Company News
aYo Holdings Appoints New Group CEO
aYo Holdings has appointed Marius Botha as its new group chief executive officer (CEO). The African micro-insurance fintech business is a joint venture between telecommunication giant MTN and traditional insurer Momentum Metropolitan Holdings (MMH) – and it offers accidental hospital cover and life cover in Zambia, Uganda and Ghana with additional African countries launching in the very near future. Botha was formerly CEO of life insurer Stangen for nearly seven years, having previously held executive positions at African Bank and Munich Re. He holds an honours degree in actuarial science and an M.Phil in Futures Studies. MTN Nigeria Appoints New CEO MTN Group has appointed Karl Toriola, current VP for MTN Group’s West and Central Africa (WECA) region, as the new CEO of MTN Nigeria –...
O-CITY Drives Contactless Bus Payment Initiative in Kenya
O-CITY is driving contactless payments across bus services in Nairobi, Kenya. The pilot initiatve, designed to reduce the use of cash in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, was launched in partnership with transport savings and credit specialists, NikoDigi, and Kenyan payments firm, Tracom, to accelerate the deployment of cashless fare collection. Used by 70% of the population in Kenya, Matatu buses are a dominant transport mode across the country whereby passengers traditionally pay in cash. O-CITY’s automated fare collection platform leverages the M-Pesa mobile wallet, which is used by 90% of the population in Kenya. Passengers enter a code on their phone and a debit is made on their wallet, which can be instantly seen by drivers to grant access to ride. The platform removes unnecessary t...
DStv Unveils New Concept Store in South Africa
DStv has opened a Customer Experience Centre – the first-of-its-kind concept store for the video entertainment platform. Located in the Mall of the North, the centre occupies 669 square metres over two floors and is expected to bring together the best “digital and physical shopping experience”. Customers can access a variety of services including purchasing decoders, testing devices, activating services, paying for subscriptions, and accessing self-service functionalities. The store is fitted with themed spaces including a sales booth, solution bar, content lounge, entertainment pods to give customers the full experience of DStv’s latest products and services. “We aim to be closer to our customers through this Customer Experience Centre in Polokwane. It remains important ...
Kenyan Senators Call for Safaricom to Split
Senators in Kenya believe that Safaricom should split into two firms – Mobile Services and M-PESA. According to The Star, a split would see the mobile telephony service is regulated by the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the M-Pesa division regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). A recent report by TechWeez revealed that senators believe there should be a level playing ground for the likes of Telkom and Airtel Kenya who operate at the mercy of Safaricom as they owe it billions of shillings. “The market is not competitive any more. The other operators should be allowed to operate, by giving the dominant operator its right, but also allowing the others to operate, and allow innovation in the country,” says Senator Petronilla Were of the ICT committee. Senator Iru...
Safaricom makes Changes to Executive Team
Safaricom has announced a number of changes to its executive team which includes the merge of its information technology and network departments. According to a memo sent to staff by Peter Ndegwa, the telco’s current CEO, Morten Bangsgaard will head the new department. Bangsgaard’s appointment takes effect on January 1, 2021. He has more than 26 years of experience in various technology roles in the telecommunications industry, reports Business Daily. Rita Okuthe will leave her position as Safaricom’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer at the end of November 2020 – the company has not yet named her successor. Safaricom Appoints New Board Chairman Safaricom has appointed Michael Joseph (the telco’s former CEO) as new board chairman, he succeeds Nicholas Ng’ang’a who has ret...
Infobip to Acquire OpenMarket in $300 Million Deal
Infobip has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Amdocs to acquire OpenMarket – a mobile messaging solutions company – in a deal worth approximately $300 million. The transaction is expected to close following regulatory approvals. Infobip has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire OpenMarket in a deal worth approximately $300 million.Click To Tweet According to Infobip, this acquisition brings together complementary regional footprints, merging OpenMarket’s scale in the US with Infobip’s strengths outside the US to process “more than 14 billion monthly customer interactions across the full range of communication channels, in more than 190 countries around the globe”. “This transaction marks a significant leap ...
