Author: Gugu Lourie
By Staff Writer The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has won the inaugural MTN SA Foundation ICT Challenge and the overall National Championship title at the recent Enactus National Competition 2015. The championship title has qualified UKZN to represent South Africa at the Enacatus World Cup 2015 taking place in October at the Sandton Convention Centre where thirty five countries will be represented. The UKZN team, which comprised of 22 students, presented their Agri-Hub ICT application that provides farmers with basic information about farming, including giving advice on matching the farming and harvest season with certain crops. It also serves…
The proceeds to be used for future portfolio acquisitions of two telcos By Gugu Lourie JSE-listed telecommunications firm Huge Group, which is on a hunt for buys, is stepping up its acquisition strategy with the launch of two private placement of new shares to institutional investors for a targeted amount of $100 million (R1.2 billion). The company said on Thursday that it “is engaged in discussions involving the possibility of two further acquisitions”. Huge is currently trading under cautionary related a strategic acquisition of a telecom company. The telecoms firm – which has a market capitalisation of more than R388m…
By Staff Writer Tech firm Adapt IT has opened its third Knowledge Centre at the Rusthof Secondary School in the Western Cape to develop the ICT skills of students and educators in our country. This brings the company’s total knowledge centre investment to R1,6 million, after investments in Amaoti and Olievenhoutbosch in 2013 and 2014 respectively. “Adapt IT has invested in these knowledge centres in order to develop the ICT skills of students and educators in our country. It is imperative that we, as members of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry, keep supporting the growth and development of…
By Steffen Sorrell “Ladies and Gentlemen, now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for” – Ed Sullivan It’s official – Windows 10 was released as a free upgrade in 190 countries as of yesterday. The question is, do the words of Pulp Fiction’s Ed Sullivan hold true as they did when W7, or even when W8 was released? Changing Times Make no mistake: the consumer and indeed, enterprise computing landscape has changed dramatically since the thing that had “no chance” in the market came out. Different CEO, different times. The “PC” is now: a smartphone, a tablet or a…
By Brendon Williamson, GM of PayGate The local e-commerce landscape is becoming an increasingly cutthroat and competitive space. According to a recent survey released by advisory firm PwC, SA’s online retail sector has a forecasted growth of 15.9% CAGR and will be worth an estimated R9.5bn in 2018. Unsurprisingly, the sector is seeing an influx of new entrants – which are all vying for a piece of what is shaping up to be a lucrative market. For both new and established merchants, credibility and brand equity will be a critical part of their success or failure. Without doubt, a key…
By Staff Writer Business Connexion (BCX) has launched the first pay-as-you-go service for Windows Azure Pack out of its carrier-neutral, certified Tier IV data centre. The solution combines enterprise-class control and compliance with a fully managed service and self-provisioning, providing clients with flexibility and increasing their agility in the market. The tech firm, which is being bought by Telkom, is the only gold certified Microsoft Cloud Operating System Network (COSN) partner in Africa, “There is no doubt that local markets are becoming increasingly competitive,” says Jacques Loubser, Managing Executive of Converged Infrastructure Solutions, at Business Connexion. “Technology in itself…
By Staff Writer MTN has once again added another feather in its cap following the announcement that the mobile operator has been conferred the Icon Brand status and ranked the number one brand in the Telecommunications Category in the 2015/2016 Icon Brands Survey. The Icon Brands are brands which foster a sense of patriotism and unity and are used loyally by South Africans across the age, income, race and language spectrums. These brands define a common experience to which South Africans are committed, and plough the requisite investment to back up this commitment. The survey was conducted by the…
By Staff Writer The re-emergence of load shedding across the country has reminded consumers of the need to keep their mobile devices fully charged in the event of unexpected power cuts. In order to help consumers stay ‘powered up’, Samsung Electronics South Africa presents the external battery pack – a small but effective device which can be used to top-up any Samsung smartphone, wearable or tablet battery. Samsung’s battery packs are the ultimate accessory, ensuring that communication and entertainment don’t go off when the lights do. The stylish designs and compact sizes also make these products an essential portable…
