Author: Staff Writer

MTNon Friday launched the construction of a state-of-the-art headquarters for MTN Côte d’Ivoire, as well as the start of a local trial of 5G services in Abidjan. Both took place during a state visit to the West African country by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. After the conclusion of the Côte d’Ivoire-South Africa Business Forum in which MTN participated, a foundation stone-laying ceremony was held at a site at the Akwaba Business Park in Port Bouët. It was attended by President Ramaphosa and Ivorian Prime Minister Patrick Achi. Both lauded MTN’s pan-African strategy and the Group’s contribution to Côte d’Ivoire…

MyMTN Home Uncapped speed-based plans are now available on 5G, offering customers blistering data speeds, ultra-low latency, increased reliability, exceptional coverage and improved connectivity for as little as R999 per month. Consistently ranked as the best mobile network in South Africa, MTN has developed the MyMTN Home Uncapped 5G plans using the latest 5G network technologies to provide unlimited data connectivity to customers’ homes across 125 coverage areas, across all provinces. “Our existing MyMTN Home Uncapped speed-based plans offer an uncapped home connectivity solution whereby customers can choose their preferred speeds on SA’s Bozza network,” says Megan Nicholas, General Manager…

Endeavor South Africa announces R 130 million raised to date in its Harvest Fund II and doubles the fund size since its first close in late February 2021. The Fund is on track to be fully invested by 2022, a year ahead of plan, and has invested in six leading-edge technology companies to date, with a further four in the immediate pipeline. The first fund–of–its kind in Africa, Harvest Fund II is a founder-aligned, rules-based fund, investing in a vetted pipeline of medium-sized, high-growth Endeavor Entrepreneurs.  The Fund follows the terms of lead investors, helping entrepreneurs negotiate first, before joining…

Vodacom has launched its Store of the Future, which bridges the physical and digital retail gap. The Store of the Future takes inspiration from Vodacom World in Midrand, which was transformed into the first digitally connected mall in Africa. “Our consumer research and insights show that 52% of consumers avoid stores not appealing to the eye. Key to this ground-breaking ‘phygital’ store of the future is the physical expression of our journey from a telco to a techco as we expand our range of products and services while making them easy to access, purchase and use by customers. The new…

JSE-listed The Foschini Group buys digital, on-demand shopping platform and last-mile delivery provider, Quench. Quench is an on-demand app that has been delivering from selected retailers and partners to homes and businesses since 2016. The addition of Quench to The Foschini Group’s existing portfolio of brands will further position TFG as the leading omni-channel retailer in Africa. The acquisition is expected to give the Group access to fast, reliable delivery across South Africa and to proprietary software and engineering capability that brings a scientific approach to planning, least-cost routing and asset utilization. The acquisition is a key step to enabling…

An online software platform developed by Hyrax Biosciences, a company that spun out of the University of the Western Cape (UWC), has played a critical role in South Africa’s early detection of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. South Africa has been recognised both for the expertise of its scientists who were responsible for identifying the new variant and for swiftly sharing information with authorities around the world. What is less well known is the role played by Hyrax Bioscience’s software platform (called Exatype) in enabling the scale-up of genomic surveillance that led to the detection of Omicron. Exatype…

Microsoft announced today that HoloLens 2 is now available in South Africa, bringing the capabilities and value of mixed reality solutions to local enterprises across various key sectors. Mixed reality blends the physical and digital worlds – covering the spectrum from augmented reality to virtual reality – so that these worlds can co-exist and interact in real time. This augments the jobs of first-line employees in sectors such as manufacturing, automotive, healthcare and education, and unlocks significant benefits for these businesses and industries. Businesses in critical job and growth-creating sectors worldwide have already felt the value and benefits of investing…

Carry1st, Africa’s leading mobile games publisher, today announced it has partnered with online payments pioneers PayPal and Chipper Cash, a cross-border payments company recently valued at $2B, to enable people across Africa to easily and securely purchase virtual goods and services online. Thanks to the partnerships, consumers across Africa can purchase digital essentials in the newly launched Carry1st Shop — from pre-paid electricity and mobile data, assets in their favorite games (like PUBG, ROBLOX, and SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-Off — which Carry1st recently launched in Africa), and subscriptions to platforms like Xbox Live, Tinder, and Uber. Consumers can browse products, select…

The University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Aerospace Systems Research Group (ASReG) has successfully tested a powerful liquid-propellant rocket engine as the first step towards developing a launch vehicle for placing satellites into Earth orbit. The Ablative Blow-down Liquid Engine (ABLE) was designed by mechanical engineering students in the masters and doctoral programmes at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). ASReG is developing designs for a commercial launch vehicle capable of placing satellites weighing up to 200 kg into orbit for communications, environmental monitoring, agriculture and Earth observation purposes. The successful operation of ABLE will enable the group to begin work on a flight-weight…

South Africa could introduce a new COVID-19 vaccine passport system at the start of 2022 after the discovery of a new variant. Business Day reports that South Africa’s exclusion from international travel brought further urgency to debates about mandatory vaccination. Talks between the government, business and labour on the introduction of a form of Covid-19 vaccine passport system are at an advanced stage. A passport system would restrict access to certain events and would not involve people being forced to take jabs against their will. The word “mandate” implies compulsion, but in the SA context, it is roughly equivalent to…