Author: Gugu Lourie
The global startup economy is worth nearly $3 trillion, a rise of 20% in two years. That’s the size of a not-so-small economy, larger than the GDP of the UK, France, or Brazil. Technology-driven startups aren’t just contributing to economic growth, in many ways, they are economic growth. The 2019 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER) has just been published by Startup Genome in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network. It is the world’s most comprehensive and widely-read research on startups. South Africa’s finance minister Tito Mboweni wants to see a flourishing startup industry tapping into that $3 trillion markets. “Start-ups will ignite the economy,” Mboweni said during his South Africa’s…
South Africa seems to be headed to a thriving FinTech industry to bring financial inclusion, finance minister Tito Mboweni surprisingly announced FinTech plans on Wednesday. “South Africa is moving with the fourth industrial revolution,” said Mboweni. “We are determined not to be left behind. We are relaxing regulations to help our flourishing FinTech sector.” What is FinTech? FinTech (Financial technology) is used to describe new tech that seeks to improve and automate the delivery and use of financial services, according to Investopedia. At its core, fintech is utilized to help companies, business owners and consumers better manage their financial…
The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) will focus on rolling out SA Connect, implementing digital migration and submitting new Bills to Parliament, over the medium-term. This was disclosed in the Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) document, which highlights plans and projected spending in national government over the medium-term expenditure framework period. The DCDT says the new model for the implementation of broadcasting digital migration over the medium term includes the provision of vouchers to indigent households for devices that will allow analogue televisions to receive digital signals, and compensation to the South African Post Office for the costs…
The new digital bank Discovery Bank has proudly stated on Thursday that deposits had grown strongly to R1.2 billion; total credit card spend was R2.6 billion and total credit limits granted was R2.5 billion – with over R1 billion in credit facility used. But the bank, which is powered by the country’s largest medical aid provider Discovery Health, is not enticing enough customers as compared to its rival TymeBank. Discovery disclosed on Thursday that as at 18 February 2020, Discovery Bank had 78 000 clients with 180 000 accounts, nearly half of which had never held a Discovery Card before. “Early…
By now you’ve probably heard about MoMo, a mobile money service. MoMo is back in the limelight that’s because MTN has relaunched the service in South Africa. The service enables customers to use their mobile phones, and other devices, to send and receive money. MoMo also allows users to purchase airtime, prepaid electricity, and pay for their municipal bills and DSTV subscriptions. In September 2016, MTN revealed it was withdrawing the MoMo offering in the country due to a lack of commercial viability. The service was first launched in 2012 when MTN partnered with the South African Bank of Athens,…
President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed plans for a new smart city in Gauteng that he promised in his maiden 2019 state of the nation address. The new democratic South Africa’s city is to be driven solely by technology. During the State of the Nation Address (SONA), Ramaphosa said a new smart-city is taking shape in Lanseria, which 350,000 to 500,000 people will call home within the next decade. This city that is referred to as a truly post-Apartheid city will be situated in Lanseria, which has Lanseria International Airport, a privately owned international airport that is situated north of Randburg and Sandton…
US allegations of Huawei using lawful interception are nothing but a smokescreen – they don’t adhere to any form of accepted logic in the cybersecurity domain, the Chinese telco giant hit back in a statement. The company said it has never and will never covertly access telecom networks, nor do “we have the capability to do so”. U.S. officials say Huawei can covertly access mobile-phone networks around the world through “back doors” designed for use by law enforcement, as Washington tries to persuade allies to exclude the Chinese company from their networks, according to the Wall Street Journal. Intelligence shows…
Herotel, which brought free Wi-FI to the city of Tshwane, is now targeting to bring affordable internet to all South Africans. To fast track its vision of Everyone Connected, the company founded by Alan Knott-Craig Jr is consolidating its fibre assets and wireless internet service provider brands under the Herotel name, with a fresh national trademark. Founded in 2014 with the stated goal of providing a single national fibre and wireless broadband provider that can better service South Africa’s growing internet connectivity needs, Herotel currently services around 83 000 home and business internet users. Operating in over 400 towns, Herotel claims…
