Author: Staff Writer
Woven Solutions Group, a UK and South African-based technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) company, has acquired a majority stake in SA Commercial, a locally developed award-winning BPO provider based in Cape Town. This investment will accelerate growth for SA Commercial and the Western Cape BPO Industry, with the intention of creating an additional 1 000 new jobs in the province over the short term. Woven is expanding rapidly, thanks to its proprietary technology solutions, and intends to develop its partnership with SA Commercial to drive the combined companies’ growth globally. Renee Keeble, Founder & Chief Executive Officer at SA…
The Built With Bitcoin Foundation, a humanitarian organisation powered by Bitcoin, announced that it has constructed two new schools in Gerberha, South Africa thanks to a generous donation of 1 BTC. The foundation creates equitable opportunity by providing clean water, access to quality education, sustainable farming, and humanitarian support. This project was funded by a donor with strong roots in South Africa. After discovering the Built With Bitcoin Foundation earlier this year and speaking with Yusuf Nessary, Director of Philanthropy, the donor committed to donating 1 BTC towards building a school in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The donor wishes to remain…
Embedded finance enabler Ukheshe Technologies has announced the launch of the very first tap-on-phone payment solution that requires no certifications. Though tap-on-phone payments have been available for a while, up until now this functionality has been costly, with several administration hurdles. Ukheshe has solved this problem by creating a simple and quick process for merchants and service providers to accept tap-on-phone payments. It will allow any near-field communication (NFC)-enabled Android phone to accept tap-on-phone transactions – no need for any certifications and app approvals, and no need to include any third parties or software development toolkits (SDKs). Paul Selibas, President:…
Despite the challenging business environment, Bosch, the world’s largest automotive supplier, is raising its venture-capital funding for the current business year. Its subsidiary Robert Bosch Venture Capital GmbH (RBVC) is setting up a new fund for startups. The fund has a volume of 250 million euros or R4.2 billion. As a provider of venture capital, Bosch supports startups around the world whose technologies have the potential to improve quality of life and conserve natural resources. “Our investments in startups promote technological progress in business and society,” says Dr. Stefan Hartung, chairman of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH.…
As cryptocurrency gains incredible momentum in South Africa, local financial institutions are being presented with a massive opportunity for growth in this area – as knowledge and trust remains fairly limited. A Q1 2022 consumer survey, carried out by customer experience partner, Merchants, found that 53% of respondents had little to no knowledge of cryptocurrency; while only 14% felt they had a strong hold on the subject – 23% remained neutral Despite this, there is certainly an appetite for investment into cryptocurrency locally. According to crypto investment platform, Luno, South Africa is in the top-ranking nations for crypto trading on…
The Automobile Association (AA) of South Africa says spending more on Gautrain benefits a few, and disadvantages the majority. The determination of the expansion route for the Gautrain by Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Jacob Mamabolo, disregards factual evidence opposing such a move, and underscores the poor financial decision to allocate funds to a failing system. “We believe the publication of the route determination for Phase 1 of the proposed Gauteng Rapid Rail Integrated Network (GRRIN) project – Gautrain – must be rejected and we urge national government to halt any discussions regarding the funding of such expansions,” says…
MTN Group announced the appointment of Andrew Goodrich as Executive for Banktech in our Group FinTech team, effective 1 June 2022. Goodrich joined MTN in 2019 as a General Manager for Banktech & Beyond Payments division, where he has added immense value in executing our digital banking strategy. “We are delighted to welcome Andrew into his new role within the Group Fintech Team. Andrew is no stranger to MTN and his wealth of experience in the financial sector, will ensure we continue to make a meaningful contribution, as we drive our financial inclusion ambitions on the continent.” said Serigne Dioum,…
To offer its customers the best possible user experience, Volvo Cars is bringing photorealistic visualisation technology into its next generation of electric cars through a new collaboration with Epic Games. The companies are teaming up to bring Epic’s Unreal Engine game engine into upcoming Volvo cars, providing unparalleled high-quality graphics inside the cabin. Epic Games is a leading interactive entertainment and software company probably best known for Fortnite, one of the world’s largest games. Epic Games also develops Unreal Engine, widely considered to be the most advanced real-time 3D creation tool used in various industries beyond games, and which will…
New York-listed IHS Towers, one of the largest independent owners, operators, and developers of shared communications infrastructure in the world by tower count, has completed the acquisition of 5,701 towers from MTN SA. Under the agreement, IHS Towers is also providing Power Management Services to MTN SA on approximately 13,000 sites, including the acquisition portfolio, across South Africa. The deal cash consideration is R6.4 billion on a cash and debt-free basis, excludes IFRS 16 lease liabilities estimated to be R4.6 billion. The acquired assets as well as the provision of Power Management Services across MTN SA’s portfolio are expected to…
International calling app Talk360, which enables people around the world to make reliable and affordable calls to any landline or mobile phone worldwide, has secured $4 million (R63 million) in funding as it prepares to launch a new pan-African payment platform in mid-2022. The seed round of funding was led by leading African venture capital investor HAVAÍC, 4Di Capital and several prominent fintech angel investors. While the Talk360 app is seeing rapid growth on the continent, with a growing number of paying users, accessibility has been an issue for the 500 million underserviced people. Users either don’t have online banking…