Author: Gugu Lourie

Embattled Cell C is trying to appoint a managed services provider to handle its contract and broadband customers. If a deal is secured, the move will enable Cell C to hold onto its post-paid customers. Impeccable sources on Tuesday said Cell C was in talks with Comm Equipment Company (CEC), a handset financing company owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms. Blue Label Telecoms owns 45% of struggling Cell C, and as the biggest shareholder it is leading a process to recapitalise the business. TechFinancials sources say CEC is interested in taking over the servicing of Cell C’s contract and broadband…

Prosus Ventures (formerly Naspers Ventures) is investing in Pakistan-based on-demand transport and logistics platform, Bykea. The company wants to help Bykea to execute further on their vision to become Pakistan’s ‘Super-App’. Prosus has a primary listing on Euronext Amsterdam and a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and is majority-owned by Naspers. Today, Prosus companies and associates help improve the lives of around a fifth of the world’s population. Every day, millions of people use the products and services of companies that Prosus has invested in, acquired or built, including Avito, Brainly, BYJU’S, Codecademy, ElasticRun, eMAG, Eruditus, Honor, iFood,…

Vodacom has announced that it will offer the latest products from Apple, including Apple Watch Series 6, delivering breakthrough wellness and fitness capabilities, and Apple Watch SE, the ultimate combination of design, function, and value. The Vodafone-owned telco said customers will be able to order the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE from 2 October 2020. Apple Watch Series 6 Apple Watch Series 6  introduced a revolutionary Blood Oxygen feature that offers users even more insight into their overall wellness. It also delivers many notable hardware improvements, including a faster S6 System in Package (SiP) and next-generation always-on altimeter,…

Woolworths’ top five executives took home R59 million in 2020, but the company’s South Africa frontline workers shared R25.6 million, the company’s latest annual report revealed. Roy Bagattini, the boss of Woolworths, was paid R15.7 million. The total remuneration for Bagattini, appointed as Group CEO on 17 February 2020, includes conditional sign-on bonuses, relocation, rental accommodation, legal expenses, and incidental relocation expenses amounting to R9.5 million. His base salary was R4.6 million. Former CEO Ian Moir took home a salary of R13.9 million. Moir resigned as Group CEO on 16 February 2020.  The company said from 17 February Moir earned an…

Capitec Bank revealed on Wednesday it has attracted more than 1.1 million new customers on its banking app. According to the bank, its clients are able to stay safe and bank from home using its banking app, and benefit from lower transaction fees and zero data charges. At the end of August 2020, Capitec said there were 4 million app users versus 2.9 million in the same period in 2019. The banking group added that it recorded 5.2 million USSD users at the end of August 2020 compared to 4.7 million in 2019. “Certain clients use both the app and…

Blue Label Telecoms has published its annual report for 2020, showing how much its joint chief executive officers were paid. Blue Label joint-CEOs Mark and Brett Levy were paid a combined R26 million – taking home just under R13 million each. The salaries comprise a basic salary of R9.7 million. In addition to the basic salary of R9.733 million each, the joint CEOs will receive R3.3 million each in line with the restraint of trade agreement that was concluded with them in November 2017. The tenure of the restraint of trade undertaking is 36 months, which commenced on 1 November…

Deloitte, a consulting firm, and Stephen Koseff, a former CEO of Investec, have been appointed as advisors for Cell C’s recapitalisation process. “Deloitte was appointed to advise on the recapitalisation process. An Investment Committee that meets bi-weekly, was established under the Chairmanship of Stephen Koseff, to work with Deloitte on this difficult task as it involved negotiations with many lenders and bondholders from many different jurisdictions,” Larry Nestadt, chairman of Blue Label Telecoms, disclosed in the company’s latest annual report. “I am most grateful for their efforts and am confident a settlement will be reached within the near future.” Blue…

South African firm  Lumkani has received €1,000,000 (just under R 20 million). Lumkani is a low-cost solution providing community-wide alerts for fires in informal settlements. This comes after Lumkani took top honours at the European Research and Innovation Days event for the EIC Horizon Prize on Affordable High-Tech for Humanitarian Aid. The prize is funded under Horizon 2020, the EU research and innovation programme, as part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot. It rewards the best, proven, cost-effective, technology-based solutions for humanitarian aid in five categories: shelter and related assistance; water, hygiene and sanitation; energy; health and medical care;…

