Company News
King Price and Secura Launch Emergency Response App in South Africa
King Price and Secura have introduced an app-based emergency response service, code red, in South Africa. In an emergency situation, app users can hit the panic button and the nearest armed response or emergency service vehicle will be dispatched. Code red taps into a network of more than 280 armed response companies, which connects to thousands of responders across all 9 provinces. Other services available to respond to a code red activation include the SA Police Service, metro, municipal and traffic law enforcement, ambulances, and fire and rescue services. “If you feel threatened, or if there’s a medical emergency, you open our app and tap on code red,” begins client experience partner at King Price, Wynand van Vuuren. “The code red control room will dispatch the closest linked armed re...
TikTok Oracle Deal is reportedly ‘Shelved Indefinitely’
Sourced from Cosmico Last year, Tik Tok’s parent company ByteDance and Oracle reached a “technical partnership” for the social media platform’s US operations. The deal was expected to address the national security concerns surrounding TikTok, raised by the Trump Administration. But now, it would seem that these efforts have been ‘shelved indefinitely’ while US President Joe Biden “undertakes a broad review of his predecessor’s efforts to address potential security risks from Chinese tech companies”. Spokesperson for the National Security Council, Emily Horne told the Wall Street Journal that “we plan to develop a comprehensive approach to securing US data that addresses the full range of threats we face. This includes the risk posed by Chinese apps and other software that operate in t...
Why Africa’s Youth Needs Access to Agricultural Knowledge and Tools
In recent years, Africa’s younger generation has begun to associate farming with bare sustenance and discard it as a viable career path. Despite farming being a fundamental part of society, training and education on sustainable agriculture in school curriculums is neglected and underfunded at government level. To unpack this further, IT News Africa’s Jenna Delport spoke to James Konde, Head of Farmer Training and App Development at the Haller Foundation in Mombasa, Kenya. Here’s what transpired: The Haller Foundation is a UK registered charity and Kenyan NGO that was set up to educate rural farmers. How is the foundation tackling the youth’s lack of interest in agriculture? /* custom css */ .tdi_3_dd6.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_dd6.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; }...
Mastercard to Support Cryptocurrency Transactions on its Network
Mastercard is preparing for the future of transactions by planning to support cryptocurrency transactions across its network. This comes at a time when these digital assets are becoming a more important part of the payments world, especially during Bitcoin’s recent surge in value. In a blog post, Mastercard says, “We are preparing right now for the future of crypto and payments, announcing that this year Mastercard will start supporting select cryptocurrencies directly on our network. This is a big change that will require a lot of work. We will be very thoughtful about which assets we support based on our principles for digital currencies, which focus on consumer protection and compliance.” The company goes on to say that its philosophy on cryptocurrencies is straightforward: It’s ab...
Ericsson Appoints New VP and Head of People for MEA
Ericsson has appointed Sena Erten as Vice President and Head of People of Ericsson Middle East and Africa. In her new role, Erten is expected to guide the business towards a world-class employee experience that is people-centred, adopting the latest digital technologies, and leading the way in driving company culture. In a fast transforming industry, she will drive Ericsson’s people transformation in the region through innovative leadership, attracting and retaining the best talents and helping Ericsson create a compelling employee experience. “People are at the centre of everything we do at Ericsson. I am delighted to welcome Sena into her new role. Her extensive knowledge and experience will further strengthen our people function,” says Fadi Pharaon, President of Ericsson MEA. /* custom ...
Solarise Africa Expands Footprint to Rwanda, Zambia and Uganda
Sourced from Saur Energy. Solarise Africa is set to expand to three new countries in Africa after signing a partnership agreement with Centennial Generating Co. This partnership will see the Pan-African energy leasing company add seven projects in Rwanda, spread across education, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, hospitality, and agriculture sectors, two additional projects in Zambia and one upcoming project in Uganda, to the Solarise Africa portfolio. The Solarise team is a customer-centric, responsive and predictable partner, which aligns with our company’s approach to working with customers”, says David John Frenkil, Founder and MD of Centennial. “By partnering with Solarise, we are offering both battery energy storage and solar projects to commercial and industrial facilities. These p...
