Author: Staff Writer

Aki Anastasiou, one of South Africa’s leading radio and TV personalities and avid tech lover, joins eNCA as the host of a brand-new technology and gaming show, TecHub. TecHub airs every week on Sundays from 1 November 2020 at 17:30. Anastasiou is a renowned technophile and is highly ranked among Tech speakers in the country. He plans to simplify and expose viewers to the exciting world of technology and gaming. Technology is a part of our daily lives and in the time of Covid-19, gaming and tech has outstripped the movie industry from an interest perspective. In terms of revenue,…

CDC, the UK’s development finance institution, has today announced a $40 million (R652 million) equity investment in Liquid Telecom, Africa’s largest independent fibre, data centre and cloud technology provider. This marks CDC’s second investment in the company, following a $180 million equity investment in 2018. CDC’s additional investment is made as part of Liquid Telecom’s wider fundraise where the company attracted $307 million through a rights issue to shareholders. CDC’s investment will enable Liquid Telecom to further expand its pan-African data centre operation business, Africa Data Centres, and consolidate its position as the leading data centre operator on the continent.…

Telkom has launched FreeMe Share Plans, a shared data plan that allows multiple SIMs to share a single data plan. The company said in a statement the new plans are a response to changes in work and education arrangements amid the COVID-19 pandemic increase in internet data usage for families and small businesses. The FreeMe Share data plan comes as 24-month post-paid contracts and include SIM-only or multiple-device combo options. According to Telkom, up to 10 SIM cards can share data, voice minutes, and SMS bundles with these contracts. The plans are available in 3 options, namely: FreeMe Share 36GB,…

DearSA attorneys Hurter Spies this week sent a letter [view below] to Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma asking her to provide reasons why she extended the lockdown earlier this month and to give an undertaking no further extensions will be given. She has also been asked to support her reasons with documents and expert evidence. The minister has been given until 30 October 2020 to reply, failing which DearSA says it will approach the High Court for relief. DearSA has run several public participation campaigns showing an overwhelming majority are against any further lockdowns. The letter to the minister…

In acknowledging Cybersecurity Awareness Month during October this year, leading peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency marketplace, Paxful, is highlighting the importance of security awareness amongst users when trading in digital currency. A recent report says illicit cryptocurrency activity accounted for just 2% of Africa’s roughly $16 billion trading volume from July 2019 to June 2020. The cryptocurrency sphere is not immune to opportunists with illicit intent, “In our experience, the majority of cryptocurrency transactions are safe. Despite this, risk management is top-of-mind for us to protect our customers and we have a dedicated team that focuses on risk assessment and security to…

South Africa’s most prestigious fintech R10 million startup initiative, AlphaCode Incubate, shares how to improve chances of accessing its support and unpacks the trends in the fintech incubation ecosystem. AlphaCode Incubate has disbursed R30 million in funding to 31 black-owned financial services businesses over the past five years and is currently accepting applications for its next programme which offers packages valued at R1,5 million for successful applicants. “We’re primarily seeing applicants aged 19 plus, those who are in their final year of tertiary education, as well as corporate refugees who have experience in financial services or tech. We have seen…

Navigating banking systems is almost always stressful and tediously litigious, and particularly true when it comes to applying for a home loan. Despite all their efforts, new home buyers are still not successful when applying for a bond independently. While bond originators take the hassle out of applying for a home loan and reduce the time it takes to be approved, they also give prospective buyers a way to ensure that they are offered the most favourable loan package and interest rate. Using a bond originator saves you time and paperwork and often means that the banks’ turnaround time is reduced, ensuring…

The New Yorker magazine has suspended staff writer Jeffrey Toobin after he exposed his penis during a virtual staff call last week over the messaging platform Zoom. Jeffrey Toobin has been suspended while we investigate the matter,” a spokesperson told The Washington Post. Vice.com first reported the suspension Monday afternoon. The magazine, which has employed Toobin since 1993, did not comment further about the nature of the incident or the length of the suspension. Earlier, the New York Post wrote: ‘One former staffer at the magazine said she believes his 25-year career will come to an end over the incident.’ “How do…

Prosus Ventures has announced its first investment in Mexico, leading a $15 million (R246 million) Series A funding round in Klar, a challenger bank in Mexico. Prosus Ventures, formerly Naspers Ventures, is the early-stage venture investing arm of Prosus, a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. The company said other investors include International Finance Corporation and former investors Quona capital, who led Klar´s SEED round, Mouro Capital (formerly Santander Innoventures) and aCrew. The round brings the total debt and equity funds raised to approximately $72 million. Klar has been working to democratize financial services in Mexico since…

The U.S. Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit Tuesday against Google, alleging the search giant is engaging in anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets to remedy the competitive harms. The department alleged that Google, a unit of Alphabet, is the monopoly gatekeeper to the internet for billions of users and countless advertisers worldwide. For years, Google has accounted for almost 90% of all search queries in the United States and has used anticompetitive tactics to maintain and extend its monopolies in search and search advertising. “Today, millions of Americans rely on the Internet and online…