Author Archives: Africa Business

Cape Town/Stockholm Connect Launches to Unlock Trade and Innovation Opportunities

The Silicon Cape Initiative, in partnership with Wesgro, the City of Cape Town, Invest Cape Town, The Loudhailer, Business Sweden and the Embassy of Sweden, recently came together to launch Cape Town/Stockholm Connect. The Connect platform will bring together companies, developers, customers, investors, entrepreneurs, and institutions from across Cape Town and Stockholm via a series of […]

African finance heavyweights slated to make an appearance at The Africa Financial Industry Summit

Organised in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the inaugural Africa Financial Industry Summit will be held online this coming 10 and 11 March and gather the most influential voices and institutions in African finance. The Africa Financial Industry Summit’s extensive list of speakers includes executives from the largest banks and insurance companies operating […]

Celebrity Marketing: No Longer Just for Big Brands

Celebrity influencer marketing is nothing new for big name brands: who could forget Cell-C’s adverts featuring Trevor Noah; or Tendai ‘The Beast’ Mtawarira shaving with a BIC razor; and more recently, Bouwer Bosch ‘skoffeling’ for King Price. “Having the famous and influential as ambassadors of your brand is a great way to build exposure, especially […]

HAVAÍC expects bumper year for African tech startups

As one of South Africa’s most active Venture Capital investors, HAVAÍC says 2020 saw the commercial adoption of technology increase at unprecedented rates, as illustrated by the performance of HAVAÍC and its portfolio companies. 2020 saw HAVAÍC’s portfolio companies grow their revenue by a staggering 93%, and in the coming months, Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC, believes the economic, […]

Telephonic payment solution helps companies deal with Covid-19 challenges

VerPay enables verbal commerce as businesses adapt to serve their customers in contactless ways The novel Coronavirus has necessitated the need for a sharp step change across nearly every facet of daily life; which has, in turn, rendered the payments landscape ripe for innovation.  “The pandemic has forced us all to do business in new ways, and […]

Wingcopter joins Flying Labs Network to support locally led drone delivery projects around the world

Germany, Bavaria, Upper Bavaria, Isarwinkel, Jachenau, rural landscape in fog at sunrise

Wingcopter, the German developer, manufacturer and operator of unmanned delivery drones for commercial and humanitarian applications, has joined forces with the Flying Labs Network as a Technology Partner. The goal of the partnership is to improve supply chains through locally led cargo drone projects and to equip local talent with the skills to operate Wingcopter’s unmanned […]

Avoiding common mistakes while crafting the ultimate customer experience

Creating a memorable customer experience is fast becoming a top priority for businesses – and for good reason, says Reynhardt Uys, Chief Experience Officer, Immersion Group. He notes that customers no longer base their loyalty on price or product alone. Instead, they stay and spend, with companies based on the overall experience they receive. “Quite […]

R500k up for grabs in the 2021 Joburg Smart City Innovation Challenge

Are you a 4IR Start-up? Have you been in operation for 3-7 years? Are you a company developing Smart City technologies and/or innovative solutions? Do you have a pilot-ready solution for a challenge faced by our city? The City of Johannesburg’s Smart City Office, in collaboration with Tshimologong Innovation Precinct, invites you to submit proposals for […]

AURA builds world’s first WhatsApp security chatbot in partnership with Tracker

AURA, South Africa’s leading security and medical response platform has launched the world’s first WhatsApp security chatbot in partnership with Tracker, one of the country’s most trusted names in stolen vehicle recovery. Powered by AURA, Tracker’s unique Tracker CareGuard service offers rapid mobile emergency response anywhere, anytime within South Africa. The new cutting-edge solution enables subscribers to […]

Winch Energy Closes Largest Limited Recourse Mini Grid Portfolio To Date In Uganda And Sierra Leone And Creation Of A New Platform Winch IPP Holdings For Future Investments

Winch Energy - Bafodia, Sierra Leone

Leading off-grid utilities provider, Winch Energy, has completed the funding for solar mini grid projects in 49 villages across Uganda and Sierra Leone through the creation of a new platform, Winch Energy IPP Holdings Limited (“WIPP”). The deal represents the largest mini grid financing portfolio to date, bringing together several major players in the off-grid […]

