Author: Staff Writer
Online retail in South Africa passed the R50-billion milestone in 2022, driven by an ongoing boom in demand for home deliveries, according to new research findings released today. “Online Retail in South Africa 2022”, a study conducted by World Wide Worx with Mastercard, reveals that the total growth for online retail in South Africa in 2022 came to 35%, bringing the total of online retail in South Africa to R55-billion. This comes after 40% growth the previous year took the total to R42,3-billion in 2021. “One can call this the pandemic dividend,” says World Wide Worx MD Arthur Goldstuck, principal…
South Africa is ranked as the most food secure country in Africa, but with global agricultural supply being highly sensitive to shocks brought about by climate change, technology has an important role to play in ensuring the country’s food security. Huawei earlier this month demonstrated how the convergence of several technologies, including drones, 5G, and the internet of things (IOT) could contribute to a more sustainable future for the agricultural sector. At present, the sector is responsible for between 19 and 29% of greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, a growing global population and changing dietary demands are driving…
Customs officers of the South African Revenue Service (SARS) have seized possible counterfeit shoes (sneakers and sandals) with an estimated value of R3-milliion this past weekend. The Customs Detector Dog Unit (DDU) at the Lebombo border post with Mozambique searched a truck with two trailers entering South Africa. The DDU found 5237 pairs of various branded (possibly counterfeit) shoes and sandals. The items were found loaded in the back of the trailers of the truck. The shoes were handed over to the South African Customs State Warehouse for further processing and engagement with the relevant brand holders for confirmation of…
South African mid-tier gold producer, Pan Africa Resources says its 10 megawatt Elikhulu solar renewable energy plant for its Evander gold operations has become the first embedded project over 1 MW to receive full grid code compliance from Eskom. The plant has been developed by JUWI Renewable Energies (JUWI). This follows the South African government’s decision in 2021 to raise the licensing threshold for embedded generation projects from 1 MW to 100 MW, aimed at alleviating the energy crisis by unlocking private generation capacity. In order to attain grid compliance, projects need to demonstrate full compliance with the Renewable Power…
The Africa Blockchain Centre, the premier center of excellence for blockchain development in Africa, has today announced the graduation of its first cohort of 105 blockchain developers under its Blockchain Programming training course. The programme, which took 6 months, and was run by a network of global experts, is a practical based course that teaches the learners the core fundamentals of blockchain technology and decentralized systems and takes them through the various blockchain programming protocols with a focus on Cardano, Algorand and Ethereum. The Africa Blockchain Centre, a Kenyan Web 3.0 company launched in September 2021 with a mission to…
Xiaomi Corporation, a global consumer electronics, and smart manufacturing company, officially opened its first authorised store in Cape Town today, which became the second Xiaomi store to be opened in South Africa in less than two months. Located at Shop 82 on the lower level of Canal Walk Shopping Centre, the third-largest shopping centre in Africa, the store will be Capetonian’s gateway to affordable, quality smartphones and smart home products. Xiaomi fans can also bring their devices needing repairs to the store to start the process. The opening of the second store in South Africa is a testament to Xiaomi’s…
South Africa’s protracted and more frequent power cuts are having a significantly negative impact on the country’s mobile network operators. Although the industry has proactively spent billions of rand in backup power solutions for network stability and continuity, customers are increasingly becoming frustrated when they experience a drop in network performance during higher levels of loadshedding. This is largely unavoidable when power generation capacity is reduced to Stage 4 and beyond. Speaking in his capacity as Chairperson of the recently launched Association of Communications & Technology (ACT), Shameel Joosub says: “South Africa’s power crisis continues to add pressure to an…
The opportunities for banking in Africa are immense. The region is a ‘sleeping giant’ when it comes to accessing traditional bank accounts, digital banking, and affordable financial services. According to the World Bank, 57% of Africans still do not have any kind of bank account, including mobile money accounts. This translates to about 360 million adults in the region and approximately 17% of the total global unbanked population without access to formal financial services, a recent study by BPC and Fincog found. South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) notes that banking regulations of digital services in most of Africa…
Huawei, MTN, Minetec Smart Mining and opencast Phalanndwa Colliery have launched a 5G connected coal mine operation, which the partners have described as a major step toward digital transformation of the coal industry. This collaboration, at Canyon Coal’s Phalanndwa Colliery sees Huawei and MTN provide an advanced 5G solution to ensure guaranteed connectivity within the mine and plant area, in the initial stage. The mine is taking the lead in combining digital applications with 5G, achieving the first trial use of 5G applications of mining solutions in South Africa, leading the digital transformation of South Africa’s mining industry. “Phalanndwa Colliery…
South African digital banking platform eZaga has partnered with fully-secured, global centralised exchange Digital Financial Exchange (DIFX) to launch a multi-asset investment platform – DoshFX. The new trading platform will serve the African region with over 700 investable assets, including select cryptocurrencies in a simpler, safer, transparent manner. Since 2014, eZaga has been a leading provider of digital banking services throughout South Africa with innovative tools and services that have enabled people to transform the way they manage finance through the use of mobile technology. Over the years, the African region has seen an influx of various financial applications due…