Huawei and Vusi Thembekwayo Join Forces to Encourage Digitising Businesses
Huawei has joined forces with South African business extraordinaire Vusi Thembekwayo to provide the technology company’s developer community with entrepreneurial advice on the importance of digitalising businesses and creating apps in the context of the thriving digital economy. As part of Huawei’s recently announced series of app developer workshops, Thembekwayo will engage developers and entrepreneurs in one of the upcoming monthly workshops. Thembekwayo is the CEO of MyGrowthFund, an enterprise development agency. He is well known for his entrepreneurial flair and business passion, as showcased on the popular TV show Dragon’s Den South Africa, which focused on pitching innovative business ideas for venture capital funding. The illustrious business mogul has headed multi-million-rand c...
FNB Virtual Credit Card Delayed, Confirms CEO
FNB Card CEO, Chris Labuschagne has revealed that the bank will delay the launch of its virtual credit cards until 2021 – a strategic move that is said to “ensure that the launch process goes as smoothly as possible for its customers”. “FNB is excited to confirm that it has successfully completed the pilot of its Virtual Card. In order to enable a seamless transition for customers, the Bank has decided to delay the launch of its Virtual Card to 2021,” say Labuschagne in a statement to My Broadband. “We are excited at the prospect of offering exceptional customer experience and a convenient and safer way to help customers manage money.” The bank unveiled the virtual credit cards – along with debit cards – earlier this year. Raj Makanjee, FNB Payments Executive ...
e4 Appoints Proptech Managing Executive
e4 has announced the appointment of Ian Bayne as Managing Executive of Proptech – this comes at a time the company believes the real estate sector will increase its use of digital property technologies. According to Bayne, technology is not only disrupting the industry but also propelling the industry forward. “Proptech is becoming a catalyst for positive change in real estate. As a long-time player in this market, e4 has ambitious growth targets for 2021 and my appointment is in line with a strategic imperative to become more focused on the customer experience. Using our technology, we want our clients to process their transactions quickly and efficiently.” Bayne goes on to say that Proptech’s value is starting to be better understood and he anticipating increased uptake over ...
Ericsson Acquires 5G Solutions Company, Cradlepoint
Ericsson has completed its acquisition of Cradlepoint, a Wireless WAN Edge 4G and 5G solutions company. The investment is key to Ericsson’s ongoing strategy of capturing market share in the rapidly expanding 5G enterprise space. Through Cradlepoint’s solutions, companies can connect sites, vehicles, mobile workforces, and IoT devices in a simple and secure way of using cellular technology. By leveraging the combined offering, Ericsson will be able to create valuable new revenue streams for its customers by supporting 5G-enabled services for enterprise and boost returns on investments in the network. Cradlepoint will operate as a stand-alone subsidiary within Ericsson and continue to build on the current market momentum as 5G is speeding up digital transformation and increasing the need for...
Mastercard Partners with Payment24 to Streamline Payment Solutions
Mastercard and Payment24 have partnered to offer a payment solution that will help fleet management companies streamline payments, create efficiencies and prevent fraud. Payment24’s platform will use Mastercard’s payment technology which is expected to enable drivers to quickly and seamlessly make fuel payments anywhere Mastercard is accepted, without requiring additional approvals at the pump. Commercial fleet management companies will have more control and visibility into driver’s spend, with the option to add purchasing controls to eliminate fraud. For instance, a company could opt to enable the driver to pay digitally for border post charges or for accommodation and meals, removing the need for costly and unsafe cash advances. The fuel solution is flexible and adaptable to customer nee...
Huawei Launches Rural Telephony Project in Ghana
Image sourced from Ghana Web Huawei and Ghana’s Ministry of Communications have launched the Rural Telephony Project which aims to provide voice and data services for over 3.4 million people in underserved and unserved communities. This initiative, in partnership with China National Technical, is expected to save the government up to 70% of the cost of traditional cell sites and extend the national mobile communication coverage from 83% to 95% – greatly accelerating local economic development whiles improving people’s livelihoods. Nana Addo Dankwah Akuffo-Addo, President of Ghana, says that “Government is committed to ensuring that every Ghanaian, irrespective of tribe, religion, class, location or identity has access to affordable and reliable voice and data connectivity”. “To this e...
