Author: Staff Writer
Digital solutions provider Liquid Intelligent Technologies achieves the 100,000 km fibre network milestone, positioning the organisation as the largest independent fibre network provider in emerging markets globally. Liquid has been manoeuvring steadily through Africa, investing in increasing its reach, which it has successfully done, moving the dial from 89,989 km at the beginning of 2021 to reach this new milestone now. With its additional fibre network connecting 14 countries, primarily in Sub-Saharan Africa, customers can now explore opportunities in Africa and across the US, Asian and European markets. The organisation’s fibre infrastructure impacts more than 100 million people across 643…
Today, Vodacom Eastern Cape Region in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Education and Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) unveiled a ground-breaking and technology-driven Agriculture and Food Security programme in over 131 underprivileged schools across the province. The programme aims to underscore that youth can play a significant role in food security, job creation and poverty alleviation through their active participation in agriculture. Known as the Agriculture School Programme, flowing from the Vodacom Sustainability Living (VSL) project, it is designed to inspire school-going children to enter the lucrative agricultural sector when they complete their schooling and…
Telkom is adding to its offering of tablets and is now bringing the new Huawei MatePad T10s to customers. The Huawei MatePad – the perfect tablet for adults and children alike; for work and for play – will be available from 1 June 2021. New and existing Telkom Mobile and Telkom Business subscribers qualify for the prepaid and post-paid deals revealed today. The NEW Huawei MatePad T10s comes with a large display for an immersive viewing experience, it has an eBook mode for all the bookworms out there and it is not very heavy for its size. The device is…
One’s choice of life partner is one’s personal prerogative. However, in countries such as South Africa, the reality is that the choice you make will be one that may not be universally accepted. As a result of this, many women and men are faced with the grim reality that the choices they make as to who they love can have gruesome consequences, and in some cases can even result in death. The harrowing rape crimes meted out to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI+) community makes for dreadfully gruesome reading. These stories cannot be overlooked…
Standard Bank has officially launched its OneHub platform – an online marketplace that gives corporates access to a range of digital solutions. “OneHub is a single point of entry for Standard Bank’s corporate clients and partner organisations to connect and interact,” says Jonathan Lamb, Head of Platform Businesses at Standard Bank. “The platform allows clients to discover and procure digital tools and services developed by the bank and its trusted network of partners.” The platform is essentially a digital solutions marketplace that offers both web applications and application programming interfaces (APIs), which corporate clients can leverage to enhance efficiencies and…
+OneX, a new-age solutions and systems integrator that forms part of the Reunert group, has acquired digital media and data consultancy, DataCore Media, to add an online marketing capability to its suite of business transformation solutions and services. By integrating DataCore Media’s digital media strategy, buying and planning capabilities with its own cloud, data, security, and unified communications competences, +OneX will be able to help enterprises to use company-owned insights in back-office systems, together with digital campaign data, to drive richer customer experiences. +OneX and DataCore Media’s combined skills and capabilities will help companies to move towards measuring the lifetime…
Standard Bank decided to migrate its on-premise Atlassian toolset onto the AWS infrastructure and partnered with Synthesis to ensure best practices were adhered to and a seamless transition was possible. Challenge A number of significant outages were experienced on this toolset due to the on-premise infrastructure having aged. Users were faced with an increase in outages impacting delivery. This and the Group’s cloud aspiration were the catalysts to migrate the Atlassian toolset to AWS. Solution The Bank approached AWS for assistance and were encouraged to partner with Synthesis due to the company’s experience in migrating Atlassian workloads to AWS for other corporates.…
When the demand for fibre surged at the start of lockdowns last year, Seacom launched a separate and dedicated ISP that focuses on fibre connectivity to the home: WonderNet. One year after its launch in May 2020, the ISP has extended its fibre offering to the business sector, intending to deliver fast, reliable, and affordable Internet to small and medium-sized businesses. There are a few factors that separate WonderNet from other players in the market. Seacom, which launched Africa’s first broadband submarine cable system along the continent’s eastern and southern coasts in 2009, wanted to create a separate business unit…
