Author: Staff Writer

Audi South Africa is in partnership with GridCars to install ultra-fast charging stations across the country and will become the first electric vehicle brand to invest in this technology through publicly accessible sites. The 150kW public chargers initiated by Audi will be the first for the South African market. The charge points will provide up to 150kW of direct current (DC) charge to electric vehicles; meaning that an Audi e-tron 55 (with a 95kWh battery) will charge from 10% to 90% in approximately 30 minutes. As part of this, Audi will invest in setting up 70 new EV charge connectors…

Global customer experience management firm iSON Xperiences has been appointed as the outsourced customer service provider for MTN South Africa. Combined with the Vodacom business attained through its recent acquisition of Altron People Solutions, this five-year deal sees iSON Xperiences now covering more than 50% of the market share in the telecom segment in the country. “The project sees iSON Xperiences managing half of the outsourced customer service business of MTN South Africa. We feel we can add considerable value to the organisation, given our extensive experience in the telecom sector in Africa and the rest of the world,” says…

South African-based mobile games publisher Carry1st bags $20 million or R307 million to scale interactive content across Africa. The Series A extension is led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Avenir and Google. The round represents Andreessen Horowitz’s first investment in a company headquartered in Africa, and Partners David Haber (fintech) and Jonathan Lai (gaming) will be joining Carry1st’s board as observers. A number of prominent angel investors participated in the round, including Grammy winner and renowned crypto investor Nas, and founders of Chipper Cash, Sky Mavis, and Yield Guild Games. In addition, investors from Carry1st’s May 2021 Series A are…

MNT-Halan, Egypt’s FinTech player, has announced the successful addition of its Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) feature to its comprehensive digital ecosystem that includes small and micro-business lending, payments, consumer finance, bill payments, e-commerce, and delivery, all of which are backed by Neuron, the company’s proprietary technology. As Egypt’s first provider of the full BNPL experience through the Halan consumer and merchant apps, users are given all the tools they need to purchase, pay and have delivered anything they want when they want it. Merchants benefit from accelerated growth in their business and increased customer loyalty by offering payment flexibility. Customers are also…

Oracle today announced the availability of its first cloud region in Africa to meet the rapidly growing demand for enterprise cloud services on the continent. The Oracle Cloud Johannesburg Region will boost cloud adoption across Africa while also helping businesses achieve better performance and drive continuous innovation. “The fourth industrial revolution, which is powered by cloud-led technologies, has significantly accelerated in South Africa and the wider African continent,” said Richard Smith, executive vice president, EMEA, Oracle. “In recent months, cloud technologies have played a vital role in helping African public and private sector organisations ensure business continuity, deliver essential services,…

SAP has appointed Emmanuel Raptopoulos as the new president for SAP’s EMEA South region, which comprises Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In this capacity, he will report to Scott Russell, SAP Executive Board member, Customer Success. With a presence in 75 countries, 24 offices and ~5000 employees across the region, EMEA South is at the forefront of SAP’s transformation to the cloud. Raptopoulos, who is based in Milan, succeeds Claudio Muruzabal, who has been promoted to President of SAP’s global Cloud Success Services organisation. This newly established organisation unites an impressive driving force of over 20 000 of…

Microsoft announced today it would buy videogame maker Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion or R1.1 trillion in cash. The tech group said this acquisition will accelerate the growth in its gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse. When the transaction closes, Microsoft will become the world’s third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony. The planned acquisition includes iconic franchises from the Activision, Blizzard and King studios like “Warcraft,” “Diablo,” “Overwatch,” “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush,” in addition to global eSports activities through Major League Gaming. The company has…

Vodacom’s proposed acquisition of a 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt cleared a crucial hurdle today when Vodacom minority shareholders overwhelmingly voted in favour of the transaction. At a General Meeting this morning, shareholders also approved resolutions that pave the way to fund the circa R41 billion ($2.7 billion) transaction. Subject to the final outstanding regulatory approvals, Vodacom will fund the acquisition of Vodafone Group plc’s 55% stake in Vodafone Egypt by issuing 242 million new ordinary shares at R135.75 per share in addition to around R8.2 billion ($548 million) in cash. “This is an exciting and important milestone for Vodacom…

South Africa’s telecoms sector is off to a promising start in 2022 with the finalisation by the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) of the number portability framework and the provision of a firm commencement date. This is according to South Africa’s Independent Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) which has for a decade and a half been calling for the full implementation of number portability. That call was finally heard and ICASA on 15 December 2021 published the relevant Number Portability Regulations in the Government Gazette. Most importantly, ICASA proclaimed that the Number Portability Regulations will come into force on 07…