Channel VAS is the premium FinTech provider of mobile financial services, airtime credit & airtime advance services, handset loans and big data analytics, all through cutting edge proprietary analytics tools. Operating since 2012 and expanded to more than 42 countries in Africa, Middle East, Asia and LATAM with a focus in emerging markets, Channel VAS supported mobile network operators (MNOs) and financial institutions to provide over R204 million ($12 million) credit daily to more than 750 million people in 2020 and continues to expand to new markets globally. The company, which is valued at R548 million in 2020 versus R423…

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo is investing in South Africa with local head office and a commitment to making world-leading innovations more accessible. Oppo is the second-biggest smartphone manufacturer in China. From today South Africans will join the 350-million people who experience technology through Oppo’s uniquely familiar and personalised user experience around the world. Soon, South African consumers stand to benefit from the innovations like SuperVOOC rapid charging and bespoke audio tuning that Oppo has spread around the globe over the last 16 years. “Oppo is committed to offering South African businesses and consumers the best technology experience possible and is…

BMW has finally revealed its new M3 and M4 Coupe models that are likely to launch locally towards the middle of 2021. South Africans are not getting the standard M3 and M4 Coupe models as well as the manual gearbox. Only the BMW M3 Competition Sedan and the BMW M4 Competition Coupe will be introduced to the South African market. Both models will be introduced in the first half of 2021. BMW M3 Competition Sedan and BMW M4 Competition Coupé with eight-speed M Steptronic transmission. Competition models also available with M xDrive all-wheel-drive system for the first time, est. from summer 2021. M xDrive links up with Active M Differential, rear-wheel-biased…

Founders Factory Africa (FFA) announced today that it has selected RxAll, an AI-hyperspectral platform for authenticating drugs,  into its venture scale programme. Launched in 2018 and headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa, FFA is backed by Standard Bank and Netcare Group. RxAll was founded by Adebayo Alonge, a Nigerian pharmacist, who developed a handheld nano-scanner called ‘RxScanner’ that detects fake drugs in real time after fake medicine nearly killed him. RxAll enables hospitals, pharmacies and patients in Africa to buy high quality, non-counterfeit medicines online by authenticating and delivering drugs through their curated marketplace. RxAll is dedicated to providing high quality…

The liquidity of MTN Zakhele Futhi has been impacted by MTN’s decision not to declare a dividend in its financial results for the six months ended 30 June 2020. The decision by MTN Group would affect MTN Zakhele Futhi’s ability to pay expected preference dividends. MTN Zakhele Futhi scheme, which is listed on the JSE, has entered discussions with MTN and the preference share funders to find solutions to mitigate the impact. “Further to the cautionary announcements dated 3 August 2020 and 6 August 2020, MTN Zakhele Futhi shareholders are advised that the funding from MTN in the amount of…

MTN Zakhele Futhi, the black economic empowerment scheme of MTN Group, has tapped lawyer Belinda Mapongwana as its chairperson. Mapongwana will replace Sindisiwe Mabaso-Koyana, who will be stepping down given her appointment to the board of MTN Group. But she will remain a director of MTN Zakhele Futhi. Mapongwana’s appointment is effective from 16 September 2020. MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi is a ring-fenced special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating investment by previously disadvantaged South Africans in MTN Group (MTN). It holds about 77 million shares in MTN, amounting to 4% of MTN’s issued share capital. It also has about 89 000 shareholders…

Rudo wants to disrupt the personal care services industry in South Africa by providing convenience, safety, and opportunities to the beauty market. Inspired by Uber, a leader in online marketplaces disruption, Rudo is one of the latest online platform technologies aiming to disrupt specifically in the fashion beauty care industry. Rudo is an intelligent tool that relieves the burden of booking management to beauty practitioners as well as salons. It is a data-driven tool that markets the right services and products to the right audience. The new app will also enable hyper-personalisation of direct-to-home beauty services. In South Africa, hair salons…

Valenture Institute, a global tech-enabled high school, has secured $7 million (R114 million) investment backed by GSV Ventures. The Institute is a global online high school offering a curriculum recognised by the world’s leading universities. Valenture Institute was founded by South African-born entrepreneur Robert Paddock, who was also co-founder of Getsmarter, a transformative digital education company successfully acquired by Nasdaq-listed 2U in 2017. With the goal of becoming the biggest online high school in the world by 2028, this investment will certainly add fuel to Valenture Institute’s already raging fire. The school was established as a fully-fledged online offering pre-COVID,…

