Author: Gugu Lourie

Tech giant Naspers boss CEO Bob van Dijk, who is also a CEO of Prosus, has sold shares in in the company worth close to R1 billion. The company announced on Wednesday on the JSE stock news that the shares were awarded by the company through its share incentive scheme. “Bob van Dijk exercised share appreciation rights in the Naspers Global Ecommerce Share Appreciation Rights plan (vesting on dates as per above) and received 414 932 Naspers N ordinary shares in settlement of the gain. He then sold 414 932 Naspers N ordinary shares,” the company disclosed. The tech firms,…

Estonia based ride-hailing app Bolt plans to expand to 40 South African locations during 2020. The ride hailing company, formerly known as Taxify, said on Thursday it also plans to increase its staff complement in support of the service’s expansion strategy. The company, which currently employs 150 people in South Africa, said this would be made possible by new funding. The tech and transport company has signed a  €50 million (R801 million) venture debt facility with the European Investment Bank (EIB). The capital will be used to improve and expand the platform’s ride-hailing technology as well as personalised mobility services like…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses 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 Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses 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 Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses 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 Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses 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 Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

The founders of MDPS (Mobile Diesel Power Systems) have received death threats from a ‘Vodacom manager’, who was based in KwaZululu-Natal (KZN), a source from parliament disclosed. MDPS, which was founded by Peet and Heidi-Anne Thuynsma, is suing Vodacom for close to R100 million in damages. They claim their services were suspended overnight by Vodacom leaving them with bad debts. The couple’s central argument is that Vodacom suspended their services after false claims related to buying diesel for running the mobile phone operators’ generators for its mobile phone towers in KZN. MDPS has never made any admissions to the fraud…

As an e-mobility pioneer, BMW has already delivered half a million electrified vehicles to customers worldwide. For more read: BMW Sold Half A Million Electric Cars Worlwide The German carmaker announced on Tuesday that a total of 145,815 electrified BMW and MINI vehicles were sold worldwide in 2019 – an increase of 2.2% over the previous year. The BMW i brand continued its positive sales trend last year with the BMW i3 and the BMW i8, which both saw a 12.1% increase to 42,073 units. This makes BMW i3 and the BMW i8, the top-selling electric cars in the BMW…

In South Africa, Vodacom continuously experiences an inconsistent supply of electricity due to load-shedding negatively impacting operational costs as a result of increased diesel consumption and new batteries. The South African Government has also recently introduced a carbon tax that will further increase the operating costs of running Vodacom’s network sites. In 2019, Vodacom said it consumed 474 GWh of electricity, predominantly from grid power and diesel and petrol. The company added in its recently published Sustainability Report that its carbon footprint was 640 926 tonnes of CO2 e (2% increase from 2018), predominantly as a result of growth in…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses 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 Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

“Just Eat is not an acquisition we wanted to make at any cost,” argues Bob van Dijk, CEO of Prosus, after the tech giant walked away from the bidding war that started last year against rival Takeaway. Just Eat investors controlling 80.4% of its shares have finally backed Takeaway’s all-stock bid, which values the company at about £6.1-billion (R114-billion). The Amsterdam-based Takeaway has won the bidding war. Takeaway has placed a 5.9 billion pound ($7.7 billion) share offer that will create one of the world’s largest meal delivery companies. However, van Dijk said the tech giant believe that its final…

To understand the new smart monitors and other pro devices of tech health, we should look to Silicon Valley and the quantified movement of the latest generation. Apple’s Watch records exercise, tracks our moves throughout the day, assesses 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 Cook’s “sitting is the new factor” line. Routinely evaluating your risk factors for various medical conditions, screening for cancer and other diseases, and assessing your lifestyle habits helps you stay healthy. It’s…

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…