Author: Staff Writer
The fear of incurring an exorbitant bill while travelling internationally will now be a thing of the past for MTN customers following the introduction of affordable roaming bundles for contract, top-up and prepaid customers. The MTN Hello World roaming data bundles are competitively priced from as little as 29c per MB, discounted from the current standard roaming rate and can be used in 21 countries where MTN has operations in Africa and the Middle East, like Botswana, Swaziland, Nigeria and many more. “As the world gets smaller, the demand for data roaming continues to grow, however data roaming services can…
FNB anticipates a 26% increase in eWallet send volumes during the festive season. During last year’s festive season, the Bank’s customers sent over R2.4 billion worth of eWallet funds. FNB Consumer CEO, Christoph Nieuwoudt said; “Over the years, we have seen substantial growth in eWallet volumes during the festive season. eWallet provides our customers with simplicity, convenience and security when sending money. This offering has become top of mind amongst South Africans when looking for easy ways to send money.” For the current year, FNB’s data revealed that consumers in Gauteng are the top senders of eWallet at 47%, followed…
Registry Africa Limited (RA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ZACR (NPC), has announced that it will be running its popular African gTLD (geographic Top Level Domain) $1.00 Asante Promotion for the month of February 2020. The ‘Asante Sana Promotion’ will see the wholesale price of .africa domains drop to just $1.00 while the price of .joburg, .capetown and .durban city domains will be reduced to R15.00 for the month of February 2020. These prices exclude SA Value-Added Tax (VAT), where applicable. “With the number of registered .africa domains currently at 23 000, we are confident our much-anticipated $1.00 promotion will…
Netstar, a subsidiary of JSE-listed technology company Altron, is using data in a real-life manner to improve road safety at the bus service operator Putco driver training academy. “Netstar has been working with Putco for three years, taking it on a fleet management journey, which kicked off with the installation of telematics systems to provide data on driver and passenger behaviour, with a view to enable Putco to gain a better view of its fleet,” said Shaun Brashaw, Netstar global executive. The relationship has evolved to the point where the data is being mined and used as part of the…
MTN today announced that its mobile money service, MoMo will go live in January 2020, allowing customers to send, receive, save and spend money as well as pay for goods and services using their mobile phones. The announcement comes as MTN finalised its engagements with all the relevant regulatory bodies and authorities including the South African Reserve Bank. MTN welcomes the positive conclusion of these engagements and looks forward to making MoMo available to all consumers via USSD functionality for free as well as via App download in the Google Play store and the Apple App store by 30 January…
The recent emergence of Stage 6 loadshedding on the South African business landscape saw added interest in Cloud services from local firms eager to insulate themselves from the country’s energy fallout. A 2019 Cloud survey earlier this year shed light on Cloud adoption by local businesses and found that 77% of SA businesses are using Cloud services in IT departments. “Having real-time remote access to reliable back-ups is the number one reason for Cloud adoption and we’re certain the number of businesses using Cloud services will eclipse the 80% mark by the new year,” says Riaan van Stryp, General Manager…
Digital money transfer service WorldRemit has partnered with Vodacom Tanzania to enable nine million M-Pesa customers to receive money directly to their M-Pesa wallets from friends and family living abroad. The new service increases convenience for money transfer recipients in urban and rural areas of Tanzania as they can receive international money transfers directly to their phones, without the need for a bank account or internet connection. Using the WorldRemit app, Tanzanians living abroad in over 50 countries, including the US, UK and Canada, can send money home 24/7 in just a few taps. This saves customers time and money as…
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in South Africa were targeted with an unusually large number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks last month with media reports attributing these cyberattacks to organised criminal syndicates. It’s not all bad news, however, as administrators at South Africa’s Internet Exchanges (INXs) are taking firm and co-ordinated action to join the global fight against DDoS attacks by creating a so-called ‘blackhole’ that will funnel identified DDoS traffic passing through the INXs into oblivion. “The South African Internet will be better protected against DDoS attacks during the course of 2020 as local ISPs peering at JINX,…
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) announced today that it has added Avon Products Inc. to their list of companies “Working for Regulatory Change”. In so doing, Avon joins a very short list of companies recognized for their demonstrated, ongoing commitment to promoting the development, validation and regulatory acceptance of non-animal methods. “We do not believe that animal testing is necessary to substantiate product safety and do not test products on animals anywhere in the world. We will continue to push for greater acceptance of alternatives. We’re pleased and proud to receive this recognition from PETA. We appreciate…
