Author: Staff Writer

African microinsurance FinTech aYo Holdings, together with MTN and Sanlam Life has launched two innovative insurance products in Côte d’Ivoire that will contribute towards MTN subscribers enjoying peace of mind. “It is estimated that less than 2% of the Ivorian population currently has insurance. This is because most people think insurance is only for white collar workers with high incomes,” CEO of aYo Intermediaries Cote d’Ivoire Limited, Jean-Charles N’Gotta, said. “We want to show that with aYo services, people with all levels of income can get peace of mind at an affordable cost to help take care of their financial…

Sanlam and MTN announced today that they are joining forces in an exclusive strategic alliance to distribute Sanlam insurance and investment products across Africa, further developing MTN’s mobile financial services business. The Alliance will build a digital insurance and investment business, which will be an integral part of MTN’s fintech offering. It will provide people across the continent with easier access to these services, particularly those sectors of the population that have typically been unable to access traditional distribution channels for such products. The Alliance has the potential to pre-empt and adapt to digital disruption in markets where both Sanlam…

Huawei South Africa is calling on women entrepreneurs to apply for its digital skills training programme, Women4Tech. The free online course is open to savvy, tech-forward women entrepreneurs, and aims to advance their skills and help them use new technologies to grow, improve and digitise their businesses. The training comprises of three courses, Cloud Computing and how it benefits SMME’s, digital marketing for business success, especially in an increasingly competitive online market space, and the last part of the training is an introduction to App Development and a networking opportunity with award winning App Developers within the Huawei Mobile App…

KFC launches WhatsApp-based ordering in South Africa through Chat Commerce – an innovative chat-ordering channel, which allows customers to place and pay for an order via WhatsApp. KFC celebrates 50 years in South Africa this year and this launch demonstrates a sound commitment to innovation in servicing the South African market. An e-commerce rollout is a significant technical undertaking, even on traditional channels. Providing it on WhatsApp requires a rethinking of the user journey and engagement paradigm. “As a consumer-led organisation, we understand the limitations that high data costs can pose in transacting online. WhatsApp, with its lower data use,…

Showmax Pro announced it will live stream all matches of the English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and the DStv Premiership, courtesy of SuperSport in more than 50 countries across Africa. The new season of Premier League, now in its 30th year, begins on 13 August, with newly promoted Brentford hosting Arsenal to kick things off. As ever, the transfer season has had fans enthralled, with much of the focus on Tottenham striker Harry Kane’s future. For now, he is available to face Manchester City in Sunday’s Premier League season opener – according to coach Nuno Espirito Santo, at least. Manchester City are the defending…

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the scrapping of license booking system to make more renewal slots available to motorists in the country. The DA in Gauteng said it was concerned that motorists would not be able to renew their licenses before they expire, turning them into criminals, potentially affecting Motorists in Gauteng are anxious that their licenses will expire by the end of August and that they will be driving illegally because they cannot get online booking slots to renew their licences. Many motorists require valid licenses to retain their jobs. Should they be unable to renew their…

Refinitiv, a London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) business, announced today the launch of the Refinitiv Satrix South Africa Inclusion and Diversity (I&D) index. In collaboration with Satrix, a leading provider of index-tracking solutions in South Africa, the new index offers an innovative benchmark for investors wishing to commit capital to companies that actively invest and promote I&D values across their business operations. The index tracks the total return of select publicly-traded equities with high I&D scores on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Over a five-year period, the Refinitiv Satrix South Africa D&I index’s annualised return earned 6.56% outperforming the Refinitiv South…

The eventual post-pandemic return to work presents the perfect opportunity to reimagine workplace strategy and space planning. Already one of South Africa’s largest interior design and fit-out companies, and owned by JLL, a Fortune 500 company, Tétris Design & Build not only understand the new needs of clients, employees, and teams, but has a pool of talented women ready to shape and implement the workplace of the future. Workplace solutions that foster inclusivity while attracting younger, dynamic teams are in high demand as companies of all sizes contemplate how best to refresh and reinvigorate their offices into workplaces that are…

The Cape Town Central City Improvement District (CCID) recently asked two of the CBD’s major players what makes the Mother City a tech hub and how the city can attract more tech titans to its shores. SweepSouth – which raised more than R60 million in funding in 2019 and additional investment in 2020 – and PayU Payment Solutions, a leading online payment service provider with operations across 17 markets, shared their insights. Currently Cape Town, ‘South Africa’s Silicon Valley’ boasts more than 450 tech firms, including ecommerce giants the Takealot Group and Amazon, and collectively employs more than 40 000…

Radisson Hotel Group is planning to build a new hotel in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, as part of its ambitious expansion plan in South Africa. Set to open at the end of 2023, the Radisson Hotel Middelburg boosts the group’s South African portfolio to 16 hotels in operation and under development. It also places Radisson firmly on track to reach its ambition of 150 hotels in operation and under development across Africa within the next five years. The contemporary new-build, 150-room hotel will be located within walking distance of the town’s major shopping complex, the Middelburg Mall, home to over 140 stores, including…