From better healthcare access to improved food security, machine learning could tackle a wide range of challenges in developing countries. In 2020, a study published in Nature showed that Google’s machine learning artificial intelligence programme, DeepMind AI, outperformed radiologists in detecting breast cancer. After being trained on thousands of mammograms, the system was able to accurately identify 89% of breast cancer cases, compared to radiologists’ 74%. Just imagine what a difference the deployment of such a system could make in sub-Saharan Africa, where there are 0.2 doctors per 1000 people, according to the World Bank. And that’s just the start.…

Google Cloud today announced it is teaming up with Comair, operator of the British Airways brand and the Kulula budget carrier in Sub-Saharan Africa. The collaboration will accelerate the aviation group’s digital transformation plans in line with its mission to deliver seamless travel experiences for customers and help the travel industry regain momentum. Comair completed its infrastructure optimization plans as it migrated six labour-intensive, on-premise data centres to Google Cloud. The migration of traditional IT infrastructure enables the airline to run key workloads that include important financial data, secure customer records, airplane navigation information, and more—all on the cleanest cloud…

Telkom launches Easy Connect Fibre, an entry-level fibre solution for easy connectivity from home. Telkom Easy Connect Fibre is an affordable end-to-end broadband service inclusive of fibre broadband access and uncapped internet. Connection with Telkom Easy Connect Fibre requires no router as an optical network unit with voice capability will be installed. Telkom Easy Connect is a simple fibre connection that gives customers Wi-Fi to help them stay connected to their Monate without the worry of depleting their data or incurring extra charges. With Telkom Easy Connect Fibre, customers are guaranteed to get fast fibre connectivity to suit their budgets.…

Africa’s united for the 2021 CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) and the sporting events in Cameroon are live on TelkomONE via SABC Sport and a dedicated pop-up channel the streaming service has rolled-out for this pan-African soccer fest. After an opening ceremony this past weekend that captured the outstanding diversity of the African continent and its billion-plus people, the football action has kicked off in earnest. Altogether, some 52 AFCON games will be played until Sunday, 6 February 2022 and TelkomONE viewers will be able to access them live and via the Catch-Up service. Provided they have registered on…

Acer, one of the world’s largest vendors of hardware and electronics, has promoted Glenn du Toit from General Manager to Country Manager. This comes at an exciting time for the company as it continues to bring the latest hardware solutions to South Africa’s consumer, education and enterprise markets. Du Toit has been part of the Acer team for six years, and was appointed General Manager of Acer Africa in April 2020. Prior to this, he served as Head of Consumer Business for Acer Africa, overseeing the expansion of Acer’s business into the African market. Du Toit has extensive experience in…

Capitec Bank announced on Wednesday that it has appointed Group Services Financial Head, Grant Hardy, to be a chief financial officer (CFO) and financial director (FD) designate. Hardy replaces André du Plessis, Co-Founder of Capitec, who will retire on 30 June 2022. Hardy is a chartered accountant who completed his articles with Deloitte in Johannesburg in their Financial Services team. Following this, he spent 8 years working in the banking sector in the UK before returning to South Africa and joining Capitec Bank in 2015. He has fulfilled various roles in the Financial Management division at Capitec Bank, and in 2019…

JSE-listed technology company Altron has announced that Group Chief Executive Mteto Nyati will step down from his role effective 30 June 2022. This decision was informed by Nyati’s impending completion of a five-year term with the Altron Group, his successful contribution to increasing shareholder value by approximately six times during his tenure, and his search for a new challenge. Nyati, who led Altron’s transition from a family-controlled and managed business to an independent corporate entity, contributed significantly to the achievement of several strategic initiatives at Altron. These included establishing and growing a core ICT portfolio and transforming Altron from a…

Prosus, one of the largest EdTech investors globally, has expanded its EdTech portfolio with investments in Go Student and EduMe. Prosus has led a €300 million or R5.3 billion Series D funding round in Vienna-based edtech unicorn GoStudent – founded in Vienna in 2016,  GoStudent provides paid, one-to-one, video-based tutoring to primary, secondary and college-aged students in 30+ subjects. The new funding will go towards GoStudent’s international expansion, product expansion through M&A, and increased market share in existing geographies. Prosus has also led a $20 million or R312 million Series B funding round in London-headquartered EduMe. EduMe is a mobile-based…

