Author: Gugu Lourie

Cryptocurrency platform Coindirect has launched a brokerage system aimed at traders looking to do large volume cryptocurrency transactions. The “over-the-counter” (OTC) model, introduced this month, is a ‘first’ in South Africa and sets Coindirect apart from its local competitors in the market, the company claimed. “During our first two years in the industry we have paid close attention to which users are driving the volume of crypto trading,” Nic Haralambous, Coindirect’s COO, says. “Our approach is to bring cryptocurrency to as many users as possible, however, the data shows that a majority of the daily trading volume in South Africa…

Struggling mobile phone operator Cell C is showing no signs of recovery but it seems to be going slowly nowhere. JSE-listed telecoms group Blue Label Telecoms, which owns 45% of Cell C, informed investors on Thursday that the mobile phone operator incurred trading losses of R1.56 billion, impairments of its property, plant and equipment of R2.2 billion and de-recognised its deferred tax asset of R4.09 billion for the year ended-May 2019. Blue Label Telecoms said its 45% share amounted to R3.609 billion on the inclusion of the amortisation of intangible assets of R10 million and an expense of R65 million…

Blue Label Telecoms, which was once a darling of JSE investors, is sinking deeper into trouble as Cell C knocks the JSE-listed group’s earnings. Cell C’s largest shareholder reported on Thursday that core headline earnings for the year ended 31 May 2019 equated to a negative 304.77 cents per share. Headline earnings per share is South Africa’s main profit gauge. The company as expected attributed the bad news to Cell C and impairment of its total investment in the Oxigen India group. The company which used to be regarded as a JSE’s best-kept secret has seen its shares plummet 36% year-to-date…

JSE-listed firm Blue Label Telecoms announced on Wednesday it will sell its shareholding in Blue Label Mobile to DNI 4PL Contracts Proprietary Limited (DNI). In terms of this transaction, Blue Label will sell 85% of Blue Label Mobile issued shares and all claims on loan to DNI 809. The price consideration payable by DNI to Blue Label in respect of the deal is R350 million. DNI will also pay R100 million, which shall escalate at the prime rate of interest plus 2% (compounding annually in arrears) from the fifth business day after the date on which all suspensive conditions  are…

South African venture capital (VC) firms and fund managers invested R1.5 billion channelled towards South African startups in 2018. This is according to SAVCA 2019 Venture Capital Industry Survey released by the Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA), conducted in collaboration with research partner Venture Solutions. Gauteng businesses received the largest share of VC money in 2018 (R658 million), up 38% from 2017. The Western Cape saw an increase in 2018 of 14% in VC investments amounting to R433 million. Kwazulu-Natal (KZN) backed VC business have in 2018 seen a significant increase in activity in comparison to 2017, with…

Vodacom’s boss is on study leave and the chief financial officer (CFO) is acting as CEO of the mobile phone operator, TechFinancials has learned. British mobile phone giant Vodafone, which owns Vodacom, has sent Shameel Joosub to study at Harvard Business School, a reliable source this week told TechFinancials. Another source at the company confirmed that Till Strichert, Vodacom’s CFO has been appointed as acting CEO. However, Vodacom wouldn’t be drawn into commenting the matter. “Vodacom does not comment on internal matters of this nature,” a Vodacom spokesperson said in an email response. Asked when is Joosbub contract was ending, the response was:…

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) said on Thursday it will, before the end of 2019, publish the Information Memorandum on the licensing process for the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) spectrum or what is also referred to as high demand spectrum. This follows the publication of the Policy on High Demand Spectrum and Policy Direction on the Licensing of a Wireless Open Access Network (the Policy Direction) by the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies. The Information Memorandum is also intended to provide guidance to stakeholders and prospective applicants on the process and criteria to be applied by…

JSE-listed group Blue Label Telecoms woes mount as Cell C continues to negatively impact the company. Blue Label Telecoms, which owns 45% of Cell C, on Thursday informed investors that its earnings will take a knock. The company attributed this to ongoing Cell C woes. Blue Label Telecoms said its earnings for the year to end-May 2019 will take a R6.71 a share knock. It attributed this to Cell C’s trading losses, impairment of its property, plant and equipment, the impact of a de- recognition of its deferred tax asset and the impairment of its total investment. The earnings will…

