Author: Gugu Lourie

By Staff Writer Investment firm Convergence Partners, controlled by businessman Andile Ngcaba, is paying $20 million (R255 million) to buy a strategic, minority stake in Venture Garden Nigeria (VGN), a diversified fintech company. “Innovative financial technology is a key component of the African development story, as it enhances efficiency and governance, and enables service provision to the broader population. With its high calibre and energised management team, and leading position in the fast growing markets in which the company operates, VGN is a very exciting investment opportunity for us,” says Brandon Doyle, CEO of Convergence Partners. VGN is a holding company…

By Staff Writer ZAZOO, a division of the JSE and Nasdaq-listed company Net1 UEPS Technologies Inc, has teamed-up a UK and Cyprus-based startup Funifi to enhance their service by adding a secure payment mechanism to the Funifi DO (chore) app using Mobile Virtual Card (MVC) technology. The firm said in March that it was eyeing speedy global expansion focusing on the UK and other parts of Europe, US, India and other developed and emerging markets. The company has seen ZAZOO’s global footprint expanding into 12 African countries, and it also has a presence in Colombia, India, Spain, South Korea, the Philippines,…

By Gugu Lourie Absa, a subsidiary of the Barclays Africa group, is the first bank in South Africa to launch what it calls in its tagline ‘The Smallest Thing In Banking”, which is its new app for the Apple Watch owners. “To celebrate the smallest thing in banking, we asked acclaimed artist, Lorraine Loots, to paint us a small painting… a really small painting for a really small announcement,” said the bank, without providing details on how the app would work. Instead it said “banking shouldn’t disrupt your life – our app allows you to bank at your convenience.” …

By Larry Page, Google CEO Google on Monday published a surprising letter from CEO Larry Page, who Announce Plans for New Operating Structure called Alphabet As Sergey and I wrote in the original founders letter 11 years ago, “Google is not a conventional company. We do not intend to become one.” As part of that, we also said that you could expect us to make “smaller bets in areas that might seem very speculative or even strange when compared to our current businesses.” From the start, we’ve always strived to do more, and to do important and meaningful things with…

By thisisL.com Start Making World Changing Sex:  1 for 1 condom company focuses on women’s empowerment: re-invents product and messaging while supporting AIDS prevention and reproductive rights in the developing world.   After witnessing first hand the effects of HIV/AIDS on women and girls around the world, photojournalist Talia Frenkel decided to do something about it. Enter L. Condom. An ambitious socially powered American start-up that sells premium condoms for a cause. The company is selling condoms in the US for $15 and available online and delivered in under an hour for a flat rate of $5. One condom will be distributed…

By Mihai Lazarescu In today’s world, the reality is that all individuals and organisations connected to the internet are vulnerable to cyber attack. The number, type and sophistication of attacks continues to grow, as the threat report published last month by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) points out. It isn’t only large organisations that are under threat. Even individuals or organisations that don’t believe they have much to offer hackers can be targeted. So even if you think you’re a small target, you might still be at risk. Illusion of trust Malicious individuals and groups thrive on gathering…

By Francis Thackeray State-of-the-art forensic technology from South Africa has been used to try and unravel the mystery of what was smoked in tobacco pipes found in the Stratford-upon-Avon garden of British playwright William Shakespeare. Residue from clay tobacco pipes more than 400 years old from the playwright’s garden were analysed in Pretoria using a sophisticated technique called gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Chemicals from pipe bowls and stems which had been excavated from Shakespeare’ garden and adjacent areas were identified and quantified during the forensic study. The artefacts for the study were on loan from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.…

By Gugu Lourie “Wait, please put your DStv on pause. It’s going to be a jolly good day for Phuthuma Nathi investors on 9 September 2015. ” Black investors in Phuthuma Nathi, the broad-based black economic empowerment arm of pay-TV operator MultiChoice, will share more than R1.2 billion in dividends. “(MultiChoice) again created significant value for stakeholders and recorded positive financial results despite material shifts in its operating environment. The management team continues to address risks and material issues proactively to ensure great entertainment, sustainability and value creation,” Nolo Letele, the chairman of MultiChoice, said in the group’s 2015…

By Gugu Lourie Soccer, rugby and cricket are an obsession for sports fanatics in South Africa. Some people are armchair critics of those sports, while watching them on their pay-TV sets. So how can a mobile phone app keep sports lovers glued to their TV screens? It seems SuperSport mobile app has found a solution for sports nuts and hard-core fans. The SuperSport app now has 992 000 active monthly users, and live streaming on the SuperSport website averages 722 000 video streams per month. Those  users are fans of Kaiser Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Bloemfontein Celtics, The Sharks, Bulls,…

By Gugu Lourie TURN YOUR SIM INTO A CINEMA – “We’ve got fantastic news: all MTN FrontRow subscribers will now pay only R119 a month, making it more affordable than ever,” says Ashley Ramroop from MTN FronRow. Want to be one of the few people to use video-on-demand (VOD) on your smart device? MTN has reduced price of its VOD services MTN FrontRow to R119/month down from R179/month. MTN is targeting a niche market with its VOD services. The move may be MTN’s strategy to attempt to attract and retain customers in a tough market that has seen tech firm Altech, which is…