Author: Staff Writer

Capitec Bank is hiring. Big time. South Africa’s best digital bank, as rated in the SITEisfaction 2021 report, is looking to fill around 300 positions over the next few months. At a time when many companies are shedding jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and incessant low economic growth, Capitec is making room for more appointments. It’s a powerful indication that their purpose of helping South Africans simplify their financial lives so that they can live better is resonating. “We’re rapidly growing our team. South Africa’s response to our simple, transparent and affordable banking solution has been overwhelmingly…

BritBox, the British streaming joint venture between ITV and BBC Studios, is now available in South Africa at R99,99 per month or R999,99 for 12 months. After taking the United States, UK, Canada and Australia by storm and with over two million global subscriptions, BritBox will bring local consumers a wide range of top-quality viewing, including the biggest collection of British box sets, courtesy of a joint venture between British television powerhouses BBC and ITV, responsible for some of TV’s most iconic moments. Together they created a new streaming service BritBox, conveniently offering the best of both their programming  –…

Pineapple announced today that it has closed Series A round at R80 million to upend the car insurance industry. The investors in the new funding include Lireas Holdings, the ASISA ESD Fund, E4E, Vunani Capital and the Old Mutual Enterprise & Supplier Development Fund. Pineapple is an InsurTech startup that has captured the hearts and minds of many South Africans. After launching in 2018, the company has won many awards locally and internationally, including MTN Consumer App of the Year, Stanford startup award, and was the first Insurtech accepted into Google’s Launchpad Accelerator Programme. Pineapple launched into the South African market…

The National Development Plan sought to leverage the country’s geographic position by transforming the country’s capital, Lomé, into a regional trading centre and transport hub; it implemented business reforms and completed large infrastructure projects to attract investment; and, it established the Business Climate Unit to coordinate economic reforms and play a key role in improving the business climate for the private sector – improving the ease of doing business in Togo as a result. Consequently, the country has prospered – with its economic and digital transformation following a trajectory that has resulted in Togo rising more than 50 places in…

In its role as a premium provider for individual mobility, the BMW Group is actively helping to create the liveable city of the future. Here, its approach to mobility also looks beyond the company’s core business. With the unveiling of the electrified bicycle Concept DYNAMIC CARGO and the e-scooter Concept CLEVER COMMUTE, the BMW Group engineers are once again demonstrating their unrivalled ability to transfer know-how from the automotive sector to concepts for micromobility vehicles. Concept DYNAMIC CARGO Bicycles offer great flexibility of use, produce zero emissions and are one of the fastest and most efficient means of transport in…

On the back of Cape Town being recognised as the tech capital of Africa, topping international rankings for foreign direct investment strategy, Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC – investors in early-stage, high-growth technology businesses – says several other African cities are quickly emerging as leading startup and investment hubs to watch. “Startups in Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and South Africa raised a total of US$625 million last year. Of those, Kenyan startups raised US$191 million, the most of any other African country, according to Disrupt Africa’s African Tech Startup Funding Report for 2020. Distinct startup geographies are emerging in Africa,…

The recently-released ‘State of Mobile Fraud in Africa’ report by Paris-headquartered Evina reveals that 19% of mobile payment transactions in Africa were made without the user’s consent from January 2021 to June 2021. Professional cybercriminals from around the world targeting Africa’s one billion mobile phone users also remain a significant problem in particularly vulnerable countries such as Angola and Egypt where 34% and 25.5% of mobile transactions were identified as suspect, respectively. The latest Evina report helps mobile stakeholders understand the scale of the mobile fraud challenge with key data on mobile fraud in Africa. “When it comes to fighting…

tHER350 COVID-19 grant for the jobless, hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic introduced by the South African Government last year, is back. The grant was discontinued on April 30. “This evening we are announcing a range of measures to support the recovery of the economy and provide relief to the poor and those who are vulnerable as a result of the measures that we had to impose to deal with COVID-19,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Sunday. He added that to support those who have no means of supporting themselves, “we are reinstating the Social Relief of Distress Grant to provide a…

The South African economy and small businesses, in particular, have been dealt some hefty blows. With the COVID-19 pandemic still an ongoing stress, and even more recently the looting and destruction of property in two of our biggest provinces, thousands of brick and mortar based businesses have closed, lost vital stock and some even lost their buildings. From jobs, to supply chains and production processes, the ecosystem of small businesses in South Africa has been severely disrupted. Small businesses are the lifeline of the country’s economy and are vital to creating and securing jobs. The SME sector alone accounts for around…

Visa today announced it will buy Currencycloud, a global platform that enables banks and FinTechs to provide innovative foreign exchange solutions for cross-border payments. The acquisition builds on an existing strategic partnership between the two companies and values Currencycloud at £700 million or R14 billion inclusive of cash and retention incentives. Currencycloud’s cloud-based platform offers a broad set of APIs enabling banks and financial services providers to offer currency exchange services, including real-time notifications on foreign exchange transactions, multi-currency wallets, and virtual account management. The Currencycloud platform supports nearly 500 banking and technology clients with a reach in over 180…