Author: Staff Writer
Retail banking in South Africa is increasingly competitive, with fintechs, neobanks and digital players disrupting the banking value chain with new and emerging technologies. For banks to keep up with the rapid pace of change and be loved by their customers in the future, they must reimagine customer service and leverage data to personalise engagement and better predict and exceed customer needs, according to a new article by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The article, I love my bank – how the digital revolution in banking is transforming the customer experience, shows that South African customer preferences and the ways they…
Audi South Africa, in partnership with Rubicon, has brought 43 additional electric vehicle (EV) charging stations online across the country. These chargers can accommodate a total of 57 EV cars simultaneously, at varying capacities, regardless of model or brand ownership. This is in addition to the brand’s contribution of 70 EV charging connection points nationwide a year ago, when Audi was the first to bring ultra-fast chargers to South Africa. The latest rollout includes the very first DC 200kW ultra-fast charger in South Africa, which is installed at the largest shopping mall ever built in a single phase – Mall…
MTN Group CEO Ralph Mupita has called for the modernisation and harmonisation of regulatory frameworks across Africa as well as the collective effort of all stakeholders to ensure that the continent can deliver universal broadband coverage by 2030. “The regulatory frameworks for Africa’s telecommunications industry do not reflect our current advancement. They are still positioned for the era of voice,” he said at the Africa Prosperity Dialogue held at Peduase in the Eastern Region of Ghana over the weekend. The event was attended by several distinguished African leaders including the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the former…
Eskom announced today that it will implement various stages of loadshedding this weekend. The state owned enegry company said Stage 4 loadshedding was currently being implemented until 05:00 on Saturday morning, whereafter loadshedding will be reduced to Stage 3. Stage 4 nightly loadshedding will be implemented at 16:00 – 05:00 during Saturday and Sunday, while Stage 2 loadshedding will be implemented at 05:00 – 16:00 on Sunday A further update will be published on Sunday afternoon, or as soon as any significant changes occur. Since Thursday a generating unit each at Camden, Duvha and Tutuka power stations have returned to service…
The HUAWEI Consumer Business Group has announced the launch of the latest member of its flagship Mate series, the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro and celebrates the fourth anniversary of the HUAWEI AppGallery in South Africa. The HUAWEI Mate50 Pro comes equipped with a range of cutting-edge technologies, breaking new ground, and expanding the scope of what users can expect from a smartphone. Amongst its industry-first features, the HUAWEI Mate50 Pro also packs an Ultra Aperture XMAGE Camera, which boasts the first-ever 10-scale adjustable physical aperture and the most versatile photography capabilities ever seen on a HUAWEI Mate smartphone. In terms of…
Huawei used the launch of its brand new Mate 50 smart device to simultaneously introduce Power-M, an advanced digital back-up power solution, which is suitable for every household to meet their power supply needs. Both products demonstrate Huawei’s market leadership in innovative technology combined with sleek, modern designs. The Power-M itself was on display at the launch event, providing guests with the opportunity to engage with the product and see for themselves how this digital solution to ever increasing energy costs and persistent loadshedding, is at the same time powerful, yet space efficient with low sound emissions. In his presentation,…
Absa Group will list its ordinary shares for trade on A2X Markets from 2 February 2023. Absa Group will retain its primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and its issued share capital will not be affected by its secondary listing on A2X. There is no cost or additional regulatory compliance for Absa Group as a result of the secondary listing. Absa Group Financial Director Jason Quinn said: “We are very pleased to be listing on A2X, which further demonstrates our support for developing South Africa’s capital markets. It offers investors a wider choice of where to trade our shares…
Shutterstock, the creative platform for transformative brands and media companies, today announced the launch of its AI image generation platform, available to use by all its customers globally in every language the site offers. The text-to-image technology converts prompts into larger-than-life, ethically created visuals ready for licensing. It is the latest addition to Creative Flow, Shutterstock’s extensive toolkit that has been specifically designed to power the most seamless creative experience possible. “Shutterstock has developed strategic partnerships over the past two years with key industry players like OpenAI, Meta, and LG AI Research to fuel their generative AI research efforts, and we are now…
