Author: Gugu Lourie
by Gugu Lourie As part of its push into providing fast Internet to its consumers MTN South Africa, the country’s second-biggest mobile phone has paid R220 million to buy Smart Village. The company was bought from Multichoice, a subsidiary of Africa’s biggest tech group Naspers. “In November 2016, the group acquired 100% of the share capital of Smart Village for a cash consideration of R220 million and a deferred consideration of R12 million,” MTN informed investors on Thursday. The Smart Village acquisition was completed in December 2016, adding 22 000 homes passed with fibre to the network with about 7 000 homes…
by Lee Naik, CEO of TransUnion Africa It’s well into 2017 and you’ve been bombarded with more trends pieces than you know what to do with. From the many articles covering the CES and Davos to the analyses by the likes of Accenture, McKinsey, Deloitte and other major consultancies, there’s a lot to absorb. I’d like to apply a more strategic viewpoint. Sound business decisions should not be made on a whim, adopted every time a new, innovative technology claims to be the future of enterprise. To make these decisions easier, I’ve closely researched the predictions of big analysts, cross-referenced…
by Staff Writer MTN has described its performance in 2016 as reflecting “the most challenging year in the company’s 22-year history”, which was a result of the big Nigerian fine and other political challenges. This resulted in Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone operator to post a Headline loss per share of 77 cents in the year to end-December 2016. Headline earnings per share is the main profit gauge in South Africa. The perfect storm that has engulfed MTN has resulted in the resignation of its CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, which led to a process to refresh the entire…
by Gugu Lourie MTN’s aggressive push into delivering digital services, such as lifestyle and mobile financial services solutions, continued to pay off in the year to end December 2016, according to the mobile phone operators’ full year results published this morning. Africa and the Middle East biggest mobile phone operator reported on Thursday that in the year to end-December 2016 it recorded a 44.2% growth in digital services revenue. The telco said its Mobile Money service accounts for 20,2% of total digital revenue. The number of MTN Mobile Money customers rose by 18,4% to 41 million, supported by a strong…
by BMW The seventh generation of the BMW 5 Series Sedan will cut a sporty, elegant and stylish figure when it hits the roads in South Africa from this month. Further enhanced dynamics, an unbeatable line-up of assistance systems, an unmatched degree of connectivity as well as new and innovative operating system are the most important new features. The new model therefore has all the tools it needs to continue the remarkable success recorded by its predecessors. The next step to automated driving A wealth of assistance systems are on hand in the new BMW 5 Series to offer the driver unbeatable…
by Ken OburaIn August 2012, terrorist group, Boko Haram, reportedly hacked into Nigeria’s secret service and acquired private data on current and former personnel. In April 2016, a group calling itself “Anonymous” was able to hack into the database of the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and steal sensitive data. More recently, a number of South African companies’ systems were infiltrated by cyberattackers and data held for ransom. The firms included Johnny Bags food manufacturers, DSV Global and Gebers & Partners. These incidents illustrate the risks that the use of cyberspace poses to the African continent in the 21st Century. To…
by Staff Writer Net1, a Nasdaq and JSE-listed tech firm that is embroiled in a tussle with the South African government in its social grants contracts, is to buy 15% stake in Cell C for R2 billion. The deal will facilitate the recapitalisation of Cell C by Blue Label Telecoms, which is subscribing for 45% of the third-biggest local mobile phone operator. Net1 is also planning to acquire 49.6% of DNI-4PL Contracts (Pty) Ltd (“DNI”), with an option to acquire a controlling stake in DNI in the future. DNI is the leading distributor of mobile subscriber starter packs for Cell…
by Staff Writer US-based Quona Capital, which is a manager of the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund worth $141 million and Netherlands-based Velocity Capital sees value in South Africa’s fintech start-up, Yoco. Both fintech-focused institutional investors have invested an undisclosed amount into Yoco and the funding details were scant. Yoco said the new capital will help it to grow its national footprint, launch new fintech services and lay the groundwork for international expansion in 2018. Yoco, which competes with Standard Bank-owned Snapscan and iKhoka, enables SMEs to accept card payments and provides card readers, and free point-of-sale and business intelligence tools…
by Gugu Lourie Global news agency Reuters’ News videos will be available on Tuluntulu’s tNews4U Channel. “Reuters is interesting in that it gives us quality international content, under our own brand tNews4U. The vision is to add local (African) news content to create a unique news offering,” Tuluntulu’s founder Pierre van der Hoven, told TechFinancials on Wednesday. He was excited to disclose the news as it will help the company to reach its half-a-million mark users in few months. Launched in August 2014, Tuluntulu app targets audiences in Africa, and globally, with African focused content delivered on its mobile content platform.…
By Ozgur Dedehayir and Tomi NokelainenThe tech giant Nokia has announced plans to release a new version of the old classic 3310 mobile phone. The original handset was popular at the turn of the century. The revised version will be a simple device that can make phone calls and send text messages, and not much else apart from play the cult game of Snake. So why would a phone company move away from the traditional route of making smart phones more smart and opt for this retro technology? We tend to appreciate technology if it allows us to lead an easier life…