Author: Staff Writer

MTN South Africa has taken a bold step forward today by introducing MTN Xlerator, an innovative Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) programme that is set to reshape local supply chains, stimulate economic growth, and champion inclusivity. MTN said this launch represents a significant milestone in its deliberate journey to support black-owned enterprises, aligning with the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) pillar of its Ambition 2025 strategy. It builds upon the substantial progress the company has already made in the ESD arena. In 2021 alone, MTN dedicated over R220 million to various initiatives, in addition to nearly R100 million allocated for…

There is no better way to celebrate World EV Day on 9th September than with South Africa’s accelerating sales of new and used electric vehicles (EVs). It’s quite the about-turn from the somewhat lacklustre adoption of EVs in past years. In the first half of 2023 new EV sales amounted to 501 matching total sales for 2022¹. An expanding range of EVs on the used car platform has also brought brisker trading. In the half-year of 2023, 131 used EVs made their way to environmentally-conscious buyers, according to AutoTrader. “Affordability, limited choice and education have been major factors stalling the…

Volvo Car South Africa has revealed that early demand for its new fully electric EX30 has been incredibly strong, with the local market ranking in the top ten for pre-orders in the broader Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. The news fittingly comes just ahead of World EV Day 2023 on 9 September, the fourth instalment of a global celebration dedicated to highlighting the benefits of battery-powered cars and raising awareness around the need to transition to more sustainable methods of transport. The EX30 – which is positioned as one of the most affordable full-size electric vehicles in South…

Yesterday, 6th September 2023 marked the conclusion of the Uganda-SA Investment and Trade Summit in which MTN Group convened key companies in the South African private sector with operations in Uganda to Accelerate Investments and Trade between Uganda and South Africa. The Summit which was convened in line with MTN’s commitment to partnerships in driving sustainable development was [presided over] by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni. Speaking at the Summit, MTN Group Chairman Mcebisi Jonas, noted the importance of working together and paying focused attention on the growth and development of the various countries that MTN has operations in and in…

Bayobab Group (formerly MTN GlobalConnect) today announced Florent Guede as Managing Director of Bayobab Cote d’Ivoire. “Florent is no stranger to the Bayobab Family, having joined the Bayobab Group 4 years ago. He is a valued member of our team, and we are thrilled to announce his promotion. We are confident he will continue to add value to Bayobab and deliver next-gen digital solutions through our Bayobab Fibre and Communication Platforms across Cote d’Ivoire.” Shares Frédéric Schepens, Bayobab Group CEO. Florent will be responsible for leading and bringing Bayobab’s Cote d’Ivoire to position its operations at the forefront and advance…

Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), today confirmed that its near-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). Sage is committed to a 50% reduction in Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2030 against a 2019 baseline, in line with the goals of the Paris agreement of 2015.  As of the issuing of this press release, there were only 3200 companies globally with approved science-based targets. Fewer than 11% of those represented the software sector, making Sage an early responder…

MTN South Africa has announced the appointment of Tumi Chamayou, as Chief Enterprise Business Officer for South Africa, effective 1 October 2023, and Ernest Galelekile as the new Executive: Channels in Commercial Operations, effective 01 September 2023.   Chamayou is currently the Group Executive for MTN’s Enterprise Business Unit (GEBU) having joined that team in 2018, as General Manager for Large Enterprise Sales. During her Group tenure, she has added immense value, overseeing growth, first in the Multinational and Large Enterprise segments. She later added the SME client segment teams, as well as driving the overall strategy and operational alignment,…

RMB Ventures, a private equity subsidiary of RMB, announced today it has entered a partnership with pan-African company Africa Climate Ventures (ACV) to help its existing and future portfolio companies achieve a greater level of sustainability while improving profitability. ACV focuses on combating the effects of climate change by building and investing in businesses which undertake to remove carbon from the atmosphere or significantly avoid future emissions. ACV has a track record of building new businesses focused on scaling climate-positive technologies, and investing to add climate-positive business lines to existing businesses. Says Andrew Aiken, Head of RMB Ventures: “We are…