Africa Data Centres, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, is pleased to announce it is building a second data centre in Cape Town. The new facility will be in the north of the city and will have an IT load of 20MW. Construction is underway, and the facility will be up and running by mid-2024. According to Tesh Durvasula, CEO of Africa Data Centres, the company is building this second facility to meet demand in the region and beyond. “Cape Town is a thriving city and the second largest economy in South Africa. It is regarded as…
The Rand Show is one of this country’s most memorable events on the annual entertainment calendar, and the expo returns this April with an exhilarating offering sure to please the whole family. Running from 06 to 10 April 2023, SA’s largest consumer exhibition will take place at The Johannesburg Expo Centre, Nasrec. Top of the list of activities is the new Easter Wonderland for kids. At no additional cost, the exciting Wonderland features rides, play areas, entertainment, giveaways and of course a visit from the Beacon Easter Bunny. From a host of outdoor activities to retail shopping, all-day entertainment, kids…
As global economies attempt to recover from the adverse effects of the pandemic, a new global research study commissioned by Avon, the personal care, cosmetics and makeup brand, brings into the spotlight the impact of the rising cost of living on the livelihood of women worldwide. The findings come from a global study of women across eight countries and three continents, as beauty giant Avon and its team of scientists and experts discover just how women are being affected by the cost-of-living crisis – and how the brand can help. A huge 98% of women globally have been affected by…
TymeBank and JSE-listed retailer TFG have established a co-branded TymeBank TFG Money account debit card, which has attracted 180 000 customers. This follows a partnership that was established in October 2021. The partnership has enabled the creation of more than 600 TymeBank TFG Money branded kiosks located in TFG stores across the country, enabling customers to have direct and convenient access to transactional banking and through the TymeBank TFG Money bank account. Customers can open a TymeBank TFG Money bank account at a kiosk in select TFG stores. It takes less than 5 minutes. No paperwork. No monthly fees. Customers…
inDrive, the world’s fastest-growing online ride-hailing service, today announced that it is utilizing global risk intelligence company SHIELD’s Device Intelligence. SHIELD’s technology is strengthening inDrive’s defenses against fraud and helping it achieve the highest levels of trust, transparency and fairness for drivers and passengers worldwide. With the second most downloaded mobility app in the world, inDrive provides for the mobility needs of users in over 700 cities and across 47 countries. Today, the inDrive app has been downloaded more than 150 million times. A people-driven business on a mission to challenge injustice, the platform uniquely empowers drivers and passengers to…
At the start of any new year, we usually pen down our goals for the year ahead. Most of them come in the form of exercising more by joining a gym. Yet, our busy schedules and the immense task of maintaining a functional work-life balance means that exercise usually slips through the cracks. During the pandemic, some of South Africa’s biggest gym chains reported record-breaking drops in gym subscriptions. At the same time, South Africans were still getting their fitness fix somewhere. Where were they? Many were smashing their fitness goals by exercising at home. Today, the home gym trend…
An Interview with Vincent van Wyk, Founder and CEO of Fluenty, Lessons in Starting a Tech Company. Fluenty started in August 2018. Vincent van Wyk, Founder and CEO, consulted for several businesses for five years prior to starting Fluenty. To meet the development needs of growing businesses, Fluenty equip their clients to navigate enterprise technology systems with ease so they can drive revenue and unlock new opportunities for business growth. Funding The company was bootstrapped for the first four months starting out with just two developers. When further funding was required to cover salaries during a difficult time of the…
Mama Money, a rapidly growing fintech that offers cross-border money transfer and banking services has partnered with AFC Commercial Bank, a market leader in Zimbabwe with a reliable and robust payout network. This partnership allows Mama Money customers to easily send money to any AFC Commercial Bank branch for cash collection at 45 locations across Zimbabwe. It’s estimated that the monthly remittance flows from South Africa to Zimbabwe range between $30 to $60 million US dollars through both formal and informal channels and accounts for over 10% of the country’s GDP according to the World Bank. But the cost of…
The Advertising Regulatory Board (ARB) has added a new clause which deals with cryptocurrency products, to the Code of Advertising Practice. The new rules are aimed at protecting consumers from being misled by unethical advertisers and are the result of consultation and agreement with the cryptocurrency industry. “This is a wonderful example of an industry that sees the harm that could be done in its name, and steps up to self-regulate the issues without being forced to do so by government,” says Gail Schimmel, CEO of the ARB. “This has been an exciting project and we know that it will…