GRAND BAIE, Mauritius – Twelve-year-old Marika and 10-year-old Annie are swimming in the warm water of the majestic ocean and are ecstatic to see me. They greet me in English, and I warmly respond and say “hi young ones”.  “You can speak English,” Marika exclaims.  French and Creole are the languages most spoken in Mauritius. Annie shyly asks: “How is that possible? You look like a Mauritian.”  Before I can answer, she asks: “Are you visiting here? Where are you from?” “The city of Jo-hustle-burg is my hometown little ones”. I silently say: “Thank you, the greatest writer of our troubled…

Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) on Friday announced that it was working hard to enable a one flat rate for the process of making and receiving calls overseas. Roaming costs are sky-high for travellers across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region and is a hindrance when just popping over to a neighbouring country for pleasure or work. SATA chairman and CEO of Mauritius Telecom Sherry Singh said on Friday the organisations finalising its initiative to decrease roaming prices. The initiative is known as ‘Roam like at home’. Singh said he has invited the SATA member countries to sign the…

Southern Africa Telecommunications Association (SATA) on Friday launched a digital sharing platform to address the challenges of knowledge sharing in the region. SATA was founded in 1980 in line with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Treaty. It regroups companies from the information and communications technology industry. It aims at spearheading regional ICT infrastructure and services developments. Its vision is to become the most dynamic and value-adding organisation that facilitates the building of a prosperous information society for the SADC region. At the launch of the digital sharing platform in Port Louis, SATA chairman and CEO of Mauritius Telecom, Sherry…

South Africa’s first fully digital bank TymeBank is adding up to 3, 500 customers a day as it leverages the use of digital biometric technology to make banking simple and affordable. The bank, which is backed by billionaire Patrice Motsepe, has on-boarded 500 000 customers as at 30 June 2019. TymeBank is owned by African Rainbow Capital (ARC) Financial Services Holdings, a company within Motsepe’s Ubuntu-Botho Investments stable. African Rainbow Capital said on Thursday in a statement that the bank is signing up between 3 000 and 3 500 customers per day, with about 40% of bank accounts being active. “The…

Apple today formally announced its launch plans for its new TV streaming service, Apple TV+. The new TV streaming service will be available globally from November 1. The service will be available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac and other platforms, including online at tv.apple.com, for $4.99 per month with a seven-day free trial. Starting today, customers who purchase any iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch or Mac can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for free. Through Family Sharing, up to six family members can share one Apple TV+ subscription. Subscribers can…

Worldwide, malaria kills an estimated 435 000 each year, mostly children under the age of five, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. A South African biotech startup ERADA Technology Alliance (ERADA) has developed saliva-based malaria asymptomatic and asexual rapid test (Smaart) test known as Salva! which the startup claims is a world first. Mining group De Beers has contributed €288 000 (R4.7 million) in ERADA. The foundation grant – which has been facilitated by De Beers Group’s Venetia Diamond Mine in Limpopo, in the Northern province of South Africa close to the border with Zimbabwe and Botswana – will support Smaart. SALVA’s global…

More and more people in Ghana and Uganda are adopting the services of aYo, a mobile micro-insurance joint venture between MTN and SA’s third-biggest insurer Momentum Metropolitan. Its products, which are designed for the lower-income segment of mobile phone users, focus on digitally enabled, high volume, low-value transactions offering flexible payment and cover options “While aYo clients enrolments increased by a pleasing 233% to 4.0 million year-on-year, it has yet to achieve sufficient scale to fund the overhead costs,” said Momentum Metropolitan in its latest integrated annual report. The JSE-listed insurer said the rollout of aYo to additional markets should…

JSE-listed technology firm Altron said on Friday it has placed executives at one of its subsidiaries on precautionary suspension following an investigation that has revealed potential internal irregularities. The three executives work for Altron Nexus. Altron Nexus provides a variety of converged telecommunication services ranging from the distribution of professional two-way radio products and systems across sub-Saharan Africa through Alcom Radio Distributors, operating the largest trunked radio network in South Africa through Fleetcall and providing end-to-end ICT system integration services through Alcom Matomo. The executives were suspended after an investigation that has revealed potential internal irregularities. The investigation came after Altron received…

Digitisation and automation could result in a net gain of up to 1.2 million jobs in South Africa by 2030, a new report reveals. The Future of Work in South Africa: Digitisation, productivity and job creation report from McKinsey & Company states that technology-related gains could triple South Africa’s productivity growth, more than double growth in per capita income, and add more than a percentage point to its real GDP growth rate over the next decade. South Africa is poised for notable change. The advance of technology – including machine learning, artificial intelligence and advanced robotics – is rapid and…

