Author: Staff Writer
Banks in Africa must provide mobile payments and other digital services to remain competitive as well as to unlock new business opportunities across sectors such as energy, health care, education and transportation, according to a new report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) titled Five Strategies for Mobile-Payment Banking in Africa. Although many African banks have little direct experience with mobile payments, it represents a must-win opportunity for these institutions on the continent because technology companies outside of Africa will capture the market if African banks fail to provide these services. “The estimated market in facilitating payments alone is $500 billion.…
Cash may have traditionally been king, but COVID-19 has contributed to a faster pace of digital payment adoption. Recently on AlphaCode’s monthly Industry Insights webinar, two global FinTech players discussed the emergence of a plethora of digital payments and debated if cash is on its way out. Omosalewa Adeyemi, Head of Global Partnerships and Expansion at Flutterwave (a technology company that helps businesses in Africa and across the world send and receive payments) and Nicolas Vonthron, co-CEO of Mama Money (a rapidly growing international payment operator using mobile technology to reach new markets and underserved communities with a key focus…
The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) wishes to inform all stakeholders of the passing of former Councillor Botlenyana Mokhele yesterday. Mokhele joined ICASA as a Councillor on the 4th of April 2016 and left the office on the 10th of June 2020, upon the end of her four (4) year term. She was not new to ICASA when she joined in 2016, as she had served at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority (ICASA’s predecessor), ICASA’s Policy Department and the Department of Communications, to name but a few. The regulator said it is indeed grateful to have had Ms…
Telkom has welcomed the Independent Communication Authority’s announcement that it will release the Invitation to Apply (ITA) for both Wireless Open Access Network (WOAN) and the International Mobile Telecommunication (IMT) spectrum by the end of September. Telkom Group Chief Executive Officer, Sipho Maseko has welcomed the move as the kind of decisive action needed to drive South Africa’s economic recovery. Maseko commended the approach taken by the new ICASA council to issue both ITAs simultaneously as a considered and pragmatic approach to the spectrum release process. “We are looking forward to seeing innovation in auction design by the new council,”…
Today, local data science competition platform Zindi launched its new recruitment platform to help organisations around the world find the data science talent they need. Zindi will draw on its community of more than 18 000 data scientists across Africa and the rest of the world to match companies and organisations with the right talent for the job at hand. “Zindi has the largest community of data scientists in Africa, which makes us uniquely positioned to help organisations find the talent they are looking for,” says Celina Lee, CEO of Zindi. “We are proud to be pioneering a data-driven, evidence-based…
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga says to ensure that matriculants are not compromised by the late release of the Grade 12 results, Universities South Africa has agreed to extend the academic year to the end of February 2021. Universities are expected to start their 2021 academic year in March or April next year. This, Motshekga said, will ensure that students will still be able to get admitted to institutions of higher learning on time. The Minister said this when Ministers in the Social Services Cluster responded to oral questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday. “On 24 August this year,…
Electric Life Rides, a South African electric scooter and vehicle tech company, will officially launch its service in Cape Town in early September 2020. The launch introduces their initial fleet of electric kick scooters, which will be available at their new mobility hub and partner, The President Hotel in Bantry Bay. Electric Life Rides works through a mobile app – similar to Uber – powered by globally acclaimed vehicle-sharing platform creators, Wunder Mobility. Users are able to scan a barcode on the kick scooter to download the app and activate it, and are then able to buy ride credits directly…
Shoprite’s new transactional Money Market Account enables private and public sector businesses and institutions to make safe bulk mobile payments to thousands of people without incurring massive bank charges. Businesses of any size can use the Shoprite Money Market Account to process bulk payments to any number of recipients who just need a cellphone to access their funds. The free digital account – which is safer, more efficient and cheaper than bank accounts – can be used by businesses, government entities, NGOs and charities to pay anybody, whether they are South African citizens or foreign nationals, easily and safely. Bulk payments, including rewards, incentives…
South African e-health startup Signapps has won a prestigious contract with Britain’s National Health Services (NHS). Signapps will provide its software as a service communication platform for the management of clinical communication to NHS Trusts. “The contract with the NHS is a major coup for us, as a South African company, proving that our product engineering teams can create product to compete with the very best internationally” said Andrew Davies, CEO of Signapps. Since its launch three years ago, the Signapps messaging platform has a proven local track record, having been established in numerous areas, including the Chris Hani Baragwanath…
MTN today announced that their customers can now enjoy over 60 million songs on Apple Music, South Africa’s number one Premium Music Streaming service anytime, anywhere, by signing up for an exclusive offer of up to six months of free Apple Music. Customers can enjoy Apple Music across iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Mac, CarPlay, PC, Android devices and Samsung TV. The offer is exclusively available to all MTN prepaid customers and selected MTN post-paid customers. MTN post-paid customers who are currently subscribed to MTN Sky, MTN Sky VIP and Sky Black, and to all new customers who sign…