Calvin Collett, CEO of Melon Digital. Mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) platform Melon Digital has announced a partnership with global eSIM provider Airalo, to enable international visitors to South Africa to access mobile services – without the need for physical SIM cards or roaming plans. Melon Digital offers an MVNO platform-as-a-service to other MVNOs. Melon…
Happy Pay raises $5 million (R86 million) in seed funding to scale its ad-subsidised payments network.
NjiaPay has secured $2.1m (R35m at R16,66 per US dollar) in seed funding led by European investor Newion Partners to expand its payment orchestration platform across Africa. Left: NjiaPay CEO Jonatan Allback, Right: NjiaPay CPT Roderick Simons | image source: NjiaPay The Cape Town-based fintech provides software that helps businesses manage multiple payment service providers…
The GSMA has secured commitments from 18 smartphone manufacturers to support the rollout of a $40 4G smartphone aimed at reducing Africa’s mobile internet usage gap. The initiative was launched at MWC Kigali in October 2024 and sets minimum technical standards for an affordable 4G device designed for African users. At least 8 vendors have…
Image: Jernej Furman OpenAI’s latest funding round valued the ChatGPT maker at US$840-billion as Big Tech and Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank piled into the $110-billion blockbuster round, signalling the AI investment race is alive and well despite recent fears of a valuation bubble. The funding round — one of the largest private capital raises on record…
Liquid Intelligent Technologies has secured US$410-million (R6.5-billion) in new financing from a consortium of commercial development finance institutions, according to a Thursday statement. Liquid’s parent company Cassava Technologies has simultaneously committed to a $195-million (R3.1-billion) capital injection into Liquid, bringing the total new funding to R9.6-billion. The news follows the full repayment by Liquid of…
An imagery of satellite constellation © the Ministry of Defense Axelspace Corporation (“Axelspace”), a leading developer and operator of microsatellites dedicated to realizing its vision of “Space within Your Reach,” announced that, for the purpose of carrying out the Ministry of Defense’s satellite constellation project, it has entered into a contract with Tri-Sat Constellation Co.,…
Nvidia has announced a massive multiyear agreement to supply Meta Platforms with millions of its high-performance artificial intelligence chips. The deal covers a broad spectrum of Nvidia’s hardware, including the current Blackwell architecture and the forthcoming Rubin AI chips. Crucially, the agreement also includes Nvidia’s Grace and Vera central processing units (CPUs), signalling a direct…
BluEnergy Trading, a subsidiary of JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms, has been granted a multi-year energy trading licence by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa). This landmark authorization allows the group, historically recognized for its prepaid airtime distribution and its majority stake in mobile operator Cell C, to officially buy and sell electricity. The…
Dr Tim Köhler, senior research officer at the Development Policy Research Unit in UCT’s School of Economics. A University of Cape Town (UCT) researcher has secured international funding to examine whether generative artificial intelligence (AI) can improve employment outcomes for South Africa’s unemployed youth. Dr Tim Köhler, senior research officer at the Development Policy Research…
