Author: Staff Writer

Platzi, a professional education platform in Latin America, has raised $60 million (R955 million) in Series B funding led by Prosus, one of the largest technology investors in the world. Existing investor Foundation Capital co-invested in this round along with YCombinator, 500 Startups, FJ Labs, FundersClub, Hans Tung from GGV and Darian Shirazi from Gradient. Platzi will use the fresh funds to expand its educational offering in Portuguese, English and Spanish, ramp up its offering for businesses and continue building strategic partnerships with tech giants and governments. Founded by Freddy Vega and Christian Van Der Henst, Platzi aims to close…

Vodacom has launched a new payment plan called Easy2Own, which comes with a 1GB data bundle if you settle monthly instalments on time. Through the newly launched initiative, customers on the Vodacom network can purchase a smartphone and, after a once-off deposit, pay it off in affordable monthly payments over the next 11 months. To provide further flexibility, customers can settle their monthly payments via a direct debit order or EFT. “At Vodacom, we believe that access to mobile devices and connectivity provides endless opportunities for South Africans. The Easy2Own proposition is yet another innovation by Vodacom to help bridge…

Seventy graduates of the Huawei ICT Academy programme met with representatives from nine top South African technology partner companies, looking to recruit top ICT talent, at a job fair held online. The Huawei ICT Academy programme is run in 67 universities and colleges across the country and its graduates are given the opportunity to connect with prospective employers. Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Blade Nzimande was in attendance and stressed the importance of these kinds of programmes, especially for the building of critical skills. “To us, partnerships with our universities and colleges are a critical component of our…

African FinTech aYo Holdings has reached a major milestone in its ongoing technology transformation by fully migrating its Côte d’Ivoire insurance portfolio to a cloud platform. The company, a subsidiary of African telecommunications giant MTN, has more than 15 million customers using its microinsurance products across Uganda, Ghana, Zambia and Côte d’Ivoire. Group CEO Marius Botha says its vision is to grow into the largest financial services technology platform in Africa by enabling the distribution of a range of affordable and accessible micro financial services products. “We see ourselves as a technology company first and foremost, that happens to sell…

MTN Uganda announced today that it will proceed with the listing of its 22.4 billion ordinary shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), with trading commencing immediately. The listing has received the requisite approvals from the Capital Markets Authority in Uganda and the USE. It follows the successful completion of the largest initial public offering in Uganda’s history, raising a record UGX535 billion from applications for 2.9 billion shares (including incentive shares). “We are delighted with the successful completion of the offer. It clearly shows the confidence that Ugandans and other investors have in the company, its brand and its…

MTN Group will be implementing a mandatory vaccination policy for staff from January 2022. Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator said on Monday that this is part of its commitment to protect the health and safety of its people and workplaces, as well as contribute towards the rate of COVID-19 vaccinations across its markets. “The science is clear. Vaccination against COVID-19 reduces rates of serious infections, hospitalisation, and death. As an employer, we have a responsibility to ensure that our workplaces are guided by the highest standards of health and safety, and that has informed our decision to make COVID-19 vaccination…

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…