Starlink Internet Service Available for Pre-Order in South Africa
Satellite internet service, Starlink is now available for pre-order in South Africa. The SpaceX subsidiary is offering a limited number of subscribers the chance to experience its high-speed, low-latency broadband beta service – said to be suited for areas where connectivity has been unreliable or completely unavailable. Starlink uses satellites that are over 60 times closer to Earth than traditional satellites, resulting in lower latency (the time it takes to send data from one point to the next) and the ability to support services typically not possible with traditional satellite internet. According to the company, during the beta phase, users can expect to see data speeds vary from 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s and latency from 20ms to 40ms in most locations over the next several months. There will...
Nutanix Appoints New Systems Engineering Director for Sub-Saharan Africa
Nutanix has appointed James Sturrock as Systems Engineering Director for Western Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa (WEURSSA). He will be responsible for all technical resources in the WEURSSA region as they engage with end-users and channel and OEM partners. Commenting on his appointment, Sturrock says “I am thrilled to be taking on this new challenge at what is such a transformative time for Nutanix and the industry as a whole. With such a talented team around me and an unrivalled technology portfolio, I look forward to playing my part in advancing Nutanix’s leadership in hybrid cloud infrastructure.” Having joined Nutanix in early 2015, Sturrock has held various roles within the Systems Engineering team and was quickly promoted from Engineer to Manager and now Director. During his tenur...
MTN to Sell R1,8 Billion Stake in Belgian Telco, BICS
Sourced from Business Tech MTN Group has announced its plans to sell its 20% stake in Belgacom International Carrier Services SA (BICS) to Proximus NV/SA for approximately R1,8 billion. The telco is expected to use this to pay down US dollar debt. BICS was classified as a non-current asset held for sale and this transaction has resulted in a remeasurement of its carrying value resulting in a reduction of R397 million for the year ended 31 December 2020. According to MTN, it will record a profit on disposal amounting to approximately R1,2 billion during the first half of 2021. The closing of the sale is dependent on customary regulatory approval. MTN Launches Supersonic AirFibre in South Africa MTN has launched its Supersonic AirFibre offering in South Africa. The product is said to overcom...
Citrix Appoints New VP for Partner Sales
Citrix has appointed Pilkku Aasma as its new Vice President of Partner Sales in the EMEA region. She follows Daren Finney, who was promoted to Chief Operating Officer for the Citrix channel organization worldwide. Both roles report to Bronwyn Hastings, Senior VP of the Worldwide Channel Sales and Ecosystem. Aasma joins Citrix after two decades in a wide range of multiple markets and leadership positions at Microsoft. Most recently she led the Small, Medium & Corporate Segment sales and marketing in Germany. Prior to that she had direct responsibility for Microsoft’s 40,000 partners in Germany and held various sales and operations leadership roles in Western Europe, and Central & Eastern Europe. “2020 was an exceptional year which tested the resilience and adaptability of both ...
Bitcoin Surges to Record Price Post $1.5 Billion Telsa Investment
Bitcoin reached a new high of $47,000 after Tesla invested $1.5 billion into the cryptocurrency. The electric car manufacturer says that it will “begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment” for its products in the future. In a report, Telsa says “in January 2021, we updated our investment policy to provide us with more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity. As part of the policy, we may invest a portion of such cash in certain specified alternative reserve assets.” “Thereafter, we invested an aggregate $1.50 billion in bitcoin under this policy. Moreover, we expect to begin accepting bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limit...
MultiChoice Launches New Local Offering in Uganda
Image sourced from The Vanguard Nigeria MultiChoice has announced the launch of Pearl Magic Prime, a new channel that tells stories by Ugandans for Ugandans. The launch of Pearl Magic Prime is the first step in MCG’s rollout of its African local channel and content slate for 2021. Two additional local channels are set to launch later this year, as well as many more local productions over the coming months. “Pearl Magic Prime is set to live up to its tagline of delivering more value to the customer like never before,” says Hassan Saleh, MD of MultiChoice Uganda. “Africa has shown us that it has a huge appetite for African stories, produced in Africa. That is why our strategy of developing local content with local interest has proven so successful. We are proud of the role we are playing in ...