 Zoho, a global software-as-a-service company, today announced that it is serving 100 million users across its 55+ business applications. Zoho is the first bootstrapped SaaS company to reach this milestone. This growth comes on the heels of the company reaching 1 billion USD in annual revenue last year.  Consistently providing accessible technology while promoting sustainable growth, Zoho has steadily increased its traction from 1 million users in 2008 to 100 million 15 years later—with the last 50 million users added within the past five years. Zoho is profoundly grateful for the enduring support of its more than 700,000 customers across 150+ countries.…

Armoured Mobility, a leading name in vehicle armour protection, is making waves with a provocative billboard campaign that’s grabbing the attention of travellers along the N3 Highway in South Africa. This unconventional marketing initiative boldly proclaims, “Fear Fokol,” and it’s making motorists do a double-take. The “Fear Fokol” billboard, strategically placed near the Van Buuren off-ramp, heading towards Gillooly’s interchange and the OR Tambo Airport, is not your typical advertisement. Instead, it serves as a stark and unconventional message meant to shock and stimulate thought among its audience. “Fokol,” an Afrikaans slang term, signifies a sense of nothingness or emptiness.…

Google today announced that Alex Okosi, currently Managing Director for YouTube in EMEA Emerging Markets, will take on the role of Managing Director for Google in Africa. In his new role, Okosi will be responsible for Google’s operations in Africa including programs to help businesses and economies on the continent to grow, as well as expanding access and providing tools to help the next billion users get more from the Web. “Alex is a proven leader with a wealth of experience in the media and technology industries. He has a deep understanding of African countries and a passion for using…

Vodacom Group CEO, Shameel Joosub, was presented with an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in Management Sciences by the Central University of Technology at its annual Chancellor’s Doctorandi Dinner on Friday night. In its citation at the official ceremony, the Bloemfontein, Free State, University said: “Shameel’s business acumen and astute business administration skills have not only positioned the Vodacom Group ahead of its competitors, but also allowed it to stay clear of economic challenges facing many established enterprises.” The University added that Shameel had been a critical figure in Vodacom’s transformation since 2012 and that he is “committed to driving change…

Dell Technologies announced the global availability of Dell NativeEdge, the edge operations software platform that simplifies how customers deploy, manage and secure their edge infrastructure and applications. Dell is also growing its partner and OEM customer ecosystem to help organizations use Dell NativeEdge to simplify the orchestration and expansion of their edge environments. “Dell NativeEdge brings to life our expertise in creating solutions that simplify processes and fuel real-time decision-making at the edge,” said Gil Shneorson, senior vice president of edge solutions, Dell Technologies. “Our partners are an integral part of customers’ success, and together we can make the edge…

BMW Group South Africa announces the appointment of Carmen Myles as Head of MINI South Africa, effective 1 September 2023. With over 17 years of experience in sales, Carmen has built and maintained strong business relations across BMW Group South Africa and its retailer network. In her current role as BMW Group South Africa Manager: Transaction Pricing and Product Offers, she has been responsible for transaction pricing in the new direct sales model for BMW Group South Africa, MINI and BMW Motorrad for the past three years. Carmen is a resourceful and skilled sales professional, having previously filled roles such…

The Deaf-and-hard-of-hearing community will use September Deaf Awareness Month to continue celebrating the Government’s decision to make SA Sign Language (SASL) the 12th official language. Cebisile Ndebele, Chairperson of the Neema Foundation for the Deaf, says SASL being an official language is a monumental victory for the Deaf community. It will ensure that their rights to equality, dignity and social inclusion are not only recognised but implemented. “As we celebrate, we must realise that the battle for equality, dignity and social inclusion for Deaf people is far from over,” says Ndebele. Ndebele says the struggle for Deaf equality and inclusion…

The management of data quality is a common struggle across companies and industries. Prioritising fraud prevention and having insight into data can have a ripple effect on the economy. Everything is hyper-personalised by tracking people’s engagements, clicks, and movements.  Insights into this invaluable data can enable rapid instant information with various benefits. To explore the value of Data Streaming, we took a deep dive into some of South Africa’s Top Financial Services, Insurance, and Retail companies. Earlier this month, Synthesis hosted Confluent Round Tables in both Johannesburg and Cape Town, moderated by Colin Iles. We invited our clients; Standard Bank,…

