Author: Gugu Lourie

Naspers announced today that it has invested R45 million in The Student Hub, a local online learning platform. The Student Hub increases access to vocational education to students whilst reducing the costs of delivery of education and training. The Student Hub Delivers Courses Online The company helps overcome the constraints of limited physical infrastructure and related resources. It partners with government accredited Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to help them deliver their courses online.  “We are delighted to be partnering with Naspers given their deep international experience in the EdTech sector,” Hertzy Kabeya, Founder and CEO, The Student…

The new CloudGate X mini PC may be tiny, but it is packed with features that can more than match any conventional desktop. Weighing only 240 grams, this portable mini PC with built-in high-speed wireless and Bluetooth 4.2 is a powerful replacement solution for most tower computers. Developed in South Africa, the mini PC was designed to meet user needs in any environment. Measuring 120x120mm the CloudGate X mini PC is suitable for home use, call centres, and many other enterprises. The mini PC can also be used as an education tool. CloudGate was founded in 2010 by Brian Timperley.…

Vodacom reported on Monday that its financial services customers, including Safaricom, rose 12.6% or 6.1 million to 54.8 million in the six months to end-September. The Vodafone-owned group also reported that Financial Services business revenue rose 3.1% to R9.2 billion. The company’s key market of South Africa contributed R1.1 billion in revenues after experiencing a 15% increase on the back of its popular Airtime Advance, insurance and VodaPay services (direct airtime, prepaid electricity, bills). The company advanced R5.7 billion in airtime (38% of total recharges) via Airtime Advance platform to 10.1 million customers in South Africa. Insurance policies increased 23.4%…

Vodacom, South Africa’s mobile phone operator that is transforming itself into a technology company, is well-positioned to weather the coronavirus storm as it got into this crisis with a strong balance sheet. Vodacom reported on Monday that it was sitting on R13.9 billion in cash and cash equivalents as at 30 September 2020. Since March 2020, the World Health Organisation, officially declared the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, a pandemic, triggering various government interventions to stem the spread The Vodafone-owned company, which is led by Shameel Joosub, believes the strength of its financial position will continue to allow it to conduct its…

Health and social care in the UK can benefit from the roll-out of 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, according to new research from Vodafone, a parent company of South Africa’s Vodacom. The report stated that the UK government has committed to building 40 new National Health Service (NHS) hospitals by 2030, with six NHS Trusts already earmarked to receive funding to completely rebuild existing acute hospitals by 2025. “This is an unmissable opportunity to remodel the whole NHS estate, designing in new 5G and IoT technology from the ground up to optimise everything from patient experience, to clinical collaboration,…

Showmax, the internet TV service owned by MultiChoice, is gaining traction in South Africa. Internet TV is taking off across South Africa with several local and international services now available in the country. This week Mondia, a Dubai-based tech firm, announced the launch of its time-based entertainment platform Monsooq in South Africa. Monsooq is a first-of-its kind model where time is the currency and users pay only for the time they spend consuming content. The benefit of internet TV versus traditional services is that subscribers are able to choose from a catalogue of TV shows and movies and then start, pause…

Huawei today walked away with the COVID-19 Response Award at AfricaCom. The COVID-19 Response Award recognises organisations and initiatives that have successfully deployed technology solutions in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. Huawei developed the AUTIN solution for network O&M, using new technologies such as blockchain, grid-based transformation and intelligentization of operations to enable the decentralization of Network Management (Portable NOC) in times of COVID-19 pandemic. About 100 million mobile subscribers in Nigeria – the most populous country in Africa – are served by 4 main operators that together combine around 30,000 sites nationwide. Maintaining these large infrastructures requires hundreds…

Africa’s pay-tv giant MultiChoice is planning to utilise its R11.8 billion cash pile to fund growth and the weather the COVID-19 pandemic storm. MultiChoice, which added 1.2 million 90-day active subscribers in the six months to end-September to close the period on 20.1 million households believes the strength of the balance sheet is critically important given the uncertain longer-term economic impact of COVID-19. The company added that a strong balance sheet is also critical due to potential challenges for specific markets in the Rest of Africa (RoA) because of a lower oil price. Some R7.3 billion in cash and cash…