Datatec, South Africa’s technology firm, is planning to spend $42 million (R524 million) to buy US-based Advanced Technology Integration Group (ATIG) from MCP. The tech firm the acquisition will be facilitated through its subsidiary Logicalis, which has conditionally agreed to buy ATIG, a solution provider offering system integration and professional services to enterprise and commercial customers across the Midwest region of the United States. Datatec is an international ICT solutions and services group operating in more than 60 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific. The Group’s service offering spans the technology, integration and consulting sectors of the…
By Anton Harber The Financial Times, one of the great global journalism institutions, has been sold by the Pearson Group to the Japanese media company Nikkei. This ends 60 years of benign custodianship, which has allowed the pink paper to be one of the more successful of the newspapers dealing with the challenges of the internet. The 127-year-old FT now has 70% of its audience paying to read it online and made a £25m profit this year. The FT is looking healthier than most newspapers, partly because it occupies a valuable niche, but also because it has had the shelter of…
Sophisticated yet simple analysis is critical to ensure product availability, maintain quality and control costs By David Telford At its heart, supply chain management requires a balancing of operational efficiency, customer satisfaction and quality. Managing the true cost to serve for each and every order is the aspiration to allow better negotiation and value creation across the supply chain. Customer and consumer centricity helps anticipate product and service requirements. Supply Chains are becoming more extended and complex with a consequent increase in risk and the need for resilience. There are multiple data sources making it difficult to manage and measure end-to-end processes…
By Craig Lowe, MD at execMobile In today’s digitally driven, information saturated world, data privacy is a massive issue. One only needs to look at recent high profile cases of corporate cybercrime (Sony, AshleyMadison.com) to grasp the scope of the challenge. On the local front, the imminent implementation of the Protection of Personal Information Bill (‘POPI’) is placing data privacy under a particularly glaring spotlight. As local companies prepare for POPI, they are being forced to take a hard look at their systems and processes, and to ask critical questions around various internal policies. As this process unfolds, I believe that…
By Staff Writer Entries for the annual MTN Business App of the Year Awards taking place on 13 August in Johannesburg have closed, and an expert panel of judges that is adjudicating the process is evaluating the submissions. Now in its fourth year, the awards have become the premier event of its kind in South Africa and sees developers from across the country coming up with innovative solutions for some of the socio-economic challenges that we face. “The quality of the submissions to this year’s event has been nothing short of outstanding. Our panel of judges have a difficult…
By Staff writer Solidarity Union on Tuesday in a statement lambasted Telkom for paying its ex-chief financial officer Jacques Schindehütte close to R19 million, describing the total package as a ‘waste’. The union said that Telkom could have paid the salaries of about 80 technicians for a year with the money paid to Schindehütte. Schindehütte was paid R18.8 million, which consist of a R6.6 million guaranteed package, no short-term incentives, and R12.2 million in fringe and other benefits. Marius Croucamp,Solidarity spokesman, said he average technician employed by Telkom earns about R20 000 per month before deductions. Therefore, with the R19 million…
By Staff Writer Vodacom’s location-based deals app, Vouchercloud, has reached more than 2 million users in South Africa and delivered almost R500 million in savings for local consumers in just over a year since its launch. Vouchercloud is a geo-location enabled product that seeks out the best local deals, displays them via the mobile phone, and allows users to redeem either digital or printed vouchers at participating retailers. Vouchercloud has far exceeded its original target of one million users in South Africa by March 2015. In fact, more than two million subscribers now access Vouchercloud via feature phone by dialing…
By Johan Nel, CEO of Gumtree South Africa There has been enough said about the prolificacy of collaborative consumption in 2015, a trend where consumers are taking on the roles of producers and service providers. We’ve seen peer-to-peer car- and accommodation sharing (like Uber and AirBNB) take the world by storm seemingly overnight, but there are also numerous peer-to-peer lending services, task-sharing services, peer-to-peer clothing sales, peer-to-peer teaching…the list is endless. Perhaps the oldest of these pivots would be peer-to-peer trading that has happened both offline (the infamous “small ad” section of the newspaper) and online (online classifieds are…
