Author: Staff Writer

With the goal of serving South Africans with hearing loss, MTN is piloting a national relay service (NRS) which harnesses the power of technology to enable users to make and receive phone calls. Depending on the type of call, an operator will speak, type, or use sign language when facilitating calls for or between deaf, hard of hearing, or deafblind South Africans. Together with Convo South Africa, a deaf-owned company, the pilot project expands communication access for those who otherwise would not be able to communicate via voice call, audio or video. Users of MTN’s NRS service will be able…

Spotify today announced the arrival of South Africa’s Wrapped 2022, the platform’s deep dive into the music that defined the year for users locally. The way we listen to music says a lot about us. As part of Wrapped 2022, Spotify users get a detailed snapshot of their most loved artists, creators and songs. And as part of this year’s fun, Audio Day shows how Spotify users’ musical choices evolve throughout the day while the new Your Listening Personality feature tells users about the music they listen to and what that says about their music taste. One of 16 different…

The Milken Institute and the Motsepe Foundation has launched the Milken-Motsepe Prize in Green Energy, a $2 million or R33.8 million prize competition to reward entrepreneurs and innovators working to address one of the most pressing and immediate challenges of our time—access to green, renewable energy. The winning individual or team will be awarded $1 million, with an additional $1 million disbursed throughout the competition as finalists progress and field test ideas. Registration for the prize is open now. There is no cost to apply, and anyone, anywhere in the world is eligible to submit their idea for consideration.…

African countries have been urged to invest in building resilient internet infrastructure to tap digital opportunities and accelerate social and economic transformation on the continent. Global leaders attending the 17th Internet Governance Forum being held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, underscored the importance of digital technologies as tools for enhancing development across Africa. “The internet’s contribution to social development is immense, the democratization of knowledge and communication, access to entrepreneurship skills and new employment opportunities health care access and education are a few noteworthy ones,” Mr. Abiy Ahmed, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, said in opening remarks…

Mercedes-Benz and Bosch have reached an important milestone on the way to automated driving: Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) has approved their highly automated parking system for use in the P6 parking garage run by APCOA at Stuttgart Airport. This makes it the world’s first highly automated driverless parking function (SAE Level 4)[1] to be officially approved for commercial use. “The world’s first approval for customer use of our highly automated and driverless parking function, developed together with our technology partner Bosch, shows that innovation leadership and ‘Made in Germany’ go hand in hand,” says Markus Schäfer, Member of the…

ICT skills development is critical for South Africa to participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and reap the benefits of a digital economy. This was the consensus of various speakers at Huawei South Africa’s ICT Talent Development annual awards ceremony at its Woodmead campus yesterday. The event celebrated the higher education partner institutions and facilitators of the Huawei ICT Academy Programme, which was established to identify, cultivate, and develop the best talent through collaboration between industry, educational institutions, and the public sector. “The ICT sector is growing fast and we must respond to its needs, especially when it comes…

RMB acted as Mandated Lead Arranger & Bookrunner for IHS Holdings (IHS Towers) $600 million or R10.2 billion syndicated term loan facility. IHS Towers is one of the largest independent owners, operators and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, and is the largest independent multinational towerco solely focused on the emerging markets. IHS Towers has nearly 40,000 towers across its 11 markets and a strong track record of delivering growth. “RMB is proud to facilitate strategic investments that have a powerful economic impact,” Conny Konopi, Debt & Trade Solutions Transactor says,. “IHS Towers focuses exclusively…

South African early-stage venture capital firm, 4Di Capital, has today announced the second closing of its new $25 million or R425 million seed fund – created in partnership with DotExe Ventures in Mauritius – with an undisclosed raise from Mauritian-based conglomerate, IBL Group, via its investment vehicle, IBL Link Investments Ltd. The announcement establishes a close working relationship between the three organisations, while creating a new presence in Mauritius for the venture capital firm. This follows an initial close of $8 million or R135 million from the SA SME Fund, with capital targeting seed and post-seed stage startups in South…

Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) announces that Klaus Eser, currently Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Executive Director Finance and Controlling, will retire and be succeeded by Taryn Woodbridge, effective 1 December 2022. “I’m very pleased to welcome Taryn Woodbridge to the leadership team at Mercedes-Benz South Africa as the company’s first female Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director Finance and Controlling,” said Chief Executive Officer of Mercedes-Benz South Africa and Executive Director Manufacturing, Andreas Brand. “Taryn brings on board vast industry experience and will certainly make an even greater impact within the business to ensure we continue to meet our strategic…

The Shoprite Group is the first South African retailer to pilot a heavy-duty electric truck as part of its fleet, and 28-year-old Robin Jooste from Colorado Park, Mitchells Plain has been selected to drive it. The vehicle, a Scania Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV), is 100% electric, therefore has no reliance on fossil fuels and emits no carbon dioxide. The refrigerated truck can hold approximately 16 pallets, has nine batteries, solar panels fitted to its roof and a fully electric cooling system which is also powered by the battery packs of the vehicle. With a range in the region of 350km,…