Abraham van der Merwe and Shane Chorley Frogfoot Networks, internet service provider Vox and prepaid fibre brand Hypa have raised new equity and are expanding their debt facilities in a transaction that values the businesses at R14.4-billion and is meant to more than quadruple the rate at which Frogfoot connects South African homes. The target…
Abraham van der Merwe, Group CEO of Vivica Group. Local telecoms and connectivity businesses Frogfoot Networks, Vox and Hypa have secured new equity capital and debt facilities in a transaction that values the companies at R14.4 billion. The three sister firms sit under Vivica Group: Vox is the main telecoms business, while fibre infrastructure provider…
American philanthropist Bill Gates has called for artificial intelligence (AI) to be deployed in Africa from the early stages of its development, warning that introducing the technology only after it has benefited wealthier nations would deepen global health inequalities. The chair of the Gates Foundation made the remarks during the inaugural Paul Farmer Butaro Dialogues…
City Power says people are stealing electricity by bypassing smart meters. (Picture: Moritz R | Unsplash) Joburg’s power utility, City Power, has paused converting postpaid to prepaid meters as it admits to billing issues, stating it needs to audit its customer database to identify customers who are getting free power. In a statement issued by…
AARTO is set to be implemented in another 69 municipalities this month. (Image: RTIA, redrawn by GenAI) The South African Local Government Agency (SALGA) on Wednesday lost a court bid in the Pretoria High Court to stop the rollout of the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (AARTO) programme. This clears the way for phase…
LedgerAI, an AI governance platform. (Image supplied) South African AI governance platform LedgerAI is expanding its reach to Android and Huawei mobile devices. Founded by Vuyo Nkadimeng and Zanele Simelane, the platform enables companies to assess AI governance risks, track compliance obligations and generate evidence-based documentation for audits and regulatory reviews. Head developer Nkadimeng said the…
Discord has officially finalized its multi-year transition to implement end-to-end encryption (E2EE) across all voice and video calls. This security protocol applies universally to all direct calls and server-based voice channels, excluding public Stage channels. The protection is baked directly into the platform’s architecture, requiring no manual opt-in or configuration from users. Read: Google says…
The department of home affairs plans to expand its smart ID rollout to 750 bank branches by year-end – including self-service terminals at Capitec branches – citing the early success of an eight-week pilot that has processed more than 118 000 applications. Speaking during his department’s budget vote in parliament on Friday, home affairs minister Leon…
Sub-Saharan Africa’s data centre roll-out is slowing materially and consolidation is intensifying, according to the latest African Interconnection Report from researcher Balancing Act, commissioned by Wiocc Group. The number of planned carrier-neutral data centres tracked across the region has fallen from 38 in last year’s edition to 23 — a 39% decline. The number of…
If left unchanged, the new policy could have unintended consequences for SA’s broader economic and energy objectives, warns Zero Carbon Charge. The South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral’s) proposed overhaul of its rest and service facilities (RSF) policy could derail private investment in electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure at a critical time for the country’s energy…
