Author: Chris Anu

The instant payments market is an attractive target for fraudsters warns LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which stresses the need for interoperability going forward. The global instant or real-time payments market is an integral part of the rapidly growing digital economy. There are currently 80 countries worldwide with instant payment systems, including South Africa’s PayShap, developed by the local banking industry to improve financial inclusion and reduce dependency on cash.While real-time payments have many benefits, they also attract a higher level of fraud. Scott Manson, senior director of payments at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, points to interoperability as fundamental for faster transaction processing…

Optimism over the profit potential of artificial intelligence has helped drive the US stock market to record highs, but investors are looking for weak spots that could emerge in the AI trade and have identified some risks to watch for. AI has been the dominant theme on Wall Street since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, which fuelled enthusiasm about the technology’s potential. Citigroup strategists estimate that nearly 50% of the S&P 500’s overall roughly US$57-trillion in market capitalisation has “high” or “medium” exposure to AI. The benchmark index is up about 13% year-to-date, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite…

International e-Waste Day aims to raise public awareness about the growing problem of electronic waste and encourage responsible recycling. The Gauteng government is looking to turn old electronics into new chances for jobs, innovation and sustainability.This was highlighted at the Gauteng Department of e-Government Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Conference last week.The event was held ahead of International e-Waste Day, commemorated annually on 14 October, to raise public awareness about the growing problem of electronic waste and encourage responsible recycling.South Africa is one of the highest generators of e-waste on the African continent, producing 530 million kilograms of e-waste…

OpenAI is hoping to expand its reach in Africa with the launch of ChatGPT Go, a new subscription tier aimed at making its advanced AI tools more affordable and accessible – and for the first time, its subscription plans are priced in rands for South African users. The new plan, powered by GPT-5, offers most of ChatGPT’s premium capabilities at R149/month, or roughly 75% less than the cost of the next-highest subscription tier. “Millions of people across Africa are already using ChatGPT to learn new skills, solve everyday problems and start businesses,” said Nick Turley, vice-president and head of ChatGPT,…

Absa will leverage Ripple’s digital asset custody technology. Big-four bank Absa has entered into a strategic partnership with Ripple, a provider of digital asset infrastructure for financial institutions, to provide digital asset custody to its customers in South Africa.In a statement, the bank says through the partnership, Absa will leverage Ripple’s digital asset custody technology to deliver storage for tokenised assets, including crypto-currencies.Absa becomes Ripple’s first major custody partner in Africa through this collaboration, says the bank, adding that the partnership responds to the growing demand for secure, compliant digital asset infrastructure across emerging markets.Ripple’s global custody network now includes…

Absa has announced a partnership with Ripple under which it will adopt the blockchain infrastructure specialist’s institutional-grade custody platform to offer secure storage solutions for tokenised assets – including cryptocurrencies – to institutional clients in South Africa. The move is significant as it may mark a turning point in how traditional banks in Africa engage with cryptocurrencies and the tokenisation wave. It also signals that custody is becoming a “must-have” plumbing in financial infrastructure, and not a fringe experiment. It marks Ripple’s first major custody partnership in Africa and is in response to an accelerating demand in emerging markets for…

Jonathan Bass, managing director of NetTrace. Overburdened security professionals often dismiss enterprise asset management (EAM). But the recent extension of Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) regulations to include the loss or theft of devices exposes organisations to what could be a very expensive compliance headache.The main challenge is not a lack of awareness about the importance of security, but rather a misalignment of priorities within security teams. Security leaders and their teams already have a host of dashboards they are monitoring and they are overwhelmed. If you raise EAM with them, there is a perception that this involves more…

The safety of those on the road – whether driver or passenger – is increasingly being made the responsibility of the private sector. Last month, government gazetted the National Land Transport Amendment Act and its amended regulations, which aim to regulate the e-hailing sector and boost the protection of drivers and passengers. E-hailing companies have been given 180 days to comply with the regulations, including the installation of panic buttons in all vehicles. E-hailing companies have been given 180 days to comply with the new regulations They are for emergencies like hijackings or assaults, which have been known to turn…

NetApp® (NASDAQ: NTAP), the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, and Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open-source solutions, today announced an expanded collaboration to deepen their joint development efforts and accelerate adoption of Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization across on-premises and public cloud environments. Through this enhanced collaboration, Red Hat and NetApp are helping customers more easily modernize their IT environments and navigate the complexities of migrating cloud-native workloads with greater confidence. A key aspect of Red Hat and NetApp’s collaboration is their mutual adoption of the other’s technologies in advancing each company’s operational and IT systems. NetApp is now running…

A stabilising Eskom is starting to place a stronger focus on new technologies and the modernisation of the electricity grid. Last month, at the release of the state-owned utility’s annual results, CEO Dan Marokane said the utility is focused on “deepening the adoption of digitalisation in the business”, through measures such as the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence. At the same time, it is diversifying its technology mix, including developing a pipeline of clean energy, with at least 2GW of projects ready for execution to expand its energy mix by 2030 – and a longer-term pipeline of 5.9GW…