cashless Africa. By the end of September 2020, nearly 42 million people were regularly transacting on MTN MoMo across 16 markets. This compares to 38 million active users at the end…

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has published new research proposing how should FinTechs handle non-traditional (alternative) data on the provision of financial services in South Africa. There’s currently no protection for South Africans who exposes their alternative data to FinTechs, and the use of these non-traditional data is not regulated. Alternative data has grown in prominence in South Africa and is increasingly being used by FinTechs and traditional financial institutions in serving customers. FinTechs are making use of external data like social site postings, search engine keywords, online transactions, photo albums, and group chats to gather insights about consumers’…

M-Pesa has become the first mobile money provider in Africa to join the Financial Taskforce established by United for Wildlife, a coalition of charities that works to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. United for Wildlife was created in 2012 by The Royal Foundation, led by Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge. It has brought together conservation organisations, governments and global corporations to protect endangered species like elephants, rhinos, tigers and pangolins so they can share our world with future generations. Organised crime has become one of the greatest threats to animals in Africa and other continents. The illegal wildlife trade…

Vodacom – which generates less than 2 metric tons of carbon per terabyte of data a year – says it plans to halve its carbon footprint in South Africa by 2025.   “We have, for many years now, been working on reducing our carbon footprint,” says Shameel Joosub, Vodacom CEO.    “We have made meaningful progress over the last decade. For example, in South Africa in 2012, we generated 27.6 metric tons of carbon outside per terabyte of data.”     “Today, we are consuming less than 2 metric tons of carbon dioxide per terabyte of data. While we are pleased with…

MTN, Africa’s largest mobile phone group, has increased its shareholding in mobile-micro-insurance firm aYo through acquisition of additional shares. In 2017, South Africa’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan and MTN launched aYo, a micro-insurance joint venture. “The share of start-up losses has declined following the strategic decision to reduce our shareholding from 50% to 25%, with MTN’s shareholding increasing to 75%,” Momentum informed investors on Tuesday. “The change in shareholding is still subject to certain conditions precedent.” The insurer also disclosed that aYo has 10 million registered policyholders in October 2020 with over 50% active. The company also operates in Ghana and…

The traditional lay-by system has long represented an enormous headache for merchants and retailers, marked by high administrative costs and high non-completion rates. But through utilising new technologies, South African digital disruptor LayUp seeks to improve finalisation rates up to 60% for businesses, while opening access to South Africa’s untapped low-income market. Latest Experian statistics indicate that there are currently 20.3 million credit-active consumers in South Africa with a staggering R1.4 trillion in outstanding local consumer debt, while 17.9% of loans are four months or more in arrears. Pointing to these figures, LayUp founder and CEO Andrew Katzwinkel notes that…

Wireless communications and signal processing expert Dr Doron Ezri, the Wi-Fi CTO of Data Communications Product Line at Huawei, told an audience of industry professionals at the Huawei IP Club that Wi-Fi 6 – the latest W-Fi specification standard – promises to enhance connectivity in the business environment, thanks to its upgraded MU-MIMO (multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output) technology. The technology allows a router to communicate with multiple devices at the same time. This will mean offices, shopping malls, airports and public Wi-Fi spaces, where dozens and even hundreds of devices are connected, will enjoy a more reliable Wi-Fi service. To provide even…

PayU, the payments and FinTech business of Prosus, has invested a staggering $1 billion (R15.8 billion) on FinTech and mergers & acquisitions (M&A) globally over the past few years. The payments and FinTech business has received funds from its parent company Prosus, which last year listed on Euronext Amsterdam. Prosus is 73.8% owned by Naspers,and the rest is free float. The past year may have introduced more economic complexity and mercurial market shift than could have been realistically expected when 2020 first kicked off in January, but it has not sat still or rested on its laurels The payments industry…

There is no doubt that Bob van Dijk, the CEO of Prosus, wants to make a big acquisition. The Dutch arm of South African internet titan Naspers has nearly R70 billion in cash that can be used to snap a big ecommerce player or a FinTech player. Last year Prosus, which is 73% owned by Naspers, failed to buy Just Eat for R98 billion. Just Eat was acquired by rival Takeaway.com. The company also was unable to purchase eBay’s classified lucrative asset that was snapped up by Norwegian firm Adevinta paying R140 billion or $9.2 billion at the time. Prosus…

South Africa’s largest online retailer, Takealot.com, reported on Monday a 41% jump in revenue to $238 million (R3.7 billion) in the six-months to end 30 September 2020. The Naspers-owned group was permitted to sell only essential goods, while Superbalist and Mr D Food could not operate at all. “The business rebounded in late May when trading restrictions were lifted and all three businesses exceeded their pre-Covid-19 growth rates in the second quarter,” Naspers informed investors on Monday. The Takealot group generated $407m GMV, growing 85% in local currency. “Given this strong topline performance, Takealot delivered a trading loss improvement of 36%,…

