Author: Staff Writer
At this year’s Eskom Expo International Science Fair, young scientists have reaped the benefits of their hard work and ingenuity, receiving full- and partial bursaries, cash prizes, laptops, tablet computers, and opportunities for work-based exposure during their school holidays. The fair was held at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg from 3 to 6 October 2023, and brought together the brightest young scientists from across South Africa and various countries around the world. Title sponsor, Eskom awarded 23 full bursaries valued up to R450,000 each, and four Special Awards to the Best Female, Best Development, Best…
Paratus Zambia today announced that Starlink has launched its business services in Zambia today. “It is a very exciting opportunity for us to be involved in this initiative. We recognise and applaud the hard work done by our government, regulator, and other authorities, in conjunction with Starlink, in ensuring this leading-edge technology is available to the Zambian market. As Paratus, we pride ourselves on being technology and telecommunication leaders; and being directly involved with Starlink aligns to this,” Country Manager of Paratus Zambia, Marius van Vuuren says. “We are well prepared to take the Starlink service to our customers, both…
The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) today announced the winners of the third annual Virtual Trading Game (VTG). The winner of the Speculator Portfolio is Avuzwa Mphithi from the Western Cape, with Ivone Stanley from Gauteng taking top honours in the ETF/ETN Portfolio. The winners will take home R60 000 each. The winners were announced at the 4th “Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy”, a campaign initiated by the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) in partnership with the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) in support of World Investor Week (WIW). WIW is a global campaign aimed at raising awareness about…
Hundreds of local app developers will participate in the annual MTN Business Hackathon from 6-8 October, with the objective of designing app solutions to solve some of South Africa’s unique social challenges. From solutions to assist communities in locating critical services from the palm of their hands to developing energy efficiency awareness apps, this 60-hour hackathon hopes to bring a myriad of solutions through the talents and innovation of South Africa’s novice app developers. In their efforts to develop solutions that will contribute to the future sustainability of the country’s energy and water sectors, the Energy and Water Sector Education…
South Africa’s first truly global discretionary fund manager (DFM), Cogence, announces Jonel Matthee-Ferreira at its first Chief Executive Officer effective 2 January 2024. Cogence is the first South African DFM making leading global fund research and insights available to local advisers through a powerful collaboration with BlackRock, Discovery and RisCura. Matthee-Ferreira has almost 20 years of senior management experience in asset management, including more than a decade heading leading multi-managers. She joins Cogence from Sanlam Multi-Management, and held a similar role at Absa Multi-Management. Prior to that, she held the position of Chief Investment Officer at Metropolitan Multi-Managers. Discovery Invest CEO,…
Bank Zero now offers commercial banking. Michael Jordaan, Chair of Bank Zero, says this means that businesses of any size can benefit from Bank Zero’s uniquely simple, effective and technology-driven approach to banking. “Bank Zero is ushering an innovative new approach far from the legacy ‘me-too’ solutions of traditional banks,” he says. “We have completely rethought commercial banking to bring it into the Digital Age. We’ve built it from the ground up, which means we have no legacy systems that are both cumbersome and costly, leading to inefficiency and high bank charges.” Yatin Narsai, Bank Zero CEO, says: “It was…
Payments infrastructure company Stitch today announced a $25 million or R481 million Series A extension, led by Ribbit Capital, bringing the total raised to $52 million or R1 billion. Stitch will use the funding to continue building its end-to-end payments solutions – designed to meet complex and evolving payments needs for global enterprise clients – and expand its reach to serve more markets. In addition to Ribbit Capital, existing investors including PayPal Ventures, The Raba Partnership and CRE Venture Capital have renewed their support, and several new investors joined including 9 Yards Capital. “We’ve known the Ribbit team for a…
Baobab Payments GmbH, trading as Peach Payments, has concluded a $30 million or R578 million funding round. The round, announced in April, was led by Apis Growth Fund II (the “Fund”), a private equity fund managed by Apis Partners LLP (“Apis Partners”), a UK-based asset manager. Peach Payments is an enterprise-grade digital payment service provider that enables online payments in Africa for businesses of all sizes. In April 2023, Apis Partners announced the Fund’s intention to invest in Peach Payments as part of a funding round consisting of a mix of primary and secondary investments. “This funding has been raised…
Rosebud, an innovative new app that uses artificial intelligence to provide personalised feedback and guidance during journaling, officially launched in July 2023. Created by a Los Angeles-based startup, Rosebud aims to promote mental wellness, personal growth and productivity through tailored journaling support. “Rosebud is like having a personal coach in your pocket,” said the app’s co-founder, Chrys Bader. “It learns about you over time and evolves from a simple journal into an interactive partner that helps you process emotions, work through challenges and make progress on goals.” While journaling has long been used as a self-care tool, Rosebud brings the…
The launch of Sanlam Fintech – a business cluster within the Sanlam Group – signals a strategic move to expand the group’s existing fintech offering and ensure that all aspects of the $8-billion or R143-billion listed company’s services are digitally-led. The overarching goal is to use tech to accelerate access to financial services for all Africans, delivering on the brand’s purpose: to help Africans live with financial confidence. Gathered under the Sanlam Fintech cluster is a host of existing product houses that Sanlam – Africa’s largest non-banking financial services group – believes will be key for its digital, direct growth ambitions.…