The New Development Bank (NDB), which is partly owned by South Africa, is fully committed to supporting China’s fight against coronavirus. The coronavirus, which was first detected in Wuhan, has killed thousand of people. There have now been more than 40,000 cases of the new coronavirus worldwide, which has been declared a global health emergency. The death toll in China stands at 1,016. The NDB said in a cautious statement appreciated China’s ‘great efforts and effective measures’ aimed at curbing the spread of the novel coronavirus. “We are confident in China’s epidemic prevention and control ability as well as measures taken…
An all-female team of South African young architects has been selected to design the 2020 Serpentine Pavilion. The team consist of Sumayya Vally, Sarah de Villiers and Amina Kaskar of Counterspace, a Johannesburg-based architect firm. All three will be 30 years old in 2020. The trio has just become the youngest ever to be commissioned to build the Serpentine Pavilion in Kensington Gardens, London. The pavilion is scheduled to be open from June to October. The trio wrote in a statement that using both innovative and traditional building techniques, Counterspace’s design will be based on gathering spaces and community places around the city, folding…
Glafit, a Japanese mobility startup company, today is launching the Micro mobility scooter – X-SCOOTER “Last One Mile (LOM) crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. Having been involved in the automobile industry for more than 15 years, glafit had always wanted to launch a fun & exciting vehicle that fits people’s modern lifestyle. In 2017 May, the startup launched its first product, Hybrid Bike GFR-01, on a Japanese crowdfunding platform and set an all-time record for the amount raised with over $1.2 million (R18 million). “We have continued our development to launch our second product, X-SCOOTER LOM, in the global market through…
EOH, JSE-listed technology group, announced today that Andrew Mthembu, a proven executive with vast industry experience, will assume the role of chairman. His appointment is effective on 6 February 2020. Mthembu replaces the late Dr Xolani Mkhwanazi, who was chairman of the board at the time of his passing on 4 January 2020. For more read: Prominent Businessman Dr Xolani Mkhwanazi Passes Away Mthembu joined the EOH board in June 2019. He was appointed the lead independent director last year and led the board in the absence of Dr Mkhwanazi as a result of his illness. Mthembu is the chairperson…
ANC chairperson and has urged the government to close South African Airways (SAA) and SA Express. According to a report by The Sunday Times, Mantashe said if SAA wanted to survive, it should start to make a profit and stand on its own. He added that otherwise it should be closed down or taken over by a more capable entity. Mantashe was speaking at the ANC’s 108 celebrations in Komga, Eastern Cape. “Anyone who can manage to run it should take over. Do you know that we even pay cheaper rates at FlySafair? That airline is much cheaper than SAA…
JSE-listed Balwin Properties is planning to build a Munyaka, a R9 billion development in Waterfall, Midrand. Construction of the spectacular lagoon, boundary wall, gatehouse, lifestyle centre and show apartment block has already commenced with the balance of apartments being rolled out over the next eight years. “Munyaka, which translates to “Crystal” in Venda, is set to be the crown jewel in our development portfolio,” Steve Brookes, founder and CEO of Balwin Properties said. “We have worked very closely with our architects to bring something exceptional to South African sectional title buyers and believe that it will not only set a…
Telkom mobile network is experiencing disruptions and customers are angry while others are even labelling the company an abusive network operator. In a tweet, Telkom advised its customers as follows: “Dear customers, we are currently experiencing disruptions on our mobile voice and data network which may affect your connectivity. Our team of technicians are working on resolving this. We thank you for your patience and apologise for the inconvenience caused” Dear customers, we are currently experiencing disruptions on our mobile voice and data network which may affect your connectivity. Our team of technicians are working on resolving this. We thank…
Universal Partners is merging three tech talent specialists Xcede, TechStream and Etonwood to create a £100m (R1.9 billion) revenue company. The merger has been funded by private equity firm Universal Partners and Investec Bank. The merged firms will share a group parent company branded as TechStream Group, headquartered in London and operating across its current global office network in New York, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Singapore, Malaga and Cape Town. It will employ 220 people. Founded by Paul Beeke, TechStream is an internationally recognised human capital business. The merged company will specialise in talent for cloud transformation, digital transformation, cybersecurity, data…
Neela, a KwaZulu-Natal based business, is demanding that Mobax settle an outstanding debt of R22 million, which includes interest, storage, and loss of income until 31 January 2020. Mobax, a little-known company, is a subcontractor to Vodacom. It is a management company that subcontract work to providers that deploy and maintain generators, refuels and services them – for managed services – that power the mobile phone company’s base stations. Mobax replaced Swedish telecom giant Ericsson in January 2018 as a management company. Neela, a Port Shepstone-based company, has been contracted to Vodacom since 2011. Neela signed a contract with Ericsson…
