Author: Staff Writer

Takealot today announced its partnership with leading tech NPO GirlCode helping to empower millions of South African women in the world of tech. GirlCode was born out of a recognition of an inherent gender bias in the tech sector with only 23% of tech jobs in South Africa held by women. In addition, South Africa is facing a dire unemployment crisis, affecting young people in particular. GirlCode provides a solution to these problems by introducing girls and women to Tech from an early age, supporting them to upskill in coding and design. As part of its commitment to diversity and…

MyHealthTeam, creator of the largest and fastest-growing social networks for people facing chronic health conditions, today announced its partnership with South Africa’s largest private health insurance administrator, Discovery Health, to launch myCOVIDteam, a social network – also known as an online patient community – for people facing acute or long-haul symptoms of COVID-19 (known as ‘long COVID’). MyHealthTeam’s patient communities are patient-led, online groups where patients, caregivers, doctors, researchers, and others come together with a focus on a particular disease. They share stories, offer support and information, and even develop solutions where needed. “COVID-19 will have a wide-ranging impact on…

JSE-listed Metrofile, a leading document and electronic information management specialist in Africa and the Middle East, has deepened its suite of digital services – backup, disaster recovery, cybersecurity and specialised virtual private server (VPS) hosting – through its acquisition of IronTree. While paper-based document management remains a central pillar of securing content, the pandemic has meant that more documents are now originated, signed digitally, and then stored, indexed, and archived in cyberspace. A recent World Economic Forum report proposed the opportunities from the digital transformation of industries could be in the region of $100 trillion over the next decade. As an example,…

Pan-African FinTech enablement partner Ukheshe Technologies has appointed Darryn Botha as its Chief Information Officer. Botha’s role will include overseeing data security, maintaining a stable IT infrastructure, while enabling Ukheshe’s business strategy and improving its ability to engage and collaborate with clients. Botha has spent over 25 years in the financial services industry with experience in building bespoke insurance and investment platforms to service local and international markets, and helping startups deliver new and easy-to-use business acquisition channels. He also headed up the systems team in charge of implementing business solutions for Discovery Life, Discovery Insure and Vitality Life in…

VALR, a cryptocurrency exchange headquartered in South Africa, today announced that it has raised $50 million (over R767 million) in Africa’s largest ever crypto funding round. This values the company at $240 million (R3.7 billion). VALR’s oversubscribed Series B equity funding round was led by Pantera Capital with participation from Alameda Research, Cadenza, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime, Avon Ventures, a venture capital fund affiliated with the parent company of Fidelity Investments, along with existing investors Bittrex and 4Di Capital, and others. VALR offers its customers the ability to safely buy, sell and store Bitcoin and…

Telkom has unveiled the March Big Deal to suit your monate needs, whatever that looks like. The SIM-only month-to-month deal gives you 80GB of data for R149 per month. The Telkom March Big Deal includes the following: 20GB Anytime Data (Validity period 61 days) 20GB Night Surfer data (Midnight to 7 am and Validity period 31 days) Plus 20GB additional Anytime data and 20GB Night Surfer data Huawei B535 LTE router Out of bundle rate for data: R0:30 per MB You can connect up to 64 devices at a time so you can share the monate with friends and family everywhere you…

GetWorth an innovator in South Africa’s pre-owned vehicle industry has been acquired by Motus, SA’s largest vehicle retailer. Thanks to this investment it is expected that GetWorth will become a formidable player in the pre-owned vehicle market while at the same time offering an innovative solution for motorists looking to sell their vehicle. “Going into business with a large dealer group like Motus was always a goal as it allows us to scale our business quickly and provide our customers with a world class option when the time comes to sell their vehicle,” says Jamie Surkont, co-founder and CEO of…

MTN today became the first African company to enter the metaverse by purchasing land in Africarare. Africarare which made its debut in South Africa in October 2021, is the first African Virtual Reality metaverse featuring digital land. This purchase will see MTN owning 144 plots of virtual land with an overall area of 12x12m. Bernice Samuels, MTN’s Group Executive for Marketing said, “This is an exciting moment for us as we lead businesses on the continent to enter the metaverse marketplace. This is exactly what our Ambition 2025 strategy is premised on – leveraging trends that amplify consumer’s digital experiences…

Safaricom Telecommunication Ethiopia Plc has selected VMware as its Telco Cloud Platform partner. Safaricom, as part of an international consortium named the Global Partnership for Ethiopia, was granted the second Unified Telecommunication Service License in July 2021. Currently, Safaricom Ethiopia is building a telecom network for commercial launch and to contribute to Ethiopia’s digital transformation and inclusion objectives. Pedro Rabacal, Chief Technology Officer at Safaricom Ethiopia, said, “Building a world-class network in Ethiopia will unlock its economic potential as well as build a positive future for people across the country. We aim to contribute to the country’s digital transformation and…

South African advertising agency, M&C Saatchi Abel, has purchased ‘land’ in the newly created Africarare metaverse – Ubuntuland – marking its move as the first South African and African agency to set up shop in this digital world. Africa’s first digital domain Africarare, is a 3D virtual reality immersive hub that houses a metaverse marketplace set in Ubuntuland.  Ubuntuland will showcase some of the best of African art, fashion, entertainment, sport, tech and creativity and will provide a platform for artists from across the continent to showcase their work. “The unique afro-themed metaverse establishes local representation in a growing global…