Author: Staff Writer

Digital FinTech platform provider Ukheshe has announced the conclusion of a new agreement with the Kenya-based lender KCB Bank Kenya. The deal is aimed at boosting  East African payment services Through the agreement, KCB will sponsor Ukheshe’s Bank Identification Number (BIN) number, which will allow Ukheshe to immediately issue both physical and virtual cards across East Africa where KCB has an extensive footprint. According to Victor Ndlovu, VP of Ukheshe Africa, the deal will include other innovative digital products such as QR issuing and acquiring. “By joining forces with KCB we are well-placed to address several open loop market opportunities…

Regulators are no longer afraid to protect peoples’ rights to privacy against tech giants. In recent years, we have seen the likes of Google and Facebook receive large amounts of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) fines. Head of Legal and Chief Privacy Officer at LAWtrust, Rian Schoeman says with the 28th of January being Global Data Privacy day, it is time to look thoroughly at South African business and how far they are with their Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) compliance journey. “POPIA in South Africa came into effect on 1 July 2020, and if you have not started…

Government will use an electronic system to keep track of everyone who gets the COVID-19 vaccine as South Africa gears up for its historical mass vaccination. The Department of Health’s Acting Chief Operating Officer (COO), Milani Wolmarans, said the Electronic Vaccine Data System (EVDS), will allow the department to capture all relevant data associated with the administration of the vaccine. “The system is a data-secure platform built with an enterprise architecture that complies with national and international security standards,” Wolmarans explained. The COO announced this during a public health webinar chaired by Health Minister, Dr Zweli Mkhize, on COVID-19 vaccine…

Spot Money has introduced open banking offering in South Africa, in a move that followed the 2020 acquisition of Virgin Money South Africa by a local private equity firm, in partnership with the local executive management team Virgin Money has been rebranded into Spot Money. Spot Money’s app is now live on all major app stores: Apple, Huawei and Google Play Store. Andre Hugo, who continues at the helm of the Spot Money business as CEO, said the app was a significantly revised offering which would introduce Spot’s entry into Open Banking. He said this also heralds the beginning of…

Musica is dead. We’ve known is coming for some time. Clickcs Group informed investors on Wednesday that it will close the music retailer’s stores countrywide. The music retailer was founded 29 years ago. The JSE-listed company informed investors that its board has taken a decision to close the group’s heritage entertainment brand Musica with effect from 31 May 2021. “Musica has closed 19 stores since the start of the 2021 financial year and is currently trading from 59 outlets,” the company said. “The remaining stores will be closed as leases expire over the next four months when the majority…

Telkom announced on Wednesday it has chosen three talented content producers to feature on its video streaming service, TelkomONE. After the call for submissions through the #OpenUpTheIndustry competition: joint prize-winners Lisa Marie Pyanee and Gosiame Ntshole in the Comedy category; Brandon Olifant (Mobivela) and Patty Monroe (Lifestyle), will each receive a R100 000 cash injection to produce a full web-series. Final projects are to be screened on the TelkomONE platform. “We were looking for content producers that stood out in how they shared their stories as well as relatable, authentically South African content that moved us, made us laugh and kept…

Twelve young South Africans have been selected by MultiChoice to participate in a continental first Scriptwriting Incubator to find the next generation of storytellers. Starting in February, the full-time MultiChoice Talent Factory South Africa (MTFza) Scriptwriting Incubator will host the 12 interns who will be mentored by Tshedza Pictures’ Phathutshedzo Makwarela and Gwydion Beynon, the International Emmy-Nominated producers of The River, Giyani: Land of Blood, The Republic and Legacy, and the head writers of Gomora, the Queen, Igazi and many other of South Africa’s favourite television shows. The SETA-accredited learnership will include structured learning with the Wits University Film &…

Pan-African telecoms group, Liquid Telecom, has announced a strategic acquisition of the Middle East & African operations of Quattro Business Solutions (QBS). The acquisition will allow Liquid Telecom to innovate and enhance its digital services offerings. QBS is an official indirect Cloud Solution Provider for Microsoft Dynamics and currently supports over 800 partners in 25 countries.  This purchase gives Liquid Telecom the ability to be a well-rounded Microsoft partner, offering deep capability on Dynamics 365 in addition to Office 365 and Azure. “This acquisition is core to our strategy to deepen our cloud service offerings by bringing award-winning Microsoft Dynamics 365 solutions to our digital ecosystem…

