Author: Staff Writer
Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) is now operating from a New York based representative office, to facilitate greater US business flows into the African continent. RMB’s parent, FirstRand Bank, has received all necessary approvals from the United States Federal Reserve Board and New York State Department of Financial Services. RMB CEO Emrie Brown said that foreign investors are increasingly turning to Africa, with its vast natural resources, extensive markets, young population, and excellent technological prospects. The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement will also ease access into Africa, stimulate intra-regional trade and boost growth. Said Brown: “The new office will link…
At the lavish annual ‘World’s Best’ International Property Awards ceremony held at the iconic Savoy Hotel in London on 2 February, Waterfall Management Company was awarded Best International Mixed-use Development 2022-2023 for Waterfall City. This is the fifth time in six years that Waterfall City has beaten formidable competitors to claim the top spot. This year’s nominees included mixed-use developments in Cyprus, Brazil, Qatar and Hong Kong. Entries were judged based on criteria ranging from design layout and quality, architecture, services and security, to innovation, originality, marketing and commitment to sustainability. Over and above scooping this prestigious international accolade, Waterfall…
Vantage Capital, Africa’s largest mezzanine fund manager, announced today the successful final close on its fourth mezzanine fund. A total of $377 million or R6.6 billion of commitments has been secured from a mix of European and US-based commercial investors, as well as a host of development finance institutions (DFIs) that include IFC, BII, SIFEM, DEG, Norfund, Swedfund, Finnfund and EIB. As with its predecessor funds, Vantage will continue to provide mid-sized African businesses with flexible capital to drive business expansion and support job creation. In particular, mezzanine debt is well-suited to robust sectors with strong growth dynamics, including telecoms,…
South Africa’s fast-growing wills and estates administrator Capital Legacy and Sanlam announced today that they are joining forces by creating a compelling wills, estates and trusts business together. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval. The deal will see Sanlam Life Insurance (Sanlam Life) sell its trust business, Sanlam Trust, to Capital Legacy and Sanlam Life acquiring a 26% interest in the enlarged Capital Legacy Group that includes the Sanlam Trust business following completion of the transaction. Capital Legacy intends acquiring full ownership and control of Sanlam Trust for an amount of R390 million. Sanlam Trust will continue to operate…
Liquid Intelligent Technologies, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, today announced that it has partnered with Nokia. Through this partnership, Liquid deployed Nokia’s innovative transport network technology in the new terrestrial fibre route connecting Mombasa (Kenya) to Johannesburg (South Africa). This announcement comes in light of the imminent launch of the new terrestrial data superhighway built by Liquid, connecting Kenya and South Africa. The technology used has allowed Liquid to build its first terrestrial route that will provide 12 terabits of capacity for carriers and service providers in South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the…
Life for the modern woman comes with a routine for every facet of her beauty. A routine for skincare, hair, nail and grooming, and another one for makeup and lip care. All these are necessary regimens in the pursuit of healthy skin and beauty but, there is another important drill that beauty enthusiasts should follow: skin repair while we sleep. “Sleep is an absolute essential for the wellness of skin,” says Edwin Kodinye, Head: Beauty Categories at Avon Justine. “During rest, the skin rejuvenates itself with several important changes: skin cells are actively growing; while both Cortisol, the hormone that…
Mediclinic Southern Africa is taking a bet on precision medicine with the acquisition of an 80% shareholding in Artisan Biomed, a subsidiary of the Centre for Proteomic & Genomic Research (CPGR) which owns the remaining 20%. “This acquisition of Artisan Biomed launches Mediclinic Precise, a bundle of DNA-based diagnostic and clinical interpretation services offering a new approach to healthcare, based on an individual’s genetic profile to customise their wellness, disease prevention and health management plan,” said Greg van Wyk, Chief Executive Officer of Mediclinic Southern Africa. Artisan Biomed was launched through the CPGR’s accelerator programme to stimulate the creation of…
Lulalend, South Africa-based digital lender catering to underserved small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has finalised a $35 million or R600 million Series B funding round. The online funder will use the capital to scale its business and address South Africa’s enduring SME credit gap, which is estimated to be more than $20 billion per year, according to the International Finance Corporation. “We are excited to utilise these funds to grow and evolve our products so we can better serve the needs of South Africa’s SMEs,” Trevor Gosling, co-founder and CEO of Lulalend, says. “We hope that our impact on this…
The HUAWEI Mate50 Pro is that it is now available for purchase in selected South African retail stores, and from the HUAWEI online store. It comes in two different types of rear cover, glass and vegan leather. The glass cover is available in two colours, Silver and Black, while the vegan leather version comes in Orange. The HUAWEI Mate50 Pro is available in South Africa from all network providers and is priced from R24 999 for the 256 GB and R26 999 for the 512 GB. You can also purchase the smartphone from the HUAWEI online store. The HUAWEI Mate50…
Kaspersky uncovered three new variants of Prilex malware, made by a group of cybercriminals, that was named after the most advanced Point-of-Sales (PoS) malware back in 2022. The discovered Prilex modifications can now block contactless near-field communication (NFC) transactions on infected PoS-terminals, forcing customers to use their physical credit cards, enabling cybercriminals to steal money. While currently it is most active in Latin America, the expansion of Prilex into the Middle East, Turkiye and Africa region is possible in the coming months. Prilex is a notorious threat actor that gradually evolved from Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)-focused malware into a unique…
