Author: Staff Writer

Huawei has announced that its third data centre availability zone is set to go live three years ahead of schedule, as well as its R100 million Cloud Spark programme, which is set to provide support to more than 1000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) over the next three years. Both of these announcements were part of Huawei Cloud’s “Everything as a Service” approach, which is being adopted locally and globally. Speaking at the Huawei Eco-Connect event, held last week at the Sandton Convention Centre, Jay Zhou Managing Director, Huawei Cloud South Africa explained that the “Everything as a Service” approach…

Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) today announced the launch of the second window of applications for investment through their R150 million Venture Capital initiative, MIC Khulisani Ventures. High growth potential, innovative, Black-owned businesses with ambitions of bringing innovative products or services to a bigger market are encouraged to apply. “Since inception, the initiative has allocated over R45 million in investment, to Black-owned businesses that are disrupting the Edu-tech and consumer tech industries. While the criteria for application does not significantly change this year, we are deliberate in targeting Black female-owned or led businesses” says Mary Bomela, CEO of Mineworkers Investment Company.…

FinTech-start-up MortgageMarket is the latest tech start-up to be involved in a major lifestyle residential development in South Africa; with its exclusive partnership with Orlando Towers Estates in Soweto, Johannesburg. JSE Listed construction company Raubex is the construction partner in the development with its 2800 apartments and set to break ground on 20 July 2022. MortgageMarket has utilised its state-of-the-art technology to pre-approve buyers, giving them access to their credit score and affordability in just 2-minutes. This technology enables customers to select the right apartment, based on their affordability, prior to signing a sale agreement. Over 30% of the phase…

AltX-listed 4Sight Holdings has launched an ambitious pilot programme to provide 50 young people with niche training in Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies, plus guaranteed employment on certification. The total cost for this pilot will be close to R10 million, estimates Tracy Short, COO of 4Sight. It will be based in KwaZulu Natal in order, she says, to tap into a new reservoir of talent outside of Gauteng. Sixty percent of the participants will potentially be female. She says that if the pilot project is successful, 4Sight would likely triple the intake in 2023. “To realise the potential of the…

The Airports Company South Africa (Acsa) has launched a new mobile app to allow travellers to find their favourite restaurants, also pre-book parking and save your vehicle location. The ACSA App is available for free download on Apple, Google and Huawei App stores. The App was launched on 01 July 2022. Registration is easy and simple and we have taken into consideration the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) and data privacy, and passengers can also unlock their ultimate airport guide by using their email address, Google details, Facebook or Twitter accounts to sign up. Once registration is complete, users…

Philip Morris South Africa (PMSA) is accelerating its transformation to a smoke-free company with key leadership appointments. PMSA Managing Director Branislav Bibic says that “A smoke-free future is attainable, and the benefits it can bring to the adult smokers who would otherwise continue to smoke, and hence to global public health, are enormous.” “PMI’s vision is powered by the energy and passion from our people who work collaboratively to deliver positive change for adult-smokers who would otherwise continue smoking, and for the broader society. We are rapidly transforming our business and need a united team that drives purpose, creativity and…

Ring is a company on a mission to make families feel safe and allow them to watch over their most prized possessions. Cycling has become a hugely popular hobby in South Africa and more and more consumers are purchasing bikes for their weekend rides. Ring has sleek, smart cameras that allow car and bike enthusiasts to keep watch over their vehicles and garages even when they are not at home. A popular device used for this function is the Ring Spotlight Cam Battery. Positioned outside your garage, it provides you with a bright light for entering and leaving your garage.…

MyBroadband Insights has released the Q2 2022 Mobile Network Quality Report, which shows that MTN has the best mobile network in South Africa. The report is based on 325,863 speed tests which were performed by 9,386 MyBroadband Speed Test App users across South Africa between 1 April 2022 and 30 June 2022. The research shows that South Africa had an average mobile download speed of 49.92Mbps and an average upload speed of 14.84Mbps. MTN had the highest average download speed at 79.27Mbps, followed by Vodacom on 44.24Mbps, Telkom on 30.79Mbps, Cell C on 24.04Mbps and Rain on 14.55Mbps. MTN’s exceptional…

In partnership with chordCash, Digital Music and Commerce Exchange Limited (DMCE) announces the launch of a new product— Orin Fund. Orin Fund is an e-commerce marketplace holding various forms of financial products for artists across Africa. Its first product which has the name of the fund itself is in partnership with chordCash, an American company that provides a patented technology to help artists get advances on their streaming royalties. In three simple steps, any African artiste can acquire the funds they need for their project between 7-14 days. Within the next few months, Orin Fund is expanding its products to…

On 8 June 2022, the Minister of Home Affairs announced a complete overhaul of South Africa’s immigration system. The first area of change is long term visa applications by foreign nationals wishing to stay for over three months in South Africa. However, these changes have already caused a backlog in processing visa applications. Visa submissions by this group previously went through Visa and Permit Facilitation Centres (VFS Centres) or through South African Missions. Then, one of the two centres would process applications and send the outcomes directly to the foreign national. Going forward, these visa applications will be processed through…