Author: Gugu Lourie

MTN sees value in its joint venture with SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan. In 2017, Momentum Metropolitan and MTN launched aYo, a micro-insurance joint venture. It began its roll-out in Uganda in January 2017 and has also been deployed in Ghana and Zambia. At the end of June, our aYo insurance joint venture had 8,6 million registered policyholders, MTN informed investors on Thursday. “We have agreed to increase our shareholding in aYo to 75% and will consolidate it in the future,” MTN said. “aYo generated R48 million in service revenue in the first six months to end June, and continues…

MTN has added more new subscribers in the last six months as more people signed up for its mobile and data services amid the coronavirus pandemic. Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone company announced its subscribers increased by 10,6 million to 261,5 million for the six months ended 30 June 2020. The operators also reached a significant milestone in surpassing the 100 million mark of active data users. By end June 2020, MTN had 102 million active data users. It also recorded 38,3 million Mobile Money (MoMo) users and in Nigeria added 114 000 agents to reach 222…

MTN Group is selling its 75% stake in MTN Syria as part of its strategy to exit the Middle East in an orderly manner. The company informed investors on Thursday that it was focusing its strategy in future on the African markets: “As part of our ongoing portfolio review, we believe the group is best served to focus in the future on our pan-African strategy,” said Rob Shuter, MTN CEO. “We will therefore be exiting the Middle East in an orderly manner over the medium term. As a first step we are in advanced discussions to sell our 75% stake…

MultiChoice chief executive Calvo Mawela’s total remuneration was $649 000 (R11.3 million) in 2020, up by 3% compared with last year’s R10.6 million, according to the pay-TV’s operator’s annual report released today. Executive chairman Imtiaz Patel was paid $620 000 (R10.7 million) and CFO Tim Jacobs received R7.5 million. These amounts include base salary, pension, benefits, and short-term incentives. Patel and Mawela are paid in dollars, which is aligned with the MultiChoice Group Dubai-based contracts and considers Dubai’s cost of living and typical expatriate benefits for Dubai. The company said to focus significant time on the MultiChoice Rest of Africa…

South African Airways (SAA) has put an immediate stop to the spending of all Voyager Miles – even for non-air rewards. “The ability to earn Miles, through our various Voyager programme partners, will continue as normal,” SAA said in a note to Voyager Miles customers. The redemptions of miles will be paused for another month until 31 August 2020, said SAA. “You will therefore not be able to redeem your Miles for awards until after 31 August 2020”. SAA said it was aware that its members were eager to receive their membership credentials reflecting the new expiry date of their…

Telkom has launched its funeral insurance, which includes single member, family and extended family benefit options. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. Also read: Telkom Enters Financial Services Fray in Ongoing Drive to Diversify New and existing Telkom customers will have access to different cover options, which will determine their premiums. The country’s largest fixed-line provider said its funeral insurance has 5 different cover levels starting from R10 000 to R70 000. The minimum entry age for a main member and spouse is 18, and the…

South Africa’s telco Telkom waded into the country’s red hot financial area with a new financial services entity to compete against the likes of mobile phone rivals MTN, Vodacom and FinTech players. Telkom Financial Services will offer solutions to empower businesses and individuals to participate in the digital economy. It is part of Telkom’s strategy to continue its drive to diversify its income streams beyond the fixed-line business. The main aim is to bring down some of the barriers, especially for small to medium businesses to be part of the economy. The country’s largest fixed-line provider disclosed in an advert…

COVID-19 has drastically impacted on the manner in which society conducts one-on-one engagements – most notably within the medical sphere. In light of the additional COVID-19 risks associated with comorbidities like diabetes – it’s more important than ever to have these conditions well under control and managed – even without your traditional doctor’s check-ups. Guidepost, an innovative SA company, is providing the solution to managing diabetes during COVID-19. The company has secured an undisclosed amount of funding to scale-up its business. AlphaCode and Endeavour, which have been monitoring this space and both decided to bet on this local company at…

