Altron earlier this month announced that it has deployed an "AI factory" in one of Teraco’s new Johannesburg data centres. Powered by Nvidia AI infrastructure and software, the factory is has already gone live with half a dozen customers. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Altron Group chief technology officer Bongani Andy Mabaso explains the…

Vodacom Business recently appointed an “extraordinary business advisory board”, a strategic initiative designed to strengthen its enterprise expertise and support organisations on their digital transformation journeys. To unpack the decision to appoint an advisory board, TechCentral is joined in this episode of TCS+ by Videsha Proothveerajh, direct…

The invention of the silicon transistor was fundamental to the success of the digital age, driving the core of the modern-day digital economy. The rise of generative AI has put hardware at the epicentre of the next wave of economic growth, with chip makers such as Nvidia and AMD reaching record valuations as demand for advanced chips far outstrips …

In today’s hyperconnected society, mobile connectivity is key to running a successful business, helping keep employees connected to each other, to organisational resources and to customers. To manage communications effectively, businesses need to have a clear view of the entire Sim estate across the organisation. Monitoring usage and having the con…

Cryptocurrencies are increasingly moving beyond being seen as an investment asset as users find more real-world uses in everyday contexts. It appears that crypto is becoming more like cash – with users prepared to use it as the point of sale. Crypto payments specialist MoneyBadger recently signed a deal with fintech Scan to Pay allowing crypto wall…

When most people think of Amazon Web Services, they automatically assume they should go directly to AWS. However, for the diverse ecosystem of AWS partners – including managed service providers and independent software vendors – the real secret to achieving significant growth often lies in leveraging the distributor model. Consider this analogy: if…

E-commerce will soon reach an important milestone in South Africa: by January, according to World Wide Worx research, online shopping will top 10% of total retail sales for the first time. The move to 15% and then to 20% will come much quicker. That’s the view of Frederik Zietsman, CEO of Naspers-owned Takealot Group – South Africa’s largest online…

Seacom last week announced that it plans to build one of the highest-capacity subsea broadband cable systems the world has ever seen. Dubbed Seacom 2.0, the cable system – which will have an expected design capacity of a staggering 2 000Tbit/s – will be larger than the company’s original system, which brought high-speed connectivity to Africa’s eas…

South Africa’s payments ecosystem is evolving at a rapid pace. PayInc – previously BankservAfrica – sits at the core of the country’s payments infrastructure. As the builder and manager of the PayShap instant payment rails, PayInc is central to the Reserve Bank’s plans to drive digital inclusion through payment modernisation. In this episode of the…

Not every organisation that has migrated to the cloud has reaped the rewards promised in terms of faster development and deployment cycles, simplified infrastructure management, and most importantly, a reduction in costs. Some are going as far as repatriating their infrastructure back into on-premises environments, perhaps because they understand i…

The Invigilator, the developer of a South African application that helps educational institutions monitor web-based assessments to prevent cheating, recenty secured US$11-million (R195-million) in funding to help it expand internationally. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Nicolas Riemer, co-founder and CEO of The Invigilator, joins TechCent…

AI has advanced at breakneck speed in the last few years, with most knowledge workers using the technology to enhance their work in some shape or form. Most of this computing has been happening in the cloud. However, the advent of the neural processing unit, or NPU, has made it possible to move AI computation to the edge, which not only improves sp…

Paratus Group executive chairman Barney Harmse joins the TechCentral Show to share the story of the telecommunications group’s rise from small beginnings in Angola and Namibia more than 20 years ago and how it became one of Southern Africa’s biggest ICT infrastructure players. Paratus started life in Angola in 2003, evolving from a local internet s…

Maziv, the company that owns Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa, plans to spend R12-billion over the next five years as its ramps its deployment of fibre infrastructure across South Africa. Poised for a big injection of cash and assets from Vodacom, which is buying a 30% co-controlling stake in the business, it has unveiled big plans to deploy fibre in …

What does it really take to defend a business in an era of AI-driven attacks? In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+ ,Clare Loveridge, vice president and GM for Europe, Middle East and Africa (Emea), and Johnny Ellis, senior director of Emea channel sales, both at Arctic Wolf, go beyond the buzzwords to confront the uncomfortable truth: despite bill…

Nedbank announced last week that it was acquiring Durban-based fintech iKhokha in a R1.65-billion deal that could signal the start of further consolidation in the payments industry in South Africa. Nedbank described the deal as a “significant milestone” in its strategy to target small and medium enterprises. iKhokha co-founder and CEO Matt Putman i…

Fintechs choose cloud technologies in the hopes that the efficiency and scalability of cloud computing will give them a competitive advantage. But cloud adoption is no silver bullet. If done incorrectly, a migration to the cloud can cause costs to balloon instead of decreasing them, leading to frustration and even lost revenue. Kinetic Skunk is an …