JSE-listed tech group Altron announced Cedric Miller has resigned as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO). The group did not specify the reasons for Miller’s resignation. Miller was appointed as the Group CFO on 1 May 2019. “Miller’s notice of resignation applies to all his roles and responsibilities within the Altron Group and its affiliates, effective from 30 June 2021,” Altron informed investors on Monday. The company said Miller will continue to support the Group until 31 July 2021, during which time he will provide a comprehensive handover to Altron’s Acting CFO. “The Board has accepted Miller’s resignation and would like…
Wind load is one the most important topics for tower owners, impacting health and safety, CAPEX renewal, build-to-suit, and the tenancy potential for towers. TowerWing offers a permanent solution to wind loading through their innovative tower shrouding “Streamliner” that cuts wind load on even a heavily loaded tower to less than that of a naked one. It sounds too good to be true, but with some clever engineering, using some simple aeronautic principles, TowerWing has developed a unique product that could revolutionise how towers are built, operated and leased up. CEO Danie du Toit to speak about the benefits of…
Capitec, South Africa’s largest digital bank, is taking a hybrid approach that combines digital banking with traditional branches. They serve nearly 16 million customers and support over 840 branches nationwide. While this hybrid approach enables Capitec to effectively reach a unique local customer base made up of both more and less technologically- inclined customers, it creates a complex data landscape that adds to the challenge of regulatory compliance. Capitec needs to be able to trust its data to ensure that strategic business decisions are based on accurate, verifiable insights. MANTA offered the toolsets Capitec required to deliver on these requirements…
In celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day observed on 20 May, Vodacom is launching the Nokia 2720 – a smartphone designed to provide greater access for senior citizens, people living with disabilities and those who experience other communication barriers. “For more than two decades, Vodacom has been addressing the need for more inclusive technologies by providing products and services that are accessible to all. By expanding our portfolio with Nokia, we now offer a device equipped with features that meet the specific communication needs of the elderly or those living with disabilities,” says Karen Smit, Principal Specialist for Specific Needs,…
The Southern African Institute of Government Auditors (SAIGA) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Association for Advancement of Black Accountants of Southern Africa (ABASA). The MoU is a means to help bring about transformation in the state of skills readiness in the South African public service sector. It is also aimed at helping with capacity challenges in the public sector, provide government officials, members and associates with access to a broader base of training and development courses, programmes, workshops, seminars, conference, research, and related activities. Some of the skills programmes including continuous professional development (CPD) through short…
Checkers Sixty60 is now available in all nine provinces in South Africa – after launching in Polokwane, Limpopo, today. It has created more than 2 100 new jobs since this one-hour on-demand grocery delivery service was first launched in late 2019. In the past three months, Sixty60 has rolled out to over 40 new areas, including Kimberley and Upington (in the Northern Cape), Klerksdorp (in the North West province) and most recently Polokwane (in Limpopo), making this service available from more than 130 Checkers supermarkets nationwide. There are now more than 15 000 products available on the Sixty60 app with…
Lucid Motors, a Saudi-backed electric vehicle startup, has revealed the in-cabin technology of its all-electric Lucid Air sedan. The sedan was unveiled eight months ago. The US-based electric vehicle maker said the interior of the Lucid Air features two primary touch-control displays – the Glass Cockpit and the Pilot Panel. The electric vehicle maker revealed the Luci Air’s Glass Cockpit 34-inch, 5K floating screen that sweeps around the driver, curving like the cockpit of a jet. The startup said the cockpit puts essential information into your sightline, with vehicle controls to the left, driving details in the centre, and navigation…
MTN has partnered with instant EFT solution provider, Ozow, to provide a fast and efficient payment method for customers to purchase data and airtime directly through WhatsApp. “Giving customers the ability to transact seamlessly on WhatsApp is a gamechanger in South Africa. It provides a seamless way to stay connected, in touch and in tune, while being simple and secure. Most importantly it will help improve financial and digital inclusion and enhance access for consumers,” says Jacqui O’Sullivan, Executive of Corporate Affairs at MTN South Africa. The service is provided within the MTN Chat platform, which was launched in 2019…
Infobip today announces the launch of its Infobip Startup Tribe programme. It will be led by newly appointed director Nikola Pavesic who joins from one of the world’s largest business media publishers and Financial Times parent company – Nikkei. Pavesic is based in Japan where he headed Nikkei’s startup and investor relations, alongside leading the largest tech conference series in Japan. Infobip Startup Tribe is a bespoke program aimed at finding and bringing together the world’s most innovative startups to help fast-track their growth and development. Qualifying startups will be able to apply for substantial credit allowances on Infobip’s products…
