Author: Staff Writer

Dis-Chem Pharmacies has introduced a shopper personalisation and targeting offering that will elevate its ability to develop shopper insights to provide significant benefits for customers and suppliers. Dis-Chem will be able to expand and scale its ability to power engagements across its media channels and deliver benefits for its customers, its brand partners and suppliers, and its business. Saul Saltzman, executive director at Dis-Chem says the further development of the group’s customer-focused personalisation programme will allow it to achieve personal customer engagements at scale, across channels and in real-time, and will increase the impact of its joint marketing activities with…

Pick n Pay will deliver its biggest and strongest Black Friday deals as it moves to offer deals perfectly suited to its customers under its two supermarket brands and growing online presence. Added into the offering this year will be deals offered by its new homeware online shop. Black Friday has become Pick n Pay’s single largest trading day, with R800 million in sales on the actual Black Friday alone last year. Pick n Pay has used extensive customer research and its Smart Shopper data to organise into two brands that deliver a tailored product to serve customers better. This…

ORT SA hosted its 48th annual Golf Fundraiser charity golf day at the Killarney Country Club in November. Now in its 48th year, the golf day raised funds for ORT SA’s various programmes to empower and support communities through education. The day’s champions were David Melman, Greg Veffer, Cameron Veffer, and Dean Katz, who won first prize. The fantastic prizes ranged from B&B vouchers from Anew Hotel Hluhluwe & Safaris, Cellini Trolley Duffle Carry On’s, to various vouchers for restaurants, stores, and jewellery.  The hole in one prize was a VW Polo and was kindly sponsored by Hatfield Motors. All…

Checkers is rolling out new shopping trolley baskets made from 100% recycled plastic – mostly old milk bottles – thereby diverting more than 40 tons of recyclable material from landfill. The retailer’s trolleys have contained at least 35% recycled content since 2018. Now it is the first major South African retailer to have trolley baskets made from 100% recyclable material. The new trolley baskets come in classic and mini sizes, each made from 180 and 110 old milk bottles respectively. “We’ve set ambitious targets to reduce our environmental impact and will continue to step up our efforts to reach these…

Pan-African EdTech company Snapplify is expanduing into West Africa, as part of its commitment to increase access to digital education. The company, established in South Africa in 2012, has already had hundreds of registrations by educational institutions in the region. “Schools and tertiary institutions are looking for high-quality education tools that are relevant and appropriate for their region,” said Snapplify CEO Wesley Lynch. “Snapplify is offering them just that.” To support its expansion in the region, Snapplify is growing its local team, having recently hired Doyin Shonubi (previously Pearson) as Sales Manager. The company also has offices across South Africa, as…

After two years of virtual gatherings, the prestigious annual AfricaCom event – Africa’s largest technology conference – made its in-person return this year. Taking place at the Cape Town International Conference Centre (CTICC) from 7 to 11 November, the event brought together African operators, industry elites, and opinion leaders. As a leading industry player, Huawei had a big presence at the event. With the theme “Lighting up the Future,” it shared insight on cutting-edge trends in the telecom industry, including 4G/5G co-development, FMC intelligent connectivity, digital operations transformation, and green development leading the future of digital networks in Africa. During…

Nokia today announced it is providing its 7250 IXR (interconnect router) platforms with 400G-enabled interfaces to Africa Data Centres, the continent’s largest provider of interconnected, carrier- and cloud-neutral data center facilities. The solution will enable Africa Data Centres, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, to offer cost-effective, high-capacity interconnection services to its customers in multiple African countries. “Connectivity is the bedrock of the digital economy, and our customers expect the very best interconnection services between our data centre locations. We selected Nokia because its solution provides MEF 3.0-compliant connectivity, giving our customers scalable, reliable and secure access…

Huawei announced today that it will help Cell C transition into a into a digital lifestyle company. “Cell C is moving away from being a pure telco to a techco provider and customer centricity is pivotal to this future,” said Douglas Craigie Stevenson, CEO of Cell C. “Our IT systems need to be able to support us in this journey as we become a digital business with simpler business flows. This means removing complexities from our user journeys and being able to respond better to our customers’ needs. “Through collaborations and partnerships like this one with Huawei, we will be…

