Urgent reform needed to unlock SA’s startup potential
South Africa’s startup ecosystem is gaining ground, but it continues to fall behind global and regional peers on regulatory efficiency, capital formation, and access to international markets. This is according to a new report by SiMODiSA, in partnership with Allan...
Vodacom takes a majority stake in Safaricom
Strengthening its position in East Africa, Vodacom has acquired a further 20% stake in Safaricom for $2,1-billion (R35-billion) – increasing its shareholding in the group to 55%. The transaction sees Vodacom acquire a 15% stake from the Government of Kenya, and an...
Visa gears up for the new phase in commerce
Recognising the dramatic shifts shaping the future of commerce, Visa has outlined a series of AI, stablecoin, and token capabilities designed to help clients across the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) region participate in this next...
A new fraud threat for insurers – AI-generated images
Insurance fraud, unfortunately, is inevitable - a certain amount of fraud is priced into the product. But the ultimate goal for insurers is to find the right balance – focusing on fraud prevention for the biggest cases without alienating trusted customers. Having said...
AI will push cloud-managed revenue over $10-billion
Concerns about AI cybersecurity threats and a desire to focus on AI use cases will push the public cloud-managed LAN market into a phase of accelerated growth from 2026 to 2030 – to more than $10-billion - according to the Dell’Oro Group. “As vendors like Arista,...
Vulnerable economies face lasting consequences from Hormuz closure
The reopening of the Strait of Hormuz would bring relief to global trade and energy markets. But for many vulnerable economies, the shock will not end when ships start moving again. After more than 100 days of disruption, ship transits through one of the world’s main...
Planting trees in savannas can do more harm than good
A new University of Cape Town (UCT)-led study has found that planting trees in African savannas may undermine biodiversity without delivering the expected gain in carbon storage. The study, led by Dr Heidi-Jayne Hawkins of UCT’s Department of Biological Sciences and...
CompTIA poll aims to better understand Africa’s training needs
In an age of constantly-changing technology innovations, CompTIA, the leading global provider of vendor-neutral training and certification products, is running a short survey to gauge how African organisations are tackling their training and certification...
Inside the shockingly efficient business models of cyber cartels
The enduring cultural image of the cybercriminal is an unexpectedly persistent myth. For a long time now, pop culture has depicted the threat adversary as a lone, anti-social hacker operating from a dark bedroom, driven by mischief or vague ideological grievances. By...
Passkeys are not the end of passwords – they’re the next evolution of trust
Every few years, the cybersecurity industry declares the death of the password. Yet passwords persist because they solve a simple problem: proving who you are. The challenge is that they do so increasingly poorly in a world where data breaches, phishing attacks, and...
Low-carbon energy now critical infrastructure for Africa’s digital future
Coverage expansion across the continent has given rise to the acceleration of data driven services which are shaping Africa’s digital future. These include fintech services driving financial inclusion, e-health improving access to healthcare and education platforms...
Banks urged to reuse fraud data to fix broken dispute processes, rebuild trust in digital banking
Fraud dispute resolution is often manual and can take weeks. Research shows 73% of customers say their loyalty is heavily influenced by how fraud is handled. While customer satisfaction and retention may largely lie in the ambit of the CMO, a large part of the...