Montelektro, a system integrator in the brewing industry, and 8Sigma, a premium MES provider delivered solution KegTNT (Keg Track&Trace) to a brewery in Addis Ababa. KegTNT is a software solution that tracks kegs throughout their life stages while inside the brewery and within the whole supply chain. In addition to the mentioned brewery, during 2021, KegTNT will be implemented in two more breweries owned by the same company, BGI Ethiopia, whose long brewing tradition dates to the first half of the 20th century. The BGI Ethiopia’s owner is French Castel Group, one of the largest African and among the world’s…

Infinidat, a provider of enterprise-class storage solutions, today announced that the company has deployed 7.1 Exabytes of enterprise storage capacity worldwide. This achievement marks a key milestone for the company as it enters its 10th year in business with tangible momentum, highlighted by a surging uptick in growth of half an exabyte in the fourth quarter of 2020. “Infinidat has exceeded expectations, which is a testament to the value that customers see in our unique mix of faster performance, high availability, reliability and affordability, despite the challenges of the COVID pandemic and the industry slowdown in 2020,” said Phil Bullinger,…

Eskom’s loadshedding, alongside an enduring pandemic, have proven a devastating combination, repeatedly destroying historical data, and demanding an (artificial intelligence) solution to predict the unpredictable. The past year has been shaped by the pandemic. The uncertainty has influenced how organisations approach day-to-day forecasting of sales, people and stock, battling to manage fluctuating trading hours due to lockdowns, curfews, limited access to stock due to congestion in China – and now the return of loadshedding. To survive in 2021, businesses are desperate to forecast and manage their systems to ensure they’re capable of handling the unplanned and unexpected. Analytics, business intelligence, forecasting…

Commvault, a recognised global enterprise software leader in the management of data across cloud and on-premises environments, today announced the availability of its award-winning Metallic Backup-as-a-Service (BaaS) portfolio in South Africa. In addition, Metallic is adding new data protection solutions, features, and enterprise workload support. “We have seen an aggressive push to cloud, automation, and an increased requirement for intelligence as companies transition to a new reality,” says Gerhard Fourie, District Channel Manager for South Africa at Commvault. “At Commvault we understand the increasing need for a solution that’s easy to undertake, purchase, and manage without any large upfront investment.…

Having deployed most of its first R250 million Section 12J Venture Capital Fund: KNF Ventures, Knife Capital launched another 12J fund for new investors to participate in this growing and exciting alternative asset class. KNF Ventures II is the second Section 12J Venture Capital Company launched by Knife Capital. It has the same investment mandate as Fund I and will continue to build on the success and momentum created. By leveraging Knowledge, Networks & Funding, KNF accelerates the growth of South African innovation-driven SMEs to generate enhanced returns for entrepreneurial-minded investors. The Section 12J venture capital company (VCC) regime was…

As e-commerce boomed in the wake of the Coronavirus and the national lockdowns, Yoco, South Africa’s largest financial platform for small businesses, turned their attention to online payments by developing and releasing a payment gateway alongside their range of affordable card machines. The Yoco Payment Gateway is an effective solution for business owners looking to accept payments on their WooCommerce or Wix e-commerce websites. With little to no technical skills, entrepreneurs are able to add the plugin to their site and activate Yoco as a payment option within ten minutes. “We began work on the Yoco Payment Gateway long before…

Ongoing volatility, further progress on regulations and continued interest from institutional investors can be expected in 2021 according to Luno, South Africa’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. “Looking back at our predictions from last year – the Bitcoin halving happened without a hitch and the industry matured as institutional investors entered the market. 2020 was a proper stress test with Bitcoin hitting a low of around $5,000 in March and a high of $28,000. The new year is following the same trend with the price already reaching the $40,000 level,” says Marius Reitz, Luno’s GM for Africa. Institutional investors will continue to…

For the past two years, we published AlphaCode, South Africa’s leading FinTech thinkers, predictions about the financial technology (FinTech) landscape. We believe that FinTech represents the digital revolution that is transforming the way customers access financial products and services. As such, FinTech is gaining significant momentum and causing disruption to the traditional value chain. South Africa has a flourishing FinTech industry underpinned by a sophisticated and supportive ecosystem. “Each year, at AlphaCode, we use our vantage point of the fintech landscape to share what we expect this year. We had no idea last January that a whole new world awaited. One…

