Author: Gugu Lourie

Telkom has confirmed it is in talks to buy struggling mobile phone operator Cell C. Cell C is 45% owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, 15% by Net 1, 3 Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) collectively hold 30% (in turn held by 3C Telecommunications and further in turn held as 29.4% by the Employee Believe Trust, 45.6% by Oger Telecoms and 25% by broad-based black empowerment grouping CellSAf); and Cell C Management and Staff hold 10%. “Telkom has substantially concluded its due diligence, however, discussions are at a preliminary stage,” the company informed investors on Friday. The company, which is partially…

Even with the 5G era already upon us, investment in 4G/LTE networks is still vitally important for operators in sub-Saharan Africa and must remain a core focus of network construction for the immediate future. This is according to David Chen, vice-president, Huawei Southern Africa. “Currently, the mobile broadband penetration rate in Africa is only 47%, while 4G penetration rate is merely 10%,” Chen said. “Insufficient coverage causes LTE users to fall back to the 2G or 3G networks, resulting in significant decline in user experience. It also leads to congestion on the 2G and 3G networks and makes it difficult…

At the root of the troubled tech firm EOH misery in the past few years has been a flawed strategy around corporate governance. EOH’s new management team under its boss Stephen van Coller initiated a probe led by law firm ENSafrica (ENS) to review all its large, historical licensing contracts with the state. The probe uncovered suspicious transactions worth R1.2 billion. EOH had issued reports to regulators and is pressing criminal charges as well as civil claims to recover stolen funds. “This has been a difficult time for the EOH business but we will continue the process of meaningful engagement…

EOH, troubled JSE-listed technology group, has paid its CEO more than R19 million in 2019. The company disclosed in its annual report that Stephen van Coller, having been bought out of an existing contract joined with a guaranteed payment of R10 million, paid in two equal tranches in October 2018, and October 2019. Van Coller was also awarded 1 million share options on joining EOH. His total package include a basic salary of R5.4 million ( which includes medical aid, death and disability insurance, unemployment insurance fund (‘UIF’) and any amounts paid on resignation). It also consists of R14 million…

Takeaway announced on Wednesday that its bid offer for Britain’s Just Eat presented a compelling opportunity for both companies. The Takeaway’s offer is backed by Just Eat’s boards despite a higher bid price from cash-flush larger rival Prosus, which is owned by South African-based tech giant Naspers. Prosus hit back on Wednesday saying that “the Takeaway materials published today continue to underestimate the level of investment required in a sector that is changing rapidly. “Just Eat requires substantial investment in technology, product, marketing and own-delivery to capture its long-term opportunity,” Prosus said in a statement, emailed to TechFinancials. “With our global experience,…

A Cape Town blockchain-based startup, Registree, has partnered with the University of Cape Town (UCT to create blockchain-based records for thousands of UCT students. Over the past two years, a group of the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) students and their professor quietly built Registree, a blockchain-based student registry to address one of the country’s most pressing problems: the coexistence one of the world’s highest youth unemployment rate with a massive and persistent skills shortage across all sectors of the economy. “We started Registree because we realized that universities struggle to fully use of the vast amount of student data,…

Bank Zero, a start-up by mostly former First National Bank (FNB) staffers chaired by venture capitalist Michael Jordaan, on Wednesday reassured the market that is making progress to launch in 2020. The digital bank was initially planned to launch three months ago. Today, the bank – which is set to compete with fellow newcomers TymeBank and Discovery Bank – revealed on Wednesday a debit card beta. To protect customers from widespread card fraud, Bank Zero said it has designed a new patented card which offers vital security and convenience. This patent will dramatically minimise the negative impact of card data…

Nokia today announced that Spectranet, Nigeria’s largest Internet Service Provider, will bring high-speed access to customers in Lagos and Abuja. Spectranet will deploy Nokia’s GPON solution as part of an extensive Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) rollout. The solution will enable Spectranet to provide new ultra-broadband services such as 4K HD video streaming and online gaming to residential and enterprise subscribers in the region.  “In today’s digital economy, our customers increasingly seek high-speed internet access to use applications like streaming ultra HD videos and online gaming,” Ajay Awasthi, Chief Executive Officer at Spectranet, said. “With Nokia’s GPON solution, we will be able to…