The 2Africa subsea cable, the largest subsea cable system in the world, has landed at the Vodacom network facility in Gqeberha, South Africa. This is the first submarine cable landing in the Eastern Cape region, promising greater internet capacity and acceleration of connectivity across the province and supporting South Africa’s growing digital economy. The 2Africa Consortium includes eight international partners, China Mobile International, Meta (Facebook), MTN GlobalConnect, Orange, center3 (stc), Telecom Egypt, Vodafone/Vodacom and WIOCC, who have partnered to build 2Africa. Launched in May 2022, the subsea cable project aims to significantly increase the capacity, quality, and availability of internet…
This summer, everyone needs a win – and according to MTN, “with MyMTN Home internet everyone is a winner. MyMTN Home is aimed at delivering more value for money and providing greater choice to customers. The growth in demand for flexible data solutions and consumers’ increasing need to remain connected to loved ones is what inspired them to introduce the MyMTN Home offerings. With MTN’s home internet solutions, customers can now binge-watch their favourite series, game to their heart’s content stream movies, or pit together the perfect playlist for summer pool parties giving more people uncapped access to the digital world from…
In an effort to assist customers in their hunt for those hard-to-find items, Builders, the home improvement, DIY, and building materials retailer, has launched a new online tool called Product Finder. This new solution utilises a dedicated team of Builders Sales Specialists to locate and source niche décor and outdoor products, a tool, storage solutions, or fittings, whether customers saw the item online, spotted it in a magazine, or encountered it outside the country. Best of all, the platform can even find items the retailer doesn’t stock. “In the last two years we have seen a surge in South…
A whopping 80% of SA Post Offices (SAPO) nationwide do not answer their phones and many of them don’t even have working telephone lines. The DA conducted a project where we called a sample of 300 Post Offices nationwide. “When we tried calling both the Head office and Customer Service Centre, as part of our 25% sample, both calls were equally unsuccessful,” a DA research reveals. This comes just days after it was announced that the SAPO is proposing to cut their employees’ work week by two days, which would ultimately mean that their employees get paid 40% less. This…
Huawei South Africa has risen up the Top Employers Institute’s annual Top Employer rankings and is recognised as one of the top 20 Top Employers in South Africa. While Huawei has been accredited for six consecutive years, its improved ranking is a validation of the hard work it’s put into employee wellbeing and development. Being certified as a Top Employer showcases an organisation’s dedication to a better world of work and exhibits this through excellent HR policies and people practices. The Top Employers Institute programme certifies organisations based on the participation and results of their HR Best Practices Survey. This…
Husband and wife team Ofentse and Nelisiwe Mwase have become the latest South African YouTubers to reach the 1 million subscribers milestone, becoming one of just 25 South African YouTube channels in this elite club. Starting in 2017, the Ofentse Mwase Films (OM Films) channel initially focused on long-form comedy content with a uniquely South African influence and perspective. Describing how their channel came about, the couple says: “We have always been a humorous couple, since we started dating in 2008. We loved anything and everything that was comedy or satire. So it’s safe to say that humour is a…
Africa Data Centres has broken ground on its new facility in Nairobi, Kenya. The new build will expand its existing data centre by up to 15MW of IT load. The facility will be built in the company’s leading-edge modular design. ADC’s expansion at the new site will be completed in the first half of 2024 and will bring five times more capacity than is currently installed. “We believe that data centres will play a significant role in digital transformation and economic growth on our continent. Without them, the push towards a digital economy in Africa will be missing a key…
Today EOH released the final terms of its rights offer and its specific issue of shares to its strategic investment partner Lebashe Investment Group. Salient points On 13 December 2022 at the Company’s EGM, EOH shareholders voted unanimously for EOH to proceed with the rights offer. The combined capital raise from the rights issue and specific issue will amount to R600 million. EOH has received irrevocable undertakings from existing shareholders representing 30% of the issued shares to follow their rights in full. EOH has underwriting agreements with Aeon Investment Management Proprietary Limited, Anchor Capital Proprietary Limited and Visio Capital Management…