Author: Gugu Lourie

The latest announcement by the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Minister of Justice is good news for MTN Group, which has started the year with Iran crisis and US lawsuit. MTN Group announced on Friday that its Nigerian unit has been informed by means of a letter that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice has withdrawn a $2 billion tax demand against MTN Nigeria. They have referred the matter to Nigerian tax authorities. The letter was received by MTN’s legal counsel 8 January 2020. MTN said the letter states that “…following careful review and due…

PayU, the payments and FinTech business of Prosus, is planning to inject up to $200 million (R2.8 billion) in the new digital lending leader in India. The new entity will be created through the merger of LazyPay, PayU’s consumer lending business, with PaySense, one of India’s fastest-growing digital credit platforms. The merger is subject to regulatory and other legal approvals including by the Reserve Bank of India. To create the new PayU Credit unit, PayU intends to acquire a controlling stake in PaySense and all its assets at a valuation of $185 million (R2.6 billion). PayU also plans to inject…

To understand the new smart watched and other pro devices of recent focus, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, checks the amount of time we are stood up and reminds us to get up and move around if we have been sat for too long – let’s not forget Tim Cooks “sitting is the new coolness” line. What we like: Angled second screen is quite useful.Durability is top notch.Better dual-screen software.Powerful hardware features. What we dislike: Less battery life than other options.Keyboard and trackpad are flimsy.No…

Mercedes-Benz and Geely announced that they have formally established the global joint venture “smart Automobile Co., Ltd” to build electric smart cars. The JV, which is valued at $780 million (R11 billion), has received regulatory approvals. The new generation of smart vehicles will be designed by the worldwide Mercedes-Benz Design network and developed by the Geely global engineering network. The companies said in a statement that future production will be located in China. The global headquarters of the new joint venture has been set in Hangzhou Bay, Ningbo with operational sales functions based in China and Germany. Tong Xiangbei has…

Samsung has unveiled at this year’s CES, Ballie, a small, rolling robot that understands you, supports you and reacts to your needs to be actively helpful around the house. This dog-like robot can act as a personal photographer and maid. This robot is part of Samsung’s vision of robots as ‘life companions,’ said H.S. Kim, CEO of Consumer Electronics Division, Samsung Electronics. “In the Age of Experience, we need to re-think the space we have to accommodate our diverse and evolving lifestyles,” he explains. “What makes Samsung’s approach unique is the fact that we have a very clear philosophy built…

For seven years now, the BMW i3 has played the role of iconic ambassador for electric driving pleasure, sustainability and intelligent connectivity in urban areas. These qualities have helped to make it the world’s best-selling electric car in the premium compact segment. At CES 2020, the BMW Group has unveiled an interesting version of its compact i3 electric city car called the Urban Suite. The BMW i3 Urban Suite showcase a mobility experience tailored entirely to the passenger’s individual needs. To achieve this, a standard BMW i3 underwent a complete transformation (with only the driver’s seat and dashboard left untouched)…

Google Assistant, a voice-activated digital helper that can be found across smart speakers and Smart Displays, phones, TVs, cars and more, now helps more than 500 million people every month to get things done. The search giant is “previewing” new features at CES for the Google Assistant. With a new feature called Scheduled Actions coming out later this year, you will be able to ask the Assistant to turn on/off or start/stop a compatible smart device at the time of your choosing, said Google. For example, you can say, “Hey Google, run the coffee maker at 6 a.m.” And from…

Mercedes Benz has unveiled a wild new concept car that was inspired by the 2009 movie Avatar called — what else? — the Mercedes-Benz Vision AVTR at CES 2020. The VISION AVTR shows a completely new interaction between human, machine and nature, the German manufacturer said on Tuesday. For Mercedes-Benz, the VISION AVTR is a very untypical concept vehicle. “We have always looked to the future in our history, but we have never looked so far away. For me personally, however, that is precisely the appeal. The VISION AVTR is a mixture of science and creative speculation. It combines the technologically…

The shares of MTN Zakhele Futhi debuted last November on the JSE. Instead of making investors smile from ear to ear it unleashed disappointment as the shares traded below its net asset value. For more read: MTN Zakhele Futhi Investors Have Reasons to be Disappointed 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 holding 123.4 million MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi ordinary shares. The MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi shares…

