Author: Staff Writer

Neobanking is set to boom in South Africa, with nearly a quarter (24%) of South African internet users expected to have a digital-only bank account by 2023, according to Finder’s Neobanking Adoption Report. Finder’s survey of 2,179 South African internet users reveals around 15% of adults currently have a neobank account and an additional 9% plan to open one by 2023. With a further 6% planning to open a neobank account by 2027, just under a third (31%) could have a neobank within five years. Finder’s global fintech editor, Elizabeth Barry, says neobanks are increasingly popular with consumers. “Neobanks allow…

Cape Town-headquartered venture capital (VC) firm HAVAÍC this week announced a $500,000 or R8.4 million investment in FinAccess, an East African headquartered software solutions provider that digitises community banks or SACCOs (Savings & Credit Cooperative Organisations) and farming co-operatives (“co-ops”) in the region. FinAccess is driving financial inclusion and unlocking financial services for many unbanked East Africans through its technology platform and widespread distribution. Allocated from the VC firm’s $20 million HAVAÍC Universum Core African Fund, which closed in May, the investment is part of a pre-series A funding round to expand the company’s two core products, banking software solution…

The Algorand Foundation announced the 10 winners of its Algorand Centres of Excellence (ACE) Programme, with awards totalling US$50 million over five years. The University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Financial Innovation Hub is the only lead recipient in Africa. The ACE Programme received 77 proposals from over 550 participants representing 46 countries. Winners were selected by an international panel of 27 experts from a diverse set of disciplines. UCT has been awarded the grant alongside a small selection of top international institutions, including Yale University, Cornell University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne. “The selection process was incredibly difficult,…

Whether single by choice, or single by circumstance, it is clear that women are not waiting around to start climbing the property ladder. While the prospect of embarking on a home ownership journey with a single income may seem daunting – particularly in light of the recent interest rate spike – it is not an unattainable goal, says Andrea Tucker, Director of MortgageMe. It is important to remember that home ownership is a marathon, not a sprint. By making wise financial choices and following the right advice, you can take the plunge with full confidence. Join the wave Recent statistics…

South African-based Adapt IT Holdings is buying Agileum Hospitality in Mauritius as part of its strategy to enter the Indian Ocean hospitality industry. The transaction has been concluded through the Mauritian entity Adapt IT International. The deal includes the Oracle Hospitality rights to service the Indian Ocean hospitality market. Adapt IT is a South African global software and services group and a member of Volaris Group Inc. Adapt IT provides specialised software and digitally-led business solutions, assisting over 10 000 businesses in over 55 countries worldwide across targeted industries to Achieve more by improving customer experience, core business operations, business…

Huawei South Africa recently held the first of its Huawei ICT Academy Job Fairs for 2022, a project which has seen several graduates placed in internships and permanent positions. Hosted at the Huawei Office Park in Johannesburg, the job fair is designed to promote local Huawei-certified ICT Talent to Huawei partners and offer them the opportunity to advance their careers and further enrich Huawei’s talent ecosystem by cultivating and harnessing the value of ICT talent. “The significance of the Huawei ICT Academy programme cannot be overstated,” said Tang Shenbo, the Director of the Service and Delivery department of Huawei Enterprise…

With food and transport costs on the rise in South Africa, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) must move swiftly to finalise pro-consumer amendments to its End-User and Subscriber Service Charter (EUSSC) Regulations. If adopted, the amendments will provide welcome basic cost relief for consumers because they require telecommunications operators to rollover data bundles for a minimum of six months. The EUSSC regulations were last amended in early 2019 to include a requirement for operators to provide for the roll-over of data, but only after strong opposition from some industry sectors. Voice and data are two sides of the…

On the back of two major interest rate hikes in the first half of 2022 alone and rapidly rising costs, business owners across the country are keeping a close eye on budgets and cash flow where every cent counts. As champions of financial inclusion and SME growth in South Africa, local fintech Hello Pay is offering merchants, and micro and small enterprises access to competitive, commercially attractive, business loans of up to R250,000 to grow their businesses. The Hello Pay Business Loan is part of Hello Pay’s newly launched Business Solution – an all-in-one suite of services created to enable…

When women support one another, we’re all lifted up. A study on successful female leaders in the Harvard Business Review shows that women with an inner circle of successful female friends are more likely to land executive positions and receive higher pay. The influencing role of women in our lives can take many forms. Mentorship and general representation of women in our workplace, for example, is shown to have positive effects on the overall performance of companies and teams of staff across genders. Even more so when women mentor, support, and uplift one another. How can we ensure that women…

CoinDesk announced that Solana’s ecosystem is the latest to fall victim to a hack. More than 8,000 users’ hot wallets were affected thus far, with several Solana addresses linked to the breach. The breach has mostly hit mobile users, as the hackers were able to approve transactions on behalf of users. Some say that this indicates it may have been a third-party vendor which was breached in a supply-chain hack. “I’ve been saying it for years, so it probably doesn’t make a difference to say it yet again, but it just isn’t wise for investors to leave their assets in a hot…