Telkom is attracting more American institutional investors in the equity markets as some South Africans ditch the shares of the country’s largest fixed-line operator. Telkom’s turnaround strategy especially its initiative to cut fat in the business via retrenchments is facing opposition from its unions and ‘making some local investors uneasy’. But United States of America’s institutional investors are picking up majority of the shares being dumped by locals in the equity market, followed by the UK and Germany. Clearly Americans are seeing value in the business, when some South Africans are slowly losing faith. In the year to end- March…
By Gugu Lourie Telkom ex-chief financial officer Jacques Schindehütte would only get R18 million as a ‘golden handshake’ or so said the country’s biggest fixed-line telephone group’s 2015 annual report. It is a victory for Schindehütte and a loss for those who wanted him out of the company? It seems, he won against his detractors. Looking carefully at his total package, it seems as if Schindehütte was paid a settlement fee amounting to close to R11 million. That’s a lovely golden parachute for an executive who didn’t work for the company in 2015 or maybe due to accounting standards…
By Gugu Lourie Vodacom Group, a subsidiary of British mobile phone giant Vodafone, announced on Monday that Ivan Dittrich, Chief Financial Officer and executive director, has resigned from the company to pursue his own interests. He will step down from the Vodacom board with effect from 31 July 2015. Till Streichert, currently Executive Director: Finance of Vodacom South Africa will succeed Ivan as Chief Financial Officer and executive director of the company with effect from 1 August 2015. Till joined Vodacom in February 2014, prior to which he had been CFO of Vodafone Romania. He held a number of senior…
What’s the point of education if Google can tell us anything? By Ibrar Bhatt Can’t remember the name of the two elements that scientist Marie Curie discovered? Or who won the 1945 UK general election? Or how many light years away the sun is from the earth? Ask Google. Constant access to an abundance of online information at the click of a mouse or tap of a smartphone has radically reshaped how we socialise, inform ourselves of the world around us and organise our lives. If all facts can be summoned instantly by looking online, what’s the point of spending years…
No need to wave to get attention at restaurants, just press a button to get the service you require Many times people compliment restaurants for their good food, but they often complain about poor service – but that may be a thing of the past. Dissatisfaction with services is a common irritation in South Africa – it can happen to anyone when they go out to dine with family, friends or loved ones. While there are few methods to check on the quality of service restaurant’s offer, food lovers rely mostly on word of mouth or social media. Ushir…
By Gugu Lourie Buoyed by its rising share price, JSE-listed telecommunications firm Huge Group has set its sights on niche acquisitions in South Africa, where it sees itself as a natural consolidator. Huge Group – which has a market capitalisation of more than R388m –has seen its stock rise close to 300% in the past three years and 164% in the past year. The counter is currently trading at R3.50 a share for a healthy 61% growth in the past 90 days. Huge Group’s strategy has clearly struck a chord with investors. “This price appreciation has strengthened Huge Group’s…
By Thomas Snitch They are called unmanned aerial vehicles but are better known as drones. These are small aerial vehicles with fixed wings or small rotors, are usually powered with batteries, and equipped with a high resolution camera. Drones range in cost from $99 to tens of thousands of dollars. But they are truly a disruptive technology in that they can do what piloted airplanes can but in cheaper, better, and – in many cases – more efficient ways. In less than five years we will see unmanned aerial vehicles being flown on a myriad of missions doing good. They can…
By Staff Writer Denver Courtier (not his real name) is a typical young South African, who claims he is too young to worry about retirement right now. While many people on low incomes believe they do not have enough to save, since their income barely covers the essentials. Looking at your financials today and seeing yourself as you will in the year 2065 is frightening. But finally help is here. Yellowtail is bringing to South Africa an app developed by Figlo that is planning to take you to ‘your retirement age with comfort’. The Goal Gauge app is an…
By Staff Writer In late 2013, Vodacom embarked on a major project to accelerate investment in its network across South Africa. This programme, called Project Spring, has over the past year alone resulted in Vodacom increasing the number of 3G sites by more than 20% to almost 9 000, and more than doubling the number of LTE/4G sites to 2 600. This focus on network investment is continuing into Vodacom’s 2015-2016 financial year, and will result in more than R200 million being spent in the Limpopo region to expand coverage and increase network capacity and speed. “We’ll be bringing faster data…