MultiChoice, Africa’s biggest pay-TV operator, has acquired a 20% stake in BetKing, a pan-African sports betting group. As part of the deal, MultiChoice has made an made an upfront investment of $81 million (R1.3 billion), with the potential for a further payment of $31 million (R500 million) should certain earn-out targets be met between December 2021 and December 2023. As the group exercises significant influence over BetKing, the business will be equity accounted as an associate from 1 October 2020 by MultiChoice. The company said the deal is part of its plans to expand the its entertainment ecosystem. BetKing is…

Unemployment in South Africa has soared to 30.8% in the last three months, the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) for the third quarter of 2020 revealed. The rise was a 7.5% increase from the second quarter. This comes after Stats SA in September reported that despite the South African economy shedding 2.2 million jobs due to the COVID-19 lockdown, unemployment in the country dropped to 23.3% in the second quarter of 2020. According to the report, released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) on Thursday, “The number of employed persons increased by 543 000 (3.8%) to 14.7 million compared to…

The new BMW iX SUV has been revealed as the brand’s first purpose-built electric SUV with two electric motors. The German carmaker says the BMW iX is the symbol for a new era of mobility at BMW. It is the first representative of a trailblazing generation of cars poised to redefine the driving experience, the feeling of space inside and the relationship between vehicles and those on board. The German carmaker said in a statement that the design and technology of the BMW iX form an overall package that lays the foundations for what is, in many respects, a new kind of driving…

Telkom considers its stock to be undervalued and will continue to explore ways to unlock trapped value, CEO Sipho Maseko told investors on Tuesday. “It is our core belief that we remain undervalued as a company,” Maseko said of his company’s share price. “Our market capitalisation is not a true reflection of our intrinsic value and there is a massive evaluation gap. We will explore ways to unlock this trapped value in this conglomerate.” On Tuesday, Telkom said that unlocking value from its portfolio of businesses is a key component of its capital allocation framework and will afford management…

With summer fast approaching, Vodacom is raising the bar this year with the launch of the Summer ShakeOff 2020 campaign. 2020 was a year filled with difficulties, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic putting many South Africans under pressure. Many would like to shake off the negativity of 2020 and look toward the opportunities that 2021 has to offer. As a result of massive customer engagement in the 2019 Shake!Up Summer campaign, the country’s leading network has introduced new interactive gamification and rewards campaign called Summer #ShakeOff 2020. This year’s exciting new game, enabled through a Daily or Mega…

Telkom, South Africa’s biggest fixed-line telephone group, on Monday posted a 25.4% rise in headline earnings per share (HEPS) to 219 cents for the six months to end-September 2020, bolstered by the growth of its mobile phone unit. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The company said this was driven by an 18.8% growth in operating profit because of a 6.3% growth in group EBITDA. This was partially offset by an increase in the effective tax rate from 29.9% in the prior period to 34.8%. Telkom informed investors on Tuesday that its mobile business performed exceptionally well, despite the…

The new affordable HTC Wildfire E Lite smartphone deceptively looks like any other budget handset, but it packs features only associated with high-end mobile phones.    This smartphone brand had disappeared from the local market for some time. It is now back in South Africa intending to recapture the interests of former and new customers.   HTC smartphones are back on the market courtesy of an ICT firm, Evercomm, which obtained the exclusive rights to relaunch the phone brand in South Africa.   The HTC Wildfire is an affordable smartphone that performs as well as, if not better, than many…

Vodacom has launched its latest “Red Hot Dealz”, offering not-to-be missed super value SIM-only data bundles on a 24-month contract. The Red Hot Dealz are available from 6 November until 6 December 2020. The Vodafone-owned operator is offering a 50GB data mega-deal, consisting of 20GB of anytime data and 20GB of Night Owl data plus a free 10GB video ticket, for R199 per month over 24 months. Through this deal you stand to save R1 200. The deal comes with a free Vodafone Mobile Wi-Fi Router if you extend the contract to 36 months. See more Red Hot Dealz below and you…

swiftVEE is targeting global expansion after the South African AgriTecth startup secured $1.5 million (R23.6 million). The investment round was led by Sybtropico, an unlisted company specialising in Agri investments across the fruit, vegetable, and livestock industries and a private syndicate. The industry is investing heavily in technology to create farm-to-fork solutions that optimise food production across the value chain in fruit, veg and livestock. Founded in 2016 and officially launching in 2017, swiftVEE is an agricultural trading platform that helps the buyers and sellers of livestock connect in real-time through the use of third-party “livestock agents”. Livestock agents are…

