Author: Gugu Lourie

Woven Planet Holdings, the subsidiary of Toyota, is buying  Level 5, an autonomous vehicle division of Lyft, for $550 million (R7, 8 billion). Lyft is one of the largest ride-hailing companies in the world. This marks the first major deal for the newly established Woven Planet. The deal will bring together world-class scientists and software engineers from Level 5, Woven Planet, and researchers from Toyota Research Institute (TRI), already working together with Woven Planet. The resulting combined “dream team” of approximately 1,200 will represent one of the most diverse, well-resourced and talented groups in this field. “This acquisition advances our…

When Andile Ngcaba – a South African tech entrepreneur and founder of Convergence Partners – moved to Silicon Valley in California, United States, few people paid attention. He set up his office in Mountain View, the suburb, where big tech giants such as Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn are headquartered. Ngcaba was daring enough to swim with the sharks of the tech industry. “If you swim with sharks, make sure you have the appetite of a whale,” to quote Matshona Dhliwayo, a Canadian-based philosopher and entrepreneur. Speaking to TechFinancials, Ngcaba confirms he has “been part of the Silicon Valley community for…

Eventhose with little interest in private equity space have likely heard of Convergence Partners, owned by ICT industry veteran Andile Ngcaba. The Rosebank-based company is a pan-African ICT–focused private equity player, delivering enhanced investment returns while underpinning Continental development. Convergence Partners has a proven record of accomplishment of developing new investment opportunities and actively adding value to investments across the lifecycle of ICT assets. Private equity firms play an essential role in the economy: They can help small enterprises grow and, in turn, generate returns for investors. Brandon Doyle, a co-founder of Convergence Partners, who serves as CEO, told TechFinancials…

MTN’s black economic empowerment scheme, MTN Zakhele Futhi, gets R75 million bailout to avert a cashflow crisis. 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 scheme is a ring-fenced special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating investment by previously disadvantaged South Africans in MTN Group (MTN). MTN had suspended its final dividend as it focuses on faster debt reduction at its holding company even after posting a surge in 2020 earnings. Furthermore, on 10 March 2021. MTN announced that as a result of…

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority has launched the globally utilised Med Safety App to improve the reporting of adverse effects of medicines and vaccines, thereby promoting pharmacovigilance and medicine safety in the country. The purpose of the data reported through the Med Safety App is to contribute to the understanding of medicines’ safety profiles of marketed medicines, including that of COVID-19 vaccines. The App is designed to simplify and promote the reporting of suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs), including adverse events following immunisation (AEFIs). “In an era where mobile technology is predominant, this application will be a huge…

SA’s investment company Founders Factory Africa (FFA) has partnered with Small Foundation, a Dublin-based philanthropic foundation, to design, build and scale over 18 agtech startups across sub-Saharan Africa. As part of the Small Foundation investment, African early-stage agtech Founders and entrepreneurs can apply to join the Founders Factory Africa Venture Scale or Venture Build portfolios FFA will invest cash of $100,000 (R1,4 million) -$250,000 (R3, 6 million) and hands-on technical support to the entrepreneurs to grow their venture A full-time team of digital and technical experts based in Johannesburg, Nigeria, Kenya and London will build and grow the startups across…

YeboYethu, the broad-based black economic empowerment arm of Vodacom, announced that Thebe Investment Corporation had sold its 11,33% stake in the business to Mineworkers Investment Company. YeboYethu said Thebe Investment Corporation, through Main Street, has disposed of its entire beneficial interest of more than 5,99 million or 11,33% shares to Mineworkers Investment Company through MIC Investment Holdings. The details of the deal, such as the price paid by Mineworkers Investment Company, were not disclosed. The Vodacom YeboYethu empowerment scheme was established in 2008 and allowed black people to purchase Vodacom SA shares at a discount. This year marks the thirteen…

E-commerce company Wish has announced a strategic partnership with the South African Post Office (SAPO) to strengthen its logistics capabilities and customer experience for South African consumers. Wish will be working directly with SAPO to create a more consistent and efficient experience for the customers in South Africa, the US company said in a statement. The benefits will include: Average 50%+ faster transit times End to end tracking visibility and delivery confirmation Customers to receive bundled shipments for multiple items SMS and physical notifications on deliveries awaiting collection “Our mission at Wish is to democratize e-commerce and make it affordable,…

Prominent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have raised concerns over Telkom’s fibre pricing, which they say is “suspect” – but the country’s biggest fixed-line telephone group insists its pricing is “not anti-competitive”. Telkom Retail is currently offering a 25/25Mbps fibre package on the Openserve network at R449 per month – the cheapest on the market. Telkom is also running a promotion for a 25/5Mbps package for R399 per month on a 12-month contract. This week ISP executives told MyBroadband the pricing from Telkom was “suspect” considering the wholesale costs associated with this product. To remain competitive, ISPs need to purchase products on Openserve’s…

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has revealed that tech firm EOH must pay back over R40 million earned unduly from the Department of Defence (DoD). The SIU said this follows the investigations into the R250 million Microsoft Software Licences procurement contracts awarded by the DoD to EOH. The investigation unit said the probe has uncovered irregularities relating to the procurement process and also overpricing of Microsoft Licenses amounting to more than R40 million. On 12 July 2019, the SIU was directed to investigate the procurement of Microsoft software licences by the DoD and payments made to the tech firm for…