Author: Staff Writer

Huawei recently launched its most stunning SuperCamera phone, the HUAWEI nova 8, in South Africa. The HUAWEI nova 8 is packed with a gorgeous display, a versatile quad-camera and an advanced processor for users to enjoy the most out of content viewing, capturing and sharing. The long battery life and fast charging support gives users peace of mind throughout the day and night. Huawei’s newest nova 8, which was launched last week on 26 August at The Galleria, raises the smartphone experience with a bold design, advanced camera capabilities and productivity-boosting features that have raised a lot of attention. Huawei…

Africa’s leading carrier-neutral co-location data centre provider, Africa Data Centres, has announced plans to build large hyperscale data centres throughout Africa, including the North African countries of Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. The project will involve building 10 hyperscale data centres, in 10 countries, over the next two years – at a cost of more than $500 million or R7.2  billion. It is being funded through new equity and facilities from leading development finance institutions and multilateral organisations. Africa Data Centres CEO, Mr Stephane Duproz, explains that the finance for the roll-out has been provided by equity and loans to Africa Data…

As part of its commitment to enhancing South Africa’s educational and technological spheres, Exxaro Resources today announced a partnership with the University of Pretoria to establish the first-ever Exxaro Chair in Extended Reality (XR) Technology. Extended Reality technology refers to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology, including augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR). Through this partnership, the Exxaro Chair in XR Technology will offer a framework firstly on how the XR technology can be used to address mining industry challenges, and secondly on identifying the best available technologies for…

Franc is an investment app that was founded with a clear vision – to democratise investing in South Africa. It provides simple, easy accessibility to the money market and stock market via one’s mobile phone. It has fast become a loved and trusted local household name, growing 5x in registered users in the last year and a 24x in investors since being launched publicly in September 2019. What makes Franc stand out is how simple it is to use. They don’t try to confuse you with financial lingo, but rather genuinely help you feel empowered and in control of your…

Albert Einstein once said of problems; “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” He would later add, “We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them”. Einstein might not have realised it at the time but his comments are the foundation of the field of data science today – i.e. thoroughly interrogate the problem and then think about solving it in new and innovative ways. “In the modern era, we have the ability to support human ingenuity with smart…

Recently announced research by the AI Media Group in Cape Town, points towards Johannesburg fast becoming the continent’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tech Capital of Africa  Launched in early 2018 the AI Media Group set out to create a new hybrid analysis, trade & advisory operation to build one of the largest communities of technology practitioners discussing the application of AI / 4IR technologies in a business context on the African continent. Dr Nick Bradshaw, Founder and CEO of AI Media stated, “One of our key goals was to assess and showcase the growing emerging market opportunity in the Africa region for…

Discovery Bank, launched in 2018, is slowly gaining traction as more customers sign up to use its digital banking services. The bank is powered by the country’s largest medical aid provider, Discovery Health. Described as the world’s first behavioural bank, the fully digital bank promises to help clients bank healthier and leverages Discovery’s shared-value model. Discovery announced on Thursday that Discovery Bank continued to gain traction with 362  000  clients for the year ended-June 2021 versus  274  000  clients in  July  2020. Discovery Health added that the band increased the number of accounts to 649  000  compared to   505  000 …

In just a few years since launching its remote biometric digital authentication and automated on-boarding technology platform, iiDENTIFii has attained Microsoft co-sell Partner status with its biometric digital authentication and automated onboarding solution hosted in Microsoft Azure. This coveted global status is a significant achievement for a South African-based digital identity verification platform, as it effectively positions iiDENTIFii and its end-to-end triangular digital authentication, an official Microsoft commercial marketplace value-add and part of the Microsoft Global Partner Network. “Being honoured with Microsoft Co-sell status is a key milestone for us. It provides recognition for iiDENTIFii as a proven innovative digital…

South African Airways (SAA) is extending the validity of its Voyager Miles and announced the launch of the double miles bonus. Airliner SAA informed loyal customers in an email. See, SAA email below: “As a heartfelt thank you for your patience and support the validity of your Voyager miles due to expire 31 March 2022 is being extended to 31 March 2023. This gives you more time to use your miles as SAA rebuilds its network and reintroduces partners. At the same time, and to jointly celebrate South African Airways return to the skies, you will earn double Voyager miles…

