Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore has said the telco is expanding its M-Pesa systems to take 1,200 transactions per second. In a statement, he attributed the recent outage that lasted four hours to the system upgrade. Latest Communications Authority telecommunication sector statistics shows that Safaricom carried out 575,660,251 M-Pesa transactions, moving at least Sh1.58 trillion between…
Strive Masiyiwa, Econet Wireless founder, this week consolidated his position as one of Zimbabwe’s richest investors after his fintech company, Cassava Smartech (CSZL), became the most valuable counter by market value on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) when the company listed on the ZSE through an initial public offering. Masiyiwa, whose Econet Wireless Global group controls…
Users of KCB M-Pesa will now get top-up loans, enabling customers to borrow several times within the credit limit assigned to them without being required to first clear outstanding balances. This is an upgrade to the old KCB-M-Pesa system where borrowers could only take another loan after clearing the outstanding balances. The top-up capability is…
Digital mobile lending in Kenya is a space that is ever-growing, whether the motivation is to push for financial inclusion or to simply provide a service in a neglected space, what’s constant is that the sector is ever-growing. As of September this year, there were over 50 mobile loan facilities, including M-Shwari and KCB M-Pesa. A report by FSD…
MTN Group has announced the appointment of several executives, including the position of Chief Technology & Information Officer and Executive for Corporate Services & Sustainability. Charles Molapisi has been appointed as the company’s Group Chief Technology and Information Officer, effective 1 January 2019. His appointment follows Babak Fouladi’s resignation from the company to take up…
Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas…Guess what? DStv is giving lower-tiered subscribers an early Christmas gift by opening up some of the premium channels during the end-of-year and beginning-of-2019 festive period. From Tuesday, 18 December until Friday, 4 January 2019, SuperSport 1 (DStv 201) is being made available to DStv Compact Plus, DStv Compact, DStv Family,…
Naspers and Canada’s state pension fund have invested $540 million (R7.77 billion) in Indian educational technology startup Byju’s. Bengaluru-based Byju’s launched a learning app in 2015 that offers tools for school students in India, a country with the world’s largest number of children in primary education. The latest investment values the firm at around $3.6…
BMW has joined a handful of automakers to compete with transportation upstart Didi Chuxing, which bought Uber’s Chinese business in 2016. BMW has become one of the first foreign companies to be granted a ride-hailing operating license in China. Last Friday, the German luxury carmaker launched a premium ride-hailing service in Chengdu, the capital of China’s Sichuan…
Econet Wireless Zimbabwe’s fintech business Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe Limited (CSZL) will be listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) tomorrow. This comes after regulatory approvals to spin off the telecoms giant’s smart technology and financial technology businesses under a new holding company CSZL. The company controls 100 percent of Steward Bank, 100 percent EcoCash Limited,…
World Tourism Day 2018 was observed in Budapest, Hungary on 27 September 2018 with the official celebration focusing on the digital transformation in tourism, a World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) priority. The event examined how investment in new technology provides the sector with opportunities for innovation. Introducing a new seminar-based format, the official celebration provided crucial…
Learners benefit from FREE access to online curriculum-based content Econet Wireless Zimbabwe (EWZ), which last year expanded its Ruzivo Smart Learning service to secondary school curricula, says it is targeting improved O Level pass rates this year, on the back of increased access to the technology-driven platform, now being accessed by close to a…
By Patricia Mashiri The Zimbabwe Grain Marketing Board (GMB) is failing to deliver services to farmers throughout the country. This is evidenced by the late delivery of inputs from the Presidential Scheme that were supposed to have been delivered to the farmers countrywide. The inputs comprise of 10kg maize seed, 50kg Compound D fertilizer, 50…
By Byron Mutingwende Secondary disability, particularly for children born able-bodied can be a pain to parents who might find it difficult to cope with the new development. Such was the testimony of one Shame Soda, the parent of a child who lost speech at a later stage despite having been born with the capability…
By Byron Mutingwende One of the leading mobile telephony service providers, NetOne is set to transform the lives of the generality of the Zimbabwean population following its launch of two important products namely OneCover and OneTech. Speaking during the launch in Harare on 17 August 2017, Brian Mutandiro, the NetOne Acting Chief Executive…
By Byron Mutingwende The United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the Government of Zimbabwe and the Business Council for Sustainable Development of Zimbabwe (BCSDZ) are partnering in pursuit of a Green Industry Initiative to promote industrial energy efficiency and embrace renewable energy for productive use. It has emerged that despite the existing knowledge on energy…
By Kundai Marunya Hivos is set to launch a research on creative spaces as a way of fostering activism and civic engagement at the Pamberi Trust Gardens next Thursday. The report which has the now defunct Book Café as a case study was commissioned some three years ago. “In 2012 Hivos commissioned a research study…
Nearly forty (40) innovative ideas beat out hundreds of competitors, across sectors, to be represented at the Innovation Baraza Fair to be held on Friday July 10th at the Baraza Pavilion in Tynwald, Harare. Organizers announced last week that the successful ideas include innovations in the agriculture, finance, health, resource management, infrastructure, community, retail, and…
By Kundai Marunya Local blog, The African Hip Hop Blog continues to shine, this time on a continental level winning an award for the Best Blog About Africa at the second African Blogger Awards. The blog which was founded by a Zimbabwean, Ross Hagan in 2008 while he was a student at Rhodes University record…
Celebrated local artist, RayDizz who made his mark on the international scene when he represented Zimbabwe in Las Vegas for the Miller Sound Clash last year has strike again; this time with a high quality video befitting of international accolades, way above the local standards. RayDizz, real name Rayhaan Jassat, collaborated with fellow party stopper,…
Superstar Oliver ‘Tuku’ Mtukudzi has castigated the xenophobic violence that has spread across South Africa claiming at least seven lives. Several thousands of foreign nationals, Zimbabweans among them have been displaced from their homes to find shelter at camps set up across South Africa in fear for their lives. In a media release, Tuku said…