IG South Africa’s Continued Commitment to Investment and Growth in South Africa

IG, a global leader in online trading, has had a long commitment to South Africa which is set to increase further. The company  has operated in South Africa for ten years playing a key role in the growth of online trading in this sophisticated and growing market. IG is committed to robust local governance, and […]

Janus Continental Group (JCG) Invests $13 Million in Highview Power as part of African renewable energy storage drive

JCG’s investment arm Janus Capital takes stake in Highview Enterprise Limited. The deal will bring Highview Power’s cutting edge CRYOBattery™ energy storage technology to JCG’s core markets in sub-Saharan Africa. The investment will unleash the potential of renewable energy storage across Africa, supporting JCG’s wider growth and business goals in this sector.  Janus Continental Group (JCG), […]

How installing a conveyor belt system could help your small business

Conveyor belt systems originated all the way back in the 1800s, and these days are an essential part of almost every industry in some form or another. This invention has transformed the way that we transport goods within a small area, as well as sort them, package them, and process them. We often think of […]

Cisco Reveals Top Cybersecurity Threats of 2020

Defending Against Critical Threats Report identifies migration to remote working and evolution of ransomware as key contributors towards diverse criminal activity Cisco has revealed the findings of its Defending Against Critical Threats Report, noting changes in criminal activity during 2020 and new methods of exploitation, arising as a result of the pandemic. During a year […]

The New Creative Sector Workspace – Adapt, Innovate and Thrive Creative Africa Nexus Virtual Event

The Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), a programme put in place by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries, announces a series of virtual forums in the lead-up to the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 (IATF2021). On 25 February at 15:00 CAT, digital innovators and experts from across some of Africa’s key […]

Orange Business Services to design and build cloud-based ICT infrastructure for Egypt’s newest smart city

Sahem Azzam, Vice President Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Orange Business Services

 – Selected as master system integrator to deliver a new data center, offering critical cloud and smart services –  Supports Orange Egypt – the prime contractor – in a multimillion Euro project to develop part of the New Administrative Capital Orange Business Services, a network-native digital services company, has announced that it will design and […]

Business Leaders Underscore Technology as a Key Driver for Delivering Organizational Sustainability Goals

AVEVA Hosts Influencer Panel Session to Outline Why Digitization is Driving the Growth of  Sustainable Practices in the Industrial Sector AVEVA, a global leader in engineering and industrial software, convened leaders from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Schneider Electric, PETRONAS and Verdantix in a virtual press panel session recently, to discuss how digitization is […]

Deal making slows across Africa but post-pandemic opportunities look interesting

Africa-regions. Source: Wikipedia

Deal making activity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) dropped in the second half of 2020 (H2 2020), when compared to the second half of 2019 (H2 2019) and year-on-year, deals were also down in both volume and value compared to 2019. As the continent gears up for post-pandemic recovery in 2021, the opportunities presented by free […]

South Africa’s Pork Industry is Set for a Revolution

Pork producers in South Africa are forging ahead with innovation and optimism in uncertain times. The industry has changed drastically over the last few decades – with dietary concerns, disease outbreaks, climate change and other factors all playing a role. Brent Fairlie, CEO at one of South Africa’s largest pork producers, Lynca Meats, lets us […]

Cape Town and Stockholm: Two of the World’s Leading Tech Hubs Connect to Support Startups

On Wednesday, 10 February 2021, Stockholm – the birthplace of fast-growing tech companies like Skype, Spotify and Klarna – will be joining forces with Cape Town, Africa’s Tech Capital and home to startups such as Aerobotics, SweepSouth and Sea Monster, to launch Cape Town / Stockholm Connect (CSC). This is a platform that will bring […]

Making The Smart Home Experience Accessible To All

LG Addresses Growing Demand for Intuitive Experiences via Evolving ThinQ App Being immersed in technology from an early age, Millennials and Gen Z are driving changes in smart home technology, ranging from greater convenience, to personalization and monitoring consumption habits. Leading the smart home agenda, LG, via its ThinQ technology, is deploying machine learning and […]

Workshop 17 Wins Global Startup Award – Competition expands across Africa

On the 27th of January 2021, the winners of the 2019 season of the Global Startup Awards (GSA) were announced at the Global Grand Finale Day. Bringing home an Award to Africa was Workshop17, which scooped Best Coworking Space in the world’s largest independent startup ecosystem competition. On outshining the other finalists from around the […]