Alan Knott-Craig’s new fibre internet business has been flying below the radar for some time now, but the serial telecommunications entrepreneur has finally unpacked his plans for the business. Speaking to the TechCentral Show this week, Knott-Craig – who has led a range of well-known tech businesses, including Mxit, World of Avatar, Project Isizwe…

Although Shoprite Group stole a march on many of South Africa’s retailers in on-demand online grocery delivery during the Covid-19 lockdowns, Pick n Pay has a clear plan to make up lost ground and compete aggressively for market share. Enrico Ferigolli, who co-founded the liquor delivery app Bottles – which was later acquired by Pick n Pay to form …

In this episode of TCS+, Adil El Youssefi, newly appointed CEO of the colocation business at Cassava Technologies and CEO of Africa Data Centres, chats about the challenges and opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa. El Youssefi delves into: • His background prior to being appointed into the role and how it has influenced his career as a technologist;…

Folding phones are advancing at light speed. For consumers, the appeal is self-evident: on one hand, folding phones give them the option to have a larger, tablet-like interface that offers enhanced productivity and a better user experience. On the other hand, the fit-in-your-pocket design when folded maintains easy portability. Samsung pioneered th…

A recent management buyout of Britehouse from NTT Data – previously Dimension Data – has put the software development house on a new trajectory. In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Duncan McLeod chats to Britehouse executive chairman Graham Parker about the MBO of Britehouse Mobility and what it means for the future of the business. Dimension …

IT security breaches are on the rise in South Africa and worldwide, and with AI tools at their disposal, criminals are scaling up their attacks. With the risk of attack so high, organisations are forced to look beyond beefing up security – they must prepare for the unfortunate event where their systems are, in fact, breached. One way to do this is …

In cybersecurity, prevention is always better than cure. However, organisations have to prepare for the worst-case scenario, one where their systems are breached by cybercriminals. This is the second in a series of three podcasts on how to manage cyber crises effectively when they happen. The first episode – watch it here – centred on defining what…

In today's hyperconnected society, a cybersecurity crisis isn’t just a technical glitch; it's a profound disruption that can bring businesses, governments and even entire countries to a halt. For organisations to protect themselves effectively, they must understand what cybercriminals are capable of, where the vulnerabilities in their own systems a…

Data is like oxygen in the digital era, and people are using more of it. In 2025 alone, global mobile data usage is projected to reach 200 exabytes per month. That is 200 billion gigabytes of data consumed monthly by everything from high-definition video streaming to online gaming and IoT. This trend has implications for infrastructure – in the hom…

Samsung Electronics recently launched the latest line-up of its popular Galaxy A-series of midtier smartphones, with the A26, A36 and A56 replacing the older A25, A35 and A55 models. One of the most notable new features of the A-series is a curated artificial intelligence module, dubbed Awesome Intelligence, that brings powerful AI features previou…

For years, mobile telecommunications was dominated by a handful of large operators, or MNOs. Now, with almost 30 MVNOs, or mobile virtual network operators, serving niche consumer bases in banking, retail and education, among other sectors, the MVNO market is thriving. However, brands looking to take advantage of this boom and add mobile services t…

The Lekker Network is a recently launched global business platform designed to help South African expatriates find business and investment opportunities around the world, including at home. Founded by a group of well-known businesspeople, The Lekker Network was launched in March and offers members access to a business directory, a jobs portal (for …

The pace of innovation in the cloud space is breathtaking. Gone are the days when the cloud was just about virtual machines and storage; today, it is a dynamic ecosystem, constantly introducing features that are fundamentally transforming how businesses operate, from the smallest start-ups to the largest enterprises. Preegan Chetty, Azure product m…

Data is the lifeblood of every organisation, driving innovation, enhancing customer experiences and influencing strategic decisions. But managing this invaluable asset has never been more challenging. Hybrid IT environments – where some organisational data sits in the cloud other data resides in on-premises infrastructure – only adds to this comple…

Organisations are flocking to the cloud for its agility, scalability and innovation potential. But while the cloud promises big things, it also presents a set of financial challenges. Many businesses find their cloud bills spiralling out of control, eroding the very benefits they sought in the first place. In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+, Pre…

The digitisation of social interactions has made it easier for people to maintain contact and build online communities. However, there has been a decrease in in-person interaction that has contributed to a sense of disconnect. South African-made social media platform Sociable hopes to solve this problem by combining online engagement with in-person…

Spar Group is determined to play a significant role in the on-demand grocery delivery space in South Africa despite coming from behind, its omnichannel executive for Southern Africa has told TechCentral. Speaking to the TechCentral Show, Blake Raubenheimer took the publication’s editor, Duncan McLeod, through the retailer’s plan to compete directly…

