Author: Staff Writer

Sanlam Private Equity, African Rainbow Capital and a minority shareholder have sold a 25.8% stake in MetroFibre Networx to a consortium of existing shareholders. The consortium includes African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM), one of Africa’s largest infrastructure-focused private equity fund managers, along with a consortium comprising South African Housing & Infrastructure Fund (SAHIF), through its Digital Infrastructure Consortium platform and STOA, a foreign investment vehicle-based in France. This transaction follows the R1.5 billion equity funding round concluded in December 2020 by AIIM, SAHIF and STOA in order to support MetroFibre’s R3 billion capital expansion plan over the next three years.…

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Israeli precision agriculture hardware-software solution company SupPlant is planning to accelerate its penetration into the South African market after raising $10 million (R137 million).  The raise brings SupPlants’s total funding to more than $19 million (R260 million). The round comes amidst global warming impacting South African farmers who are dealing daily with the unpredicted climate that is changing rapidly causing tropical storms, cold spells, heat waves and constant lack of irrigation water. SupPlant is helping farmers cope with climate change by making its technology that changes the basic concepts of irrigation more available in the South African market. “The funds…

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Dark Fibre Africa, South Africa’s provider of open-access fibre infrastructure, has secured grant funding from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). The funding will be used to do a feasibility study to support Dark Fibre Africa efforts to expand reliable and affordable internet access and digital services to underserved populations living outside of South Africa’s major urban centres. “USTDA’s feasibility study will help shape how we extend internet access and digital infrastructure to the less-connected,” said Vino Govender, Chief Strategy, M&A and Innovation Officer at Dark Fibre Africa. “We are taking a holistic approach. By aggregating demand for digital…

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MultiChoice, Africa’s biggest pay-TV operator, has acquired an additional 20% stake in BetKing, a pan-African sports betting group, for an undisclosed amount. Last October, MultiChoice bought a 20% stake in Blue Lake Ventures, a pan-African sports betting and entertainment business trading as BetKing. The pay-TV operator said through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Mwendo Holdings B.V., is increasing its holding in BetKing to a non-controlling stake of 49%. MultiChoice said this deal is in line with its strategy to expand its entertainment ecosystem and develop meaningful drivers of future value. BetKing is a leading digital and sports entertainment platform focused on the…

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Forge Academy, South Africa’s first fully inclusive 4IR lab, will host an SMME Showcase for small and medium-sized tech businesses and tech start-ups. The event will be hosted at The Gantry in Fourways, Gauteng on Wednesday, 30 June 2021. Forge Academy, situated at The Gantry in Gauteng, is offering a unique opportunity for tech SMMEs and tech start-ups to present their businesses to a panel of judges at the showcase event. The top six businesses selected will win a place to exhibit their business and products at the Forge Academy Digital Street Festival, taking place on 18th of November 2021…

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Telkom announced on Thursday that it has successfully signed-up 10 000 subscribers to its digital wallet operated on WhatsApp – Telkom Pay. The digital wallet was launched in December 2020 and Telkom says it has big plans to cement its place in the FinTech market. Telkom’s digital wallet made the first-of-its-kind debut in the market by allowing customers to easily make transactions, without the use of cash and the need for face-to-face interaction, all through WhatsApp. The company has since made advancements to its offering and one of the stand-out features include a Telkom Pay Virtual Card. Telkom Pay now…

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Huawei today opened its largest Global Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Transparency Center in Dongguan, China. It used the event, which included representatives from GSMA, SUSE, the British Standards Institution, and regulators from the UAE and Indonesia to call for a unified approach to cybersecurity based on facts and verification, rather than suspicion and misconceptions. “While we are deepening digitalisation across the world, cybersecurity is becoming more important than ever before,” says Dr Ken Hu, Rotating Chairman, Huawei. “According to research from Cybersecurity Ventures, damages from cybercrime are set to reach US$6-trillion in 2021.” Pointing to the rise of remote…

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Keeping a remote workforce connected in the forever-changed business landscape has been a unique challenge for SMEs and large enterprises alike. To ensure work-from-home teams have the data required to access business-critical applications, Vodacom Business has introduced Business Tickets, a first-to-market innovation offered exclusively to Vodacom Business clients.  Business Tickets provide a cost-effective, collaborative way to stay connected and productive. Ring-fenced for exclusive access to select business-critical online applications, these data bundles support everything from email to cloud storage, navigation and social apps. “With Business Tickets, you only pay for the data your organisation needs, for the business-specific apps they…

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Transport is one of the major challenges facing South Africa today. The country faces ageing rail infrastructure, which has been targeted by criminal elements. The legacy of apartheid spatial planning also means that many of the country’s poorest people are either underserved or completely underserved by any form of subsidised public transport. As a result, people in these areas are overly reliant on commuter buses and minibus taxis (used by approximately 80% of public transport commuters in the country). If the country is to change that situation, it needs to implement policies and strategies which make intelligent use of technology…

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IDU, an independent software vendor providing budgeting, forecasting, performance management and reporting tools, has appointed 4Sight Dynamics Africa as a distributor of its products throughout Africa. Kevin Phillips, managing director at IDU says that the move is part of the company’s strategy to drive growth across the continent. “4Sight Dynamics Africa has developed a unique, specialised channel focused on business applications with hundreds of expert resellers across 51 African countries,” he says. “It, therefore, offers us an unparalleled opportunity to access resellers who are genuinely active understand our unique selling proposition and can take our product to market successfully.” IDU’s…

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