Author: Staff Writer

Microsoft is expanding its Surface device range in South Africa with the introduction of the Surface Book 3 for both commercial and consumer customers. The device is available for consumers in retail from Incredible Connection stores. Surface Book 3 is a robust laptop, powerful tablet with detachable touchscreen, and portable studio that adapts to all the ways users work and create best. It combines speed, graphics, immersive gaming and long battery life with the versatility of a laptop, tablet, and portable studio. Recommended retail pricing for the Surface Book 3 starts at R37,999. “We are excited to expand our Surface…

Huawei has underlined its commitment to the F5G (Fix 5G) solution, aimed at spurring the development of broadband in Africa.  The announcement was made at the recent SATACONNECT Virtual Expo 2021 where the key message delivered to suppliers and buyers was adoption and supplying the Africa region with the open standards, interfaces, and open-source solutions enjoyed by the rest of the world. ITU’s statistics show that nearly 1 billion households worldwide have no access to fixed broadband. Of the 1 billion households connected to fixed broadband, only 53% have access to the optical fibre. In Africa, the situation is even more…

Vodacom’s recent ShakeOff 2020 summer campaign has been a smash hit, with more than 23 million customers joining in the fun, setting the record as the most successful summer campaign ever by the network. ShakeOff 2020 engaged on average, over 5 million daily unique users. “We delivered on our ambition to create a campaign that was responsive to the needs of our customers, brought some fun, excitement and much-needed savings through our third party rewards, so much so, that our customers found ways to share their vouchers with close family and friends,” says Jorge Mendes, Chief Officer of Consumer Business…

DigitalFinTech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies, together with Infobip, a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey at scale, have developed South Africa’s very first WhatsApp payment gateway for use by Telkom, one of the country’s largest mobile operators. In addition to being South Africa’s first digital wallet platform, the solution is also the first WhatsApp channel to enable payments using QR. The project and collaboration with Infobip forms part of Ukheshe’s objective of expanding its international reach as a solution-driven B2B provider of digital-first payment solutions that enable…

South Africa’s retailer Mr Price is spending R450 million to buy online retailer Yuppiechef. Mr Price said it will pay1% of its market capitalisation for Yuppiechef. Mr Price’s market cap before the announcement was almost R47 billion, which means it will buy Yuppiechef for roughly R470 million in cash. So, what should customers expect? Yuppiechef respond to its customers. Hang on — wait. What’s that going to change for customers? Not much really, We’re still going to be the same Yuppiechef in name and people and the way we work. We’re going to carry on pushing our service levels as…

Vodacom Business has developed various digital solutions to help businesses achieve a truly connected supply chain network to help improve efficiencies and withstand disruption and unpredicted hurdles in the future. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to create significant challenges for the manufacturing and retail industry globally, the need for a resilient and agile supply chain network has never been greater. Today’s supply chain network is more complex than ever. It has become a digital ecosystem of suppliers, logistics companies, customers and other value chain partners that stretch across the globe. The supply chain network relies on the synchronised movement of…

TymeBank, South Africa’s digital bank and its international sister company Tyme,  announce the appointment of David Pfaff as Chief Financial Officer of Tyme as well as the country CEO of Tyme’s South African operations. He took office on 1 March 2021. Pfaff is expected to divide his time between Singapore and South Africa to cover all his responsibilities. He will work alongside TymeBank CEO, Tauriq Keraan, who will remain in his position as CEO and continue to report to the TymeBank Board. “TymeBank continues to achieve exceptionally high customer satisfaction through its single view of the customer, its world-class technology…

South African entrepreneur Nico Steyn is stepping aside as CEO of IoT.nxt, a company he co-founded with partners Terje Moen and Bertus Jacobs. IoT.nxt was founded in 2015. He resigned with immediate effect. Steyn will remain as a shareholder and will continue to serve on the board, assist in the leadership transition. He will also work with the executive team to drive the growth and innovation strategy of IoT.nxt in a new capacity. “As a founder making this decision is not easy. However, I know the exceptional executive team that we have assembled over the past 18 months is well-positioned…

Aura, South Africa’s security and medical response platform, has announced its imminent expansion into Kenya which will be led by its new General Manager, Hilary Itela. Partnering with KK Security, owned by GardaWorld, Aura will offer its emergency and medical response services in Nairobi and Mombasa. Warren Myers, CEO at Aura, says that the intention is to address the fragmented and idle response capacity in Kenya while also democratising access to critical services by making them more widely available and more affordable than ever before. With over 15 years’ experience in various management roles in East and Central Africa, Itela…

South Africa’s retailer Mr Price announced today it has entered into an agreement to buy 100% of Yuppiechef, a privately-owned South African omnichannel retail business primarily focused on kitchenware. In November 2020, Mr Price communicated its ambitions to invest in growth opportunities in specific segments of the market through both organic and acquisitive growth avenues. The group’s strict investment criteria, which have been previously communicated, continue to guide its capital allocation decisions and have been applied with the same disciplined approach in the case of Yuppiechef. The company said the acquisition of Yuppiechef will enable it to expand in South…