Author: Staff Writer

It’s not every day a CEO of a major company asks his customers to log in and ask him tough questions face-to- face and on the spot. In an extremely well-attended and vibrant one hour LinkedIn Live session on Friday afternoon, MTN SA CEO Charles Molapisi did just that, fielding many curve balls and unleashing a 24/7 customer service “war room” to ensure rapid responses and urgent follow-ups to the most pressing customer issues. With rolling blackouts, vandalism at power stations and battery theft resulting in increasing downtime on networks across SA, Molapisi said he did not have time for…

South Africa’s telco Telkom today officially launch its 5G network in partnership with Chinese telcoms giant Huawei. The 5G network is an ultra-speed, superior Internet connection that supersedes the previous LTE and 4G connections.  This next-generation network  will open up new opportunities for smart cities, businesses, healthcare, manufacturing and autonomous vehicles. Manufacturing makes up close to 12% of South Africa’s GDP, there’s a solid case to make regarding the value of 5G in transforming business models. 5G offers manufacturers the chance to build smart operations and truly take advantage of technologies such as automation, artificial intelligence, augmented reality for troubleshooting,…

Heineken South Africa has taken a bold step in moving closer to reducing carbon emissions in all its operations, by launching a solar power plant at its Sedibeng, Midvaal brewery. The solar plant began producing power in May this year and is the largest freestanding solar plant powering a brewery in South Africa, and the largest within the Heineken group. The solar plant boasts 14,000 panels with an energy capacity of over 6.5MW providing 30% of the brewery’s electricity demand. The 19ha project will generate 17,000 MWh per annum. “This project supports Heineken’s Brewing a Better World goal reach to…

The Shoprite Group made its second minority investment in a South African tech startup this year. In the most recent transaction, the retailer is among a group of companies, led by Buffet Investments and KLT, in an undisclosed expansion round in Omnisient, Africa’s first privacy-preserving data collaboration platform provider. “We are excited by local start-ups that are creating value for our customers and partner businesses, whilst having privacy at the core of their offering,” says Neil Schreuder, Chief of Strategy & Innovation at ShopriteX, the Group’s data and customer technology unit that has been working with Omnisient for the past…

JSE-listed technology company Altron has announced its intention to sell the ATM Hardware and Support Business portion of its Altron Managed Solutions Division to NCR. The NCR Retail Hardware and Support business remains under Altron Managed Solutions. The sale sees ownership of the business going full circle, as Altron initially acquired the business from NCR Corporation. Altron Managed Solutions Managing Director, Warren Mande, said: “NCR and Altron have a long relationship, dating back more than 40 years. In this dynamic and highly demanding market, the future for our banking business under a global leader such as NCR, brings direct access…

The electronic commerce (e-commerce) market in South Africa has exploded and is expected to continue growing exponentially in the next few years. However, online retailers will not only have to refine their digital strategies, but they will also have to up their security measures, says Gur Geva, Co-Founder and CEO tech innovator, iiDENTIFii. South Africa is only the 41st largest market for e-commerce with a revenue of $5 billion (R75 billion at average rate of $15) in 2021. It is expected to grow 8% annually between 2021 and 2025, surpassing the global average of 6%, according to ecommerceDB. Major global…

New research from Vodafone Group, Vodacom Group, Safaricom, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) indicates that the successful deployment and adoption of mobile financial services is associated with a positive impact on GDP growth in developing markets as it helps businesses to reduce cost, access credit to invest, and to connect with consumers that were previously excluded from financial services. The econometric modelling research – which examined 49 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America – found that countries with successful mobile money services had an annual GDP per capita growth rate up to 1 percentage point higher than…

The Southern African Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (SAVCA) is excited to announce the appointment of Tshepiso Kobile as Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 November 2022. Kobile succeeds Tanya van Lill, who served SAVCA for over five years. Kobile hails from a financial services background, having served as an investment professional with the Development Bank of Southern Africa and as a property finance manager with Standard Bank. Through her involvement in both the public and private sectors, she has gained unique skills in senior management roles. Her recent position was as the Senior Programme Manager for Catalytic Projects at the…

Proctor & Gamble has rescued the school year for thousands of learners in KwaZulu-Natal. They have been without proper facilities since July last year, when about 130 schools in the province were vandalised, looted and even torched during the unrest. At the time, the Basic Education Department said it did not have the budget to fix the schools, or to provide mobile classrooms. Siphosethu Primary School Principal, Themba Sokhabase, who was visibly shaken by what had happened said at the time, “It is really sad that we find ourselves where we are today, given how hard we worked to ensure…

MTN Group has announced that the network will host an Africa-first virtual concert in Ubuntuland, Africa’s metaverse. In February this year, MTN Group became the first African company to purchase land in Ubuntuland with a vision to create dedicated environments for creating unique immersive experiences for its customers. “The MTN Group’s presence in the African metaverse will be known as altMTN. altMTN allows us to further support our ambition to lead digital platforms and support African innovation, and will, over time featurelivevents, shopping, gaming and learning,” says Bernice Samuels, Executive: Group Marketing at MTN Group. “To welcome everyone to altMTN…