Avon Products announced on Friday its CEO Jan Zijderveld will step down, effective immediately, concurrent with the closing of the sale of the company to Brazilian-based Natura &Co. Zijderveld took the helm at the company in February 2018. He will be replaced by Angela Cretu, who is responsible for the business outside of Latin America and for the oversight of the Avon brand globally. In his nearly two years at Avon’s helm, Mr. Zijderveld has been instrumental in turning around the company through its Open Up strategy, which aims at making Avon the digital social selling beauty company by rebuilding the fundamentals and…

Already negatively impacted by US lawsuit for alleged funding the Taliban in Iran, MTN Group is now reeling from the US-Iran tension. The tension is occupying a global centre stage after the killing of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. The price of oil surged late Thursday after the killing of Soleimani. For more read: ‘Westerners should leave UAE immediately’: Gulf warning as British troops put at greater risk in Iraq after US kills Iran military chief   The news of the assassination of Soeimani would spook investors in MTN who have grappled against the challenges the mobile phone operator has experienced in…

MTN Group announced on Thursday it has concluded an agreement to dispose of its 49% equity holdings in the Ghana and Uganda Tower Company investments to a subsidiary of American Tower Company for $523 million, approximately R7.3 billion. This transaction is expected to close in Q1 2020, the company said in a statement. The company added t that its Asset Realisation Programme (ARP) in March 2019 which aims to simplify its portfolio, reduce debt and risk, improve returns and realise proceeds of at least R15 billion over three years. Following on the proceeds raised from the disposals of its stakes…

Volkswagen provides a glimpse into the future in which the search for charging stations for electric cars comes to an end. The company has announced a concept for a mobile charging robot that comes to electric cars and charges them on its own. The mobile robot brings a trailer in the form of a mobile energy storage device to the vehicle and connects them; it then uses this energy storage device to charge the battery of the electric vehicle. The mobile energy storage device stays with the vehicle during the whole charging process. The robot, in the meantime, charges other…

A consortium led by Chinese tech giant Tencent is buying a 10% stake in Vivendi’s Universal Music Group for 3 billion euros (R47 billion), the companies announced Tuesday. The sale values the world’s largest music company at 30 billion euros (R470 billion). The Tencent-led consortium is joined by Tencent Music Entertainment and certain global financial investors. The consortium has the option to acquire up to an additional 10% equity stake in UMG at the same enterprise value by January 15, 2021. Prior to the closing of the Consortium-Universal Music Group transaction, Tencent Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group also intend to…

Mauritius is an island that is famed for its beautiful beaches and for its reputation as an “African success story”. Since its independence from the UK in 1968, it has had tremendous economic progress, consolidated its democracy and maintained political stability. AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth have reviewed Africa: Wealth growth by country, 2008 – 2018 as part of their 2019 Africa Wealth Report. The 2019 Africa Wealth Report provides a comprehensive review of the wealth sector in Africa, including HNWI trends, luxury trends and wealth management trends in 17 countries and 20 cities across the continent. Total wealth held in…

AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth have reviewed the most popular luxury cars in Africa as part of their 2019 Africa Wealth Report. The 2019 Africa Wealth Report provides a comprehensive review of the wealth sector in Africa, including HNWI trends, luxury trends and wealth management trends in 17 countries and 20 cities across the continent. Luxury car brands with dealerships in Africa are listed below, ranked by African revenue. As reflected Porsche has dealerships in South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Mauritius and Morocco. Porsche sells around 2,000 cars in Africa per annum (of which around 1,300 are sold in South…

Telkom has unveiled its Big Deal for January 2020. The SmartBroadband 20GB Wireless is an LTE data offer, which includes 20GB Telkom anytime data a month and 20GB night surfer data a month. The deal includes the following: 20GB Anytime data 20GB Night Surfer data Huawei LTE router, A R99 Once-Off SIM This deal will run until the end of January 2020 and is only available on a 24-month contract. The unused inclusive anytime data on SmartBroadband 20GB Wireless Post-paid plans shall roll over to the end of the next calendar month. Rolled over data will be depleted first before the…