JSE announced on Thursday that it has agreed the terms of a commercial arrangement with Globacap Technology (Globacap) to establish a blockchain-enabled private placements platform. The company said the platform will enable the raising of infrastructure finance and to allow small-to-medium sized issuers to raise capital in South Africa. The deal includes digital registry services, and remains subject to licensing approval requirements. “As private capital markets continue to grow in importance, and are an increasingly attractive alternative source of capital for issuers, the JSE intends to create a centralised platform for issuers to effectively and efficiently raise capital,” the JSE…

JSE and Nasdaq-listed listed Datatec announced on Thurday that its subsidiary Logicalis Group has acquired a 65% interest in iZeno, a specialist in Digital Transformation solutions based in Singapore. iZeno has a team of 85 skilled employees who have delivered, implemented and optimized enterprise solutions to more than 300 clients across finance, manufacturing, banking, gaming, healthcare, telecom and retail industries. The company is headquartered in Singapore with additional operations in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. The deep skills iZeno has in DevOps, application modernization, customer experience and hybrid cloud strongly enhances the scope of services offered by Logicalis and will accelerate the…

President Cyril Ramaphosa has highlighted preparation – through the Infrastructure South Africa (ISA) project preparation roundtable – as the key to unlock South Africa’s post COVID-19 economic recovery. “This roundtable is the beginning of a more dedicated and structured approach to project preparation. It paves the way for greater private sector participation in this crucial stage of the project life-cycle. The South African government is committed to financing project preparation,” he said. The President delivered the opening address at the ISA project preparation roundtable at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand on Tuesday. The ISA project preparation roundtable aligns with…

Thousands of South Africans from every nook and cranny of the country painted the country pink on Saturday as they walked with a purpose and to make a difference in different locations across the country to pledge their support to the fight against breast cancer in the first-ever virtual Avon Justine iThemba Walkathon. The 15th edition of the Avon Justine Walkathon, which is the biggest breast cancer awareness walkathon in the Avon world, was hosted virtually due to lockdown restrictions on social gatherings. Nonetheless, the event was coordinated from the nerve centre at the Avon Justine Head Office in Johannesburg…

Huawei, rain and Wits University have jointly launched South Africa’s and Africa’s first 5G laboratory, which gives students access to a live 5G environment to build knowledge of the revolutionary technology’s applications for the local market. The 5G Innovation Lab, situated at the Wits Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, is part of a longer-term joint innovation programme between business and the leading academic institution. It is aimed at driving innovations to promote social progress for South Africa in the digital era or fourth industrial revolution (4IR). In terms of the collaboration, Huawei provides its end to end 5G solution, supported by…

The boss of Etion, Teddy Daka, and Dr Snowy Khoza, the chairman of the group, have resigned from the diversified digital technology company. The resignation of Daka is effective from 31 January 2021 and that of Dr Khosa is effective 31 December 2020. Daka will remain as a non-executive director of the board of Etion. The JSE-listed firm said the decision by Daka to step down follows a strategic decision by the board to dispose of its various operating subsidiaries/divisions. For more read: Teddy Daka’s Etion Explores Asset Sale to Create Shareholder Value The company announced last week that it…

MTN South Africa attracted 1.9 million new customers to its Bozza network for the quarter ended 30 September 2020. The mobile phone company said this pushed its total local subscribers to 30.9 million. “The majority of additions were prepaid customers, reaching a total of 24,3 million and marking the largest quarterly increase in nearly 18 months. Postpaid subscriber numbers remained broadly flat at 6,6 million, primarily as a result of churn on short-term COVID-19 related deals,” the company informed investors on Friday. “Excluding the net impact of these deals, the postpaid subscriber base increased 168 100 for the quarter.” MTN…

The Dutch arm of South African internet titan Naspers, Prosus announced on Friday plans to acquire up to $5 billion (R82 billion) in total of Naspers and Prosus shares. The company said this was a further step to crystalise value for shareholders. The deal follows earlier actions such as the unbundling of MultiChoice Group and the listing of Prosus on Euronext Amsterdam last year. The company added that the purchase of Naspers and Prosus shares also represents a meaningful investment in the group’s strong internet portfolio. It is regarded as a good use of capital, given full market valuations evident in…