The Golf 8 GTI will officially go on sale from Volkswagen Dealers in South Africa today, 1 September 2021. AVIS was the first customer to take delivery of the Golf 8 GTI in South Africa. “Part of our success as a brand is attributed to sales to the rental industry. Volkswagen has the highest passenger car share of the rental market which is 34%. AVIS remains a key strategic partner for the Volkswagen brand because it accounts for 50% of our rental channel sales,” said Steffen Knapp, head of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand. Over 7 000 units are sold…

The rapid growth of information and digital technologies, perpetuated through the emergence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), has the ability to bring about widespread change for the better. In response to the overwhelming demand for contemporary, fit-for-purpose digital and IT education offerings, MANCOSA (a proud member of the Honoris United Universities network) has today (1 September) launched the School of Information and Digital Technology (SIDT). Education in the field of information and digital technology is no longer an exclusive domain for aspiring tech-fundi’s, IT managers and chief IT officers. Instead, digital and IT education is now a prerequisite for…

Discovery Bank has announced that Black and Purple cardholders can enjoy faster security clearance with the Discovery Bank Priority Fast Track at the Cape Town International Airport domestic departure hall, making travel more rewarding than ever. This follows the launch of Priority Fast Track at OR Tambo International Airport in July 2020, successfully brought to life by creative agency Pacinamix. “With our world-class app, Discovery Bank clients are used to convenience and banking on the go. Priority Fast Track allows clients to save time and avoid extra stress while travelling. Discovery Bank is designed to share the value that clients…

ASX-listed Zip has announced its intention to fully acquire South African buy now pay later (BNPL) FinTech Payflex as part of its global expansion plans. With a presence in twelve markets across five continents, Zip plans to grow the South African business and expand into other African markets with sizable underbanked, digitally savvy populations that will benefit from innovative payment solutions. Payflex is the first and largest BNPL player in South Africa and has grown from a base of just 70 merchants in 2019 to over 1,000 active merchants today, including leading brands such as Superbalist, Cotton On and Runwaysale.…

The new Huawei Nova Y60 and Nova 8 are part of the new Nova series and this September Telkom is championing Monate and connecting you to these new devices as of 1 September 2021. Telkom’s online channel and physical stores across the country will be showering customers with exemplary service and compelling products with a fresh burst of innovation, as well as devices with features that appeal to all types of users. These two beautiful-looking devices from the nova series will impress you with their top-of-the-line camera specs and larger-than-life batteries. Qualifying customers for the deal include new and existing…

Mercedes-Benz SA has announced that Co-CEO & Executive Director Johannes Fritz, who steered South Africa’s top-selling premium car brand since September 2017, will be moving back to Germany to head up Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans in Bavaria – one of the largest sales regions in the German market. Fritz, who spent four years in South Africa, believed firmly that the brand’s biggest differentiators in a highly competitive market would be an innovative retail experience, an unwavering focus on customer care and a strong partnership with its agent partners. As such, one of the key achievements of his tenure was the…

Isaac Nape, an emerging South African talent in the study of quantum optics, is part of a crack team of Wits physicists who led an international study that revealed the hidden structures of quantum entangled states. The study was published in the renowned scientific journal, Nature Communications, on Friday, 27 August 2021. Nape is pursuing his PhD at Wits University and focuses on harnessing structured patterns of light for high dimensional information encoding and decoding for use in quantum communication. Earlier this year he scooped up two awards at the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP) conference to add to…

Huawei South Africa supplier, Doreen Mbhalati-Mashele of Deliz Investments has been given a Special Recognition Award at the 2021 BRICS Women Innovation Contest, for her efforts in environmental sustainability, and green design. Mbhalati-Mashele says she was ecstatic to receive this news, especially during August, which is Women’s Month in the country. “I was speechless when I found out that I’d won,” she says. “I didn’t think that I’d be recognised at the BRICS level at this stage of my career. The award has motivated me to go the extra mile when it comes to project delivery, environmental sustainability and job…

