South African insurtech Naked Insurance has launched a ChatGPT app that connects to its live underwriting system to generate final car insurance quotes.
Category: Innovation
Innovation, technology, startups, and digital transformation shaping Africa’s business future.
Why Brands Must Humanise the AI Narrative to Preserve Consumer Trust
As artificial intelligence transforms industries, brands face growing pressure to manage not only AI adoption but also public perception. Mandy Davis, Managing Director at Penquin, explains why transparency, ethical AI practices, and human-centred storytelling are essential for maintaining consumer trust. The article explores how brands can address concerns around privacy, misinformation, and job displacement while using AI responsibly to strengthen credibility and customer relationships.
Cybersecurity is no longer an IT problem; it’s an exercise in risk tolerance
Cybersecurity is no longer just an IT responsibility—it is a core business risk that directly impacts financial performance and operational resilience. This article explores how organisations must shift from a technical, siloed approach to a boardroom-driven strategy based on risk tolerance, balancing security, accessibility, and commercial outcomes.
South Africa’s AI moment will be shaped by the strength of its networks
South Africa’s AI transformation depends on modern, AI-ready network infrastructure. As organisations accelerate AI adoption, outdated networks risk slowing performance, increasing costs, and limiting scalability. This article explains why AI-native networking, modular design, and secure, low-latency systems are critical to unlocking sustainable AI growth, improving productivity, and supporting real-time data-driven innovation across South African industries.
Google Hustle Academy Relaunches With UpSkill Universe to Deliver Free AI Skills Training Across Africa
Google and UpSkill Universe have relaunched the Hustle Academy program to provide free AI skills training to individuals and entrepreneurs across Sub-Saharan Africa. The redesigned 2026 edition expands access beyond business owners, offering practical, hands-on learning through webinars and bootcamps focused on digital commerce, marketing, and growth strategy. The initiative aims to bridge the AI skills gap, enhance digital competitiveness, and support job creation in Africa’s rapidly evolving, AI-driven economy.
The year AI became infrastructure, and other predictions
Artificial intelligence has rapidly evolved from experimental tools into core business infrastructure, transforming how companies operate, compete, and innovate. As AI becomes embedded in platforms, workflows, and decision-making systems, key trends such as the rise of AI ecosystems, empowered hybrid workforces, and the growing importance of trust and verification are reshaping enterprise strategy. Looking ahead, convergence, governance, and security will define the next phase of AI adoption.
Mobile Gaming as a Cornerstone of Africa’s Digital Economy
Mobile gaming is emerging as a cornerstone of Africa’s digital economy, driving rapid growth, digital inclusion, and new revenue streams across the continent. With Africa’s video game market reaching $1.8 billion in 2024—90% of it from mobile—smartphone accessibility and a युवा, connected population are fueling expansion that outpaces global averages. As mobile broadband improves and cloud gaming gains traction, the sector is unlocking new opportunities despite monetization challenges linked to limited payment infrastructure. From Nigeria to South Africa, thriving local ecosystems highlight gaming’s growing role in job creation, innovation, and economic transformation, positioning mobile gaming as a key pillar of Africa’s digital future.
From Ore to Intelligence: How AI Will Rewrite Africa’s Resource Power
Africa holds a dominant share of the world’s critical minerals, yet continues to capture limited value due to structural and informational asymmetries. In From Ore to Intelligence, Enoch Antwi argues that artificial intelligence is transforming mineral exploration, valuation, and extraction—shifting power from resource ownership to data and algorithmic control. With AI-driven systems dramatically improving discovery success rates, reducing exploration timelines, and increasing asset valuation, the article highlights how control over subsurface intelligence is becoming the new frontier of economic leverage. As global demand for cobalt, copper, lithium, and other strategic minerals accelerates, Africa faces a pivotal choice: build domestic AI capacity and retain value, or risk ceding the informational premium to foreign firms. The future of resource power, the article concludes, will be defined not by who owns the ore, but by who controls the intelligence behind it.
South Africa’s Digital Economy Ambitions Face Key Test
South Africa’s digital economy ambitions face a critical test as the nation seeks to transform infrastructure and talent into global competitiveness. Despite advanced digital infrastructure, expanding broadband, and strong ICT investment, South Africa struggles with structural challenges including digital skills gaps, energy reliability, high youth unemployment, and weak R&D outputs. Experts highlight the urgent need for coordinated national strategies, innovation districts, university-industry collaboration, AI literacy programs, and venture capital growth to build a resilient, technology-enabled workforce. Lessons from Singapore, Israel, and Finland show that deliberate ecosystem reforms and inclusive digital access can position South Africa as a leading African digital economy. Key priorities include energy reform, upskilling, innovation commercialization, and entrepreneurial ecosystem development to secure long-term competitiveness.
AI Driving Unprecedented Fraud Scale and Sophistication. Successful Firms Treat Identity as a Security Surface
Smile ID’s 2026 Digital Identity Fraud Report reveals that AI-driven fraud is rapidly increasing in scale and sophistication, transforming digital security across industries. In 2025, nearly 90% of fraud blocked relied on mobile SDK signals rather than image analysis, reflecting a shift from visual spoofing to capture integrity. Authentication-related fraud now exceeds onboarding fraud by five times, with attackers exploiting verified accounts, login flows, and high-value transactions. Deepfake biometrics and injection-style attacks are rising, while duplicate identity attempts have nearly tripled since 2023. The report highlights the importance of networked identity defense, real-time adaptation, and ecosystem-wide protection to safeguard individuals and organizations in the era of AI-enabled fraud.