The historic Klaasenbosch Winery located in Constantia Upper and dating back to 1790 is looking for a new owner. It is one of the original Cape Dutch buildings which date to the early wine farms in the area and has been converted into a spectacular five-bedroomed homestead featuring one of the most unique interior designs on offer in the Cape, according to Janine Stevenson and Steven Holvec from Seeff Constantia Upper. It is set on a large plot of 2,949sqm with beautiful gardens. Features include traditional barn-doors in the entrance hall, a double-volume living room with a feature wood-burning fireplace,…
BMW is finally going to start integrating Android Auto into its cars, the German-based automaker said. The automaker is finally introducing Android Auto to its cars as of July 2020. Android Auto will allow customers to connect their Android smartphones wirelessly with their vehicle and, in doing so, enjoy access to useful information like suggested destinations and upcoming appointments just when it is needed. Android Auto is integrated directly into BMW’s fully digital cockpit, meaning that customers can view all important information not just on the central Control Display, but also in intelligently adapted form in the instrument cluster’s Info…
Following the launch of Mara’s smartphone factory in October, Vodacom announces that Mara smartphones will be available from Vodacom participating outlets from today. “Vodacom is proud to offer the ‘Made in Africa’ Mara smartphones to our customers, not only because it provides South Africans with the opportunity to connect to the things that matter most to them, but also because this supports our commitment to African innovation,” says Davide Tacchino, Terminals Managing Executive at Vodacom. “Vodacom believes that the journey into the Fourth Industrial Revolution begins with investment that leads to growth. Our end-goal is to connect all South Africans to…
The Sun Exchange equity crowdfunding campaign launched in September in partnership with Uprise.Africa, has officially come to a close. Sun Exchange, a global solar micro-leasing marketplace, said in a statement is delighted to report that over R4.2 million was invested by 288 individuals from across the world. “We’re thrilled that this community of new investors will be joining Sun Exchange on our mission to connect the world to the sun, bringing affordable and clean energy to emerging markets,” said the company. The Uprise.Africa campaign formed part of our seed funding round. To date, with the success of this latest campaign, we’ve now raised…
For nearly two decades, Africa has largely maintained real gross domestic product (GDP) growth at higher rates than the world average, which helped the region stay on a convergence path. GDP growth was mainly supported by buoyant domestic demand and investment. However, given the high population growth in most of parts of the continent, GDP per capita growth rates were modest. Unleashing the potential of the private sector is needed to create new and better jobs—the most promising pathway to poverty reduction, according to International Finance Corporation (IFC). “Transformational entrepreneurship could be at the heart of the emergence of a…
JSE-listed technology company Altron, through its Rest of Africa (ROA) operations, has partnered with Pascal Technologies to provide a seamless and integrated payment system for motorcycle public transport services in Rwanda. In terms of the deal, Altron is supplying the infrastructure comprising of payment terminals, GPS devices and mounting units, while Pascal Technologies is supplying the software application that enables mobile money transfers and tap-and-pay payments. The terminal enables payments while the GPS device calculates distance and the fee payable by motorcycle passengers. Altron ROA managing director Ike Dube said, “We will supply hard-wearing, cost-effective devices, while Pascal Technologies will provide…
A windfall of beauty and personal care products is in the offing for Avon Justine customers on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and customers will have an opportunity to get discounts of up to a whopping 75% for Avon products between Friday, 27 and Saturday, 30 November. These mouth-watering deals which will enable Avon Justine customers to derive great value and augment their bouquet of personal care products at a fraction of the cost. This four-day bargain frenzy will also provide its beauty entrepreneurs with the opportunity to sell bigger volumes and provide more for their families this festive season.…
South African mobile data network operator, rain has launched its intelligent 5G transport network in partnership with Huawei. Transport networks can be thought of as the “neural networks” that connect core networks to services. rain’s CTO Gustav Schoeman says, “With Huawei’s E2E solutions and new products, our first 5G users can experience 5G ultra-high speed broadband service at home. Rain will further strengthen its partnership with Huawei in 5G network innovation and practice to offer a top service experience to users.” In terms of 5G transport network construction, Huawei’s embraces the concepts of “ultra-broadband network”, “intelligent connectivity”, and “committed high…