Retailer Pepkor, previously Steinhoff Africa Retail, said on Monday operating profit in its financial technology (FinTech) services business dropped by 5.8% to R455 million in the year to end-September 2020. Pepkor on Monday attributed the drop in operating profit to higher provision levels in the Capfin unsecured lending business. Capfin was founded in 2010 with a vision to provide customers with affordable loan products and services. It has partnered with PEP and Ackermans to provide convenient and reliable services to customers. Pekkor informed investors on Monday that Capfin reduced the number of active accounts from 333 000 at 31 March 2020 to 219…

South Africa’s financial regulators have published a draft declaration of crypto assets as a financial product under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS). This means any person furnishing advice or rendering intermediary services about crypto assets must be authorised as a financial services provider and must comply with the requirements of the FAIS Act. The South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) said this would pave the way for cryptocurrency exchanges, advisors, and brokers to be registered as financial services providers (FSPs). The FSCA and FAIS require that every FSP be registered with the FSCA before they may legally…

Ukheshe, South Africa’s digital banking platform provider, announced on Friday it has agreed to buy 100% of Oltio from Mastercard for an undisclosed amount. Oltio developed the digital payments platform that supports Masterpass, Mastercard’s QR payment service in South Africa and enables people to safely pay for a wide variety of purchases with their bank card by scanning a QR code with their mobile phone. In March 2018, Mastercard acquired mobile payments technology company Oltio from Standard Bank Group for an undisclosed amount. At the time, Mastercard Said the deal builds on a longstanding relationship with Oltio, a startup that pioneered…

Telkom today announces the launch of a cancellation and retention call centre to streamline customer service process. The inbound Interactive Voice Response (IVR) call centre will allow customers to speak to an agent. Telkom customers can simply dial 081180 (mobile) or 10210 (fixed line) to cancel or make changes to their services. With this new IVR option, you can now cancel your arrangement with Telkom by speaking to an agent directly, no form or call back. This service compliments the use of our portal or website. Simplifying the process for customers. It’s a real time service where customers are assisted…

Vodacom’s partnership with Alipay, the world’s leading digital lifestyle services platform, will bring inclusive mobile solutions to consumers and merchants in South Africa through innovative digital technologies.   Alipay, part of China’s Alibaba, and Vodacom Financial Services are developing a single lifestyle app to enable consumers to shop online, pay bills, and send money.   The partnership was made public in July, but at the time the announcement drew little attention in South Africa because the COVID-19 pandemic was dominating the news.   However, Vodacom subscribers should now pay attention to the development – not just because of the partnership.…

In 2021, the new 223-series Mercedes-Maybach S-Class will be delivered to the first customers – exactly 100 years after the first Maybach automobile presented in 1921. This Model W 3 was already dedicated to maximum comfort and luxury. On the basis of a historically evolved understanding of luxury and superlative quality, Mercedes-Maybach has always redefined the luxury of the future. The focus on the rear area The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is particularly suitable for chauffeured driving. The 18 cm longer wheelbase compared to the long variant of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class entirely benefits the rear. The focus on the rear area. This…

Leep Africa, a Johannesburg-based South African company, has developed the world’s first Internet of Things (IoT) mobile hotspot network. Its product, Leep Connect, will be piloted in select Bolt vehicles and in independent minibus taxis to provide free internet to passengers and drivers alike. The company said commuters are provided with free internet access on their daily travels which they can use at their discretion. It added that users are not offered with cached content but rather pure internet access. This provides commuters across socioeconomic lines in South Africa reliable access to the internet. George Georgiades, Industrial Engineer, co-founder of…

Checkers Sixty60 picked up a gold award in the Service Design category at the 2020 Loerie Awards. Sixty60, the first one hour grocery delivery service from a South African supermarket chain, also recently won at the 2020 MTN Business App of the Year Awards and the 2020 BCX Digital Innovation Awards. “We are thrilled to have won a gold Loerie in our first year of operation,” commented Neil Schreuder, Chief of Strategy and Innovation for the Shoprite Group. “It’s an amazing achievement and illustrates our team’s unwavering commitment to ensure a truly customer-centric, seamless online shopping experience.” The Loeries, now…

Xago announced on Wednesday that it had received a substantial investment from Imvelo Ventures.  Xago is an innovative South African FinTech that focuses on an all-inclusive approach to moving money rapidly across Africa. Imvelo Ventures is a venture capital investment company founded by Capitec Bank and Empowerment Capital Investment Partners. The company said it would use the funds to continue to expand its cryptocurrency services and products into African markets. Xago was co-founded in 2016 by Jurgen Kuhnel, Sonya Kuhnel and Mark Chirnside. “Xago changes the way money flows, what it costs and how long it takes to reach a destination…

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) sounds too good to be true, especially as Black Friday and the festive season approaches. There are a number of innovative retail models that have emerged to assist conscientious shoppers that are looking for more flexible and responsible ways to pay. BNPL financial service providers like PayJustNow.com are disrupting the retail payment space as they offer shoppers an interest free alternative to costly credit card purchases. This powerful facility, empowers the consumer to conveniently pay for their online and in-store splurges without the burden of Interest. PayJustNow.com CEO Craig Newborn says consumers are getting excited…