Discovery Bank announced on Wednesday that the number of new clients was 45 916 as of 30 June 2020 versus 197 in 2019, with average customer advances of R20 500. The digital bank said it now has 489 000 as of 13 September 2020 versus 370 000 accounts at end June. The bank, which is powered by the country’s largest medical aid provider Discovery Health, said this performance was pleasing. The year under review represented the first year of the bank’s operation. The bank said that given the onset of COVID-19, it implemented three strategies, namely: Ensuring the successful migration of over 220 000…

TymeBank, a digital bank that is owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe, announced on Tuesday that its partnership with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) has been delayed. The bank is targeting 12 million churchgoers of Zion Christian Church (ZCC) as clients. The partnership was announced in February, but the spread of COVID-19 pandemic has delayed its finalisation. For more read: Patrice Motsepe’s TymeBank Targets 12m ZCC Members “The impact of COVID-19 on the bank has resulted in the delay in the roll out of its partnership with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) as well as a change in its unsecured personal…

South African mobile data network operator Rain is now valued at more than R15 billion by its parent company African Rainbow Capital (ARC). The valuation places Rain above Telkom, South Africa’s biggest fixed-line telephone group, which is valued at more than R12 billion on the JSE. In an investment update published on Tuesday, ARC said: “The ARC Fund’s investment in Rain increased from R2, 5 billion at 30 June 2019 to R3, billion at 30 June 2020, mainly as a result of a fair value write-up of R479 million (2019: R364 million).” ARC owns 20.7% stake in Rain. Rain, partly…

South Africa’s gig economy, which is made up of freelance, short-term, and on-demand work, is growing. Since the lockdown was imposed at the end of March to combat the coronavirus, it has become apparent that the digital economy has enormous challenges and opportunities. Trade and Industry Minister Ebrahim Patel recently said South Africa’s digital economy has the potential to create 4.5 million positions. But he said for this to materialise there had to be the “right policy mix”. Precautions to tackle COVID-19 under the lockdown have seen thousands of workers work remotely. This type of flexibility has also seen the gig…

Investec has told the Information Communication Technology Union (ICTU) to direct its questions about the Believe Phantom Option Share Scheme for Cell C workers to the mobile phone company’s management. Three years ago, on 1 September 2017, Cell C management awarded shares in the Believe Phantom Option Share Scheme to workers. The shares were based on the company’s audited financial results for 2016. At the time, the share price was R31.06. Investec, the banking and wealth management group, is the administrator of Cell C’s Believe Phantom Option Share Scheme, also known as the Believe Share Scheme. The first vesting date for the Believe Share…

The Information Communication Technology Union (ICTU) wants Blue Label Telecoms to explain how the JSE-listed company can zero rate its stake in Cell C but remain the mobile phone operator’s main revenue generator. ICTU, which is an affiliate of the South African Federation of Trade Unions led by Zwelinzima Vavi, is the sole worker representative at Cell C. The union wants to know if Blue Label Telecoms is using Cell C as a “piggy bank.” Blue Label Telecoms, Nasdaq, and JSE-listed Net 1 have all written down to zero the value of their stakes in Cell C. Last month, Blue…

The Information Communication Technology Union (ICTU) has asked Investec to explain the ‘devaluing’ of the “Believe Phantom Option Shares Scheme (Believe Share Scheme)” awarded to Cell C workers a few years ago. In a memorandum seeking clarity on the matter, the ICTU says: “We require Investec to make available the audited financial reports received by Investec from Cell C, which informed Investec as the fund administrators to render the share scheme to be deemed to have lost monetary value.” The union added: “We question and require a detailed explanation of the non-communication on the share scheme to the registered individual shareholders from…

Telkom has announced the appointment of new board members after the retirement of independent non-executive directors Santie Botha and Khanyisile Kweyama. Botha and Kweyama will retire from the board with effect from 25 September and 31 December 2020, respectively. South Africa’s biggest fixed-line telephone operator informed investors on Wednesday that they will be replaced by Alphonzo Samuels and Hemmanth Singh. “Telkom welcomes Messrs Samuels and Singh to the Board of Directors, and looks forward to their contributions to the company,” Telkom said in a statement. “The company also extends its gratitude to Botha and Kweyama for their contributions over the…

Luno, one of the largest crypto exchanges in Africa, has been bought by New York-based Digital Currency Group (DCG). Luno is backed by Naspers and Rand Merchant Investments (RMI), through its fintech investment arm, AlphaCode. Both have sold their stakes to BCG. It is a global cryptocurrency company that makes it safe, easy to buy, sell, store and learn about cryptocurrencies with over 5 million customers in more than 40 countries. DCG is a global enterprise that builds, buys and invests in blockchain companies. It is also an investment firm that has backed more than 160 blockchain companies around the…