Author: Chris Anu

E.tv owner eMedia has acquired a 30% stake in Pristine World Holdings, a specialist provider of visual effects services to global film and television markets, for R119-million. The purchase will be made by eMedia Investments and payment made to Pristine World owner Convergence IT Services FZCO – a company incorporated in United Arab Emirates. In a statement to investors on Thursday, eMedia said the move will help the company expand into secondary content creation markets by leveraging Pristine World’s services, which include computer-generated imagery, motion capture, digital compositing and animation. “This investment forms part of eMedia’s strategy to diversify and…

Broadband Infraco CEO Gift Zowa. Fibre-optic infrastructure companyBroadband Infraco (BBI) yesterday officially launched its 800Gbpsintelligent backbone network, in collaboration with Huawei SA. The launch, which took place at Gallagher Convention Centre, in Midrand, was attended by government and industry stakeholders, including the communications ministry’s leadership. BBI is one of several entities under the stewardship of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), with the mandate of bridging the digital divide. The entity is among those tasked with the roll out of the South Africa Connect (SA Connect) project. The state-owned entity offers long-distance national and international backhaul connectivity. Its…

AI start-ups are attracting record sums of venture capital, but some of the world’s largest investors warned that early-stage valuations are starting to look frothy, senior investment executives said on Friday. “There’s a little bit of a hype bubble going on in the early-stage venture space,” said Bryan Yeo, group chief investment officer at Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, as part of a panel discussion at the Milken Institute Asia Summit 2025 in Singapore. “Any company start-up with an AI label will be valued right up there at huge multiples of whatever the small revenue is,” he said. “That might…

Junaid Hussain, head of digital services support at Ricoh South Africa. In an economy as complex and constrained as South Africa’s, businesses don’t always have the luxury of expansion. When margins are tight and costs are rising, growth depends on how efficiently companies use what they already have.Operational efficiency has become one of the few remaining levers leaders can pull. Companies can’t always hire more people. They can’t always raise prices. But they can improve how the business runs day to day.Research has shown that companies digitising over 70% of core processes saw 31% lower operational costs and 42% higher…

The capacity and reach of the undersea cable infrastructure connecting South Africa to the world is growing at a rapid pace, with a surge in AI workloads expected to drive further investment in infrastructure. The type of company investing in undersea capacity is changing, too, with so-called hyperscalers such as Google and Meta Platforms now coming to the fore and overtaking telecommunications operator consortiums in infrastructure investment, especially when it comes to the largest projects. “That Meta and Google are the major drivers behind these new cables is a significant factor. This is a big shift that began a few…

Tseliso Mohlomi, senior director at the Tshwane University of Technology’s Institute for the Future of Work. (Photograph by Lesley Moyo) South Africa’s 4IR Commission developed a 4IR strategy, with eight recommendations which include guidance on AI. However, poor implementation has left the strategy largely ineffective.This is according to progessor Tinyiko Maluleke, VC at Tshwane University of Technology, who delivered a keynote presentation at the fourth annual Future of Work Dialogue. The event was hosted yesterday by the Tshwane University of Technology’s Institute for the Future of Work (IFOW) in Pretoria.The institute is a platform for public-private collaboration to deliberate on…

BMW South Africa CEO Peter van Binsbergen South Africa and Europe should collaborate on building an alternative “value chain” for electric vehicle components such as batteries to reduce dependence on China, the CEO of BMW South Africa said, calling for a national-level strategy. South Africa, which accounts for 51% of Africa’s vehicle output, is seeking to position itself as a player in the global EV supply chain. But industry leaders say more policy clarity and investment are needed to unlock its potential. “South Africa, together with Europe, could put a strategy together to create an alternative value chain for EV…

Africa’s fastest-growing but least-served online markets are set to gain more affordable, reliable, and higher-speed internet access through a partnership between Raxio Group, the continent’s most expansive data centre operator, and Laser Light Africa, the regional unit of the U.S.-based operator of one of the world’s most advanced integrated digital networks. The landmark agreement pairs Raxio’s expanding network of world-class Tier III carrier-neutral data centres with Laser Light’s scale and reach to deliver the most advanced digital access in seven high-growth markets—Angola, DRC, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Mozambique, Tanzania, and Uganda—home to a nearly half a billion people. By hosting and…

In a move set to expand both Digicloud Africa and Google Cloud’s footprint across Africa, Digicloud Africa has been appointed as a distributor of Google security operations (SecOps) products in Africa. Google SecOps cloud-native security operations platform offers a unified experience across SIEM (security, information and event management), SOAR (security, orchestration, automation and response), and threat intelligence, empowering security teams to better detect, investigate and respond to cybersecurity threats. Digicloud CEO Gregory MacLennan says the distributorship is an exciting development for Digicloud, which was the first Google Cloud distributor for Africa and remains the leading Google Cloud reseller enablement partner…

Communications and digital technologies minister Solly Malatsi. (Photograph by DCDT) As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more embedded in people’s lives, this shift also brings about new responsibilities, says communications minister Solly Malatsi.As a result, the speed and scale of AI adoption should serve as a reminder that innovation without ethical guardrails can deepen inequality, amplify bias and erode trust.Malatsi, who is minister in the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT), was speaking yesterday at the opening of the G20 ministerial task force on AI, data governance and sustainable development, in Cape Town.The task force was established in line with…