Vodacom Business has been appointed by the University of South Africa (UNISA) with immediate effect to provide future-ready digital solutions to students and staff of the institution as part of a two-year contract. These solutions will give UNISA students and staff free and reliable access to essential online resources and tools to ensure that quality distance learning is a reality. “This partnership is a continuation of the important work Vodacom Business has been doing to shape a future-proof education sector,” says Poppy Tshabalala, Managing Executive of Public Enterprise for Vodacom Business. “In 2020, we successfully joined forces with several higher-education…

Africa is on the cusp of a broadband explosion but must address significant challenges to ensure that the continent and economic benefits that come with it. This was the consensus at the fourth Broadband Africa Forum, hosted by Informa Tech and supported by Huawei. During the forum, representatives from the African Union (AU), Africa Telecom Union (ATU), major operators, major vendors, and consultants held in-depth discussions on how to accelerate broadband adoption, improve broadband quality and promote the broadband service economy in Africa. They also highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by the continent when it comes to accelerating connectivity. “One…

Customers can rest assured, there will be no crashing trolleys, apps or e-commerce platforms this Black Friday at the Shoprite Group. The world’s biggest shopping event is around the corner and the Group has all systems ready for action ahead of this retail extravaganza.    The Group continues to explore innovations that are reimagining the future of retail and improving the customer experience. Using powerful software and machine learning, Africa’s largest retailer is further improving its supply chain, deliveries and store layouts. These new technologies together with existing IT systems and processes will give customers a more personalised and frictionless…

Skincare and beauty enthusiasts have affirmed their affinity to Avon as the skincare, makeup and fragrance brand that they’re most loyal to in the 2022 Ask Afrika Icon Brands Survey. The Ask Afrika Icon Brands is the largest annual benchmark survey of its kind that measures loyalty across 237 brand categories and thousands of brands. The results of the survey vindicates Avon’s bold position that people #ChooseAvon. Avon is an Icon Brand and a Category Winner in the following categories: blushers/bronzers and highlighters, lipstick/lip-gloss and nail polish/nail care. Avon is also a Category Winner in cleansing products/toners, eye make-up, face…

Customers across South Africa will now be able to shop online at a brand-new Pick n Pay Home shop for a range of exciting new products that will only be available online. The new online shop will be dedicated to homeware and appliances and aims to deliver great prices and the best online shopping experience. Pick n Pay Home will feature an impressive range of popular products for every room in the home, with a strong focus on new and exclusive online-only premium brands, such as Zwilling, Staub and Siemens. It will also feature the latest range available in stores, such…

Attacq, a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), is to list its shares for trade on A2X Markets (A2X) effective 16 November 2022. A2X is a licensed stock exchange that provides a secondary venue for companies to list their shares for trade. It provides a cost-effective exchange platform for Attacq to improve its shares’ liquidity and investor base. Attacq will retain its primary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and its issued share capital will be unaffected by its secondary listing on A2X. Attacq is well known for its flagship development of Waterfall City, which is anchored by the 130,000m2…

Liquid Networks, a business of Cassava Technologies, a pan-African technology group, announced it is entering into a channel partner agreement with Nokia. As a result of this relationship, Liquid Networks will partner with Nokia on private wireless 4G and 5G opportunities for industry verticals. In addition, Liquid Networks will market, distribute and service Nokia’s product line of its NDAC (Nokia Digital Automation Cloud) solution portfolio consisting of Nokia 4G and 5G Radio Access Equipment and Nokia’s NDAC Core Solution for onsite Campus deployments. Deon Geyser, CEO of Liquid Networks South Africa, says, “In the last two years, we have witnessed…

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) held a ministerial forum on Day 0 of AfricaCom 2022, bringing together participants from Malawi, Namibia, Uganda, and Zambia. The session focused on methods to engineer a new sense of hope for Africa’s digital economy journey. Under the theme ‘Rise Stronger with Digital Economy: New Paths towards a Resilient Recovery and Growth’, the forum was supported by Huawei. PIC: Panel discussion at the ATU Ministerial Forum Introducing the session, the General Secretary of the ATU, John Omo spoke about digital transformation as the driver of inclusive economic growth, job creation, the improvement of public service…