Shareholder demand for innovation – often taking companies into high-risk, uncharted waters and even cannibalising existing business models – can do more harm than good. Sometimes real innovation is about exploring how to revolutionise existing processes or simply harnessing data to more fully understand the customer.   “First digital transformation, and now artificial intelligence, is causing seismic shifts in how we do business and sometimes resulting in the disruption of entire value chains. Companies are only just discovering how much data they have and the value of the insights it can deliver. Using new AI tools to deliver these insights can…

MTN Group today announced the promotion of Marina Madale to Group Executive: Sustainability & Shared Value, effective 1 September 2023. Prior to this, Marina served as the General Manager: Sustainability and Shared Value, MTN Group. In her new role, she will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for the management of Sustainability and Shared Value and the work of our foundations across MTN Group markets. Marina has a wealth of experience across multiple sectors globally, including oil & gas, energy, banking, and property development across multiple countries such as Qatar, Mozambique, Botswana, Gabon, South Africa, and Australia. She played…

The Embassy of Ireland in South Africa, in collaboration with Wits University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and Dogpatch Labs Ireland, is now accepting applications for the Irish Tech Challenge South Africa 2023. This initiative aims to foster mutually advantageous partnerships between local technopreneurs in South Africa and the technological expertise of Ireland, leveraging Ireland’s status as a prominent global high-tech centre. The Irish Tech Challenge 2023 is on the lookout for the most compelling growth-stage tech startups based in South Africa that are in alignment with the United…

In a first of its kind in South Africa, Vodacom signed a Virtual Wheeling agreement with Eskom earlier today that will help accelerate efforts to solve the country’s energy crisis. In addition to adding capacity to the nation’s power grid, this agreement – a Vodacom innovation which has been co-developed with Eskom – will also play a significant role in moving Vodacom closer to its goal of sourcing 100% of its electricity demand from renewable energy sources by 2025. This agreement will now enable Vodacom to execute the next phase of this innovative solution – securing Independent Power Producers (IPPs)…

Huawei South Africa and the Department of Communication and Digital Technologies (DCDT) have officially launched partnership programmes aimed at enhancing broadband deployment as a foundation for a digital economy and providing digital skills training for SMMEs. The programmes were launched at an official event attended by Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Mondli Gungubele. They additionally form part of a wider cooperation agreement between the two parties that was signed earlier this month, and which will see Huawei share global best practices for the planning of digital economy policies and technology rollouts, among other things. Africa Analysis and Digital Coucil…

Today’s blend of young women is breaking barriers. They are not holding back on taking up careers in industries and fields that are traditionally male-dominated. In technology, in particular, many young women are blazing the trail set alight by global tech leaders like former META COO and author of the book Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg. This is despite the fact that women make up less than 28% of the global technology workforce and just 17% of CEOs. While the stats may not reflect the strides women are making in tech, the sector is not short of women who are leading…

TymeBank, South Africa’s fastest growing digital bank, has become the latest bank to offer PayShap. It also promised to be the first South African bank to offer the new real-time interbank digital payments service to its 7.6-million customers for free for all payments up to the R3,000 limit made to a cellphone number (ShapID). This reinforces the bank’s commitment to making banking affordable for South Africans across the economic spectrum. PayShap, which aims to reduce South Africans’ dependence on cash and build trust in digital payment methods, makes payments safer, faster, and more cost-effective.    “With the aim of digitising cash…

Vodacom Western Cape plans to invest R570 million this financial year into the region’s network as part of the company’s commitment to building an inclusive digital society. Of this investment, R470 million is allocated to improve the quality, capacity and reach of the broadband network infrastructure in urban and rural areas. This network investment will continue to focus on further expansion of the 5G footprint, ongoing modernisation of the existing network infrastructure, and upgrading of base station sites with more LTE capacity throughout the province. This will provide an improved data experience for our consumers and ideal connectivity for businesses…

Embarking on an innovation-fueled journey, the tech world stands at a crossroads: smashing barriers for diversity and gender equality isn’t just crucial, it’s the rocket fuel that is propelling us toward progress. While men have long held the spotlight, a dazzling surge reveals women claiming their stake in tech’s boundless domain. “In recent times, the tech industry is proving to be an enabler for greater gender equality,” says Bronwen Rohland, Retail and CPG Consulting Head at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) South Africa. “The sector is making strides to bridge the gender gap parity, create more inclusive opportunities and invest in…