South African tech start-up and online tech-education leader, HyperionDev, is inviting the public to become stakeholders in the company’s growing tech education business. Through the investment, HyperionDev will invest R3.5 million in coding scholarships to deserving South Africans. The UK-based capital funding drive – which has already realised  £1,5million (±R32 million/ ±US$2 million) in capital commitments –  will facilitate HyperionDev’s expansion into UK and US markets on the back of the company’s success in Africa. The impact investment opportunity affirms HyperionDev’s commitment to delivering positive social impact by answering a pressing need for tech education and skills development in South…

DFA today announced that it has been awarded Top Employer status in South Africa for 2021 by the Top Employers Institute. DFA joins 1,691 companies in 120 countries globally, including only 97 local companies, who are recognized by the Top Employer Institute for their efforts in various facets of employee management. With headquarters in the Netherlands and offices in several countries around the world – including South Africa – Top Employers Institute was established with the aim of promoting excellence in human capital management to support business strategy. DFA CEO, Thinus Mulder, said that achieving the certification was the culmination…

Mara Phones, South Africa’s manufacturer of smartphones, has appointed Sylvester Taku to the position of managing director with immediate effect. Taku has been doing business in Africa for over 20 years and has made accelerating growth through smart, well-considered moves his signature style. He has been the Head of Growth at Mara Phones since 2019 and led the opening of the first bricks-and-mortar Mara Experience Store in Maponya Mall, Soweto, exactly a year after Mara Phones unveiled the country’s first smartphone manufacturing facility in KZN. “Sylvester is bold and dependable with an amazing ability to spot the next opportunity,” Mara…

Warrant Officer, Roger Mario Kivido has been arrested allegedly dealing in copper cables. Hawks spokesperson Captain Lloyd Ramovha said Kivido was arrested on Friday, 22 January 2021. Kivido, a 53-year old rogue cop, is stationed at New Brighton police station. “The Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation team received a tipoff on 11 October 2020, regarding a police officer in full uniform, driving a marked police vehicle who was selling copper cables at a local scrapyard along Grahamstown Road, in Port Elizabeth,” Ramovha said in a statement. “Preliminary investigation was carried out at the scrapyard in a form of an enquiry.…

As part of its ongoing commitment to prevent Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Vodacom has zero-rated its Bright Sky SA app. The app was launched in November last year. The zero-rating of the app ensures that Vodacom users will not incur any data costs for downloading or accessing many of the referral links to GBV support services found in the app. Given that not everyone can afford data, Vodacom is highly focused on making connectivity more accessible, particularly when it comes to essential tools and services such as Bright Sky. “Technology has a powerful part to play in solving some of the…

Altron Systems Integration (ASI), a subsidiary of JSE-listed Altron, has joined the NVIDIA Partner Network (NPN), becoming the first Compute DGX partner and solutions provider in South Africa. ASI has joined NPN as a Solution Provider focusing on the Compute and Compute DGX competencies, serving customers across Southern Africa in their AI journey. This gives ASI access to the latest hardware, trainings, technical documentation, technical specialists, and interesting promotions for its customers, and allows the business to distribute NVIDIA’s AI solutions across Africa. “NVIDIA’s expertise in building end-to-end AI and data science solutions and frameworks enable every enterprise to realise…

If you’re interested in scooping up a brand new Galaxy S21 series phone, you can now place your pre-order at Telkom. The new S Series from Samsung includes the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra. Telkom announced on Wednesday that the new Samsung’s smartphones are available from Telkom online store. In-store sales will start from 5 February 2021, said Telkom. The Galaxy S21 series is the latest flagship offering in devices by Samsung and boasts state-of-the-art innovation and head-turning and iconic design including a pro-grade camera and advanced processor ever in a Galaxy device. It also introduces…

MultiChoice South Africa today announced that 236 students will benefit from bursaries worth R26 million in 2021. The company is making tertiary education a reality for students in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths, Broadcasting, Media, Film & Television, Human Resources, Finance, Economics, Law, Communications, UI/UX/CX Design, Consumer Insights and Advertising. “We believe investing in these fields of study is critical for the future of our industry and our country,” says MultiChoice South Africa’s CEO, Nyiko Shiburi. “We are excited to provide access to the necessary resources for these future leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs to thrive and flourish…

Xero and Nedbank have partnered to give small businesses and their advisors’ financial data through a fully digital API-enabled bank feed. Xero is a global small-business cloud accounting platform. The new feed will go live soon and will be available to Nedbank small business clients with a Xero account, at no additional cost. Once live, small businesses will be able to connect the feed from their Xero account. This fully digital bank feed will mean that small businesses and their advisors can import their banking transactions automatically and securely, directly from Nedbank into their Xero organisation. This bank feed is…