Vodacom has added 484 000 customers in South Africa in the fourth quarter of the 2019 calendar year, supported by a successful Summer campaign and the mobile operator also revealed plans to launch 5G. “A highly successful Summer campaign, which delivered 334 million free rewards to 17 million customers, contributed to an uplift in activity across our customer base,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’s CEO. “This increase in data customers and usage is evidence of our success in transforming data pricing in South Africa. Notable contributions from our Financial Services and Enterprise businesses saw service revenue in South Africa rise by…
Five years ago Telkom retrenched skilled workers whom they promised to help set up as small businesses that would be contracted to the giant telecoms company. Telkom in 2015 created the Independent Field Technicians (IFT) programme. The aim of the programme was to help retrenched technicians to establish their own businesses to offer fault fixing to Openserve, a free-standing division of Telkom and the country’s largest fixed wholesale operator. Telkom says the IFT programme was established as a finite programme that would offer support to these enterprises with the aim of enterprises graduating out of the programme in 2020. It…
TymeBank, a digital bank that is owned by billionaire Patrice Motsepe, is targeting 12 million churchgoers of Zion Christian Church (ZCC) as clients. African Rainbow Capital (ARC), which was founded by Motsepe, announced on Sunday that TymeBank has entered into a partnership with the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) to offer a banking proposition to its members. TymeBank will offer ZCC members a membership card that also works like a debit card. The ZCC is the largest African-initiated church in Southern Africa, with a membership of about 12 million. “Some nine million ZCC members are based in South Africa,” said TymeBank.…
Mobile phone group MTN announced on Wednesday plans to invest $1.6 billion(R23 billion) in Nigeria over the next three years to strengthen and expand its network and operations in the country. In December, MTN received good news after the Nigerian Attorney General and Minister of Justice has withdrawn a $2 billion tax demand against MTN Nigeria. Late December 2018, MTN reached an agreement with Nigeria’s central bank when the $8.1 billion claim was reduced to $53 million. The news of the investment was shared during a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari, whereby he reaffirmed that the Nigerian government is committed…
Praveen Maharaj on Wednesday dismissed reports linking him to death threats made in a WhatsApp Group against MDPS (Mobile Diesel Power Systems). Maharaj, who is a regional manager of Mobax for the Eastern Region off KwaZulu-Natal, said through his lawyers in an email to TechFinancials that he vehemently denies ever having made any of the published statements. Earlier this month, TechFinancials issued a report detailing death threats against MDPS in a WhatsApp Group. The correspondence was shared by a concerned WhatsApp group member to the owners of MDPS, who later shared it with Vodacom KZN and the Parliament Portfolio Committee…
Cell C, which is 45% owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, appears to be sinking deeper into trouble. The struggling mobile operator has defaulted on the payment of interest on a $184 million (R2.7 billion) loan, which was due in December 2019, along with interest and capital repayments related to bilateral loan facilities with Nedbank, China Development Bank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Blue Label shares were hard hit by the news, sending its shares 12.58% lower at R2.78 by 02:11 pm on Tuesday in Johannesburg bourse. The company and Net…
We live in a digital world. Digital technologies are advancing at a rapid pace, connecting people around the world and creating new and exciting opportunities. More than any time in human history, people have greater access to knowledge, services and resources as a result of technological advancements. The impact of automation, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is felt almost everywhere, in all countries, industries, and everyday life. “However, while the impact of digitization is widespread, the benefits it yields are distributed unevenly,” says Tae Yoo, Cisco’s senior VP of Corporate Affairs. “It is important to understand a…
MDPS (Mobile Diesel Power Systems) is out of business because a report was tampered with which exonerated the KwaZulu Natal-based small business, the chairperson of the Parliament Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development Ruth Bhengu, said in a voice clip. The company is involved in a fierce battle with mobile phone giant Vodacom after settling out of court with Sweden’s telecoms giant Ericsson. The central claim is that Vodacom suspended its services after false claims related to buying diesel for running the mobile phone operators’ generators for its mobile phone towers in KwaZulu Natal. MDPS has never made any admissions…