Author: Staff Writer
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth, Alderman James Vos, held an engagement this week with the Greater Tygerberg Partnership (GTP) where he announced the City government’s continued cooperation with the development facilitation agency for socio-economic development in the greater Tygerberg area. This partnership brings renewed assurance for Capetonians in the catchment area that the regenerative initiatives run by the GTP will continue to grow into 2023. Under the partnership, the City’s Bellville Future City Masterplan, which aims to transform the greater Tygerberg area into a second central business district, will push ahead. Alderman James Vos, Mayoral Committee Member…
Audi South Africa, in partnership with GridCars, has finalised the installation of 33 electric vehicles (EV) charging stations across the country. These represent a total of 70 charge point connectors and expand on the existing network in the country. The chargers range in their charging capacity from 22kW (AC) to 80kW (DC) and 150kW (DC) ultra-fast charging and are immediately available to all South African electric vehicle drivers, regardless of model or brand ownership. “Audi is committed to ensuring that customers of any electric vehicle can comfortably travel the country, with the reassurance that the EV charging infrastructure is in…
Verdant Capital has raised $10 million or R161 million of debt funding for Zeepay. The medium-term debt raise, which forms part of its A.5 series, comes to support Zeepay in a bid to augment its fast-growing remittance to wallet business. The debt funding is intended to support the rapid growth of the business. In 2021, the company processed USD 1.8 billion of transactions volumes, cross-border and domestically. It is the vision of the Founder and Managing Director, of Zeepay, Andrew Takyi-Appiah I, to reach the milestone of USD 200 billion of annual transaction volumes in the long-term. Zeepay is the…
Willington Ngwepe, the CEO of the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) is planning to leave his top post by 15 October 2022 to pursue other opportunities. ICASA announced today that the the term of office of its long-standing CEO comes to an end on the 15th of October 2022. The regulator said Ngwepe has, however, advised that he is not available to be considered for re-appointment to serve a further term as CEO, having decided to pursue other career opportunities. Ngwepe has served ICASA with both dedication and distinction for eight eventful years, formerly as Chief Operating Officer from…
DataProphet, a world-leading AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS) for manufacturing innovator, today announced the completion of its $10 million or R165 million Series A funding round. Knife Capital led the round, joined by South Africa’s IDC and Norican – the world’s largest metal surface preparation and finishing equipment provider. The funding provides DataProphet with the capital to invest further in its award-winning industrial AI product set while facilitating targeted growth in selected geographies and manufacturing verticals. Knife Capital had initially invested in DataProphet in early 2018 via its KNF Ventures Section 12J funding vehicle. This latest round is the first investment made by…
Transnet and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) have welcomed a Special Tribunal provisional order freezing millions of rands worth of assets belonging to two former Transnet executives. In a judgment handed down on Monday, the Special Tribunal prohibited Thabo Lebelo, his wife Alletta Mokgoro Mabitsi, Phathutshedzo Brighton Mashamba and his wife Matlhodi Phillicia Mashamba from selling, leasing, donating or transferring their luxury properties in Rosebank and Dainfern. The SIU investigation has revealed that the acquisition of the properties was allegedly funded by money received from service providers contracted by Transnet. The order is provisional for now, though, and must be made final. A joint statement…
Meta-owned messaging platform WhatsApp now allows you to delete messages for up to two days after they are sent. Previously, this limit was 1 hour, 8 minutes, and 16 seconds. “Rethinking your message? Now you will have a little over two days to delete your messages from your chats after you hit send,” the platform wrote on Twitter. 💭 Rethinking your message? Now you’ll have a little over 2 days to delete your messages from your chats after you hit send. — WhatsApp (@WhatsApp) August 8, 2022 Also read: Facebook is Shutting Down Its Live Shopping Feature To Focus…
Neobanking is set to boom in South Africa, with nearly a quarter (24%) of South African internet users expected to have a digital-only bank account by 2023, according to Finder’s Neobanking Adoption Report. Finder’s survey of 2,179 South African internet users reveals around 15% of adults currently have a neobank account and an additional 9% plan to open one by 2023. With a further 6% planning to open a neobank account by 2027, just under a third (31%) could have a neobank within five years. Finder’s global fintech editor, Elizabeth Barry, says neobanks are increasingly popular with consumers. “Neobanks allow…
Cape Town-headquartered venture capital (VC) firm HAVAÍC this week announced a $500,000 or R8.4 million investment in FinAccess, an East African headquartered software solutions provider that digitises community banks or SACCOs (Savings & Credit Cooperative Organisations) and farming co-operatives (“co-ops”) in the region. FinAccess is driving financial inclusion and unlocking financial services for many unbanked East Africans through its technology platform and widespread distribution. Allocated from the VC firm’s $20 million HAVAÍC Universum Core African Fund, which closed in May, the investment is part of a pre-series A funding round to expand the company’s two core products, banking software solution…
The Algorand Foundation announced the 10 winners of its Algorand Centres of Excellence (ACE) Programme, with awards totalling US$50 million over five years. The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Financial Innovation Hub is the only lead recipient in Africa. The ACE Programme received 77 proposals from over 550 participants representing 46 countries. Winners were selected by an international panel of 27 experts from a diverse set of disciplines. UCT has been awarded the grant alongside a small selection of top international institutions, including Yale University, Cornell University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. “The selection process was incredibly difficult,…