Author: Gugu Lourie
Africa is leading other continents when it comes to mobile money or FinTech, which has become big business for top mobile operators – MTN, Vodacom, and Airtel Africa. Database company, Statista, says for those people with no access to banking services, mobile money provides financial inclusion, a way to participate in the economy without a bank account. The use of mobile money in Africa, one of the most underbanked regions globally, has skyrocketed. In 2019, 200 million users made 24.46 billion mobile money transactions in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Middle East and Northern Africa accounted for 64.15% of all transactions made worldwide. Of the $690.1…
MTN South Africa is looking for Mobile Money (MoMo) agents after receiving R28 million from International Finance Corporation (IFC), a unit of Word Bank. MTN will use the funds for MoMo’s agents’ recruitment drive. MoMo allows users to purchase airtime, prepaid electricity, and pay for their municipal bills and DSTV subscriptions. The partnership will also see a strong job employment drive and will see IFC and MTN South Africa seek to recruit 10 000 Mobile Money Agents in 2021 to increase access to affordable financial services in underserved communities. MTN will identify, recruit, enrol, train, and supervise the new MoMo agents and…
The number of electric cars on the road was expected to reach almost 10 million in 2020, as sales grow despite the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study by International Energy Agency. However, South Africa lags in the sale of electric cars. Electric car sales in South Africa comprised only 92 units, or 0,02% of the total 380,206 vehicles sold in the domestic market in 2020, down from 154 units in 2019. This is according to a newly-published policy discussion paper by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) on the South African roadmap to the production of electric…
Bang & Olufsen, the Danish audio company, is introducing a new rugged portable speaker with 27 hours of battery life. The Beosound Explore, a tough and robust speaker created for adventure, will retail for about R3 400 at Bang & Olufsen stores and online. Designed with portability in mind, Beosound Explore’s cylindrical shell provides a secure grip and fits easily into rucksack pockets so you can stay focused on the track ahead. Despite its durable outer shell, the speaker is lightweight at 631 grams, letting you stay agile whilst on the move. With up to 27 hours of playtime at…
Zhang Yiming, co-founder of ByteDance – the owners of TikTok, will step down as CEO and transition to a new role. In an internal letter, ByteDance said co-founder and HR head Liang Rubo will become the new CEO. Yiming and Rubo will work side by side over the next six months to ensure the smoothest possible transition. “At the same time, there are still many things that we need to improve, and I think someone else can better drive progress through areas like improved daily management,” wrote Yiming in an internal letter. “The truth is, I lack some of the…
VodaBucks, a loyalty programme for Vodacom, has attracted 24 million unique customers in South Africa, says Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub. Vodacom introduced the VodaBucks Rewards Programme last September as a single platform to benefit loyal customers. Every time a customer achieves personalised behavioural goals, such as buying specific bundles using the Just-4-You platform or downloading and engaging with the My Vodacom App, the programme rewards them with VodaBucks – a unified virtual currency. In addition, customers can earn VodaBucks for the many things they already do, such as paying their Vodacom bill (including add-on data and voice bundles) and buying…
Vodacom said it is not yet considering selling any stake in its mobile money entity M-Pesa Africa. Instead, the Vodafone-owned entity aims to grow the business further. “We think it’s too early to have that conversation now,” Vodacom CEO Shameel Joosub said on Tuesday. “Maybe two, three years down the line it will be a different conversation because we still want to unlock value. “Because if you do it early, yes, we know we can get multiples of 25x and upwards, and we’ve had a lot of unsolicited offers coming through in that regard. But we’re not in that space…
The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) has released a green paper on the South African roadmap to the production of electric vehicles. Trade, Industry and Competition Minister, Ebrahim Patel, said the purpose of the green paper is to establish a clear policy foundation. He added that this will enable the country to coordinate a long-term strategy that will position South Africa at the forefront of advanced vehicle and vehicle component manufacturing. “The strategy is complemented by a consumption leg, and a focus on increasing competitiveness in the global race to transition from the internal combustion engine era, into…
By the end of the year, Google is bringing its Android Automotive operating system to more than ten car models from Volvo, General Motors and Renault. The Android Automotive operating system is an Android-based infotainment system that is built into vehicles. The car’s system is a stand-alone Android device that is optimised for driving. Google said in a statement that with the Android Automotive operating system, the entire infotainment system is powered by Android, and users can access Google Assistant, Google Maps, and more apps from Google Play directly from the car screen without relying on a phone. See a…
Vodacom’s total financial services customers, including Safaricom, rose by 12.9% or 6.6 million to 57.7 million in the year ended 31 March 2021. The Vodafone-owned telco said financial services now generates revenue of R19.3 billion. The group said service revenue generated from Financial Services was up by 18.9% to R2.4 billion. “Our Financial Services’ result reflects our execution capability in this space. Revenue growth was underpinned by our Airtime Advance product, where we advanced R12.0 billion in airtime during the year, an increase of 21.1%,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO. “The number of Airtime Advance customers increased 17.3% to…