Author: Chris Anu
Vodacom Group is the mobile operator boasting the largest financial services operation on the African continent, with revenue, active users and transaction volumes surpassing those of rival MTN Group. On a continent where formal banking penetration is low, financial services has become a key strategic revenue generator for both operators, who expanded their fintech empires as part of their five-year strategic plans to 2025. As they look to 2030, their focus on financial services is set to sharpen, with both aiming to have a larger portion of group revenue coming from their fintech operations. Both Vodacom and MTN have consumer-facing…
The renewable energy pipeline expanded from 63GW in 2022, to 220GW in 2025, says SAWEA. (Image source: 123RF, created via GenAI) South Africa has 117GW of renewable energy projects at advanced stages of development, which could be ready to connect to the grid within the next five years.This is according to the 2025 South African Renewable Energy Grid Survey (SAREGS), which reveals that the 117GW already surpasses the 71.7GW total capacity (wind and solarphotovoltaic combined) envisioned in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2025 over a 16-year horizon.The survey was led by the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), in collaboration…
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Shelby Tauber/Reuters OpenAI is laying the groundwork for an initial public offering that could value the company at up to US$1-trillion, three people familiar with the matter said, in what could be one of the biggest IPOs of all time. OpenAI is considering filing with securities regulators as soon as the second half of 2026, some of the people said. In preliminary discussions, the company has looked at raising $60-billion at the low end and likely more, the people said. They cautioned that talks are early and plans — including the figures and timing — could…
The 21st annual ITWeb Security Summit is an opportunity for business leaders to hear from experts about how to build resilience amid AI-driven attacks, the skills shortage and geopolitical uncertainty. ITWeb has revealed that its 21st annual Security Summit, to be held in mid-2026, will be based on the theme: ‘Redefining security in the face of AI-driven attacks, fragile supply chains and a global skills gap’. Lisa Lawlor, events director at ITWeb, says while AI and its impact on cyber security dominated discussions at this year’s Security Summit, the 2026 event will evolve the conversation, further unpacking the theme as…
Mastercard is in late-stage talks to acquire crypto start-up Zerohash for between US$1.5-billion and $2-billion, Fortune reported on Wednesday, citing five sources familiar with the matter. If the deal goes through, it would be Mastercard’s one of the biggest bets yet on stablecoins, the report said, adding that the talks might still fall through. Mastercard and Zerohash declined to comment. Card firms are increasingly integrating stablecoins, cryptocurrencies pegged to assets such as the US dollar, into their systems, viewing the technology as a faster, cheaper and safer alternative to traditional payment methods, while tapping into blockchain infrastructure. The crypto start-up…
Jacques du Toit, CEO at Vox Telecom. Cyber attacks are growing in both sophistication and frequency, with AI-powered threats on the rise.This was highlighted by Jacques du Toit, CEO of Vox Telecom, during an interview with ITWeb at the Vox Cyber Security event in Johannesburg last week. He also emphasised the importance of cyber security awareness. “We’re starting to see the speed and intensity of ransomware attacks increasing, while the level of education is actually scary. AI, combined with cyber attacks, is outpacing the ability of the average person to keep up.” He said the event focused on education rather…
Clearwater Mall, in Johannesburg’s western suburbs, will be the location of Walmart’s first own-branded store in South Africa. It will be opened in the coming weeks. Walmart-owned Massmart, the parent of Makro and Builders, said the new store – and others that will follow – will stock products largely sourced from local suppliers, but this will be complemented by a “curated selection of global brands”. Earlier media reports had suggested the first Walmart-branded store in South Africa would be located at the Fourways Mall north of Sandton, but this is not the case. A key objective has been to broaden product…
Laurian Venter, director at OneDayOnly. (Supplied) South African discount deal website OneDayOnly tried using artificial intelligence (AI) to compare prices against competitors but ditched it after the technology failed to deliver.Instead, a team manually opens “multiple tabs every single day, comparing the retailers” to ensure customers get the best prices, says Laurian Venter, director at OneDayOnly.Speaking at a media round table yesterday, Venter explained that AI “just missed so much” when it came to price comparisons, leading to “broken comparisons”.“It basically turned into chaos and panic. So, we ditched the robot concept. Every single day, we roll up our sleeves…
The author, Paul Colmer Everyone’s talking about artificial intelligence. And I mean everyone. The hype reminds me of the fanfare around 5G’s launch – all promise, waiting to see delivery. We built and enabled those towers everywhere, and now? Well, let’s just say the revolution was somewhat overstated. Which brings us to the current question: are we about to make the same mistake with AI data centres? Around the world, we’re witnessing explosive growth of AI data centres, which are fundamentally different beasts to conventional data centres. Traditional facilities are essentially sophisticated warehouses – racks, power, air conditioning, fire suppression.…
Amazon robots used in a warehouse to pick stock. (Picture: Amazon) Amazon.com has become the latest in a list ofcompanies that will be downsizing because of artificial intelligence (AI) andautomation eliminating the need for thousands of jobs.However,as a percentage of the global workforce, the number of jobs currently beinglost to AI is minuscule. Alan Cohen, a data analyst at personal finance and trading education platform RationalFX, says more than 202 000 people have been laid off in the technology industry so far this year. This is based on figures in the public domain. See also Cohen estimates job losses for…