Forge Academy, South Africa’s first fully inclusive artificial intelligence laboratory, is offering 20 “creative internships” to graduates looking to take that next step in their careers. Selected candidates will grow their digital skillsets and gain valuable experience in the 4IR disciplines of software development, user experience design (UXD), 3D animation, game design and much more. The internship programme, sponsored by Forge Academy, is open to any recent graduate based in Gauteng looking for an opportunity to get their foot into the 4IR industry. From applications received, 20 graduates will be chosen for the internship at Forge Academy, falling under Forge…

Acer announced refreshes across its lines of Predator and Nitro gaming laptops, starting off the year with new models of the Predator Triton 500 SE, Predator Helios 300 and Acer Nitro 5. “Our most popular gaming laptops have been updated with the latest silicon announced at CES,” said James Lin, General Manager, Notebooks, IT Products Business, Acer Inc. “Combine that with state-of-the-art cooling technology and high-refresh rate displays and you get exciting laptops that even the most demanding of players will love.” All of the laptops feature the latest 12th Gen Intel Core processors and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Series…

The South African online casino industry is constantly changing, and players need to be kept abreast of all the updates so as not to miss out. To meet this demand, a group of industry veterans has launched a brand-new source for reliable and updated information about the local gambling market. NoDepositCasino.co.za is an all-encompassing platform which features comprehensive reviews of the best South African casinos, with a focus on sites that specialize in free no deposit casino bonuses and free spins. The new comprehensive South African casino portal is under the management of a well-known face in the SA gambling…

South Africa’s premier online casino guide, www.SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za , has announced the winners in its coveted South African Online Casino Industry awards 2021. Every year, SouthAfricanCasinos.co.za recognize the best online casinos in South Africa. Just like all casino players, we accept nothing less than excellence across the online gambling industry. The site has been around for almost two decades and the team used its many years of experience in the local and international online casino industry coupled with its expertise and in-depth knowledge of the iGaming space to make its choices. They closely examined a range of top online casinos that…

At CES 2022, LG Electronics (LG) is showcasing a smarter, more seamless way to get laundry done with its new LG WashTower and washer and dryer pair. The new laundry solutions feature LG’s enhanced Artificial Intelligence Direct Drive (AI DD) technology, proven steam technology and an array of functions that make washing and drying clothes more convenient than ever. With LG’s enhanced AI DD technology, the new laundry pair delivers customised performance that can sense load size, fabric type and the level of soiling of a clothing article, automatically adding the right amount of detergent and adjusting the wash style…

Acer today announced a pair of additions to its thin, light and powerful lineup of Swift X laptops with discrete GPUs, consisting of a new 14-inch and 16-inch model. New Aspire C27 and C24 All-in-One (AIO) PCs were also released.  All of the new PCs feature the latest 12th Gen Intel® Core™ processors. Acer Swift X — Powerful and Ultraportable The ultra-portable laptop Swift X features a 12th Gen Intel Core processor with up to 12 cores and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPU into its 0.7-inch (17.9 mm) thin aluminum chassis. A fan, air inlet keyboard and…

Samsung is revealing a new lineup of smart TVs at CES 2022 today, including features such as an integrated platform for discovering, purchasing and trading digital artwork, plus Google Stadia gaming, NVIDIA GeForce Now and Utomik. These new features are available in Samsung’s newest MICRO LED, Neo QLED and Lifestyle TVs. Samsung says with advancements in the picture and sound quality, more screen size options, customizable accessories and an upgraded interface, the 2022 screens bring the vision of ‘Screens Everywhere, Screens for All’ closer to reality with life-like images, immersive sound and hyper-personalized experiences. The New Smart Hub and Apps…

Recently, MTN Group completed two trials including the Intelligent IP Private Line Solution and the Sleeping Cells Self-healing Solution on South Africa live networks for the first time in December 2021, which are also the first time in the African continent. This marks a new stage for MTN in terms of network autonomy and intelligence capability, and empowers MTN’s “Ambition2025” strategy. Sleeping Cell Self-healing Solution with Cross-domain Fault Automation Based on Huawei ADN (Autonomous Driving Network) Solution, MTN announced the deployment of high innovative use cases in MTN South Africa Johannesburg for sleeping cells self-healing with cross-domain fault automation for Radio Access Network services. Sleeping…