South African mobile operator MTN, together with Huawei launched their C-band 5G trial on the first day of AfricaCom 2019, as part of the operator’s network evolution plan towards 5G. C-band, the so-called ‘golden band’ for 5G spectrum, is a valuable slice of spectrum and comprises of a frequency range of around 3.3 – 3.8GHz. Many countries around the world are deploying this spectrum band to deliver their 5G services, making it highly valuable for mobile operators. MTN and Huawei signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Joint 5G Innovation Program to assess and work on new technologies such…

MultiChoice continues to experience strong subscriber growth for the period ended 30 September 2019 despite concerns from experts that this growth would taper off as competition intensifies. Africa’s biggest pay-TV operator, which is valued close to R60 billion on the JSE, informed investors on Monday that it added 1.2 million 90-day active subscribers, representing 7% year-on-year (YoY) growth. This growth pushed MultiChoices’ overall 90-day active subscriber base to 18.9 million households as at 30 September 2019. The group said it’s home market of South Africa delivered solid results, reporting subscriber growth of 7% YoY or 600 000 subscribers on a 90-day…

OLX Group (OLX), a Prosus’ classifieds business, is investing $400 million (R5.9 billion) in online car marketplace Frontier Car Group (FCG). The transaction will result in OLX becoming the largest shareholder in FCG. FCG is a Berlin-based automotive marketplace group founded in 2016. It develops, launches, and operates online and offline used-car marketplaces within high-growth market economies, with operations in over 10 countries and 5 continents. In these marketplaces, FCG enables buyers and sellers of cars to transact in trustworthy and transparent ways through technology, infrastructure, access to capital, and innovative business models compared to otherwise complex systems. OLX, the fastest-growing…

Tech giant Prosus has threated Just East investors that it will withdraw its takeover bid if they back a merger with Takeaway.com. The Telegraph reported that despite being armed with a €20bn (£17bn) warchest, Prosus’ boss Bob van Dijk is telling Just Eat shareholders that Prosus is not interested in buying both companies. 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. The Euronext and JSE-listed tech giant owned by Naspers has made a…

Telecommunications network provider MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi’s empowerment scheme will list on the JSE on November 25, the Johannesburg-based telco said on Monday. MTN’s previous scheme, MTN Zakhele, listed on the JSE in 2015, but delisted in the next year as the scheme was wound up. Recently, MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi’s scheme was found to be inconsistent with South Africa’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) Act. In July, the BBBEE Commission disclosed that the scheme, which was announced by MTN on 12 September 2016, is inconsistent with the act that provides a legislative framework for the promotion of BBBEE. “The Commission found that the…

Vodacom doles out R3.4 billion ($224 million) to buy 26% stake owned by Mirambo Holdings in Vodacom Tanzania. The South African-based mobile phone operator now owns 75% of Vodacom Tanzania. Mirambo Holdings is the investment vehicle of Tanzanian business tycoon Rostam Aziz. The Vodafone-owned group acquired 588 million shares in Vodacom Tanzania. The transaction was effective on 27 September 2019, and purchase consideration to the value of $224 million (R 3 417 million) was paid in cash, Vodacom said on Monday. Vodacom Tanzania controls 32% of the market share of the country’s 40 million mobile subscribers, ahead of Tigo Tanzania,…

Vodacom has disclosed on Monday that it could pay as much as R1 billion to acquire Internet of Things (IoT) innovator IoT.nxt. In May, Vodacom announced plans to buy 51% stake in IoT.nxt for an undisclosed amount to enhance its current IoT offering. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone firm disclosed on Monday that it bought the 51% stake in IoT.nxt for R1 billion, of which R469 million was settled in cash, with the remainder being contingent on the future performance of the business. IoT.nxt creates data-connectivity between new data sources and legacy systems which allows for real-time data availability across a…

Vodacom’s diversification into financial services is slowly paying off for the Vodafone-owned mobile phone operator. The company announced on Monday that revenue from its Financial Services business jumped by 37.1% to almost R1 billion, as Airtime Advance, insurance and its recently launched VodaPay service all gained in popularity. “Our strategic focus on financial services supported strong performance, growing revenue by 37.1% to R972 million,” said Shameel Joosub, Vodacom’s CEO. The mobile phone operator said it has advanced R4.9 billion in airtime via its Airtime Advance platform to 9.9 million customers. Furthermore, Vodacom added that its insurance revenue rose 21.8%, and…