PayU, the payments and FinTech business of Prosus, is spending $4.7 billion or R69 billion to buy Indian digital payments provider BillDesk. The proposed acquisition will see PayU, which operates in more than 20 high-growth markets, become one of the leading online payment providers globally by total payment volume (TPV). Acquisition of BillDesk will see PayU become one of the leading online payment providers globally, handling a total payment volume (TPV) of $147 billion or R2.1 trillion. The deal will bring Prosus’s cumulative investment in Indian tech to more than $10 billion or R145 billion. “Our announcement today reflects Prosus’s…

China on Monday announced strict new rules that will ban children from playing online games during weekdays and limit them to just three hours per week. Variety reported that the rules were unveiled by the National Press and Publication Administration in order to curb gaming addiction among teenagers, state news agency Xinhua reported. Gamers aged below 18 will be limited to one hour of online game play, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in normal weeks. They will also be allowed to play on statutory public holidays, said the publication. Current rules allow for 90…

South Africa’s operators to give back temporary radio frequency spectrum assignments. ICASA, the country’s communications watchdog, said today that it has resolved that the temporary radio frequency spectrum assigned to licensees will now have to be returned by no later 30 November 2021. The temporary radio frequency spectrum was first assigned by means of an expedited ITA during April 2020 on the initial declaration of the National State of Disaster, which in turn was occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. ICASA has since twice extended the duration of the temporary radio frequency spectrum assignment, with the last expiry date being 31…

Conducting background checks on service providers and employees has always been restricted to large organisations such as corporations and government departments. Now, anyone in South Africa can do so, thanks to an innovative new online platform called iKNOWyou. Targeted at property owners, parents, and small businesses, this newly launched online personal vetting solution by Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), provides users with better insight into who they are employing or contracting. The platform first runs identity verification to assess whether individuals are indeed who they say they are and provides further information by means of a criminal check. “With criminal activity…

This week South Africa’s unemployment rate soared to 44.4% over the second quarter, the highest on a global list of 82 countries monitored by Bloomberg. Now, a new video-interview platform Wamly aims to play its part in tackling the country’s growing unemployment rate. The disruptive one-way video software platform has recently been joined by South African serial entrepreneur Marnus Broodryk. He believes that the time is right for investment in innovative thinking that takes advantage of modern technology to replace outdated processes and costly, time-wasting procedures. “We need to be thinking differently and to use innovation to solve the country’s issues…

The International Fraud Deterrent System recently unveiled by the GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications Association) will help prevent telecoms fraud including the multi-billion dollar global problem of “robo-calling”. That’s according to PBX over GSM provider Trabel (Pty) Ltd which believes that the GSMA’s latest anti-fraud initiative can, in particular, add another layer of protection to PBX systems running over different telecoms networks. “When it comes to security, GSM is the undisputed gold standard for voice calls,” says Anton Potgieter, Managing Director of Trabel (Pty) Ltd, the Cape-based developers of NoPBX. NoPBX is a secure GSM-based PBX solution that seamlessly…

FinTech enablement partner Ukheshe Technologies has announced a new partnership with global next-generation card solutions and digital security company, dzcard. The partnership will enhance dzcard’s customisable solutions for various digital ecosystems and locations. The partnership will leverage Ukheshe’s Eclipse API platform and its market-leading digital payments solutions, allowing both companies to deliver digital strategies within their respective markets. Donovan Drew, president: Asia-Pacific of Ukheshe says the company’s digital payments enablement platform has expanded and evolved significantly as the financial services market seeks innovative solution providers that can address fundamental payment gaps. “The partnership will provide further channels for dzcard to…

Black investors in Phuthuma Nathi, the broad-based black economic empowerment arm of pay-TV operator MultiChoice, will share more than R1.5 billion in dividends. MultiChoice South Africa (MCSA) announced it has declared a dividend to Phuthuma Nathi  shareholders of R1.5 billion. An ordinary dividend of R22.22 per share before dividend tax (R17.78 after tax) will be paid to Phuthuma Nathi shareholders in the first week of September 2021. “The economic environment in South Africa combined with the effects of COVID-19 have created tough conditions. Despite these challenges, we’re delighted to declare a dividend,” Imtiaz Patel, MultiChoice South Africa chairman, said. “We…