South Africa’s MTN vowed to defend itself against lawsuits alleging that the company paid the Taliban for protection, providing the insurgency with money that was used to attack and kill U.S. troops. Africa’s and the Middle East biggest mobile phone operator faces a lawsuit filed United States District Court for the District of Columbia on Friday, 27 December 2019, for violation of the anti-terrorism act. The complaint was filed on behalf of American service members and civilians, and their families, who were killed or wounded in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2017. The Wall Street Journal reported that the plaintiffs are the…

Naspers-owned tech giant Prosus has tabled a final cash offer to buy Just Eat, which operates a leading global hybrid marketplace for Online Food Delivery. Just Eat has rejected a £5bn hostile swoop by Prosus, the Dutch arm of South Africa internet titan Naspers. Its board is instead recommending investors support a planned merger with Takeaway.com that was announced this summer. In October, the Euronext and JSE-listed tech giant made a bid of 4.9 billion pounds ($6.35 billion or R94 billion) or 710 pence a share, in cash for Just Eat. For more read: Naspers’ Prosus Makes R94bn Bid For Just Eat Earlier…

BMW i3 has undergone a complete transformation (with only the driver’s seat and dashboard left untouched) so that its interior now has the relaxed feel of a boutique hotel. For seven years, the BMW i3 has played the role of iconic ambassador for electric driving pleasure, sustainability and intelligent connectivity in urban areas. These qualities have helped to make it the world’s best-selling electric car in the premium compact segment. And now the BMW Group has brought the BMW i3 Urban Suite to this year’s CES in Las Vegas to reveal a mobility experience tailored entirely to the passenger’s individual…

The Communications and Digital Technologies is planning to develop a super-regulator to regulate various industries including ICT, films and publications, and domain authority. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams disclosed the government plans at a media conference in Pretoria on Thursday. “The department will develop a model for smart regulation, which will include the amalgamation of Icasa, the FPB and ZADNA and explore new funding mechanisms for the new regulator,” Ndabeni-Abrahams, said on Thursday. za Domain Name Authority (.ZADNA) is a statutory regulator and manager of .ZA – the Internet country code top-level domain for South Africa. It is…

In a move aimed at creating a new state-owned digital infrastructure company, the South African government is planning to merge Broadband Infraco and Sentech. Communications and Digital Technologies Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams disclosed the government plans at a media conference in Pretoria on Thursday. “The department is currently finalizing the business case and awaiting certification from the State Law Advisor and DPME with regards to repurposing SITA to create a state IT Company, as well as merging Sentech and Broadband Infraco (Infraco) to form the State Digital Infrastructure Company,” Ndabeni-Abrahams, said. The plan to create another state-owned company from the existing…

BMW Group has reached another electromobility milestone and already delivered half a million electrified cars to customers worldwide. The German carmaker announced on Thursday that it is planning to double the number of electrified vehicles by end of 2021. “Half a million vehicles is the best proof: Our broad range of electrified vehicles is meeting exact customer needs. Now, we are stepping up the pace significantly: We aim to have one million electrified vehicles on the roads within two years. This is our contribution towards effective climate protection,” said Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG. The…

German carmaker BMW has announced it will begin making the all-electric iX3 in 2020. The BMW iX3 is produced for the world market by the joint venture BMW Brilliance Automotive in Shenyang, China. The iX3, which is based on the X3, will be BMW’s third electric model to reach the market. The new car will achieve a range of more than 440 km with a net-battery size of 74 kWh. The iX3 will also be the first vehicle to sport BMW’s fifth-generation drivetrain technology that will also be used in the i4 and iNext, and feature BMW’s latest battery technology.…

Teleflorist, which allows customers to send flowers across South Africa, has been dealt a severe blow, TechFinancials has reliably learned. The online flower company is shutting down, sources have informed TechFinancials on Wednesday. “The company is under liquidation and has failed to informed its florists’ members that it is closing down,” a source told TechFinancials. TechFinancials was unable to reach Teleflorist for comment as their website was down and customer care phones were off. The phone of Hugo DeKlerk, the owner of Teleflorist, was also off. Teleflorist, which is s an online marketplace that connects people looking to buy fresh…