Author: Staff Writer

Huawei has awarded bursaries worth R2.76-million to 17 University of Cape Town (UCT) undergraduate and post-grad students as part of its ICT skills development programme in South Africa. The bursary programme was launched in 2020, and this is the 2nd year that UCT students have benefited. The UCT students, who were awarded the bursaries in a ceremony this week,  form part of a wider programme by the technology company which will see it fund 48 students in 2021 from five universities across South Africa – UKZN, UP, Wits, UCT, and UWC – with bursaries worth R7-million. Daniel Jiang, Human Resources…

You might be familiar with Android Auto, the wireless interface that links your Google-powered smartphone to your vehicle’s infotainment system? But did you know the multinational technology giant has also developed something called Android Automotive? The latter is an infotainment operating system (OS) that runs directly on the in-vehicle hardware (rather than on a smartphone or tablet), complete with various built-in Google applications and services. It’s an open-source, highly customisable platform – which is good news for third-party developers – capable of supporting general apps built for Android as well as those already created specifically for Android Auto. This means…

South African design experience company The Immersion Group has concluded a strategic partnership deal with well-known entrepreneur Andile Khumalo. This will see Khumalo become chairman and his investment firm KhumaloCo a shareholder in the company. Starting as a small consultancy, The Immersion Group has entrenched itself as experienced and sought-after design experts who enable effortless customer engagement, retention and new client acquisition through precision-designed experience-led systems and processes for digital interactions. The organisation currently works with leading South African blue chips including Old Mutual, Absa and Standard Bank.  “Immersion is a rapidly growing business and for some time we have…

MTN plans to invest $1.5 billion (R21 billion) over the next three years in Nigeria to expand broadband access across the continent’s most populous country. The company said today that this is in line with the federal government’s 2020-2025 National Broadband Plan and in support of MTN Group’s strategy, Ambition 2025: Leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress. “Nigeria is one of our most important markets. We have a proud history of partnering with Nigeria and Nigerians to drive faster and more inclusive growth through digital transformation,” said MTN Group CE0 Ralph Mupita after a three-day visit to Abuja and Lagos,…

While the ICT sector might seem daunting for most young and emerging entrepreneurs, Lethabo Mokone has tackled this bull by its horns with his thriving entity Makwa IT. Boasting a staff complement of 40 and now in its 9th year of operation, Makwa IT recently also joined the group of ICT companies to be awarded the Cisco Gold Partnership, making the company the first local black/youth-owned company to achieve this status. With an impressive list of blue-chip and financial services clients in his book, Mokone took his early passion for technology and computers and has managed to turn it into…

South Africa’s IT financing and leasing specialists InnoVent has announced the opening of its third African office in Lagos, Nigeria. The move gives Nigeria’s fast-growing digital-first enterprises an accessible IT expansion model that also allows them to take a concrete step into the circular economy. The opening of the new West African office follows only months after the successful opening of an office in Nairobi, Kenya, to serve the East African market. With a population of over 210 million, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country, characterised by a youthful, mainly urban citizenry and a fast-growing digital business environment. According to…

HPE has brought a new multi-cloud Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) data centre solution to the South African market. This powerful multi-cloud data centre model is all about leveraging the cloud to define the customer experience, while underpinned by HPE’s GreenLake platform. This unique multi-cloud offering is the latest culmination of a long-standing partnership between HPE and Datacentrix, and the infrastructure power of Teraco – Africa’s largest data centre ecosystem. “With their expertise and knowledge of cloud hosting, Datacentrix is the ideal systems integrator and partner for multi-cloud collaboration,” says HPE South Africa CEO, President Ntuli. The data centre offering runs on HPE’s…

Huawei South Africa has partnered with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) to donate 300 pairs of school shoes, 200 school bags, 200 scientific calculators, and 20 laptops to students in need during the COVID-19 pandemic and amid lockdown restrictions. The donation forms part of the DPSA’s contribution to the Back-to-School Campaign, a government initiative to support scholars in impoverished areas. June marks ‘Youth Month’ in South Africa, this year it is celebrated under the theme: “The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Growing youth employment for an inclusive and transformed society.” The DPSA has chosen Mkhaliphi High School…

MTN Group announced the appointment of Eliane Houphouet-Boigny as the CEO of MTN, effective 1 July 2021, the latest woman to take the helm at an MTN operation. “I would like to welcome Eliane to the MTN family and look forward to her taking MTN Guinea-Bissau to new heights, as we work to lead digital solutions for Africa’s progress,” said MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita. Houphouet-Boigny is a seasoned professional with a career spanning more than 20 years, and experience across multiple markets in Europe and Africa. Most recently, she held several leadership roles at Nestlé, including Head of Innovation,…

While we celebrate Youth Month, many young South Africans are facing enormous challenges exacerbated by COVID-19, including unemployment at an all-time high. In a recent survey by the University of Cape Town, more than half of young people polled said they were uncertain about the future. As part of Vodacom’s ongoing commitment to empower South African youth, Vodacom has revamped its NXT LVL (pronounced Next Level) platform to address the concerns of young people. Through this digital platform created to meet the needs of the youth, Vodacom NXL LVL will now offer young people opportunities to connect more, learn more…