Teraco: A Digital Realty Company, Africa’s largest interconnection hub and vendor-neutral data centre provider, announced that construction has commenced on a new hyperscale data centre facility with 30 megawatts (MW) of critical power load at its Isando Campus in Ekurhuleni, east of Johannesburg, South Africa. The facility, known as JB5, is scheduled for completion in 2024 and will incorporate the latest environmentally sustainable cooling and water management designs. CEO of Teraco, Jan Hnizdo, said that the company continues with solid growth as enterprise and hyperscale requirements continue apace due to sustained demand for hybrid cloud deployments and the adoption of…

The Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI, which was launched in South Africa last year, is now available with the iconic Clark Plaid Jacara fabric seats which feature a check pattern design. The classic checked design was produced by the first woman to work in the Volkswagen design department, Gunhild Liljequist. For Liljequist, black was a sporty enough colour, but she was also looking for a second colour with a powerful and sophisticated effect and thus settled on the colour red. That marked the origin of what is now known as the ‘Clark Plaid’ pattern which is still available in the Golf…

Data has been described as the “new gold” as the power of data analytics to transform business performance becomes better understood, but South Africa has too few specialists in this field. Now, a band of big data boffins will be applying their substantial intellects to some of the critical problems of our time at top local universities – as beneficiaries of an annual fellowship established by leading fashion and homeware retailer TFG. The Data Science and Leadership Fellowship, supported by TFG, will fund outstanding young South African students in the field of data science to accelerate the development of one…

Huawei South Africa recently held the second of its Huawei ICT Academy Job Fairs in 2022, an initiative designed to promote local Huawei-certified ICT Talent to Huawei partners and offer them the opportunity to advance their careers. “This year we are celebrating 48 colleges that have been registered as Huawei ICT Academies. That on its own is an achievement considering that this partnership with Huawei is just three years old. A lot of strides have been made and we urge certified colleges to maximise the opportunity to ensure that their learners and lecturers register for the courses offered,” said Mr.…

With 38 of its 54 states being coastal or island states, it is no surprise that Africa is home to over 100 port facilities, including massive terminals in Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town in the south, and Mombasa and Dar es Salaam in the east, and Lagos in the west. 90% of Africa’s imports and exports travels by sea. The volume of trade through these ports is enormous with South Africa alone in pre pandemic 2019 handling almost five million TEU (20 foot container equivalents) with just over 9 000 ship calls nationally. However, few of these ports operate optimally,…

This Black November, Vodacom promises customers up to a whopping 75% off, through a series of weekly deals, as part of the brand’s commitment to keep customers connected to the digital economy. Starting from the 4th of November, and for four consecutive Fridays during the month of November, customers will be spoilt with Black Friday deals ranging from heavily discounted mobile and fibre contracts, tech wearables, contracts bundled deals with laptops, routers, gaming consoles, accessories and so much more. As part of the Black November launch offers, Postpaid customers will get 75% off the 30GB recurring anytime data bundle at…

Coded History: My Life of New Beginnings launched yesterday, 2 November 2022. This self-penned memoir by Wits University’s Emeritus Professor, Barry Dwolatzky, chronicles a modest man’s journey from middle-class white suburbia to a clandestine role in the fight against Apartheid, while also establishing himself as one of the country’s most revered software and electrical engineers. Coded History: My life of New Beginnings is not an autobiography that recounts Dwolatzky’s entire life story, but rather a memoir encompassing a collection of some pivotal and important memories.  These highlight key moments and major achievements in his life and how he saw each…

In the year to the end of September, bolstered by growing demand, BMW delivered over 128,000 electric vehicles to customers – more than twice the number for the same period of 2021. The German carmaker said the third quarter saw rising sales and new orders for the BMW iX3, iX and i4 and the MINI Cooper SE, which resulted in a strong order book. The new BMW i3, the long-wheelbase version of the fully-electric BMW 3 Series Sedan that recently became available in China, is also being well received by customers. The new BMW X1 earned very positive feedback at its recent world premiere – as did the…

The low and unreliable internet penetration in Africa is about to see an about turn as a resilient internet connectivity product arrives on the continent. Africa currently has the world’s third largest population of internet users by geographical location, but only a 43.2% penetration rate. Multi-Wan Service Provider, comBOX,  has recently added the SD-WAN Pro to its growing suite of products for customers looking for resilient connectivity solutions a solution that the African continent now has access to. SD-WAN pro’s product offering allows users to bond multiple types of internet connectivity through a simple solution. The multiple legs of connectivity…