New and existing MTN customers are in for big deals this Black Friday with a number of huge savings lined up for prepaid, contract and business customers. For a monthly subscription of as little as R199 on selected Made for Me packages, customers will receive up to 300GB and 60 000 minutes over six months on 24-month contract plans. “MTN will be running Black Friday promotions from the 29th of November and over the weekend until Monday, 2 December 2019. This gives us the opportunity to reward our customers with fantastic deals that will offer great value for money. As…
Clientèle Limited has officially announced the launch of Clientèle Mobile. Clientèle Mobile will offer data and airtime at discounted rates for Clientèle Rewards members through the Clientèle App. Its SIM cards are available to purchase at a cost of R30. Each Clientèle Mobile SIM card comes with 100MB of free data on activation. Clientèle Rewards members receive an additional 100MB after the first Rewards fee payment and another 100MB after the second Rewards fee payment. Clientèle Mobile is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service offered through a leading network provider. Clientèle Mobile pricing offers Clientèle Rewards members up to…
Today, MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi’s empowerment scheme listed on the Empowerment Segment of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). MTN’s previous scheme, MTN Zakhele, listed on the JSE in 2015, but delisted in the next year as the scheme was wound up. The newly listed MTN’s Zakhele-Futhi will be listed for a minimum period of five years, until 25 November 2024. MTN’s Zakhele-Futh is a ring-fenced special purpose vehicle aimed at facilitating investment by previously disadvantaged South Africans in MTN Group (MTN). It holds about 77 million shares in MTN, amounting to 4% of MTN’s issued share capital. It also has about 89…
South Africa’s first online business lender specialising in small to medium enterprises is forging ahead in the financial technology space, hitting the R1-billion mark in just four years. Pollen Finance has lent over R1-billion to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) since it was established in 2015. CEO Louis du Plessis believes Pollen has barely scratched the surface when it comes to the funding requirements of South Africa’s vitally important SME sector. “What does a billion rand mean in our local economy? It means more SMEs are driving the economy,” he said. To start, a billion rand invested in the economy…
Public Display Technologies (PDT), a South African technology and communications company, focused on the delivery of turnkey solutions, has snapped up three awards for their work with Holographic 3D displays – delivered in partnership with HYPERVSN. The accolades were awarded at the tt100 Business Innovation Awards program, which was launched in 1991 to create an awareness of the role of technology and innovation in South Africa. PDT received the following awards: The Da Vinci Award for Best Innovation Concept The MTN Award for Excellence in the Management of Innovation The Greg Tosen Award for Excellence in the Management of Technology. “The…
Checkers has launched its exclusive on-demand one-hour grocery delivery service named Sixty60. It is South Africa’s first 60-minute grocery delivery service from a supermarket chain, as Checkers relentlessly innovates to respond to customers’ demands for hyper-convenience. The mobile app delivers groceries and drinks at the touch of a button and offers the same value for money for which Checkers is renowned. Users can track the status of their order and delivery in real-time. “Sixty60 will offer unrivalled convenience because it does all the hard work for you,” explains Neil Schreuder, Chief of Innovation and Strategy at Shoprite Checkers. “In our…
Avon Justine’s employer value proposition has once again been affirmed after the Top Employers Institute conferred the company with the much-sought-after Top Employer 2020 award. This is the third consecutive time the direct selling company has been awarded this coveted accolade and highlights its continued commitment to providing the very best working environment for employees through their progressive ‘people-first’ HR practices. “We are proud to once again be recognised as a Top Employer in South Africa. This is a testament that our employee-focused approach in line with our business strategy is paying a dividend” says Lerato Ndoro, HR Executive Director…
SA’s Wireless Application Service Providers’ Association is advising smartphone users alarmed by the ‘deepfake’ phenomenon that the expected promulgation of South Africa’s Cybercrimes and Cyberbullying Bill is imminent. Furthermore, there are practical ways web users can protect themselves from the growing trend to bully, shame and otherwise digitally harm people by overlaying their images onto unrelated photos and videos to concoct an untrue and alternative version of reality. In this fake reality made possible by ‘deep’ machine learning, reputations are destroyed and self-harm becomes a real possibility. “Local legislation offers some protection but with deepfake videos increasing by 84% since…