The appointment of the new CEO at MTN Group is soon to be finalised, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone group said. “The succession process for the MTN Group CEO role is on track and MTN expects to make an announcement in this regard in the next 4 to 8 weeks,” the company informed investors on Friday. “Current Group CEO Rob Shuter will complete his fixed four-year contract in March 2021 as announced earlier this year and this timing will enable a seamless handover to his successor.” In March, MTN announced Shuter would step down. Shuter joined MTN…

BT Group has announced the appointment of Rob Shuter as CEO of its Enterprise unit and as a member of BT’s Executive Committee.   Shuter is currently CEO at MTN Group, Africa and the Middle East’s largest mobile phone company with 250 million customers across 21 countries. Prior to joining MTN, he served as CEO of Vodafone’s European Cluster as well as being CEO of Vodafone Netherlands. “MTN notes the announcement issued today by BT Group Plc that Rob has been appointed as the CEO of BT Enterprise,” MTN informed investors on Friday. “Rob will relocate to the UK and…

Streaming wars are well underway. Netflix, ShowMax, Prime Video, VIU and others are all vying for our attention. South Africa’s public broadcaster SABC might also join the fray by streaming its content. So one wonders which streaming service is popular in South Africa. According to the latest figures from JustWatch, an international streaming guide with more than 20 million users, Netflix has the highest market share in South Africa. Netflix is followed by Showmax, which is worth mentioning, as in most other countries of the world, Prime Video occupies second place after Netflix. Streaming charts in Q2 2020 Market share development…

The Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) refuted allegations that it is delaying the commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS). The Black Information Technology Forum (BITF) announced on Wednesday that it has resolved to launch an urgent legal process to challenge ICASA’s decision to delay commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS) in court. The BITF said it wanted to expose any individual at ICASA and their external handlers that are using public resources to sabotage progressive transformational government programs meant to save lives during the COVID- 19 disaster period and assist rural economy recovery beyond the COVID-19 period.…

Over the past 30 years, information technologies have advanced rapidly, making people’s lives and work much easier. The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed though that digital infrastructure has not kept pace with technological developments. According to the ITU, over half of the world’s population still does not have Internet access nor access to other digital technologies. As economies across countries slow, governments grow increasingly concerned with economic recovery strategies. “We envision a more connected, intelligent, and innovative future,” said Catherine Chen, Huawei corporate senior vice president and director of the board. “Above all else, we must ensure this is an inclusive,…

Lobby group the Black Information Technology Forum (BITF) is taking the country’s communications regulator ICASA to court. “The BITF has resolved to launch an urgent legal process to challenge ICASA’s decision to delay commencement of commercial TV White Space (TVWS) in court and expose any individual at ICASA and their external handlers that are using public resources to sabotage progressive transformational government programs meant to save lives during the COVID- 19 disaster period and assist rural economy recovery beyond the COVID-19 period,” BITF said in a statement on Wednesday. The BITF is a national non-profit organisation which represents previously disadvantaged…

The Dutch arm of South African internet titan Naspers, Prosus raised R32.8 billion ($2 billion) in a bond offering on Tuesday. The company said the funds would be used for general corporate purposes, including potential future mergers and acquisitions activity, and to further augment the company’s liquidity position. The company said in a statement that the offerings attracted strong investor demand, with US dollar notes more than seven times subscribed and euro debut notes more than eleven times subscribed on the eight year notes and twelve times subscribed on the twelve year notes. “It is expected that this financing will…

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) on Wednesday said it would impose a public censure and fine of R7.5 million on struggling tech firm EOH Group due to non-compliance with its listing requirements. “EOH’s previously published financial information for the periods 2017 to 2018 did not comply with IFRS and was incorrect, false and misleading in material aspects and this incorrect information was disseminated to shareholders, the JSE and the investing public,”  the JSE said in a statement. “For these reasons and with reference to the JSE’s findings of breach, the JSE has decided to impose a public censure and the…