Vodacom South Africa’s streaming service Video Play continues to attract more customers. Video Play is now bigger than Netflix South Africa, the world’s biggest streaming service. The Vodafone-owned company announced on Monday its Video Play service has more than 1 million customers engaged on our video platform, with 14.8 million daily, weekly and monthly subscriptions over the last six months. The company added that its digital services in video, music, sports and gaming are providing customers with more reasons to consume data as it increases engagement through our strategy of “one more service” to the customer. Netflix is projected to…

Greenlight Planet, a pay-as-you-go solar player, is pursuing a strong telecom-focused strategy that aims to have a far-reaching impact on more than 600 million unelectrified consumers across the African continent. Since its founding in 2009, the company has become a leading global provider of solar energy products to over 27 million rural consumers in more than 60 countries. The company has sold over 12 million Sun King solar home energy products to off-grid households around the world.  It also reaches remote, off-grid customers through a unique business model involving a vast network of micro-entrepreneurs, more than 300 global strategic distribution partners.…

The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), in collaboration with Investec and supported by Sanlam Investments, has named AgriTech firm Aerobotics as 2019 Best Startup or Venture Capital Company. SAVCA is the industry body for the private equity and venture capital industry in Southern Africa. Aerobotics is a South African AgriTech company that builds advanced analytics on top of aerial drone and satellite imagery to deliver precision farming tools for clients. In 2018, Nedbank partnered with Aerobotics to conduct an initial experiment by flying drones over pecan nut farms of a prospective agricultural client at the time.…

ProfitShare Partners has secured a R25 million capital line from the Vumela Fund, which is managed by Edge Growth Ventures. Launched in 2018, Vumela’s third fund focuses on supporting high growth SMEs in the banking supply chain with good economic and impact returns – a key driver of ProfitShare Partners value proposition to the SME market. The Vumela Fund is a R588 million Social Venture Capital Fund that Edge Growth manages on behalf of the Vumela Trustees. The fund is a business with the objective of creating stakeholder value by investing in, growing and divesting of SMEs and providing value-added growth…

Health workers in rural and remote areas continue to seek advice from specialists on behalf of their patients. So it’s no surprise that Vula Mobile, a medical referral startup, is seeing its health app gaining traction as more people start to utilise its online services. Vula Mobile is the brainchild of Dr William Mapham, who conceived the idea for the app while working at an Eye Clinic in rural Swaziland. He experienced first-hand the difficulties faced by rural health workers when they need specialist advice. In 2015, the app which was then only available to assist with eye health and…

Jamii Cities, a platform that connects the needs of the best tenants with the best landlords, has been awarded an additional R450 000 of grant funding by AlphaCode. This was after Jamii Cities and other startups completed a AlphaCode Incubate programme, one year of intensive mentorship, startup principles bootcamps and being connected with an extensive network. The eight startups were awarded entrepreneurial packages of R2 million each in 2018. Jamii Cities is a FinTech startup that focuses on property. The business attracts, selects, onboards and rewards tenants for good financial behaviour related to rental payments, which incentivises a longer stay…

Telkom to hold an online auction of its real estate portfolio located nationwide throughout South Africa. The real estate portfolio features ±34 properties consisting of vacant land and single-storey buildings. The properties boast land extents ranging from ±400m² to ±19,000m² and include; vacant land within the Northern Cape: Hartvallei (Jan Kempdorp), Western Cape: Knysna & Graafwater, and Mpumalanga: Delmas. GoIndustry, the auctioneer and agent for the seller, said in a statement that the online auction, lots closes from 26 November 2019. The auction website at Online Auction Of Telkom Real Estate provides continuous access to the property information. GoIndustry…

Telkom has revealed its Big Deal for November 2019 – a 20GB LTE package. The deal is based on a SmartBroadband Wireless 20GB package. If you buy this package you will get: 10GB Anytime data 10GB Night Surfer data for just Huawei E5577 Mi-Fi Modem Price: R139/m x 24m The deal is valid until 31 November 2019 or while stocks last. Users are advised to check Telkom’s LTE coverage map before purchasing the deal to ensure they are in an LTE-covered area.

MTN Group, Africa’s largest mobile phone operator, has terminated talks with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe. As part of its R15 billion fund-raising drive, MTN was in talks with Econet Wireless Zimbabwe to sell its 53% stake in Botswana Mascom. “Econet’s unsolicited offer to acquire our 53% stake in Mascom has been terminated following certain conditions of the sale not being met,” MTN Group CFO Ralph Mupita said on Thursday. MTN had identified Mascom as non-core to its operations after the company embarked on a review of its investment portfolio. Its shareholding didn’t give it control of Mascom and the power to execute…