Pick n Pay Smart Shoppers can now earn points on their on-demand delivery orders with the Bottles by PnP app. This makes Pick n Pay the only retailer in South Africa to offer loyalty points across all its online shopping channels. “Getting something back for their loyalty is one of the things that our customers love most about shopping with us, and now they have more ways to earn points and save,” says John Bradshaw, retail executive: Omnichannel at Pick n Pay. To earn loyalty points when shopping on the Bottles by PnP app, customers will need to add their…
As expected Transaction Capital announced today it is increasing its shareholding in WeBuyCars, a South African online car marketplace. The JSE-listed company disclosed 15 days ago its intention to up the stake. Transaction Capital has concluded agreements to increase the group’s shareholding in WeBuyCars from 49.9% to 74.9%. The remaining 25.1% of the shares in WeBuyCars will be held by the family trusts of the founding shareholders, Faan and Dirk van der Walt. The group expects the additional investment of 25% in WeBuyCars which is subject to Competition Commission approval, to be immediately value and earnings accretive. Once the conditions…
South African biotech startup LifeQ has secured $47 million from top investors around the world. LifeQ has two key value propositions: enabling wearable devices to provide business-grade and near clinical-grade health information streams; and using this data to generate health and wellness solutions for consumer, business and clinical applications. “LifeQ is proud to partner with the world’s most distinguished investment groups to positively impact the future of health for all people,” said LifeQ co-founder and CEO Laurence Olivier. “We are in the midst of a global health crisis caused by sedentary lifestyle, increased work demands, and unhealthy foods resulting in…
Remote and blended learning during the pandemic spurred growth even further, but according to Snapplify, the EdTech company was seeing business expansion long before COVID-19. Snapplify is a global EdTech company that specialises in enabling digital learning for individuals and institutions (B2C). It also has the capacity to provide other education businesses with software solutions to assist in expanding their businesses even further (B2B). “Towards the end of 2018, we launched our freemium offering for our e-learning platform, Snapplify Engage. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with hundreds of new registrations each day from schools across Africa,” enthuses Wesley Lynch, founder…
As South Africans ease into Winter, more and more people will seek the comfort of indoor entertainment. To carry fans through the chilly season, Spotify is launching new offers for its free and first-time users to enjoy the benefits of a Premium account. Starting today, Spotify Premium is offering three months free to eligible free and first time-users for the Individual Premium plan. For those who are missing their Individual Premium plan and cancelled for one reason or another, Spotify Premium is offering three months for just R59.99. Spotify Premium gives subscribers an audio streaming experience with ad-free music listening,…
As companies forge ahead with their digital transformation, many are inadvertently excluding large parts of their customer base who don’t own smartphones, alienating vital demographics and crippling their digital inclusion agendas. A technology they should not forego is USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) – a technology that is not outdated even if it’s more than two decades old. “Far too often we see companies, in select markets, inadvertently, omit large parts of their customer base by overlooking USSD as a service from their channel offering,” says Jeppe Dorff, Clickatell Chief Product and Technology Officer. “USSD is an incredible technology that…
Satellite internet connectivity has been available for some years across much of Africa and has become established as a good option for remote business locations (such as mines, lodges and farms) looking for reliable connectivity in areas not typically serviced by fibre or LTE. The launch of new satellite networks has brought this technology back into focus but, has also reignited the debate around latency – an issue which many customers still seem to associate with satellite internet services. “We welcome the buzz surrounding new international entrants into the market, and we are confident it will translate into an increased…
Your smartphone app has just notified you that Eskom will be switching off the lights within the next hour, and your suburb is at the top of the list. Since you’ve just purchased your first electric vehicle (EV), should you be worried that you’ll be twiddling your thumbs until the electricity supply is restored? The short answer is, no! While there is certainly a degree of inconvenience that comes with load-shedding, the truth is that typical EV usage isn’t impacted much by scheduled blackouts. In South Africa and around the world, electricity consumption normally peaks in the morning and evening,…