Many municipalities in South Africa are struggling to maintain a reliable supply of clean water to households and industries. Thankfully, technology is here to help. In this episode of TechCentral’s TCS+, Helen Hulett, newly appointed chief sustainability officer at geospatial information science specialist AfriGIS, tells Duncan McLeod about the Re…

What should one make of the noise surrounding the licensing (or non-licensing) of Starlink in South Africa? And what of the plans to reform the rules around black economic empowerment in the sector? To make sense of these developments – and others – TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod sat down this week with Nomvuyiso Batyi, CEO of the Association for…

Mobile money has an increasingly vital role to play in South Africa’s economy, despite the fact that the country boasts an advanced financial services sector. That’s the view of Kagiso Mothibi, CEO of Fintech at MTN South Africa, who was sharing his views in a recent interview with TechCentral’s TCS+ (watch it below) in which he discusses the broad…

Forget the hype, embrace the revolution! In this episode of TCS+, TechCentral speaks with Workday South Africa country manager Kiv Moodley and manager of solutions consulting Jannie Malan to dissect the critical intersection of artificial intelligence and human potential. Malan oversees the solution consulting team, engaging with prospects and clie…

Altron Group announced last week that it was selling its Altron Nexus businesses in a management buyout led by Nexus MD Louis du Toit and BriteGaze founder and technology entrepreneur Reshaad Sha. Sha and Du Toit are our guests in this episode of the TechCentral Show, where they tell TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the acquisition and their …

TechCentral’s guests in this episode of the TechCentral Show believe Blue Label Telecoms and its affiliate (and soon to be subsidiary) Cell C present a compelling investment case. Philip Short, global portfolio manager at Flagship Asset Management – which counts Blue label as its sole South African investment – and Dylan Bradfield, portfolio manage…

This episode of TCS+ is the third in a series of three focused on the relationship between Switchcom Distribution and Huawei eKit as well as the networking solutions the two companies are providing for SMEs in South Africa and the rest of Africa. Dewald van Eck, networking engineer at Switchcom parent company CMVAS, and Kurt Anthony, support engine…

4Sight Holdings has turned the corner and has signalled this with a recent move from the AltX to the main board of the JSE. CEO Tertius Zitzke is our guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show. He tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the turnaround he’s leading – not to mention the mess he inherited when he took over leadership of the bu…

In this episode of the TechCentral Show, we chat to Clive Roberts, the consumer packaged goods (CPG) segment leader for anglophone Africa at Schneider Electric. In this discussion, Roberts unpacks the focus of the company’s segment, which covers the dynamic food and beverage industry across 24 African nations, encompassing about 1 800 manufacturers…

One of South Africa’s responsibilities as president of the global Group of 20 (G20) nations in 2025 is to hosting the G20 TechSprint, an event that invites innovators from around the world to develop financial solutions that solve the most pressing challenges faced by central banks. The South African Reserve Bank is hosting this year’s TechSprint i…

Boasting 1.6 million subscribers after less than three years in the market, Capitec Connect has quickly become South Africa’s largest MVNO – and it has an ambitious plan for further growth. Dalene Steyn, head of Capitec Connect, tells the TechCentral Show (TCS) that the MVNO – or mobile virtual network operator – market in South Africa is poised fo…

Cape Town-based fintech start-up Stitch last month caught the attention of many people when it announced it was raising R1-billion (US$55-million) in a significant series-B funding round. Co-founder and CEO Kiaan Pillay is our guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show, where he tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the funding round, whi…

Networking equipment wholesaler Switchcom Distribution has partnered with Huawei Technologies to bring new offerings to the South African market and elsewhere in Africa. In the first episode of this series, Switchcom national sales manager Lynton Brits and Huawei account manager Tanki Lebatla told TCS+ about the rationale behind the partnership and…

Shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Tiffany Dunsdon – at the time CEO of JSE-listed Adapt IT – found herself having to fend off an unwanted takeover bid from Huge Group. Dunsdon did not feel the deal made much sense for Adapt IT – a fast-growing enterprise software services provider whose share price, like many others at the time, had been kno…

New GX Capital, one of the principal investors in Vumatel and Dark Fibre Africa parent CIVH, recently announced it was launching a R2.4-billion clean-tech investment fund in partnership with RMB Ventures. To unpack the details of the new fund and why it’s being established, New GX Capital founder and CEO Khudusela Pitje joined TechCentral editor Du…

The Better Connection. Everywhere You Go. Or simply just Y’ello. Brand identity matter, and MTN South Africa – one of South Africa’s most valued brands – is keenly aware of that fact. Indeed, when a big consumer brand changes its brand positioning, it’s always a big deal – not only because of the work involved behind the scenes but also because it …