Author: Staff Writer

South Africa’s leading online retailer Takealot is anticipating its biggest Black Friday yet – a culmination of months of business-wide tech and operational focus to prepare for predicted increased traffic and shopper volumes. Black Friday was first introduced to South Africa by Takealot in 2012 and has since become a landmark shopping event in South Africa’s annual retail calendar. Year-on-year it has been a record breaker for Takealot. This year the business expects no different, expecting to ship millions of boxes to Takealot shoppers across the country in November alone. Its iconic five-day Blue Dot Sale famously kicks off 1…

A R300 million-turnover entity serving over 19 000 business clients across ten and counting South African cities. That’s how Dr Marius Oberholzer of Huge sees the near-term future of the newly-enlarged entity following Board approval of a Business Combination involving Huge Networks and Huge Telecom. Dr Oberholzer has been appointed to lead the new entity aimed at achieving scale, unlocking revenue growth and accelerating the delivery of increased shareholder value while preserving as many jobs and roles as possible. “The primary goal right now is to establish a stronger, more capable business with a combined turnover of some R270m and…

Africa’s youth prefer using local innovations and believe that the next tech billionaire could come from the continent, according to the recently launched Africa – innovator or imitator? Exploring narratives around Africa’s technological capabilities report by Africa No Filter. The research was done in Egypt, Morocco, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. The report interviewed 4500 people aged 18 to 35 to find out their perceptions of African-led innovation and if they are influenced by dominant narratives that promote the Global North as superior innovators. While the image of Africa as an innovator appears to be overshadowed by stereotypes…

To address Africa’s digital skills gap, MTN Group, through some of its operating companies, is partnering with SAS Training, Courses & Classes to train up to 100 young people in data analytics. This is part of the MTN Skills Academy’s work to promote digital skills for digital jobs, in turn supporting MTN Group’s strategic intent of providing digital solutions for Africa’s progress. Polaris Market Research puts the 2021 value of the global data science platform market at $95 billion and expects it to expand at a compound annual growth rate of more than 27% through to 2030, driven by the…

JSE-listed 4Sight Holdings today announced that all resolutions required to be passed by 4Sight shareholders to approve the share repurchase were passed by the requisite majority of shareholders. As such, the share repurchase will be implemented and the repurchase shares delisted from the JSE. 4Sight entered into the share sale and repurchase agreement to repurchase 125,521,898 ordinary shares of no par value in the Company at approximately 12.75 cents per share which represents a discount of 41.83% for a total cash consideration of R16 million. This represents 19% of the total 4Sight shares in issue at the time of purchase.…

As part of its annual Black Friday promotion, mass retailer Game becomes the first retailer of its kind in SA to join the metaverse – through a Game-branded Roblox game. The game, which is unlike anything consumers have seen from the retailer before, launches on 21 November, and will give gamers the opportunity to win their share of over R70 000 in vouchers leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The Black Friday Game game mixes South African culture and the fantastical in a challenge to race around a downtown city neighbourhood. Players will use potholes as portals, party…

Vodacom customers travelling overseas this festive season can now save on international roaming costs by taking advantage of the best international roaming bundles on South Africa’s leading network. Vodacom has launched the 1GB and the 5GB Travel Data bundles with a 7-day validity, available to connect in more than 200 destinations. The 1GB data bundle is available for as little as R99, whereas the 5GB data bundle is available for R349. For customers who want the best of both worlds, data and minutes, Vodacom has introduced the ‘All For You’ bundles, available to all prepaid, top-up and contract customers.  With…

Arno Daehnke, chief finance and value management officer at the Standard Bank Group, has been named South Africa’s CFO of the Year at the 2022 CFO Awards. The CFO of the Year was announced on Wednesday 16 November at the conclusion of the annual gala event for finance executives, held at the spectacular Polo Room at the Inanda Club in Sandton, Johannesburg. Arno was the big winner during the “Oscars of the finance profession”, which celebrated its ninth edition this year. He walked away with three of the ten prizes, including the CFO of the Year, the Strategy Execution and…

Telkom has announced the handover of its video and audio streaming platform TelkomONE to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) effective on 17 November 2022. Telkom and the SABC have had a successful partnership since the launch of TelkomONE in late 2020. The platform has now matured and ready to scale under the management of the SABC’s broadcasting expertise. “Their expertise in sourcing and curating relevant content will enrich the current content library for existing and new customers, said Telkom CMO, Gugu Mthembu. The broadcaster will migrate all TelkomONE’s existing customer base. Subscribers will be notified and transferred to the…

Checkers Sixty60 customers are in for a bumper early Black Friday between 17 and 20 November, with 40% off a 4.3L air fryer and plenty more discounts.   The early Black Friday deals will be available exclusively on the Sixty60 app, and only for Xtra Savings members. Customers can easily link their Xtra Savings rewards card to their Sixty60 profile. Singing up for Xtra Savings is also super easy and paperless, which customers can do online in minutes.  Some of the early Black Friday deals* on Sixty60 include:   Platinum digital air fryer 4.3L for R849.99 (save R650);  2 x 56 per pack Finish regular dishwashing tablets for R220 (56% saving); …