First National Bank (FNB) customers sent more than R26 billion worth of eWallet funds in the year to end-June 2019. This was derived from eWallet transactions processed in the year and was a 25% year-on-year rise in the value of funds compared to R21 billion in 2018. eWallet allows FNB customers to send money to anyone with a valid SA cell number. The money is transferred instantly and can be used to buy prepaid airtime, send money to another cellphone and more. The money can be withdrawn from an FNB ATM or select retail stores. eWallet was introduced in 2009.…

MIC Investment Holdings (MIC) has disposed of its empowerment shareholding in Westcon Southern Africa (Westcon SA). MIC is an investment company and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mineworkers Investment Company. The Mineworker’s Investment Company is a 100% black-owned broad-based investment holding company that was established by the Mineworkers Investment Trust (MIT) to provide ongoing funding for the Trust’s social and educational projects. MIC has sold off its 40% stake to Ascension Capital Partners, a private equity investor. “I am delighted to welcome Ascension as our new BEE partner in Westcon SA and thank the MIC for its valued contributions during its nine…

Cell C, South Africa’s troubled mobile phone operator that is half-owned by JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, is being run by an illegal board of directors, Cell C’s empowerment partner alleges. Claims are that 3C, the holding company of Cell C, has since last year been ‘fraudulently’ constituted. Cell C was founded in November 2001 and 3C Telecommunications owned 100% of the mobile phone operator. When Cell C was finally recapitalised in 2017 by Blue Label Telecoms, which ended up owning 45%, JSE and Nasdaq-listed Net1 UEPS Technologies took 15%, 3C Telecommunications reduced its 100% stake to 30%, and Cell C…

Black investors in Phuthuma Nathi, the broad-based black economic empowerment arm of pay-TV operator MultiChoice, will share more than R1.5 billion in dividends. MultiChoice South Africa (MCSA) today declared a dividend to Phuthuma Nathi (PN) shareholders of R1.5 billion, an increase of 13.6% from 2018. The company said the additional 5% share allocation given to PN, as part of MultiChoice Group’s (MCG) listing on the JSE, contributed to the increase in dividend declared to PN shareholders. PN is one of the most successful Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) schemes in South Africa. PN owns a 25% stake in MCSA, the…

This September, the Frankfurt Motor Show will provide the backdrop for the world premiere of the third-generation BMW X6. At the event, BMW will also present a spectacular one-off vehicle with a Vantablack VBx2 nanostructure paint finish that highlights the expressive design language and confident, dominant and muscular appearance of the new BMW X6 to perfection. The BMW X6 is the first and only vehicle in the world to feature a Vantablack VBx2 paint finish. “We turned down numerous requests from various automobile manufacturers in the past,” explains Ben Jensen, founder and Chief Technical Officer of Surrey NanoSystems. “It took…

Mbelieves the state should leverage private-sector expertise in the broadband roll-out, rather than relying exclusively on state-owned companies (SOCs). This was contained in the economic policy paper titled Economic Transformation, Inclusive Growth and Competitiveness: Towards an Economic Strategy for South Africa published on National Treasury’s website on Tuesday evening. The economic policy paper outlines bold vision by the South African national treasury calling South African Government to implement a series of growth reforms that promote economic transformation, support labour-intensive growth, and create a globally competitive economy. The plan is aimed at dealing with the country’s moribund GDP growth rate and tackle…

Standard Bank has invested $4 million (R61 million) in South Africa’s FinTech firm Nomanini. The investment has enabled the local bank to have an undisclosed stake in the Cape Town-based FinTech company. The deal will also enable Standard Bank to use Nomanini’s platform to unearth previously ‘invisible’ data on the informal retail economy. Nomanini connects merchants and distributors to each other and global service providers, integrating payments, working capital, and data analytics to unlock the latent potential of Africa’s economy. It turns any mobile device into a retail point-of-sale solution for informal merchants that is connected to an interoperable merchant…

JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms has tried to reassure the market after its share price plummeted by more than 7.43% to close at R2.74 a share on Thursday. At 15:58, the share price was down 1.47% at R2.68 and the stock has tumbled 23% in the past seven days. For more read: Blue Label Telecoms Shares Continue to Tank as Tough Week Continues for Cell C The company, which owns half of the ailing Cell C, referred investors to the announcement by the mobile phone operator in which S&P Global Rating published a report downgrading Cell C to D (Default). Blue…