Africa’s rising influence is being constrained by outdated global institutions, unfair borrowing costs and cascading global crises, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in Addis Ababa, as the United Nations and African Union reaffirmed their strategic partnership. Meeting with AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, the two sides focused on deepening cooperation across peace and security,…
Nairobi — President William Ruto has called on African nations to take greater control of their development financing and reduce reliance on foreign aid and unsustainable borrowing, saying the continent must assert its rightful place in global decision-making. Speaking at the Africa Forward Summit on Tuesday, which brought together heads of state, including French President…
Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub Mobile voice revenue is following the same structural decline as SMS, Vodacom Group CEO Shameel Joosub said in an interview on Monday – a direct acknowledgement from the head of South Africa’s largest mobile operator that the product on which the local industry was built is fading as a meaningful…
Image: Jernej Furman OpenAI introduced three audio models for its developer platform on Thursday, aiming to make voice-based software agents more conversational and capable of completing tasks in real time. The launch of the application programming interface (API) moves the ChatGPT maker beyond transcription and chat towards agents that can listen, translate and act during…
Capitec CEO Graham Lee’s announcement on Wednesday that phone calls between Capitec Connect users are now free of charge is a significant development in the history of telecommunications in South Africa – but not in the way you might be thinking. The South African mobile industry was built on voice. For most of its first…
Kampala, Uganda — Africa’s place in an increasingly contested global order will come under scrutiny at a two-day geopolitics conference set for April 15-16 at Makerere University, as policymakers and analysts debate whether the continent is shaping or being shaped by intensifying external interest. The conference to be held under the theme “Africa and External…
Bruce von Maltitz, CEO of 1Stream. While traditional automated systems have long supported the foundations of digital customer service in SA, the integration of AI voice agents is a turning point that will revolutionise the way consumers engage with brands. So claims Bruce von Maltitz, CEO at 1Stream, who explains that for many years, interactive…
The author, Telviva’s Rob Lith Voice is the most unforgiving channel in business communication. It may seem odd to read that because, as we know, before telephones were invented, everything was face-to-face and involved speech, and then, for most the modern age, a good proportion of business affairs were conducted over the telephone. The internet…
Getty Images Tully spent much of his journalist career covering India The broadcaster and journalist Sir Mark Tully – for many years known as the BBC’s “voice of India” – has died at the age of 90. For decades, the rich, warm tones of Mark Tully were familiar to BBC audiences in Britain and around…
Lloyd Matthew, Co Founder and CEO. Untapped.AI, a South African AI consultancy, is rapidly gaining national attention after becoming the first local provider to deploy an AI voice agent that routes calls entirely through a South African call exchange. This breakthrough enables businesses to reduce call costs by up to 50% compared to AI voice…
