Author: Chris Anu
Amadou Daffe, CEO and co-founder of Gebeya. Pan-African technology group, Cassava Technologies and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered tools provider, Gebeya have collaborated to launch Gebeya Dala, a suite of AI tools aimed at enabling Africans to create digital content using Cassava’s data centres and infrastructure.According to a statement, the partnership combines Cassava’s cloud and GPU infrastructure with Gebeya’s platform to provide AI tools within Africa.Gebeya Dala is designed for users without technical expertise. Its initial modules include:AI-Powered App Builder: Allows users to create functional applications without coding experience, using instructions in their local language.AI Comic Book Creator: Lets users create comics…
As we look toward 2026, the economic environment remains uncertain. Economists predict that South Africa could be heading into another stormy year, with geopolitical tensions and unstable global markets placing pressure on growth. Now is the time to make strategic decisions for 2026, and business trends can offer helpful insights. When approached with intention, the right business trend can give a business a competitive lift, open new doors and help meet customers where they are today – without losing sight of where the business is going. Here are seven key business trends that can help SMEs prepare for the year…
Rob Howarth, OpenText Delivery Director. The support for VIM 7.5 and its service pack versions expired on 1 January 2024, and the transition to a more recent version is not only recommended but essential for continued support and enhancement of invoice management processes. The expiration of support for VIM 7.5 signifies that no new product fixes, patches, or releases will be provided for this version. This move to “sustaining maintenance” essentially means that while existing documentation and resources remain accessible, any emerging issues will not be addressed with new updates. OpenText strongly advises customers to migrate to the latest version of…
The author, SAS South Africa’s Craig Stephens Most IT leaders are trying to do three things at once: modernise their analytics, sensibly move to the cloud and keep a lid on costs. This often results in a tangle of overlapping tools and partial migrations that are expensive to operate and complex to govern. As artificial intelligence and cloud adoption accelerate, that tangle will not survive. Organisations are entering a “great IT rationalisation” in which legacy systems, siloed data and redundant processes come under sharp pressure. The question is not whether that rationalisation will happen but whether it will be planned…
The Regulator says it is disappointed that the court’s judgment was not in its favour. The Information Regulator says it is “disappointed”, after its bid to block the publication of matric results was set aside by the Pretoria High Court.This after the decision by the full bench of the Pretoria High Court, to set aside the Regulator’s enforcement notice and the infringement notice, carrying a fine of R5 million, that the information watchdog had issued in late 2024 against the Department of Basic Education (DBE).The enforcement notice was issued on 18 November 2024 following a finding from an assessment of…
The rand gained further ground on Monday, supported by higher gold prices as local investors look towards the year’s last bit of economic data for clues on the health of South Africa’s economy. Shortly after 2pm, the currency was trading at R16.78/US$, continuing a firming trend that started in April. The rand is now at its strongest level since January 2023. Gold held near a more than seven-week high on Monday on a weaker dollar and lower US yields, and as a major producer of precious metals, South Africa often benefits from firmer bullion prices. Through the past week, the…
SITA’s head office in Erasmuskloof, Pretoria. (Photograph by Lesley Moyo) It’s a particularly busy week on National Treasury’s eTenders Portal with final tender invitations from national government departments dominating this last issue of the year. The Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) takes the spotlight with the news it wishes to have the State IT Agency’s (SITA) business model and “strategic relevance” reviewed. “The purpose of this project is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of SITA’s current mandate, role performance and business model within South Africa’s evolving digital public infrastructure landscape,” the department explains. In the tender documentation, DCDT…
Wiocc Group CEO Chris Wood Pan-African digital infrastructure provider Wiocc Group has secured an additional US$65-million (R1.1-billion) in debt financing to support the continued expansion of its connectivity and data centre footprint across Africa. The new funding was arranged through a sustainability-linked debt facility involving the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Proparco and the Emerging Africa & Asia Infrastructure Fund (EAAIF), managed by Ninety One. According to Wiocc, the capital will be used to expand network capacity, strengthen the resilience of its infrastructure and grow its open-access data centre operations on the continent. Wiocc chief financial officer Samuel Ndungu said in…
Electricity and energy minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. A Limpopo village is set to receive a smart village micro-grid that will provide solar-powered electricity to rural communities through smart grids.The project will be launched on Friday by electricity and energy minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa at Madimbo Primary School near Musina. It aims to provide sustainable, reliable and affordable energy to areas where connecting to the national grid is difficult or costly, says Eskom.The initiative comes as experts warn that smart city technologies, while promising, must be carefully implemented to avoid deepening existing inequalities.In a statement, Eskom says the project “marks government’s…
President Cyril Ramaphosa Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya has contradicted an ANC statement that communications minister Solly Malatsi acted unlawfully when he issued a policy directive last Friday on black economic empowerment in the ICT sector. Briefing journalists on Monday, Magwenya said President Cyril Ramaphosa did not have an issue with the policy directive. The president earlier this year backed Malatsi’s policy directive to communications regulator Icasa, which was then in draft form. A political storm has erupted around the final directive’s publication, with the ANC, MK Party and EFF all condemning the move. Magwenya said it is still early days…