Anushka Bogdanov, the lead independent non-executive director of EOH and chairperson of the Social and Ethics Committee, has resigned from the board of the company. Bogdanov resigned from the board of directors of EOH with immediate effect. “A process to appoint a new lead independent non-executive director and chairperson of the Social & Ethics Committee is underway and shareholders will be advised of such appointments in due course,” EOH said in a statement. “The board of directors of EOH would like to thank Ms Bogdanov for her contribution to EOH over the past year and wishes her well in her…

5G – the fifth-generation wireless network – is about astounding speeds and almost zero latency – the lag time between when your phone pings the network and when it responds. After years of anticipation and a considerable amount of hype, 5G is finally in South Africa. With 5G you can download movies in seconds and YouTube clips instantly plus experience lag-free real-time gaming. MTN recently launched its 5G network with 100 sites in Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Bloemfontein and Port Elizabeth. The launch was made possible, in part, by the recent allocation of temporary spectrum by the…

The rapid roll-out of more online food shopping capacity has helped South Africa’s retailer Woolworths report soaring sales over the lockdown period. The South African government has announced a national lockdown that requires the closure of non-essential businesses between 27 March 2020 and 16 April 2020 and has implemented various regulations and directives which have impacted the way Woolworths does business. The country is currently on lockdown at level 3. South Africa began easing restrictions at the beginning of May 2020. “Woolworths Food continued its positive momentum into the last nine weeks of H2, growing sales by 16.1%, as the…

MTN, Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone group, expects profits to surge in the first half, boosted by foreign exchange gains. The company said on Friday that its headline earnings per share (HEPS) will be at least 195 cents or 100% higher, representing HEPS of greater than 390 cents for the six months ended 30 June 2020, compared with HEPS of 195 cents in the previous year. HEPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The South African-based operator said HEPS benefited from non-operational items for the six months totalling 50 cents per share (June 2019: 55 cents negative…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has paid out more than R2.2 billion to applicants of the R350 COVID-19 grant. President Cyril Ramaphosa disclosed late on Thursday that the over 4.4 million people have now received the special COVID-19 grant, which assists those who are unemployed and do not receive other forms of support. “So far, an amount of R2.2 billion has been paid out to these recipients,” he explained. “There were delays in paying this amount but future payments will be made more quickly now that the necessary systems are in place. “As we announced, this grant will…

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced late on Thursday that all public schools will take a break for four weeks. “As South Africa approaches its peak of COVID-19 infections, we must take the cautious approach to prevent schools from becoming sites of transmission,” said Ramaphosa, adding that  more than 6,000 people had died of COVID-19, and 408,052 infections had been confirmed. Ramaphosa was speaking during an address to the nation on Thursday night. “Taking into account the views of the various stakeholders and expert bodies, Cabinet has decided that all public schools should take a break for the next four weeks.” This…

The South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) on Thursday promised to make double payments for the R350 COVID-19 grant. The agency said in a statement that it has started with double payments for outstanding June and July accounts for the R350 special relief grant. “This meant to avoid a situation where beneficiaries of the COVID-19 Social Relief of Distress grant have to make two trips to the Post Office and to eradicate the backlog of payments. The move was met with much appreciation and excitement on social media this morning,” the agency said. SASSA added that it also reconsidered applications made…

Vodacom – South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator – announced on Thursday that its customer base was down by 9.9%, mainly driven by reduced gross connections in the prepaid segment during the period of restricted movement. The lockdown was imposed to curb the spread of the COVID-19 while giving the government time to prepare the healthcare system for the expected spike in virus infections. Lockdown Level 5 was introduced in South Africa on 26 March 2020 and now the country is in Level 3. Vodacom announced on Thursday announced its trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2020. The company said…

A court case application by DG Murray Trust (DGMT) to compel mobile network operator MTN to zero-rate the local educational websites of public benefit organisations (PBOs) was withdrawn on Monday, with the trust saying the mobile phone operator is now fully compliant. The DG Murray Trust is a South African foundation committed to developing South Africa’s potential through public innovation and strategic investment. The trust is represented by Dunster Attorneys Inc, which has applied to the Western Cape High Court for the case to be heard on 3 August 2020. Also read: MTN Faces Legal Challenge Over Zero-Rating PBOs Websites…