Author: Staff Writer

The month of February is always when people think of new ways to celebrate their love for their partners. It is also when cybercriminals, as previously reported, think of new and creative ways to target and lure new victims with malicious activity. Especially during the current global restrictions enforced by the pandemic, which has driven significant increases in online shopping. As people go online to purchase gifts for their loved ones during this period, Check Point Research (CPR) has observed a surge in malicious phishing email campaigns in the second half of January with over 400 malicious Valentine’s day themed…

IROKO, a Nigerian-based video-on-demand (VoD) company, may list on London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) Alternative Investment Market within the next 12 months. The company aims to raise between $20 million (R294 million) and $30 million (R441 million) and would value the whole business at between $80 million and $100 million (R1.4 billion). Speaking from Accra to The Africa Report, IROKO’s co-founder and CEO, Jason Njoku said discussions with brokers would start in the coming weeks. Njoku, who holds an 18% stake in the debt-free company, founded the business with Bastian Gotter in 2011. IROKO has the world’s most extensive online catalogue of…

Dimension Data has partnered with Mimecast to provide a Managed Secure Email service to help organisations address the growing number of advanced threats targeting users, including spam, business email compromise attacks, malware and spear-phishing. Managed Secure Email will help ensure that organisations are secure by design, offering protection from malicious activity, human error and technology failure. Mimecast’s State of Email Security 2020 report found that organisations saw a 53% increase in phishing attacks and a 45% increase in ransomware attacks in the last twelve months. As email-borne attacks grow, a layered approach to cyber resilience is required to protect any…

Huawei’s CEO Ren Zhengfei has pledged to stick to a globalisation strategy despite external pressure. He has called on the new US administration to come up with more open policies that are in the interests of US companies and the US economy as a whole. These are the first public remarks the Huawei founder has made since the change of the US administration in January. In May 2019, the US commerce department added, Huawei into the Entity List, which prohibits the company from purchasing US technologies as well as software services. In 2020, the Trump administration further restricted Huawei from…

Meat Naturally and Agricool Finance were awarded joint first place in the 10th Annual Social Innovation Awards, while Leafline Washable Sanitary Wear scooped first place in the Disability Empowerment Awards. All three winners were awarded R1.3 million in grant funding by the SAB Foundation Social Innovation and Disability Empowerment Awards. A total amount of R12.6 million in grant funding and business development support was given away to all our 17 Finalists. The Social Innovation Awards are aimed at innovators, entrepreneurs and institutions with prototypes or early-stage businesses that solve a social problem through a sustainable business model. Joint first place…

Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC) has committed $10 million (R148 million) to venture capital firm Knife Capital’s new African Series B expansion fund, Knife Fund III. The Fund’s aim is to invest behind the aggressive expansion of African innovation-driven companies and fill a critical follow-on funding gap. The commitment positions Mineworkers Investment Company as an anchor investor to the Fund alongside other local and international investors. “The move to change the way local institutional investors approach venture capital investment has been in the pipeline at MIC for a number of years now. Our venturing into the earlier-stage alternative asset class space…

Net1, a JSE-listed company, announced that it has appointed Lincoln Mali as CEO of Net1 Southern Africa, a new position for the company. Mali is currently the Head of Group Card and Payments at Standard Bank Group. The company said Mali is a highly accomplished financial services executive with over 25 years in the industry. He also chairs the board of directors of Diners Club South Africa and is a member of the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) Business Council for Visa. “After a thorough and rigorous search process, we are delighted that Lincoln Mali has agreed…

Telkom Business has launched an Unlimited Voice Plan offer to help small business subscribers save up on unlimited voice calls by almost 30%. The proposal targets small business owners who are new customers and those previously with Telkom but had to suspend or cancel the service due to lack of affordability. The new plans will also be available to existing Telkom Business customers who wish to add voice line to their existing package. Telkom Business said the new unlimited voice call plans available for R199 per month. “This offering includes monthly line rentals as well as usage, saving the average…

Long-time Vodacom customer Rilwelani Mmbooi, a 27-year-old mother from Limpopo, has been announced as the second grand prize winner of Vodacom’s ShakeOff 2020 campaign, driving home in a brand-new Mini Cooper. Mmbooi, an avid fan of Vodacom’s promotional competitions, would use the USSD (*133# or *135#) channel to access the ShakeOff Summer menu and play with the hopes of winning free data, never expecting that she would one day be a grand prize winner. Since the 2019 Shake!Up campaign, Mmbooi has been shaking daily and recently moved from shaking on USSD to the My Vodacom App, where she could see all…

Vodacom announced on Monday that finally its customers using Apple’s latest iPhone 12 can finally be connected to the mobile phone company’s 5G network. The Vodafone-owned mobile phone firm said in a statement: “Vodacom is pleased to share that we’re now offering 5G cellular support for the powerful new iPhone 12 line-up.” The company did not provide details on why its support for 5G on Apple’s new iPhones was delayed for two months. The sales of the news iPhones by Vodacom stated on Friday, 18 December 2020. The new Apple iPhone 12 family, including iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone…