BMW ConnectedDrive Store hits South Africa in September 2016 With the built-in SIM card and a BMW registered account, customers are able to access their personal, password-protected BMW ConnectedDrive area, make individual settings and manage vehiclerelated data and services. August 17, 2016
BMW ConnectedDrive Store offers BMW customers access to the complete spectrum of services and vehicle app (Photo Credit: BMW South Africa)
BMW will launch a newly revised BMW ConnectedDrive Store – which offers BMW customers access to the complete spectrum of services and vehicle app like real time traffic and BMW Internet Services – in South Africa in September 2016. By Gugu Lourie The store will be an extension to the current BMW ConnectedDrive Portal to allow further personalisation. The full suite of BMW ConnectedDrive services was first introduced in South Africa in June 2014. With the built-in SIM card and a BMW registered account, customers are able to access their personal, password-protected BMW ConnectedDrive area, make individual settings and manage vehicle-related data and services. So, drivers could access the BMW ConnectedDrive Store while on the move by means of the BMW’s in-car system. As a result, BMW customers are even able to select and book individual services while on business trips or on holiday, and then use them within minutes. The revised BMW ConnectedDrive Store offers customers flexible choice of services available for variable periods. BMW ConnectedDrive has split up its portfolio of mobility services into individual options, which can be booked and used separately and combined together as the customer desires. For added convenience, particular services are available for variable periods, ranging from just one month to one year or longer. “This places the customer completely in the driving seat, as they can activate the functions and services that suit them best and at just the right time, such as while travelling on holiday,” Edward Makwana, BMW South Africa’s spokesperson said. “The various running period options furthermore allow the functionality of specific services to be tested out in practice for a limited time. For BMW and BMW i customers, this all adds up to unrivalled product diversity, the utmost individuality and flexibility, as well as considerably lower starting prices.” BMW Connected – the personalised digital mobility companion from BMW. ‘smartphone on wheels’ (Photo Credit: BMW South Africa)
BMW Connected Drive Services: 1. Unbeatable convenience – Remote Services. Looking for your car on a crowded parking lot outside the shopping centre on a Saturday? It’s not necessary. With Remote Services you can save yourself the inconvenience of a long search. Thanks to the services, you can control your BMW from afar. And you can do more than find your vehicle on a large parking lot. With Remote Services you transform your smartphone into an intelligent and convenient remote control for your vehicle – via the My BMW Remote App or the BMW Call Centre. Now you just have to reach into your jacket pocket to have access to your BMW via your iPhone or Android device. Perhaps you’re no longer sure of whether you locked your BMW? Or you may not have your key to hand? Then you can lock and unlock you car with the Remote Services from BMW ConnectedDrive. And if you’re unable to find your vehicle straight away, you can flash the headlights and sound the horn using your smartphone. Pricing for the BMW Remote Services is R700 in the BMW 5 Series and R1,100 in all other BMW models. This feature is standard in the BMW 6 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW i3, BMW i8, BMW X5 M and BMW X6 M. 2. BMW Internet Services – surf the net in your BMW. Thanks to the permanently installed SIM card, the Internet Service from BMW ConnectedDrive enables you to access the infinite possibilities of the World Wide Web. With no mouse, no extra monitor, but all very quickly and conveniently by iDrive Controller and the integrated high-resolution Control Display. And surfing in your vehicle functions just as easily as if you were at home.
The BMW Internet Service feature runs for a period of one year after the vehicle’s first registration. The customer can extend the service for an additional charge beyond the initial period via the BMW ConnectedDrive Customer Portal. Pricing for the BMW Internet Service is R1,500 and standard in the BMW 6 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW i3, BMW i8, BMW X5 M and BMW X6 M. 3. BMW Concierge Services – answers anytime and anywhere.
BMW Connected – A few clicks on the iDrive Controller is all it takes. (Photo Credit: BMW South Africa) The Concierge Service connects the car with a 24-hour BMW Call Centre, allowing a BMW driver to get assistance in finding points of interest such as restaurants, hotels, nearest pharmacy, ATMs, selecting destinations and planning a journey. The pricing for the Concierge Services is R3,700 and standard in the BMW 6 Series, BMW 7 Series, BMW i3, BMW i8, BMW X5 M and BMW X6 M. 4. Intelligent Emergency Call with automatic vehicle location. Should an airbag be deployed, for instance, the system will transmit an automatic emergency call to the BMW call centre including the precise location of the accident site. Apart from the vehicle’s exact position and direction of travel, details of the vehicle model and all the data gathered by the sensors in the car are relayed to the call centre as well. The system also allows the driver or front passenger to trigger the emergency call manually in order to help other road users in distress by alerting the call centre. This service is standard on all BMW vehicles.
5. Real Time Traffic Information (RTTI) warns of traffic jams as they happen. Also offered as standard in all BMW models produced from July 2016, the RTTI (Real Time Traffic Information) system uses the mobile phone network and the SIM card built into the vehicle for ultra-fast transmission of very detailed data.
US-based AT&T clinches a WiFi roaming agreement with SA’s VAST Networks VAST Networks locations include premium malls; hotels; central transport hubs, including major airports and railway nodes; hospitals and restaurants; and leisure and entertainment venues across South Africa. August 17, 2016
Br aamfonteing free wifi hotspot (Photo credit: isabelo) VAST Networks, South Africa’s first open-access Wi-Fi Network, announced on Monday that it was working with AT&T, the Dallas-based telecommunications giant, to offer AT&T users Wi-Fi in the country.By Staff Writer In a historic alliance with South Africa’s first open-access Wi-Fi Network, AT&T customers with an eligible offer and the AT&T Passport app can now roam on VAST Networks Wi-Fi in any of their locations across the country. VAST Networks aims to keep people connected at all times. The network is South Africa’s most developed and seamless Wi-Fi ecosystem which offers an integrated “on-the-go” Wi-Fi experience. VAST Networks locations include premium malls; hotels; central transport hubs, including major airports and railway nodes; hospitals and restaurants; and leisure and entertainment venues across South Africa.
“The opportunity to collaborate with AT&T and provide their users with a world class WiFi experience at any of our 2000+ locations is a fantastic endorsement of the progress we are making. Visitors to South Africa will be able to work, play and stay connected to their world. We aim to keep users connected wherever they are on our network,” VAST Networks CEO, Grant Marais, said: “We are looking forward to working with VAST Networks,” said Suzanne HellwigNavarro, AVP of Alliances and Partnerships at AT&T. “With their support and infrastructure, our customers will be able to stay connected.”
MTN has been quietly conquering Africa’s digital music. Does it want to be Apple Music of Africa? Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator has built a reputation in the music space and hit R944 million in revenues for the six months toend June 2016. This seems like a full-blown relationship by MTN. August 17, 2016
MTN does not produce music, but earns income from music distribution through MP3, ringtones, caller ring back tones, music on demand and music subscriptions (Photo Credit: MTN) Is there anything that MTN doesn’t do? The mobile phone company is into mobile money, telematics, cloud computing, connected cars, telemedicine. As part of its hunt for new revenue streams, MTN has been quietly conquering the digital music space. By Gugu Lourie But there is nothing quite about MTN Music generating more than R944 million ($70 million) in revenues in the six months to end-June 2016 from distributing music digitally in Africa. For MTN, this performance in the digital music space is nothing but part of its diversification strategy to retain customers and differentiate itself from competitors. Asked how MTN is differentiating itself in this space, Herman Singh, MTN Group chief digital officer, toldTechfinancials.co.za that MTN has built the capability to offer music to
its customers in eight different formats: MP3 (full tracks), ringtones (true tones), Caller Ring Back Tones, Streaming (music on demand), radio streaming, IVR radio, music subscriptions and music videos. In addition, MTN Music offer a variety of exclusive local content. MTN does not produce music, but earns income from music distribution through MP3, ringtones, caller ring back tones, music on demand and music subscriptions. Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator has built a reputation in the music space and hit $70 million in revenues for the six months to-end June 2016, said Singh. Though the man on the street might be only vaguely be familiar with MTN’s role in the music industry, it’s a company that has created a niche for itself among musicians. For more read: MTN change the face of music In the past few years, the mobile phone firm based in the leafy suburb of Fairlands in Johannesburg has grew into Africa’s biggest digital music distributor. Herman Singh, MTN Group chief digital officer (Photo credit: MTN) Singh said MTN Music now has about 70 million customers in Africa. On average there are 50 million downloads across all our music offerings each month, added Singh. The biggest region that downloads more music on MTN platform is the West Africa region – which consists of Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin, Ghana, Liberia, GuineaConakry and Guinea-Bissau. The upshot of MTN’s efforts in promoting digital music has been that the mobile phone operator is gaining market share in attracting music lovers on its platforms and its music download sales are improving.
In 2015, MTN’s scoop the exclusive rights to caller back ring tone or caller tune to Adele’s single title “Hello” The deal was accomplished through MTN’s content aggregator, Content Connect Africa. Adele’s song Hello remains the biggest download ever recorded for MTN Music at 24 million. But Singh told Techfinancials.co.za that MTN Music platform users are downloading more local music as compared to international songs. Digital technology is enabling music industry to effectively reach mass numbers of consumers across Africa, and MTN with its biggest footprint in Africa is an ideal company to distribute the music. With more than 70 million MTN Music customers and $70 million in revenues, MTN seems to be willing to stick around and is not treating digital music as a one-night stand.
MTN changes the face of music October 23, 2015
Larry Annetts, MTN's chief consumer officer (Photo Credit: MTN SA) The landmark deal clinched by MTN with the Grammy award winner and British singer and songwriter Adele is an indication that the mobile phone operator, which has been promoting music streaming and caller tunes on its platform, is changing the face of the music industry in Africa. By Gugu Lourie To call MTN a music company would be stretching it at this juncture. Sure, MTN is a mobile phone operator, but it also plays in other adjacent markets such as video-on-demand (VOD) and fibre-to the-home (FTTH) services, but it can’t be classified in the same category as Sony Music or Apple iTunes. Nonetheless MTN is a cellphone operator that is not afraid to go where many fear to tread – proof is Nigeria, Afghanistan, Iran and Syria. This time the firm based in the leafy suburb of Fairlands in Johannesburg has been instrumental in developing music in the continent. MTN has successfully managed to increase sales of albums that had either stopped selling or were selling at lacklustre pace on traditional platforms such as music shops. The upshot of MTN’s efforts in promoting digital music has been that the mobile phone operator is gaining market share in attracting music lovers on its platforms and its music download sales are improving. For example; the late South African music icon Brenda Fassie’s signature song “Weekend Special” received more than half a million downloads on its platform. MTN’s platform also enabled iconic song “Jabulani” released by Hotline featuring PJ Powers to reach more than 500 000 downloads in a week, while Oskido received more than a million downloads. Harrysong’s “Tribute to Mandela” garnered more than two million downloads.
This phenomenal success has enabled MTN Music+ to have more than 30 million customers in Nigeria and close to 15 million in South Africa. MTN’s most recent move – to scoop the exclusive rights to caller back ring tone or caller tune to Adele’s much-awaited upcoming single title “Hello” – may be a turning point for the operators strategy to provide music to its customers. The deal was accomplished through MTN’s content aggregator, Content Connect Africa. The caller tune to “Hello” single will be exclusively available to MTN South Africa customers for downloading on its online music streaming platform Music+. The “Hello” single caller tune will also be extended to MTN operations in Nigeria, Ghana and Uganda, where there is a huge market for caller tunes. The landmark deal with Adele comes at a time when the music industry is facing dwindling sales and artists are looking for new ways to sell their albums even singles. However, MTN caller tunes and streaming seems to be flourishing with the rise of the usage of smart devices – smartphone and tablets – in Africa. MTN operates in more than 20 countries across Africa and the Middle East, which includes Botswana, Sudan, Cameroon, Afghanistan, Syria and Iran. Adele – whose last album “21” released in 2011 scooped six Grammy awards and exceeded six million sales in the US – has never before given caller tunes rights to any mobile operator. Larry Annetts, MTN’s chief consumer officer (Photo Credit: MTN SA)
Clearly Larry Annetts, MTN South Africa marketing boss, could not have wished for a better and early Christmas present. “This is indicative of our quest to use our expansive footprint to give our customers the best music in a digital format. The rights (to Adele single “Hello”) give expression to the company’s ongoing commitment to promoting music as an art form,” explains Annetts. He has been instrumental in promoting music and collaboration among African musicians, such as South Africa’s Mafikizolo, Nigeria’s Davido, Don Jazzy and Praiz. MTN’s strategy of diversifying its revenue into the music industry meant that the mobile operator not only look at telecoms services for source of income. “We have done a lot of work in promoting music in the digital space, with Music+ being one of our key offering that has given artists across the continent a bigger platform to market their music,” explains Annetts.
“We are humbled and pleased that our efforts in the music space are being acknowledged and recognised, and we are looking forward to similar partnerships of this nature going forward.” What do the clinching of the rights with Adele really means? For all intents and purposes, this may be the beginning of a coup. If MTN customers download Adele’s “Hello” single caller tune in droves, clearly more global artists may look at partnering with Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator. It will also mean that more African musicians will want to be associated with MTN to get the benefits of its caller tunes.
Furthermore, the deal with Adele may simply imply that MTN will be able to reinforce its connection with subscribers, who have grown to love Adele’s music. This will also accelerate MTN’s efforts to provide added value to its mobile phone users and create more value for the company. The signing of the landmark deal with Adele suggests that MTN is beginning to reap the rewards of its diversification strategy, which has been ruthlessly undertaken under Annetts’ watch to attract more music loving customers. Looking at the South African and Nigerian users of Music+ that are now reaching more than 50 million show that this is not only a strategy aimed at enticing new subscribers – but is a successful effort in retaining the existing ones. Additionally, MTN has also created a niche for itself among musicians, who view it as a company that cares about their music and provides a platform for them to generate additional income. If you are in doubt, ask musicians such as Praiz, Hotline and Harrysong if they haven’t benefited from MTN’s music downloads. Let’s face it, African musicians can do more with partnering with MTN in promoting their albums and singles in its African markets. MTN has conquered tough markets of Nigeria and Iran and may be doing the same with music industry. “These exclusive rights we have secured with Adele will set us apart from competition and reaffirm our commitment to delight millions of our customers and provide them with a distinct MTN customer experience,” says Annetts.
The BMW 7 Series with remote control parking now available in SA
The BMW 7 Series is the world’s first series-produced car that enables owners to manoeuvre in or out of forward-parking spaces or garages without anyone at the wheel. August 17, 2016
BMW Connected – the personalised digital mobility companion from BMW. ‘smartphone on wheels’ (Photo Credit: BMW South Africa) BMW South Africa today revealed the BMW 7 Series with the Remote Control Parking system. By Staff Writer The BMW 7 Series is the world’s first series-produced car that enables owners to manoeuvre in or out of forward-parking spaces or garages without anyone at the wheel. As such, the Remote Control Parking option allows drivers to access tight parking spaces with ease. The driver initiates the car’s progress forward into or in reverse out of a space using the BMW Display Key. While the car is carrying out the semi-automated manoeuvre, the driver watches out for obstacles.
Launched in South Africa in January 2016, the new BMW 7 Series has redefined what an exclusive, luxurious driving experience looks like in contemporary, pioneering form. Ground-breaking technologies in the areas of lightweight design, powertrains, chassis, operating systems, intelligent connectivity and interior ambience underline its mission to bring together unbeatable driving pleasure and long-distance comfort in a luxury sedan. Intuitive operation with touch display and BMW gesture control. In the new BMW 7 Series the iDrive operating system’s monitor comes in touch display form for the first time. This means customers will also be able to operate the system in the same way as modern electronic devices. In addition to using the Controller to control the system in familiar style, its functions can also be selected and activated by touching the screen’s surface. Another new addition to the iDrive system’s functionality is BMW gesture control, which is being introduced for the first time. Hand movements detected by a 3D sensor control infotainment functions in an extremely intuitive and user-friendly fashion. The gestures can be used for a number of functions, including controlling the volume in audio applications and accepting or rejecting incoming telephone calls. There is also the option of pairing a specific gesture with an individual choice of function. Also joining the fray is a new smartphone holder integrated into the centre console, which allows wireless, inductive charging for mobile phones for the first time in a car.
What the nap apps can really tell you about your sleep There are plenty of devices to help monitor your sleep, but are they any good?
August 17, 2016
Does that smartphone app help you get a better night’s sleep? (Photo crerdit: Shutterstock/Marcos Mesa Sam Wordley)
Did you sleep well last night? If your answer is “no”, there could be an app or a gadget that could help you with that. By Thuong Hoang and Bernd Ploderer But are they any good? Do they really monitor how much you toss and turn while trying to sleep? And can they help you improve your sleep time?
How do we track sleep? Sleep is an important part of our well-being. A few nights of bad sleep can cause negative effects on alertness, memory and your mood throughout the day.
There are three types of devices available to help you try to monitor your sleep patterns:
mobile apps
wearable devices
embedded technologies.
Mobile apps track sleep through digital diaries, such as Sleep Diary, where the user has to enter their sleeping time. Apps such as SleepBot track sleep automatically through the smartphone’s orientation sensors and microphones to check for movement and sound during the night. Wearable fitness trackers, such as Fitbit, and smart watches, such as the Samsung Galaxy Gear, also use movement and noise to track sleep. Since these devices are worn on the body, they can provide more accurate tracking than mobile apps. Sensors can be embedded in the mattresses (Luna), bed sheets (Beddit), pillows (Sense by Hello) or into devices on the bedside table (S+). These technologies track noise, light, temperature movement and heart rate to provide more accurate sleep data.
How good are they? With a range of devices to choose from, how do you decide which one is the best for your needs? We looked for answers by collecting 1,152 posts from 287 users talking about their experiences with sleep tracking technology, in five online forums (BulletProof Sleep, Lifehacker, Connectedly, Gizmodo and Quantified Self). Here’s what we found. Understanding sleep patterns requires consistent tracking over a long period of time to identify patterns. But more than a third of the discussion was focused on the various reasons stopping users from tracking their sleep consistently. Many users said they were not comfortable with wearing a watch or a fitness tracker to bed.
Batteries were another issue. Most fitness trackers and mobile phones are designed to be used during the day and charged overnight. People reported that they lost data overnight when their battery ran out, or they found it difficult to track when they did not have a power outlet near the bed. In our analysis many users expressed their lack of trust in the technology. We know consumer sleep trackers are not as accurate as clinical methods. Nearly all consumer devices track sleep duration and quality based on sensors that check for body movement, which is prone to errors. Some people reported that the tracker thought they were awake, when in fact they were asleep. The problem was that their device wrongly registered movement from their partner or a pet who was moving on their bed. Conversely, a common error is when users are awake and lying still but the app thinks that they are asleep. Some users tried two or more apps at the same time to get better results. But having two different sleep quality scores can make it even harder for the user to decide which technology to trust. Many users reported that the sleep tracking apps did not allow them to edit the data in the way that they wanted. Some people wanted to add entries later on or fix errors. The ability to export the data was not well supported by most technologies. This was a problem for those users who found the visualisations on the apps not very useful. They had hoped to be able to export the data to visualise it in a way that helped them to analyse the information. But without data export, this wasn’t possible. The most important issue that dominated these forums was how to make sense of sleep data. Sleep trackers present a lot of information to the users, including length, sleep time for light or deep sleep, or wake time.
But many users said they had trouble understanding the information without sleeprelated knowledge. They questioned what the sleep quality score meant, how many hours of sleep they really needed every day, and how many hours of deep sleep and REM (rapid eye movement) sleep they need. Finally, many people commented that apps lacked information on how to take action to improve sleep. Sleep tracking devices can provide people with an awareness of their sleep patterns and a possible lack of sleep. But they do not provide people with support on how they can improve their sleep. Hence one person asked what to do:
Buy a new mattress? Move to a different apartment? Work out harder?
What can be done? Clearly there are important design considerations for future sleep tracking devices arising from our findings. Fixing things such as discomfort, battery limitations and inaccurate tracking need to be a strong focus for manufacturers. Users want ownership of their data, including the ability to access, edit and export sleep data. Most importantly, users need support to help them understand how the technology works, what the data means and how to improve their sleep. It is important that whatever device we take with us to bed should help us sleep well rather than disrupt our sleep.
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Thuong Hoang, Research Fellow, Microsoft Research Centre for Social Natural User Interface,University of Melbourne and Bernd Ploderer, Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology
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This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Vodacom outsource call centre jobs to its outsourcing partner Merchants Merchants is now accountable for operating the prepaid, postpaid and enterprise customer services for Vodacom out of both their Johannesburg and Cape Town centres doubling the total staff compliment to around 1 000 people. August 17, 2016
Vodacom network infrastructure
Vodacom has decided to outsource a larger portion of its customer service to Merchants, a South African business process outsourcing (BPO) provider. By Staff Writer BPO is commonly known for call centre services outsourcing, which makes up 67% of the total industry. Merchants has been running Vodacom’s prepaid customer service for the past ten years, and recently expanded its offering to cover other areas of the business as well. Merchants announced on Thursday that it has launched a second Vodacom customer service centre in Cape Town. With the addition of this centre, Merchants is now accountable for operating the prepaid, postpaid and enterprise customer services for Vodacom out of both their Johannesburg and Cape Town centres doubling the total staff compliment to around 1 000 people. “Vodacom outsources to several partners of which Merchants is one and as a result of the significant improvement in our performance, Vodacom has decided to outsource a larger portion of their customer service to Merchants. This is a very big win for us,” to Haroon Cassim, general manager of the Vodacom account at Merchants, said in a statement. During the launch, Merchants said it exercised a great deal of care in ensuring that areas affected did not impact peoples’ jobs.
“As a responsible employer, and in line with the company’s focus on putting people and customers first, 300 jobs were transferred to Merchants during this period of exceptional growth,” said Cassim. Launched at the beginning of the year, the Cape Town contact centre staff compliment initially consisted of 300 people, but Cassim said more growth has taken place. “The Johannesburg site grew from 500 to 900 seats and I expect the Cape Town site to be the same size by the end of this year.
Ugestra Alwar, Managing Executive: Customer Care at Vodacom, said, “As South Africa’s leading mobile network, being flexible in meeting our customers’ needs is key to our success and Merchants’ ability to execute on our ambitions and contribute towards the improvement of our service, has strengthened our relationship.” Vodacom’s rival MTN announced on Wednesday that it plans to outsource some of its Call Centre facilitiesin a bid to optimise its operations and enhance customer experience. MTN said it has adopted a hybrid outsource model which will result in it retaining some call centre facilities while others are outsourced to a third party vendor. The company expects the process to be completed by September this year.
MTN to outsource its Call Centre facilities The finalization of this commercial undertaking will enable MTN to streamline its operations and focus on its core competencies, improve its ability to offer its customers a better customer value proposition and reduce operational costs. August 17, 2016
MTN's high tech store at Mall of Africa (Photo Credit: MTN)
MTN plans to outsource some of its Call Centre facilities in a bid to optimise its operations and enhance customer experience. By Staff Writer “To that end, MTN has adopted a hybrid outsource model which will result in MTN retaining some call centre facilities while others are outsourced to a third party vendor,� the company announced on Wednesday. MTN expects the process to be completed by September this year. The outsource partners have a sound financial track record and have an impeccable reputation in the call centre industry, having provided services to a number of companies in the retail, telecommunications and financial services sectors.
MTN has commenced the process of engaging with the employees and the unions regarding its plans in line with Section 197 of the Labour Relations Act. “MTN will be working very closely with all stakeholders during this process,� the company said on Wednesday. The finalization of this commercial undertaking will enable MTN to streamline its operations and focus on its core competencies, improve its ability to offer its customers a better customer value proposition and reduce operational costs.
Why the City of Jo’burg wants software developers to map street addresses Across the world, street addresses and location are used as fundamental tools for managing cities. August 17, 2016
Johannesburg_From_M2_Highway_Looking_North Wikipedia
The City of Johannesburg‘s GeoJozi Developer Challenge calls on developers aged 30 or under to help the City improve its systems of allocating and maintaining addresses across the 1,644 km2 municipality. By Staff Writer If you are a developer with an interest in apps, maps, data, urban development or cities then enter this competition which focuses on location technology. It is being run for the first time this year by the City in partnership with Wits University’s Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) and mapping software company, Esri South Africa. Across the world, street addresses and location are used as fundamental tools for managing cities. But with rapid urbanisation, local governments face increasingly complex and fast-changing urban landscapes that need to be effectively managed and to serve their residents. Marcelle Hattingh, Director of Corporate Geo-Informatics for the City of Johannesburg explains: “Street addresses specify points of service delivery. They are essential for electricity, water, refuse, sewage, emergency services, land ownership, parcel deliveries, safety and security, being able to vote and countless other critical services and functions. A street address can save a life!” Prof Barry Dwolatzky, Director of JCSE at Wits University says: “As the world becomes more digitised, more real-time data about cities is becoming available. This data can help to manage cities better and make them smarter. A street address informs us of location, and that is where Geographic Information System (GIS) comes in. It’s all about a specific position or the coordinates on earth.” Dwolatzky says that this creates exciting opportunities for creating smart cities, modern urban development and 21st century city management. The GeoJozi Challenge will be hosted in Wits University’s Tshimologong Digital Innovation Precinct in Braamfontein, the City’s newest high-tech address.
“We are calling on young Johannesburg-based software developers to work with the City to help improve the allocation, maintenance and visibility of street addresses across our City.” The winning solution will earn its creator R150 000. Second and third places are worth R100 000 and R50 000 respectively. The winning ideas may also be implemented by the City of Johannesburg. “Addresses and location are essential for the efficiency of a high functioning city. The City is calling for innovative solutions that will help the citizens realise the vital importance of street addresses and optimise the power of location,” says Hattingh. Patrick McKivergan, managing director of Esri South Africa, says: “This initiative will encourage young developers to develop their skills in location technology. As the technology partner of the GeoJozi Challenge, Esri will be providing the location platform on which the GeoJozi contestants will develop their solutions. It will consist of toolkits for the development and data on which the contestants can base their solutions for the street addresses and location issues. We are right behind the City’s efforts to create location awareness. Entrants will also receive free training and great learning opportunities.” Last year, the United Nations estimated that 71.3% of South Africa’s population will live in urban areas by 2030, nearly 80% by 2050. “This puts the need for innovative street address and location solutions into the spotlight,” says Hattingh. Developers need to register on www.geojozi.joburg by 31 August 2016.
Is Vodacom’s Vouchercloud app the king of voucher codes & deals in SA
Vouchercloud is not exclusive to Vodacom customers. The product is accessible to everyone in South Africa who has a cellphone, irrespective of network or service provider. August 17, 2016
Some of the brands listed on the Vouchercloud offering voucher codes and deals includes Puma, Nike, Levis, Plum Footwear, Converse All Stars, Guess, Soviet, Jimmy’s Killer Prawns, Groupon, Mr Price, SAA, Tristar, Travelstart, Homechoice and Zando, etc. (Photo Credit: www.snappii.com)
More than 3 million registered users now use Vouchercloud, making it one of the biggest voucher codes and deals apps in South Africa. By Gugu Lourie Vouchercloud is a geo-location enabled product that seeks out the best local deals, displays them via the mobile phone, and allows users to redeem either digital or printed vouchers at participating retailers. Ashraff Paruk, managing executive of Digital Services at Vodacom, told Techfinancials.co.za that the Vodacom’s location-based deals app now has about 3 million registered users in South Africa across all its various channels – web and app. Some of the brands listed on the Vouchercloud offering discount voucher codes and deals includes Puma, Nike, Levis, Plum Footwear, Converse All Stars, Guess, Soviet,
Jimmy’s Killer Prawns, Groupon, Mr Price, SAA, Tristar, Travelstart, Homechoice and Zando, etc. Vouchercloud is not exclusive to Vodacom customers. The product is accessible to everyone in South Africa who has a cellphone, irrespective of network or service provider. Paruk said Vodacom was happy with the performance of Vouchercloud app in South Africa. “Although we are continuously looking at improving the service and offerings, the existing performance is in line with our initial expectations,” he said. More and more, online shoppers are seeking that elusive giveaway, that’s going to save cash in these tough economic times of high interest rates and unstable petrol prices, even higher costs of buying data from mobile phone operators. Vouchercloud seems to have found the formula to entice more customers on its platform. Paruk said more that 1,5 million users have specifically downloaded the Vouchercloud app. He added that about 2,5 million unique visitors access the Vouchercloud website.. The app is free and available on iTunes, Blackberry App World and Google Play. There is no monthly subscription fee for consumers to use Vouchercloud. The app has provided more than 3 million redemptions since its launch. Asked whether Vodacom was planning to extend the availability of the app to its Africa operations, Parkuk said: “There are currently no firm plans to roll out the service to other operations.” Previously, one of the most taxing tasks for buyers was buying groceries and waiting in long queues for their turn to make payments. Currently UK and Australia are the most
rapidly growing markets for online grocery shopping. Budding markets like Brazil, Saudi Arabia, South Africa are also catching up with this trend. Last November, FNB leveraged its partnerships with various retailers allowing it to offer electronic vouchers on the FNB Banking App. Electronic Vouchers available on the FNB App include Makro, Nu Metro, Ster Kinekor, Supa Quick, iTunes and Mr Price, with more partners being added to the platform soon. All purchased vouchers are stored within the FNB App, and can be redeemed in store simply by presenting the voucher code to the cashier at the point of purchase. Discounted vouchers from selected retailers will also be available on the FNB Banking App. Discounted vouchers unlock great value to eBucks customers, delivering up to 40% in savings when paying with eBucks. In February SnapnSave, the free mobile and web app that provides shoppers with a unique and easy way to make their hard earned Rands go further, entered the South African market. According to a recent study, 13% of smartphone users in South Africa have already used a mobile coupon, with this number estimated to grow to 50% in the next two years. While last year March, International Coupons Group – which operates in Poland, Norway and Turkey – announced the launch of a new site on the South Africa’s market. Picodi.co.za already provide South African online shoppers with free online promotions and vouchers to help them save money when shopping online. Clearly, this is a competitive and contestable market.
Business mogul Andile Ngcaba says Convergence
wants to invest more on ICT platforms August 17, 2016
Andile Ngcaba, Chairman, Convergence Partners (Photo Credit: Convergence Partners)
South Africa’s business mogul Andile Ngcaba, the chairman and the majority shareholder of the ICT (Information Communications and Technologies) specialist investor Convergence Partners, travels the globe in hot pursuit of the best startups to invest in as part of his company’s growth plans. By Gugu Lourie Convergence’s goal is to invest in high-growth ICT platforms with global ambitions, Ngcaba laid out the investment firm’s ambitions during an interview with Techfinancials, which took place at Sci-Bono Discovery Centre in Johannesburg’s Newtown area.
To be able to achieve its objective, Convergence will have to scout for new startups. There are many startups emerging from the African continent focusing on ICT platforms that Convergence could bet on, but many may not survive long enough to transform the technology world. But Ngcaba is a tech trooper with close to 40 years experience and he is backing Convergence to find and invest in new, exciting startups in Africa. This year Convergence celebrates 10 years in business. The success of the company can be attributed to the steady hands of Ngcaba, and the dependable founding partner and CEO Brandon Doyle – who avoids the spotlight. The company has clearly benefited from the prudent and thoughtful number cruncher, Stefan Ferreira, the chief financial officer and founding partner of Convergence. Ngcaba is evidently a keen tech startups hunter. Apart from seeking growth for Convergence, he also wants to help these startups to transform Africa to be the place to do business. His intervention will help them to export their technology solutions globally. “You can see our track record. But the question today, as we celebrate our 10 years, where are we going next?” asks Ngcaba. “We are getting into what is called ICT platforms now. As you can see, (tech) platform is becoming something that we are looking at very closely.” Convergence is not bluffing and in recent weeks it really showed the market how serious it is about its strategy. The firm pumped millions into a South African-based tech platform startup that is already playing in a global space. Convergence spent $1 million (R15 million) on a tech platform operator Snapt, which has 10,000 customers in 50 countries. After opening its US office in Atlanta, Snapt is targeting to capture 1 percent share of the $6.5 billion application delivery software market within the next three years. Cape Town-
based Snapt is a global provider of high-end virtualized and cloud-based load balancing, web acceleration and security software. For more read: Businessman Andile Ngcaba’s firm Convergence pumps millions into SA’s start-up Snapt “In (ICT) platforms, you are able to put in a lot of services that provide services to different types of industries,” Ngcaba explained. Technology platform is a group of technologies that are used as a base upon which other applications, processes or technologies are developed. “We are really saying the next growth is in a platform layer and that’s where Convergence is going to play a meaningful role in the industry,” said Ngcaba. In July 2015, Convergence raised $200 million (about R3 billion) fund, which it has been using to bet on new ICT platforms and other tech firms. The firm became an anchor investors in 4Di Capital Early Stage Technology Fund 1, which targets startup investment opportunities in the mobile, enterprise software and web sectors. 4Di Capital manages Convergence’s early-stage portfolio in Integrat, Bloodhound and Skillpod, which the investment firm exited. Ngcaba said Convergence was thrilled with its investment in 4Di Capital. “We are excited with the leadership of 4Di and the type of things they do,” he said. Furthermore, 4Di received a R256 million in initial commitments for a new technology venture capital fund. The major investor in the fund is Exponential Ventures, the externally focused innovation unit of JSE listed insurance group MMI Holdings. For more read: 4Di announces first close of R256m for new technology venture capital fund 4Di is also invested in South Africa’s health informatics firm LifeQ, which recently teamed up with Nasdaq-listed Analog Devices to improve effectiveness of body monitoring devices in health management.
LifeQ has set out to catalyse a change in how we understand and optimise our health. Championed by computational systems biologists, LifeQ sees the human body as the ultimate sensor. Ngcaba said the “good thing about ICT platform type technologies is that you can scale them up globally. You can build a company in Cape Town and scale it up to many countries as possible”. Brandon Doyle, Convergence Partners CEO The investment firm also invested R255 million into buying a strategic, minority stake in Venture Gardens, a Nigerian diversified fintech entity that provide innovative, data-driven, end-to-end technology platforms addressing reconciliation and payment processing inefficiencies across multiple industry verticals. “The injection of substantial new equity capital into Venture Gardens Nigeria will enable the company to accelerate its growth plans domestically in Nigeria, and across the West African region,” Doyle said in August when the deal was announced. Convergence, whose first big tech investment was a 15.1% stake in the country’s fixedline telephone firm Telkom, in recent years has also invested in the first ever African private sector communications satellite New Dawn, first independent and open access national fibre network in South Africa FibreCo, first independent-led undersea system for Africa Seacom. It also invested in Gemalto SA, inQuba, etc. These and other assets are propelling Convergence into the league of big tech investors and is likely to compete for investments in Africa’s new startups with Naspers Ventures, owned by global group Naspers, which is also targeting emerging markets new startups and has also set up an office in Silicon Valley.
Convergence has exited its investment in South Africa’s Telkom, Vodacom, SkillPod Media, Nedbank, New Dawn Satellite, Integrat, Britehouse Holdings, Inala Technologies and a managed technology firm Bloodhound.
The investment firm is also invested in e4, Comsol Wireless Solutions, IS Mozambique, Skyband Malawi, VBN Botswana, etc. “Convergence is 10 years old now, and as we celebrate our 10 years we are really proud of what we have done. You can see our track record,” said Ngcaba. Convergence’s rapid growth in assets is a tribute to Ngcaba, who in 2003 left the government department of communications where he was director general to become the executive chairman of tech firm Dimension Data Middle East and Africa. He has overseen remarkable growth of the once JSE-listed biggest tech firm into new markets as well as new investments. Ngcaba has grown through the ranks from being a Phillips technician to become a business manager. He is now an industry stalwart who is not only concerned about pursuing big deals but also mentoring, empowering and training young South Africans into acquiring ICT skills. Ngcaba – who grew up in Duncan Village in East London and came to Soweto in the late seventies as a migrant labour – wields vast economic clout in the technology sector and through FibreCo is training fibre technicians for the local market as part of his desire for innovation in ICT sector on the African continent. For more read: SA’s FibreCo upskill unemployed youth to be fire technicians
He’s a workaholic. He juggles dozens of projects and regards them as his passion not work. He travels all over the world as a Dimension Data, Convergence, FibreCo and Wi-Fi Forum SA chairman, and sits on the Panel on Global Internet Cooperation and Governance Mechanisms. Ngcaba has also written extensively about the ICT industry and run his own blog – andile.co.za. That said, Ngcaba has slowly built Convergence to become a ‘mysterious investment empire’ building startups. Meanwhile, the firm is still on the hunt for investment deals. It wants to invest more into ICT platforms with ambitions to grow globally. What will Ngcaba and his partners will do with Convergence over the long-term is still up in the air. Whether it will consider a JSE or Nasdaq listing, is anyone’s guess. For now, the firm is quietly changing the face of the tech industry in Africa.
Why is the smartphone integrated into the vehicle’s onboard system is disrupting the car industry? Vodacom, MTN lead the pack in seeking new revenues in connected cars. August 4, 2016
BMW i8 Interior (Photoc Credit: BMW)
The digital technology is disrupting the car manufacturing industry and at the centre of it all is a smartphone’s data channel, SIM card and cellular radio integrated into the vehicle’s onboard system. By Gugu Lourie The digital technology is changing the way we look at a vehicle. The global connected car market will be worth €39 billion (R607 billion) in 2018 up from €13 billion (R202 billion) in 2012, according to new forecasts from research firm SBD and the GSMA. The report titled Connected Car Forecast predicts that over the next five years, there will be an almost sevenfold increase in the number of new cars equipped with factory-fitted mobile connectivity designed to meet demand among regulators and consumers for safety and security features, as well as infotainment and navigation services. This point is reinforced and driven home by Dieter May, senior vice president Digital Services and Business Models at the BMW Group, who said last week on Friday that over the coming years, digitalisation is set to have a substantial impact on how we use
our cars: ‘Digital services will emerge that connect us fully with our personal world, no matter whether we’re out on the road or at home. “The car will be transformed into a smart device – intelligently connected, seamlessly integrated and perfectly tuned to the individual needs of each and every user.” Starting in September, users in the USA will also be able to access BMW Connected via an Alexa skill for Amazon Echo, enabling them to get vehicle status like remaining range and execute remote commands like ‘door lock’, all through voice interaction. (Photo Credit: BMW South Africa) No wonder why South Africa’s two biggest mobile phone operators – Vodacom and MTN – are battling to increase their market share of the connected car market as part of their diversification strategy. They recognise that in the connected world of Internet of Things (IoT) where devices are linked by machine-2-machine (M2M) SIM cards, the connected car offers opportunities for expanding their dwindling voice revenue streams. Some would argue that both Vodacom and MTN are making enough money through diversification to mobile data. But the fact is operators are not keeping up with the fast growth in data consumption, and they are left licking their wounds as subscribers’ seek value added services from platforms owned by Over-The-Top (OTTs) players such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram. Vodacom and MTN are serious about developing their capabilities in the connected car. It seems both operators are intent on building or buying their IoT expertise that is relevant to ensuring a connected car and vertical (such as telematics) markets flourishes in our country. In June 2014, for example, Vodacom and BMW SA signed a partnership for ConnectedDrive services which made provision for SIM connectivity as a standard on
vehicles produced from July 2014. Utilising a Vodacom SIM card embedded in the BMW car, ConnectedDrive provides a wide range of intelligent services and apps. Tony Smallwood, executive head at Vodacom for business development in Machine-toMachine (M2M) and Vertical Industries, told Techfinancials that the mobile phone operator is considering Internet-in-the-Car service offering. While, rival MTN sees the provision of SIM cards and modems in the automotive industry as core of any telecom’s business. “MTN is working with car manufacturers to assist them to differentiate themselves in the market through the value they create to their end customer,” Alpheus Mangale: Chief Enterprise Business Officer, MTN SA, told Techfinancials. Automobile industry is a low hanging fruit It is no wonder why Vodacom and MTN are targeting the connected cars industry as one of the next big growth opportunities. “The proliferation of connected devices is giving rise to the IoT and emerging technologies will enable users to remain connected through a variety of devices in any environment. The automobile is low hanging fruit in the IoT market as these machines are already laden with sensors and human to machine interfaces,” explains Peter Crocker in a recent note titled: The In-Car App Experience: Convergence and Integration. This explains why both Vodacom and MTN are beefing up their IoT capabilities. Underscoring Vodacom’s determination to be a big player in connected cars and across other verticals is the telco’s move to increase its shareholding to 100% in IoT player XLink Communications. The acquisition of XLink is a big leap for Vodacom into IoT but its parent company Vodafone is already a big player in this space. MTN is innovative in the space. It has developed a Pan African IoT platform, offering African enterprises with greater control and advanced management features for their connected devices and SIM cards.
There is no doubt that there are rich pickings to be had from the connected car industry. The growth in-vehicle connectivity and smartphone integration platforms in connected cars provides enormous opportunities for the likes of Vodacom and MTN and its smaller rivals if they can build their M2M capability. One may ask why mobile phone operators are moving into the auto industry. It is part of the convergence of technologies and the drive to seek new revenue streams. What’s exciting about this move is that telcos such as Vodacom and MTN are not a threat to the car makers, but are a complementary fit. What’s also interesting is that telcos have for years quietly played a big role in the telematics space dominated by Mix Telematics, Cartrack, etc. MTN seems to have been a leader in this space. BMW Connected (Photo Credit: BMW South Africa) Using a bottom-up methodology, research firm SBD forecasts that almost 36 million new cars will be shipped globally with embedded telematics by 2018, which is the equivalent of 31% of the total number of cars shipped in that year. That compares with 5.4 million in 2012. An embedded solution is defined as a system, such as BMW ConnectedDrive and GM Onstar, in which both the connectivity and the intelligence are embedded into the car. Mangale said that according to independent research MTN still enjoys a majority share of the telemetry market. “MTN has maintained this position through close relationships and understanding of the customer needs. We are continually innovating product offerings to meet and exceed customer requirements.” He added that MTN was working on connected fleet (rental car, public transport, and logistics verticals) to not only create innovation for the sake of it, but to deliver solutions
that will bring greater business innovation, public safety, interaction and real-time operational visibility of high value assets in transit. The connected car and telemetry may assist telcos to create a new business model to help them diversify their income. The smartphone in the car is an inevitable reality, says Crocker in a recent note, adding that: “An independent wireless connection between the car and the internet is an important competitive asset. Car companies need to work with wireless operators to create attractive service plans for users. Potential models might include bundling connectivity services with maintenance or anti-theft services. Car manufacturers should own safety. Safety features are important factors influencing car purchases and a core competency of OEMs.� SBD and the GSMA are confident that the connected car market is on the cusp of rapid growth. Their research shows that automakers are gearing up to meet the strong demand for a wide range of telematics and infotainment services both from regulators and from drivers Who will lead the pack in this space – Vodacom or MTN?
Know your business rivals: Why MTN is recruiting bankers as executives Imagine, MTN led by Shuter and Van Coller, making a bold bid to buy Barclays Africa assets. July 7, 2016
Gugu Lourie
Under its durable chairman MTN has quietly wormed its way back into the hearts of critics. Now the South Africanbased mobile phone behemoth cannot be ignored.By Gugu Lourie A few months ago, Phuthuma Nhleko came back to the helm of the troubled firm as an executive chairman with only one goal – to sort out the Nigeria fine debacle which culminated in the departure of then MTN CEO Sifiso Dabengwa. Dabengwa resigned when MTN was slapped with a $5.2 billion fine by the Nigerian authorities for failing to register subscribers. MTN’s biggest investor, state-owned fund manager thePublic Investment Corporation (PIC), also questioned the role of the board led by Nhleko in events that led to the massive fine. Nhleko stood firm amid murmurs of criticism over the protracted delay by the Nigerian authorities in finalising the size of the fine. Phuthuma Nhleko, MTN’s executive chairman Furthermore, pressure for radical leadership changes seem to have hastened as MTN’s market value dropped. MTN lost its position as a biggest listed mobile phone operator to rival Vodacom. Yet now the position seems to have drastically changed. MTN has agreed a
settlement fee of $1.2 billion (330 billion naira) with the Nigerian authorities and has begun paying the fine. Nhleko has rejigged the company’s board to bring in fresh blood. He will also stand down as chairman in two and a half years. MTN shares have risen 7.52% in the past 30 days, giving it a R257 billion market cap versus Vodacom’s R242 billion market value. Nhleko has also replaced top leadership and enticed former Vodafone Europe head Rob Shuter to be the CEO of the cellphone giant. He has also secured the services of Steve van Coller as MTN’s vice president of strategy and mergers and acquisitions. Van Coller is the current CEO: Corporate and Investment Banking at Barclays Africa and is a banker of note. Shuter is also an astute ex-banker after working for both Standard Bank and Nedbank. These appointments signal a strategic shift for MTN. Rob Shuter, incoming CEO of MTN Group They point to a move to tackle fintech head-on. Fintech, also known as Financial technology, is an economic industry composed of firms that use technology to make financial services more efficient. It is likely that MTN could aggressively pursue the fintech strategy by acquiring start-ups, which are also on the radar screens of the banking firms. To exemplify, Rainfin– a Cape Town-based P2P (peer-to-peer) platform which is the largest in South Africa and focuses on SMEs – is lending more than one million rand per day and is backed by Barclays. South Africa’s popular Snapscan – a cashless, cardless payment app – is backed by Standard Bank.
The mushrooming of new and successful fintech companies on the African continent can be directly linked to innovations that meet the needs of historically under-serviced market – the unbanked. A move to provide a new suite of banking alternatives would enable MTN to ignite its network with financial content and justified its investment in expensive infrastructure networks. Both van Coller, the incoming-chief boss of strategy and M&A, and big boss, in-waiting , Steve van Coller, MTN’s vice president of strategy and mergers and acquisitions Shuter could emulate Nhleko’s previous success record of making MTN the biggest mobile operator in Africa and Middle East after he snapped up strategic assets and invested in so-called risky markets such as Iran and Nigeria. A deal to buy Barclays Africa assets would also make sense Both have a great opportunity to help MTN conquer the fintech market with their vast banking skills. They could pull a coup if are prepared to be shrewd dealmakers. Imagine, MTN led by Shuter and Van Coller, making a bold bid to buy Barclays Africa assets. It might seem far-fetched and ridiculous – but an MTN bank with operations in 14 African countries including Nigeria, Ghana and Egypt would shake up both the cellular and financial services industries. If this were to happen, MTN would be miles ahead of its new rivals – the banks.
Such a move would be regarded as a direct challenge to Africa’s financial services sector. Such a bold step will help MTN recoup the more than R80 billion in market value that vanished when it was fined by Nigeria in December 2015. However, there is nothing new in the convergence of banking and cellular solutions. The cellphone is already functioning as a virtual bank. MTN has been playing a big role in ensuring that those excluded from the banking sector across the African continent have access to cash or credit equivalents. MTN operates in one of the largest areas of unbanked and under-banked people in the world, making a bid for Barclays Africa a compelling opportunity. MTN’s mobile money solution enables 34 million people across its Africa operations to perform money transfers, make utility payments, pay for bus and public transport services, purchase airtime, buy micro insurance, pay school fees and television subscriptions, make bank deposits, pay for fuel, etc. MTN’s mobile money service proves the mobile phone operator is capable of providing financial content to its customers. If such a deal was to be made, Barclays Africa assets owned by MTN would fast-track the mobile phone operator’s fintech strategy. It would be a perfect fit given MTN’s ecommerce commitments. It would also enable MTN to move beyond commodity voice services and differentiate its MTN Nigeria has been hit with a giant fine for failing to comply with the country’s regulations. Reuters/George Esiri
products, which could assist it to attract and retain more customers. MTN could then compete for millennial customers with the banks. The assets of Barclays Africa would help enhance trust among fintech startups that partner with MTN. MTN has proven itself in the past on integrating bigger assets. In 2006, MTN spent $5.5 billion (R81.2 billion) to buy Dubai-listed Investcom in a deal that helped the South African-based telco to be the biggest mobile operator in Africa and the Middle East. So will MTN ever consider buying Barclays Africa assets or any other bank in the continent? We will only find out when Shuter and van Coller have settled at MTN. An alternative would be for MTN to build its own fintech solutions, however, this would be very costly, besides the trend is for fintech startups to partner with banks rather than telcos. Shuter and van Coller and the entire new management team at MTN could also surprise the market with other innovative moves to reinvigorate the mobile operator. But if both of them use their banking experience to challenge the financial services sector through fintech strategy – maybe MTN will once again be the biggest mobile phone operator in Africa and Middle East. If that happens the Nigerian debacle could be the dropped call that gave the mobile phone company time to recharge.
MTN dumps Afrihost after few months of marriage June 24, 2016
Back in 2014, MTN – South Africa’s second biggest mobile phone operator – shelled out R408 million to buy 50% (plus one share) of the internet service provider Afrihost. Everyone literally swept this deal under the carpet. By Gugu Lourie Now, MTN is planning to dispose of its 50.02% shareholding in Afrihost. The company says this is in line with its strategy of focusing on core business and pursuing opportunities in relevant adjacent businesses.
MTN claims that evolving market circumstances have resulted in it reviewing its ownership in Afrihost. As a result, MTN has agreed to dispose of its shareholding to the executive management of Afrihost. But while circumstances have changed, it doesn’t position MTN well in its diversification strategy as Afrihost was meant to add scale to the mobile phone operator’s online ICT service offering that is focused on the consumer and small and medium enterprise market. MTN was also expecting to leverage off Afrihost’s strong customer service, value proposition and agility, thereby boosting MTN South Africa’s presence in the SME, Corporate/Consumer and Connected Home segments. However, MTN’s decision to walk away from Afrihost is likely to hurt its growth strategy into adjacent markets through acquisitions and its local business that has been hard hit by tough competition from rivals. Mteto Nyati, CEO of MTN South Africa
That said, Mteto Nyati, MTN SA CEO, on Friday justified the company’s exiting its majority stake in Afrihost saying “the disposal will allow both parties to focus their attention on their core businesses”. Nyati added that the deal is in line with MTN’s strategy of focusing on core business while exploring relevant adjacent growth opportunities. “The conclusion of this transaction will go a long way towards streamlining our operations” he said. Gian Visser, Afrihost’s CEO, said the ISP have enjoyed a long and fruitful partnership with MTN over the years.
“We are grateful for everything they have done for us. MTN will remain a key supplier of ours, and we look forward to continue working with them for the years ahead.” In line with the spirit of the agreement, MTN said it expects this development to have minimal impact on its customers. Techfinancials didn’t support this deal when it was initially announced, for more read: No to MTN, Afrihost deal.
MTN plans to set up an advanced analytics unit The new division is part of MTN’s ‘deep and fundamental strategic review’ of its operations August 5, 2016
MTN, Africa and Middle East largest mobile phone operator, is planning to establish an advanced analytics unit dedicated to support the business to drive network quality and high-speed data connectivity. By Gugu Lourie The new division is part of MTN’s ‘deep and fundamental strategic review’ of its operations and processes to ensure it is operating far more optimally given the pressure on voice revenues, evolving customer needs for high quality data and more complex and competitive market environment. “As part of the review, the following key areas will be addressed: An advanced analytics unit will be established to support the business to drive network quality and high-speed data connectivity especially in key locations with high demand, provide compelling segmented offerings to consumers and enterprises, improve customer service and increase targeted smartphone uptake,” MTN informed investors on Friday. This is part of MTN’s vision of “leading the delivery of a bold, new Digital World to our customers”. The review process is being undertaken with external assistance.
Vodacom wants to offer Internet-in-the-Car services The connected car, which is powered by M2M SIM cards, offers opportunities for mobile phone operators to diversify their revenue streams. August 2, 2016
Tony Smallwood, executive head at Vodacom for business development in Machine-toMachine (M2M) and Vertical Industries (Photo Credit: Vodacom)
Vodacom, which is owned by British mobile phone giant Vodafone, is considering providing a full-service of invehicle Internet bundles to connected car owners in the future. By Gugu Lourie Vodacom SIM cards are already powering BMW South Africa’s ConnectedDrive technology, which is designed to offer infotainment and other in-vehicle digital services for its drivers. “Internet-in-the-Car has recently been launched in several Vodafone operating companies in Europe, Tony Smallwood, executive head at Vodacom for business development in Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Vertical Industries, said. “Vodacom is considering a similar service offering.” In February 2016, AT&T and Vodafone announced that they are supporting the introduction of OnStar’s connected service for Opel and Vauxhall OnStar in select European countries. In Europe, OnStar’s Wi-Fi 4G LTE service, enabled by Vodafone, is available in all new Opel and Vauxhall passenger vehicles. OnStar’s 4G LTE Wi-Fi connection is already available in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The car becomes a powerful, mobile hotspot giving easier access to apps and services that require a high-speed cellular connection. The hotspot will support up to 7 mobile devices. The connected car market is set for exponential growth. Gartner Research has forecast that one in five vehicles will have some form of wireless network connection by 2020, equating to more than 250 million connected vehicles in service
The connected car, which is powered by M2M SIM cards, offers opportunities for mobile phone operators to diversify their revenue streams. M2M is also known as the Internet of Things (IoT) – a concept of connecting devices to the internet ranging from refrigerators, geysers and smart electricity meters to coffee makers – in such a way that they communicate without the need of human intervention.
Vodacom bets big on Internet of Things, increase its stake to 100% in XLink With the indirect backing of Vodafone, XLink is set to be the biggest IoT player in Africa. Vodacom Business chief officer, Vuyani Jarana (Photo Credit: Vodacom Business)
Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, announced on Thursday that it has increased its stake in Internet of Things (IoT) player XLink Communications for an undisclosed amount. By Gugu Lourie The move provides Vodacom with an asset that is a big player in the most lucrative IoT space worth billions and growing fast in the rest of the African continent. M2M services are also referred to as the Internet of Things (IoT) – a concept of connecting devices – ranging from refrigerators, geysers and smart electricity meters to coffee makers – to the internet. The acquisition is notable for several reasons. Vodacom is a first African telco to own 100% of an IoT firm.
Secondly, McKinsey Global Institute predicts that the technology of machines connected to each other through the internet will create an economic impact of $2.7 tillion to $6.2 tillionr (R32.67 trillion to R74.97 trillion) annually by 2025. Vodacom is excited about its move to own XLink. “ In June we increased our shareholding in X-Link to 100%. This will enable us to execute across the full IoT value chain by developing new IoT verticals, whilst using Xlink as managed services provider,” Vodacom informed investors on Thursday. In 2007, Vodacom acquired a 35% shareholding in XLink and later upped its stake to 50.1% as a means of benefitting from opportunities in the M2M value chain. Pan African Equity Fund 1, which is a BEE partner of XLink, holds 25.1% of the business. The remaining 24.8% is owned by XLink management led by CEO Anton Leal. XLink is already making good returns. To date, XLink manages M2M solutions for more than 68 000 businesses in Africa, facilitating 35m M2M connections. M2M allows a variety of devices and machines – including utility meters, vehicle sensors, point of sales terminals, security devices, consumer electronics and many more gadgets – to talk to each other. The acquisition of XLink is a big leap for Vodacom into IoT but its parent company Vodafone is already a big player in this space. Organisations that have adopted the Internet of Things (IoT) are now spending 24 percent of their IT budget on IoT-related projects, a figure comparable to the amount spent on each of cloud and hosting, analytics, and mobility, according to Vodafone’s 2016 IoT Barometer. XLink is likely to be housed in Vodacom Enterprise unit led by Vuyani Jarana. The enterprise service revenue was up 11.6% and contributes 24.4% to South Africa service revenue in the quarter to end June 30.
Vodacom said mobile customer revenue was up 9.5% and fixed-line and business managed services increased by 22.6%. “The growth in fixed-line and business managed services has primarily been driven by our IPVPN (Internet protocol virtual private network) and cloud and hosting services as enterprises begin to migrate to the cloud at an accelerated rate. Internet of Things (IoT) connections increased 30.6% to 2.5 million,” the company said. With the indirect backing of Vodafone, XLink is set to be the biggest IoT player in Africa.
Vodacom, MTN wants to turn your car into a ‘smartphone on wheels’ Seeking new revenues, SA’s mobile phone operators’ eyes connected car August 1, 2016
BMW Connected – the personalised digital mobility companion from BMW. ‘smartphone on wheels’ (Photo Credit: BMW South Africa)
Vodacom, South Africa’s biggest mobile phone operator, and its main rival MTN are increasing their participation in the Internet of Things (IoT) space with a growing interest in the connected vehicle industry that is integrating with the smartphone. By Gugu Lourie The connected car space is very lucrative. Ralph de la Vega, AT&T Mobility’s president, once described the changes brought by the smartphone onto the car industry, succinctly saying: “The car is becoming a smartphone on wheels”. By 2020, independent research firm SNS estimates that connected car services will account for nearly $40 billion (R556 billion) in annual revenue.
It will be driven by a host of applications, including but not limited to infotainment, navigation, fleet management, remote diagnostics, automatic crash notification, enhanced safety, UBI (Usage Based Insurance), traffic management and even autonomous driving. Mobile phone operators are anticipating a surge in demand for their services in this connected car industry. Vodacom and MTN are targeting growth in the connected car industry and have already made inroads and looking for new opportunities. They are keen to leverage the smartphone innate connectivity when used in the car environment. The parent company of Vodacom, British mobile phone giant Vodafone is already playing a vital role in the connected car environment. Vodafone IoT has managed to secure significant IoT managed connectivity contracts with several global original equipment manufacturer (OEMs) where the Vodafone global data service platform service offering has been a differentiator for Vodafone against other mobile network operators. In June 2014, Vodacom and BMW SA signed a partnership for ConnectedDrive services and SIM connectivity as a standard on vehicles produced from July 2014 onwards. Tony Smallwood, executive head at Vodacom for business development in Machine-toMachine (M2M) and Vertical Industries (Photo Credit: Vodacom) Using a Vodacom SIM card embedded in the BMW car, ConnectedDrive provides a wide range of intelligent services and apps. BMW drivers can also book other optional services and apps from BMW ConnectedDrive such as concierge services, internet or real-time traffic information, while remote services lets you control your car through your smartphone.
As stiff competition and regulation slow growth in their core markets, we asked Vodacom if it’s planning to provide a full-service of in-vehicle Internet bundles to BMW car owners in the future. “Internet-in-the-Car has recently been launched in several Vodafone operating companies in Europe. Vodacom is considering a similar service offering,” Tony Smallwood, executive head at Vodacom for business development in Machine-toMachine (M2M) and Vertical Industries, told Techfinancials.co.za in an email response. He wouldn’t elaborate on Vodacom’s plans. Asked whether Vodacom regards connected car industry as part of its diversification strategy for revenues, he said: “Yes, IoT is regarded as one of Vodacom’s strategic growth engines.” Smallwood added that Vodafone and Vodacom provide similar IoT services to a number of existing OEM’s and have tight partnerships with OEM’s in their connected vehicle strategies. “Vodafone Automotive supplies more connected car services for more models, from more manufacturers, in more countries than any other supplier.” Vodacom’s rival MTN also wants to stake a big claim in the IoT space. “MTN sees the provision of SIM cards and modems in the automotive industry as core of any telecom’s business,” Alpheus Mangale: Chief Enterprise Business Officer, MTN SA, told Techfinancials.co.za. “MTN regards the automative sector as a market that was previously not addressed, and to that end, MTN is working with car manufacturers to assist them to differentiate themselves in the market through the value they create to their end customer.” MTN has already came up with various innovations to entice South African companies to embrace IoT.
The telco is developing an African IoT ecosystem. In 2015, MTN Business launched the first truly Pan African IoT platform, offering African enterprises with greater control and advanced management features for their connected devices and SIM cards. It also offer customers Mind2Challenge that provides developers, including students, graduates and small enterprises, with a unique opportunity to participate in MTN’s Pan Alpheus Mangale, MTN Business SA Chief Enterprise Business Officer (Photo Credit: MTN Business) African IoT ecosystem and community. “MTN is working on connected fleet (rental car, public transport, and logistics verticals) to not only create innovation for the sake of it, but to deliver solutions that will bring greater business innovation, public safety, interaction and real-time operational visibility of high value assets in transit,” said Mangale, adding that the core of this business is based on services that MTN Business has been providing since inception. MTN Business seeks to comprehensively address this market with bespoke services tailored for both the automaker and the end user of the vehicle. “The connectivity that MTN Business will provide will be primarily for telemetry services that include, among others, diagnostics, tracking and communication that are required by the car. This includes any value added services such as concierge services, data bundles, content services, traffic and data feeds that is available in the car. The customer, who is the end user, will benefit from usage of the connected services. Furthermore, MTN is partnering with the tracking companies to build joint value propositions to the connected automotive,” he said. Additionally, both MTN and Vodacom are competing to provide innovative telemetry services using their SIM cards.
According to Frost & Sullivan, South Africa’s vehicle telematics will grow at a yearly rate of 12.5% from 2014 to 2021, with the telematics market penetration projected to reach 17% by 2018. Mangale said: “MTN is working on connected fleet (rental car, public transport, and logistics verticals) to not only create innovation for the sake of it, but to deliver solutions that will bring greater business innovation, public safety, interaction and real-time operational visibility of high value assets in transit.” But which of the local telcos is best positioned in the space for connected cars? Is it Vodacom with the backing of Vodafone through its IoT operating division or is it MTN through its local innovation and its extensive footprint across Africa.
SA’s Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko isn’t declaring victory yet, but he is targeting pole position June 8, 2016
Gugu Lourie
From near death, Telkom – the country’s fixed-line telephone giant that was on life support for years – finally seems to have recovered enough to be ready to call its main shareholder and others to inform them that it is raring to go. By Gugu Lourie Sounds ridiculous … right?
In the past three years market pundits claimed that Telkom being a partially state-owned entity would always be subject to SA Government interference. The sentiments persisted even after Sipho Maseko was appointed Telkom boss in 2013. But since then Maseko has bucked the trend and confounded Telkom’s critics and put the company on a profit trajectory. The company on Monday rewarded investors with second dividend to thank them for their patience while the business was being fixed. Telkom declared a 270 cents dividend, up by 10% for the financial year to end-March 2016 compared to 2015. For the full year, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was up 16% to R11 billion and operating revenue rose by 14% to R37 billion. Clearly Maseko and his team of executives and the board led by Jabu Mabuza, have ‘saved’ Telkom and ‘turned its fortunes around’. Maseko stabilised Telkom to a level where investors rediscovered their interest in a traditional fixed-line telephone company. Previously, Telkom had been losing revenue. Speaking at an investor and media briefing on Monday Maseko said the financial framework of Telkom was stable. This is good news for a company that has been faltering since the departure of Sizwe Nxasana in 2005. The leadership that took over from Nxasana pushed Telkom into unchartered territory, which nearly made it bankrupt. On Monday at the briefing, Maseko was at pains to state that Telkom wasn’t declaring victory yet despite posting a 15.5% rise in normalised headline earnings per share (EPS) to 658 cents in the financial year to end-March 2016. Headline EPS is South Africa’s main profit gauge.
“We are not declaring victory yet, we are stable and like Leicester City we have survived relegation,” said Maseko. Leicester City, minnows of the English Premier League, produced one of the most endearing fairytales in the history of English soccer. The season before the soccer club survived relegation. However, they lifted the lucrative premiership cup by the end of the season to the surprise of their most detractors and supporters. Sipho Maseko, Telkom CEO “What happens to Leicester City only happens in odd 100 years. For us, for sure, we know have survived relegation; how do we keep going up that league table step by step in a way that we don’t go back,” said Maseko. “That’s how we will play it. We are now five places above relegation zone and now we need to move four place up. “When we ready to win the league we will tell you that this year we will win the league and will win it, but now we are safely out of the relegation zone. “We are climbing the league table and think we have built the right building blocks and the machine have responded well. “What will be the critical enabler is the culture – behaviour and how we do things like … to lead, manage and play as a team. The cultural nervousness of the machine will probably be the most important thing,” said the Telkom boss. Maseko said Telkom was about in a good position to gain market share, considering its rivals in the telecoms sector are not doing that well. MTN was hit by massive $3.4 billion fine in Nigeria and Vodacom lost the Please Call Me court case that could cost it billions of rand.
Telkom and its executives and the board must be congratulated for not going back to the state for a bail out to rescue it while it was faltering. The state also deserve kudos for lifting its pedals on interfering with the company’s affairs when it was faltering. Hopefully, this will be a lesson for state organs that corporates similar to Telkom needs to be given independence to swim in a big sea and survive on their own. Looking at the achievements by Maseko so far and plans to ready the business for growth, I believe Telkom is on a winning trajectory considering that Telkom boss so far has delivered good medicine to a patient that was stuck in big rocks. For more read: Telkom is like a big ship stuck in the rocks Perhaps, Telkom is on a serious growth trajectory and its aims of being of top the South African telecoms market is not far-fetched. And Maseko seems to take a calculated move as he explains that “the assurance we want to give everyone is that we are very clear of what needs to be done. We are very clear of what implementations plans look like. We now have to go and really execute with precision the things we need to do.� Therefore, Telkom must invest carefully in growing its fibre business and building new products and technologies that will strengthen its business.
Is the standoff between MTN and Nigeria good for Africa? May 26, 2016
Gugu Lourie
With talks to resolve the $3.9 billion fine slapped on MTNby the Nigerian authorities stalled, some pundits are calling on MTN acting executive chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko, and his team of executives at the Fairlands-based mobile phone giant to throw in the towel. However, the broader debate should focus on whether the standoff between MTN and Nigeria is good for Africa? By Gugu Lourie At the moment, commentators in the mobile phone sector are generally allowing “gatekeepers” to control their cognitive maps. They are keeping the focus on individuals and instead of the bigger picture – which is that Africa is lagging behind in development. Despite the lapse that led to the Nigerian authorities slapping MTN with the record fine, MTN remains one of the major telco’s that is spearheading the development of the continent and vaulting Africa and the Middle East into the modern age. The question therefore should be, in whose interest is the demise of MTN in Nigeria likely to serve? MTN Nigeria has been hit with a giant fine for failing to comply with the country’s regulations. Reuters/George Esiri
Only the wonks will be happy if MTN, as an Africa and Middle East mobile phone giant, is wiped off from the list of the biggest cellphone firms in the world.
Maybe, in their myopic views, the Nigerian authorities want to prove a point that they can stand up to South African firms. Nigerians can show MTN who the “real boss” is now. It’s all well and good for the Nigerian authorities to flex their muscles and exercise their sovereignty, however this will slam the brakes on the progress of the African continent. In hindsight, Nigeria was not as harsh when global oil giant Shell was found to have collaborated in executing writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria. The oil giant settled with the Nigerian authorities and paid a meagre $15.5 million. Maybe it’s time, South Africans and Nigerians stop being business rivals – after all they are all Africans. The quicker they work together the sooner they will mutually benefit and grow their companies and economies in unison. It’s a shame the South African government has so far shied away from tackling the issue. Could it be that MTN is not important to the SA government? Or is the aloofness aimed at protecting the telco’s former chairman and now South Africa’s Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa from being seen as interfering with a market matter. Perhaps, local SA politics have rendered important assets like MTN irrelevant to the government. Why can’t South Africa President Jacob Zuma and his counterpart Muhammadu Buhari, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, show progressive leadership? Zuma and Buhari are duty bound to ensure that the MTN-Nigeria battle is resolved as quickly as possible.
It has been in the public eye for close to six months with no possibility of a solution and is not a good brand positioning of Africa’s economy. Personalising the issue to Nhleko and branding him as a “saviour” who may be able to reduce the fine is not helpful. The appointment of a new CEO for MTN might not necessarily be the panacea. Phuthuma Nhleko, MTN’s executive chairman
Furthermore, it might not be correct to blame the Nigerian authorities for delaying the solution on this dispute. That said, however, my assertion is that the standoff is not good for either MTN, South Africa, Nigeria or the rest of the continent. The more it drags on; the more the impasse plays itself the way the wonks want – a reclassified Africa – the “Dark Continent”. Granted, the rule of law must reign supreme, but an evaluation of the effects of draconian action is a prudent thing to do. Nigerian authorities must finalise the fine to be paid by MTN. The quicker they quantify the amount the better for Africa’s future and the sooner MTN can go back to fulfilling its mandate in Nigeria of providing telecommunications services to its customers. Before executive chairman Sifiso Dabengwa resigned in December, MTN was hit with the massive $5.2 billion fine – later reduced to $3.9 billion.
When Nhleko took over on a six-month contract he wanted to find a calculated compromise acceptable to all involved. He even initiated a R3.8 billion (50 billion Naira or $250 million) payment as part of the $3.9 billion settlement. This was a clear indication that MTN was prepared to engage with the Nigerian authorities and show that MTN respects the rule of law in Nigeria. If the Federal Government of Nigeria didn’t agree with the move, they shouldn’t have accepted the payment. It is disappointing that Nigeria has ‘suspended’ talks with MTN without finding an amicable solution to the dispute. That said, it is important not to brand Nigerian authorities as incapable leaders. But the protracted dispute begs the question: “Who benefits from the debacle?” Besides, is the delay in finalising the fine good for Nigeria’s investment profile? MTN Considering that Nigeria is now the biggest economy in Africa – a yardstick for assessing investment in the continent – is the confusion around the MTN fine good for Africa? These questions need urgent answers. As a possible consequence, MTN may be pressured into restructuring its leadership. MTN could end up with a global CEO with experience in running telcos in Europe and Americas, but with limited knowledge of doing business in Africa and the Middle East. This could inadvertently push MTN deeper into serious problems.
MTN should think carefully before employing a leader from outside the continent. For now, only an executive from Africa will take this company to the next level. It doesn’t matter if he is South African, Ghanaian, Nigerian or Zimbabwean, what’s important is that the person understands Africa and the Middle East and where MTN wants to go. Nhleko, who is doing a second stint at the helm of MTN, is more than capable as a chairman. If discussions around the MTN fine take any more time the delay will be comparable to the search for the Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram. Both the missing Nigerian girls and MTN fine are important for the future of Nigeria and the rest of the continent. MTN Digital World Currently, they both symbolise the lack of execution in decision making by Africa’s biggest economy. The 276 school girls were kidnapped as they were attending evening school in Chibok in the Borno State on 14 April 2014. So far only one of the more than 200 girls has been rescued. Sometimes Africans are left disadvantaged because their leaders made decisions that do not benefit their countries’ economies. MTN and the Nigerian authorities need to find each other quickly. And the South African government must enter the fray to sort out this matter for the sake of Africa’s growth. If a solution is not found soon, it would be hard to escape the conclusion that Zuma and Buhari don’t care about Africa’s Renaissance. Nonetheless the truth is, a weak MTN is not only likely to affect South Africa’s economy, but will also hit investments and jobs in various African countries. Meanwhile brand MTN and Nigeria continue to suffer immeasurable losses.
MTN needs Nigeria and Africa’s biggest economy needs the investment of the continent’s biggest mobile phone operator. A truce will be good for all involved.
MTN is shaking up its retail experience by introducing a new era of smart device shopping May 17, 2016
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MTN is raising the levels of customer experience to the retail shop experience at your nearest mall. By Gugu Lourie
Larry Annetts, Chief Consumer Officer at MTN South Africa, on Monday afternoon “let the cat out of the bag” when he said the country’s second biggest mobile phone operator had opened its first digital store. Larry Annetts, MTN’s chief consumer officer The high-tech retail store, which is designed to offer a seamless in-store customer experience, is situated at the newly opened Mall of Africa. The newly opened mall is Africa’s largest single-phase shopping centre, situated at the heart of Waterfall in Midrand, between Johannesburg and Pretoria. The digital shop is the first of many to be rolled-out in South Africa. The new shop is designed to provide customers with a seamless and pleasant experience that truly lives up to its theme “Inspire Me, Engage Me, Help Me”. However, MTN didn’t specify whether its existing retail stores will be all converted into the new high-tech stores. What’s even more amazing about this high-tech retail store is that it is set-up to offer a seamless and distinct customer experience.
The Mall of Africa store is designed in such a way that it can inspire a customer to appreciate the digital world offered by smart devices. It allows for a full engagement with the customer by allowing the store set up to demonstrate all brands from smart phones, tablets to accessories. This is critical as retail store are still the oxygen that fires up the profitability of most of the mobile phone operators in selling smart devices – tablets, phones, dongles and accessories. A bad customer experience at the coal face of the company’s brand, which is the retail store, may mean a loss of customers and revenue. Competitors such as Telkom, Vodacom and Cell C are also upping the ante on customer experience.
But their retail stores are still designed in an old fashion way that falls short of the aspired experience sought by discerning smart digital customers. MTN’s move to develop a high-tech store is part of its strategy to deliver a new, bold digital strategy to its customers in an enabling seamless environment. The high-tech store is also aimed at fostering customer loyalty. Present, new and future customers can decide for themselves if MTN is really taking their needs into consideration with the new high-tech store. Hopefully, the new high-tech stores will help MTN regain lost ground.
That said, it would be great if MTN rivals – Vodacom, Telkom and Cell C follow suite to revamp their stores. If they don’t do so, MTN will regain its edge over its rivals as it puts the customer at the centre of its customer service. However, the MTN high-tech store will be no magic bullet to attracting customers. The second-biggest mobile phone operator will need to do more than that. It has to come up with new propositions for its voice and data services to retain and entice customers. MTN might have a secret weapon in Annetts. He has managed to grow MTN Caller Tunes by partnering with local and global artists. He has managed to stabilise MTN’s proposition on data and voice products. MTN’s CEO Mteto Nyathi might have seen something in Annetts’ by tasking him to please and entice South African mobile phone customers. Maybe, the deployment of high-tech stores is the first ammunition by Annetts to position MTN as a leading operator in order to defeat Vodacom as the country’s biggest mobile phone operator. It will be interesting to watch the moves of MTN’s new Chief Consumer Officer. Maybe the consumer space for mobile phone users is about to get even more interesting. IMAGES: The high-tech retail store, which is designed to offer a seamless in-store customer experience, is situated at the newly opened Mall of Africa.
The new MTN high-tech retail store, which is designed to offer a seamless in-store customer experience, is situated at the newly opened Mall of Africa.
Naspers aims to take on Amazon, eBay on their home turf, and tackles US-based Netflix in Africa May 16, 2016
Gugu Lourie
If recent moves are anything to go by, Naspers is ready to compete with the best on the global stage. Bob van Dijk is making his boldest move yet by betting on global start-ups such as LetGo and Twiggle in an apparent effort to compete against established giants including Amazon, Craiglist and eBay on their home turf.By Gugu Lourie Van Dijk is also aggressively expanding Naspers’ internet TV services ShowMax across the African continent to defend its market against Netflix and other local players such as iROKOtv. The Dutch-born CEO of Naspers has the financial muscle to do so. Flush with cash, Naspers, which has assets that range from e-commerce to pay-TV and print media, disclosed in 2015 that it had $2 billion (R30 billion) offshore set aside for acquisitions. Van Dijk, the former vice-president and general manager of eBay Germany and Europe Emerging Markets, is banking on Naspers priority to give customers what they want. He is targeting investments opportunities in classifieds, e-tail and online payments, which are transforming ecommerce and the mobile space.
In the company’s latest annual report Van Dijk tells investors: “We are playing to win and are investing in proven business models that can become strong cash generators if executed well”. The secret is out: Naspers is a powerhouse on prowl. As part of its growth strategy, last week Naspers signaled its greater ambition to be a true global player. It announced that it has opened an office in Silicon Valley in San Francisco, aimed at tapping US technology companies for strong global growth. It also disclosed the investment of $15 million into US-based EdTech firm Brainly through Naspers Ventures. Naspers’s $100 million investment into US-based LetGo, which is being merged with Wallapop, was the company’s first substantial attempt to break into the US market. In April, the South African firm also poured $12.5 million into Israel-based digital commerce search engine Twiggle to challenge Amazon in digital commerce search. It also backed Indian online travel venture Ibibo through a $250 million investment. The growth through acquisitions and investments into strategic internet platform is to ensure that Naspers improve and diversify its revenue generation away from one big source, Tencent’s contribution. This will help Naspers deal with the market perception that it’s a one trick pony relying on Tencent. The opening of the office in San Francisco is to accelerate this move. This could also be a move to ensure that there is no single company that can manage to ogle Naspers with an intention to buy them. That said, is Naspers story slowly mimicking the erstwhile behemoth SABMiller that is being gobbled up by the Belgian brewer Anheuser-Busch Inbev in a roughly $108 billion deal.
SABMiller went on a shopping spree, making it the second biggest global brewer until it attracted an aggressive suitor in AB Inbev. Time will tell, if Naspers is following on the footsteps of SABMiller. Naspers also runs a successfully low-cost digital pay-TV, GOtv, and profitable pay-TV operator DStv in the rest of the African continent. It continues to invest immensely into both platforms to grow and defend its market share. Furthermore, mobile is transforming emerging markets faster in mature markets. The R877 billion South African firm, that began 100 years ago, is becoming a largely mobile services company in its markets of Africa & Middle East, Asia, Europe, India South East Asia, Russia and Latin America. In August 2015, Naspers launched its internet TV services ShowMax as a competitor to Netflix, the world’s biggest internet streaming services. As part of its move to grow and defend its African territory, Naspers announced last week that it has launched ShowMax in 36 countries across sub-Saharan Africa. This move is aimed at competing aggressively with Netflix on the African continent. Furthermore, Naspers is aiming to take a leading position in online classifieds and already operates in more than 40 countries. In January 2015, Naspers entered into agreements with Schibsted, Telenor and Singapore Press Holdings to establish joint classifieds business activities in Brazil, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Thailand. The group also acquired Schibsted’s Philippine classifieds business. Still these businesses need to deliver profits in order for the company to further diversify its revenues.
As a successful African story is Naspers flirting risking its image by setting up an office in the US – an up to now forbidding market for South African firms. It is said that reputation, takes years or decades to make, but it can all be lost in an instant. While Naspers is on a growth trajectory, it is unlikely anything will easily tarnish its image. But the jury is still out on whether the acquisitions and investments into start-ups are starting to diversify Naspers revenue streams. The market will get a first glimpse on this next month when the company publishes its annual financial statements.
The truth about Vodacom: Is it on autopilot slowly going nowhere? May 11, 2016
Gugu Lourie The party is over for telecoms executives in South Africa. Is Vodacom boss Shameel Joosub slowly marching towards the exit door like his counterpart at MTN Group,Sifiso Dabengwa, who resigned or was “fired” over the Nigeria $5.2 billion fine fiasco. By Gugu Lourie.
Joosub is one of the youngest CEOs in the country’s telecoms sector. He was groomed at Vodacom to take over the baton of one of the biggest mobile phone operators in Africa, which was started in South Africa in 1994. Joosub may be the youngest telecoms boss, but he is one of the veterans of the sector. He equipped himself with the necessary skills of running a global firm by learning from his predecessors, Pieter Uys and Alan Knott-Craig. The latter was largely considered as a father of the industry until the Please Call Me recent judgement ‘dented’ his ‘remarkable’ career. On April 26 South Africa’s highest legal authority, the Constitutional Court, ruled that Vodacom must compensate the inventor of the Please Call Me product after a long battle over many years. Joosub took over the hot position at Vodacom from Uys in September 2012 after a stint as Vodafone’s Spain CEO. Vodafone is a parent company of Vodacom, after buying out Telkom South Africa as a shareholder in 2008 by spending R22.5 billion to buy a 15% stake in the South African mobile phone operator. This paved the way for the listing of Vodacom on the JSE. For more read: Vodacom makes strong debut on JSE Since taking over as the boss of Vodacom or “Voda Comrade”, Joosub has managed to deal with one of the pressing challenges for the mobile phone giant; the possibility of the telco exiting one of its biggest market for voice services, the Democratic Republic of Congo. He put the plans on hold to exit the DRC and find a way for the firm to remain invested in the country. But the matter seems not to have been resolved. It remains an albatross on Vodacom’s future in the DRC and may be a threat to its value creation. (For more read: DRC businessman sues Vodacom for R200 billion.) Shameel Joosub, Vodacom CEO
Joosub also diligently led the company through the painful exercise when Vodacom took on local industry’s watchdog, ICASA, on regulations about Mobile Termination Rates (MTR) – the costs operators pay each other for users to make calls that terminate on rival networks. ICASA wanted to ensure that smaller operators such as Cell C and Telkom Mobile earn more from MTR than the more dominant players such as Vodacom and MTN. Vodacom took a R1 billion hit from the implementation of MTR. For more than three-years, Joosub has been putting out fires started by his predecessors. So far Joosub has managed to stabilise the Vodacom ship and won plaudits from industry watchers. Those early days were a success for Joosub and he deserved the accolades. However, one wonders whether its time all the market watchers smell the coffee, Joosub seems to be struggling to take Vodacom to the next level. In the past few months, Joosub growth strategy has been crumbling and shows no signs of delivering required shareholder value creation. That said, the market has rewarded Jooosub with a more than 106% rise in the share price of Vodacom in the past 5 years, giving the company a market value of more than R244 billion slightly above bigger rival MTN with a market capitalisation of R243 billion. MTN’s market cap was hit by a$5.2 billion (over R74 billion) fine imposed by the Nigerian authorities for failure to register subscribers, resulting in the telco losing R75 billion ($5.4 billion) of its market value. CEO, Dabengwa resigned, as a result, in December 2015.
Vodacom’s boss Joosub seems to have been shielded by the performance of the company’s share price and MTN’s unfortunate events. But a deeper look suggests Joosub’s growth strategy – the mobile phone vehicle – has not performed well in terms of finding new source of revenues. Vodacom Container transformed into a Base Station
Given the complex nature of the telcos business, the question is: has Joosub been on the job long enough for his performance as Vodacom boss to be assessed fairly? But Vodacom’s board, under the leadership of Peter Moyo, would be in its rights to start asking more pertinent accountability questions around the strategy being executed under the leadership of Joosub. The company is shutting down services, ignoring vertical markets such as Video-OnDemand and failing to clinch strategic deals and has recently lost a court case at the Constitutional Court of South Africa that may cost the telco billions of rand. Furthermore, Vodacom is set to be challenged in court by a businessman demanding five cents of every rand Vodacom has made from its money-spinning airtime advance product. A CEO of a mobile phone behemoth is expected to diversify revenue streams in order to continue to create shareholder value. MTN is struggling with diversification strategy but seems to be finding its feet through the ecommerce partnership with Rocket Internet. Vodacom appears also to be struggling to diversify and the only diversified operation that is doing well isVodacom Business Africa as it continues to deliver profitable solutions across the continent. Joosub has so far failed to showcase a strategy that will continue to diversify the company’s future earnings into adjacent markets.
The announcement on Monday by Vodacom that it plans to pull a plug on its mobile money service, M-Pesa in South Africa, counts as proof that his strategy is failing. Mobile money or M-Pesa was bound to fail in South Africa. Since when has Kenya and South Africa been similar in terms of their access to banking services? For more read: Vodacom abruptly pulls a plug on M-Pesa in South Africa. Importantly, Joosub is not being evaluated for one failure. The problem is that Vodacom has for the past few months failed to deliver on its diversification strategy. It wanted to deliver Fibre-to-the-Home to almost 1 million homes through acquisition of Neotel, but the deal collapsed. Joosub then tried to entice investors with the possibility of buying state-owned Broadband Infraco. But buying such an asset from the South African government would be like ‘stealing a candy from a kid’. The fact is that the South African government has no capacity to run Broadband Infraco. If Vodacom succeeds to buy Broadband Infraco it would be buying a bloated asset whose worth may be neither here nor there. One wonders that Vodacom is suffering from arrogance because of dominance of the local market, which remains profitable. But the question: is for how long as over-the-top (OTTs) companies continue to benefit from its voice revenues. That said, Vodacom failed to influence the authorities on the debate to regulate OTTs in the country. Furthermore, the Please Call Me case happened under Joosub watch even if it was a legacy case under Knott-Craig. Maybe, his legal minds have failed to advise him correctly on the matter.
I think the board of Vodacom need to start asking serious questions about where Vodacom is going in terms of diversifying its revenue. It’s really bizarre that the Moyo’s board hasn’t asked Joosub tough questions, if they haven’t done so already. Under Joosub, Vodacom has lost few executives such as Ivan Dittrich (For more read: Former Vodacom exec Ivan Dittrich reappointed as CFO of tech firm Datatec), Romeo Kumalo leaves Vodacom, Godfrey Motsa (Vodacom in legal triumph over former exec). Furthermore, Vodacom executive Herman Singh joined MTN as Group Chief Digital Officer. For the past few months, Vodacom has not displayed confidence that it will not lose value like MTN as it gets challenged by a number of shareholder issues and geo-politics. Maybe, Vodacom’s board needs to scrutinise these issues appropriately before they are faced with another issue that might destroy shareholder value. Regardless, it’s probably time for investors to carefully scrutinise Vodacom when it publishes its results on Monday next week.
Why technology makes us dishonest August 8, 2016
Social media has changed. (Photo Credit: Shutterstock)
Despite some technological safeguards, self-service checkout machines in supermarkets rely heavily on customer honesty to scan, and pay for, their shopping. It turns out however, that around a third of all customers “cheat� the machines in some way. By David Glance Although self-service checkouts can do some technological checking by having scales in the bagging area, these measures are very easy to circumvent. Shoppers will swap barcodes on items, scan more expensive vegetables or fruit as lower cost varieties, avoid scanning an item and just placing it on the floor or in an already packed bag and sometimes go to more elaborate lengths by creating their own barcodes to scan. Consumers who cheat the system tend not to consider what they are doing as stealing and do not see themselves as thieves. Criminologist Emmeline Taylor has summarised the many excuses that people use to justify their cheating the supermarkets that use self-service checkouts. Some say it is because they are hitting
back at supermarkets that are essentially bad corporations. Others justify their actions because they are being forced to do the work of a checkout person, or they have had to put up with problems in the checkout process or even that the mis-scanning of an item was a mistake or accident. The classification however assumes that people actually cheated as a consequence of this motivation rather than just conveniently excusing something that they, along with a large number of other people were doing. Nobel prize winning economist Gary Becker has proposed the “Simple Model of Rational Crime” to explain this type of behaviour. He put forward the view that people do a simple “cost-benefit analysis” of every given situation to decide whether they are going to be dishonest. In deciding whether to park illegally for example, they will weigh the benefits of free parking against the risk of getting caught and the consequences of a fine if that does, in fact, happen. What behavioural economist Dan Ariely has discovered however, is that cheating is an irrational process that a large number of us will actually do. However, this type of dishonesty is always for small amounts. Ariely calls this amount the “fudge factor”. It can be dismissed as being inconsequential in comparison to the overall amount of a transaction. This type of cheating is independent of the potential reward and the likelihood of being caught, undermining Becker’s rational model of crime. More disturbingly, in other experiments carried out by Ariely, he showed that the more you distanced the cheating from a direct connection with a financial reward, the more likely it was to happen and by a greater amount. In other words, it “abstracted” the dishonesty that the individual was engaging in. Of course, this is exactly what we do when technology is put in between people and the actions they are carrying out. In this case, using a computer to checkout our shopping rather than have a person do it for us. The distancing of the consumer in the act of interacting with the organisation makes it very easy for a great number of people to be dishonest and to not consider what they do as stealing.
This is exactly the same type of behaviour that is seen when people download movies, get around a new’s site’s firewall, or even cheat in an online test. Because this behaviour is irrational, it can be manipulated to reduce its happening. Ariely has found that if you get people to simply sign a statement saying that they will behave morally and won’t cheat, they do in fact cheat less. Just getting people to think about the ten commandments turned out to have a similar effect, regardless of whether people were religious or not. What is important with this practice however is that it needs to be done before the task is carried out and only has a limited time that its effect will last. Asking students to agree to act honestly before an online quiz is likely to be effective, whereas getting them to sign a statement after they have written an essay and attach it to their submitted work, is not. In the case of the self-service checkout systems, a simple introductory screen that asked shoppers to agree that they will be honest would likely be effective in reducing cheating at the checkout. Another way would be to have a staff member who greets every shopper as they come to the checkout and reminds them that they will be there to help if needed. These staff are trained to spot people trying to cheat the machines and will intervene if necessary, but it is not always effective. Reminding customers of a moral code prior to their use of the system is a much more inexpensive way of reaching everyone. This approach is also different from the largely ineffective warnings that films sometimes display about illegal copying being a crime. The dishonesty that shoppers are engaging in is not a rationally calculated act and so appealing to rational arguments to prevent people behaving in this way is not going to work.
David Glance, Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, University of Western Australia
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Are you ready for the jobs of the future? Automation is likely to destroy many jobs, but create new ones in their stead. We must adapt to what those new jobs will be. August 2, 2016
New jobs, such as big data doctor, might be just around the corner. (Photo Credit: Shutterstock)
The flow of reports about the impact of automation, mostly dire, continues. The latest is from StartupAUS, Australia’s national startup advocacy group. By Ron Johnston This report follows the now familiar line captured in the phrase “exponential technologies”: exponential improvements in computer power and advances in technology such as artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, cloud computing and the
internet of things will have a profound impact on future employment, with almost 5 million current jobs (that is 40% of the workforce) in Australia becoming obsolete by 2030. This follows in the footsteps of a detailed CEDA report in 2015, which conducted the modelling used by StartupAUS. Is this doomsday chatter? It is certainly true that technology has been at the heart of dramatic change and improvement in the economy over centuries. In the process, the nature of many jobs has changed dramatically. Some jobs have disappeared. Many new ones have been created. Every change has involved some level of disruption, with some receiving an advantage and others falling on hard times. So economic advance has never been without pain for some. The big question is whether we are facing more of the same, or whether the exponential technologies will usher in more dramatic changes. In considering forecasts of job losses, we need to bear in mind that they are almost always better publicised than job creation. The former tend to clump (as in the demise of the Australian car manufacturing industry), whereas the latter are more diffuse and system-generated. In the CEDA Report, Phil Ruthven has documented the loss of 146,800 jobs in the five years to June 2014, compared with the creation of 944,500 jobs over the same period. According to Bernard Salt, job creation has outstripped job loss by 10:1 since 2000. So maybe our focus should shift to the skills and conditions required for future employment.
Going solo The StartupAUS report makes two more important points. The first is that “independent work� is becoming increasingly important to our economic structure. It is changing what we think of as a job.
This is part of the trend away from workers being committed to one or few companies throughout their career. Instead, they are striking out independently as consultants, contractors, or in ad-hoc relationships with customers or clients. The growth of specialisation in companies linked with the dramatically enhanced ability, via the internet, to identify and engage with specific individual skills, regardless of physical location, is allowing far more people to become self-employed. Think of the “tradie revolution”, but applied to managers and administrators, indeed all suppliers of knowledge-based services. What will the jobs of the future be like? There are regular competitions to imagine the strangest new job titles. Try bot lobbiest, productivity counsellor, meme counsellor, big data doctor or corporate disruptor. But most of the job titles will be the same as today’s. We will still have carpenters, nurses, road repairers, even teachers. But the nature of what they do and the skills they need will have changed, just as they have over the past 20 years. The second claim is that “innovation hubs” designed to nurture and attract clusters of start-up companies are the key to addressing the threat posed by the digital technologies. Thus “developing a core of innovation jobs is critical to capturing and maximising the opportunities presented by digital transformation”. We can agree that the “start-up” phenomenon is an increasingly important part of our economy, that it is well suited as a vehicle of change via digital disruption, and that it provides a new and exciting tool to drive and achieve innovation. But it is apparent that it does not have the reach or scale required for transformation of our post-mining economy. More and better-funded innovation hubs can make a useful contribution, but much more is needed. I suggest two avenues for urgent action:
The first is reshaping our education systems towards the development of the skills required for the future. That is not just (or even) coding, although it may form an important part of digital literacy. STEM skills will also be crucial. And broader skills like intuitive pattern recognition, flexibility and tolerance of ambiguity, information sifting and evaluation, and personal resilience and agility will be important. Second is recognition by governments of their important role in preparing for and lubricating change. This could be building awareness, including new role models of work, further facilitation of new company formation and the design of a social safety net readily available to those caught up in the challenges of change.
Ron Johnston, Executive Director, Australian Centre for Innovation, University of Sydney
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
BMW i8: A Smart Sports Car for a Tech Savvy and Classy Individuals It’s a refined BMW with a same badge but with a different swag July 26, 2016 2328
What’s the best way to describe personal elegance that is tailored for your individual character? You donning that designer suit from Tiger of Sweden neatly crafted for your beautifully trimmed body? Vintage shoes, you may say. A fine-looking house in Kraaibosch Country Estate in George. Self-delusion, you may argue. A Patek Philippe timepiece, obviously, but it’s too small to be noticed and you require something that’s fast and perceptible in the streets. By Gugu Lourie While, I was pondering these questions of how to be stylish with grace; my iPhone rang and it was Lloyd Nedohe on the line. He ask me to come over to his house in Ruimsig Country Estate, a golf estate in the Johannesburg’s West Rand suburb. He is one of the most sophisticated and humble gentlemen I have met and aspire to dress like him (the day I make my first million). LLoyd was sitting in the front of his snobbish house sipping something on his trendy glass. Cheerful, wearing a custom made suit, clean shaved head, Lloyd was impressed with me coming to his house in a new BMW i8, in crystal white with blue accents.
We climbed into the BMW i8 and drive around the picturesque Ruimsig area. Arriving in Sandton at Rivonia On Deck – a business and lifestyle centre that offers a true experience of South Africa’s modern lifestyle – we were welcomed by a car guard who ushered us to park on the front of the hair salon, which is part of the Rivonia On Deck. The place is owned by prominent businessman Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie, who both introduced Jo’burgers to the famous or scandalous ZAR. After realising we were not celebrities or soccer stars, the car guard politely clipped our wings and informed us that we should be thankful to the stylish BMW i8 for being given a prime spot, which is not usually allocated for parking. The BMW i8 cuts a dramatic figure amid a coterie of sports cars (such as Audi RS8, Lamborghini, Range Rover Sports, Nissan GT-R etc.) and expensive vehicles parked in front of the Rivonia On Deck. Even Gayton’s young boys were welcoming enough to take pictures of the BMW i8, and the eldest one exclaimed, ‘this car is beautiful I must really convince my dad to buy it”. Sandton, the richest square mile in Africa, has always been an area that sets the trends and is where the wealthy showcase their new priced objects. That’s why I was surprised to see the car garnering attention at Rivonia On Deck. When I called Maphamola Lebelo, a BMW fanatic of note, to relay the attention the BMW i8 was spawning in Kunene and McKenzie’s chic place, he crisply responded: “Gugz, BMW has struck a balance between being environmentally conscious while still oozing elegance. Until now, being a tree hugger meant putt-putting around in some visually challenged junker, the BMW is a clear illustration that a distinguished gentlemen with deep pockets can still save the polar bears without having to compromise on style and swag.” A statement that embodies the accomplished vision of a modern and sustainable sports car. The BMW i8 is a sports car that is exclusive and elegant, yet also leaves up to its motto of being ‘The Most Progressive Sports Car”.
I digress. I told Maphamola will come showed him the car the next day and dropped the call, leaving him wondering whether will really come take him for a ride with the stunning BMW i8 in his Diepkloof ‘Expensive’ in Soweto. Inside the swanky Rivonia On Deck, situated at the heart of Sandton on 17 Autumn Road in Rivonia, we feasted on some good Mzansi and Nigerian food. Lloyd waxed lyrically about the potential customers of the BMW i8. What made the conversation interesting is that Lloyd wasn’t chatting about whether the car has a turbo-boost that makes the car to take off faster, but was talking about the technology qualities of the car. The car is virtually soundless when you switch-on the ignition, whispered Lloyd. I blushingly responded, “My chiff, driving a BMW i8 encouraged me to actively explore my playful side, but still kept my integrity intact. It represent style, class and a sense of real ownership of an elegant car for a discerning owner.” I added as if I was a brand ambassador of BMW, “This car touches your emotions in ways you can’t really explain”. Lloyd retorted, “It’s a car that is designed and catered for the connoisseur of the BMW brand.” I quickly listened attentively without disturbing as I realised maybe am about to be schooled by a man who favours the Mercedes Benz brand (and drive one of their elegant cars), but has secretly fallen in love with a Beemer (Thanks to BMW i8). “You, see this is a car for a niche market owners, who are seeking different kind of value in owning a sports car. This new clientele of BMW who is tech savvy and interested in having the same experience they are having on their expensive smart devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, are seeking the same easy access to data and services they are enjoying on their cool smartphones,” Lloyd explained.
I didn’t want to disturb him in his speech while promoting the BMW brand; as I realised that he has‘discovered the pure impulse’ that comes with the territory of being in a BMW i8. He loved BMW i8 combination of an electric motor and a combustion engine and said: “That’s the true convergence of technology in a car.” The BMW i8 comes with eDrive and intelligent energy management that propels the driver into the modern era of the hybrid sports car. It is also armed with all-wheel drive, which enables it to accelerate from standstill to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds. The car has a blend of high-tech that helps it protect environment and is powered by an economical hybrid drive system. It has a combination of an electric drive system for emission free driving and a BMW Twin Power Turbo engine for maximum performance. The result is a breath-taking plug-in hybrid sports car with the fuel consumption and emission of a compact vehicle. As we drive back to Ruimsig Country Estate, Lloyd wants us to take the N1 concrete highway, I knew why. Test speed of the car. However, I quickly disappointed him as my driving remained controlled and more leisurely to enjoy the car. He quickly snapped: “You are a tamed men, Gugu! Just do what the car was intended for.” I ignored him, but he continued to show his appreciation of the car as I rev to 120km/hour. “I’m amazed by the way this car fuses together high tech and ecology to create tremendous power,” argued Lloyd.
I informed him boastfully that the BMW i8 in-car app experience linked to the BMW’s iDrive with ConnectedDrive multimedia is as good as it gets. I remembered that in South Africa it is powered byVodacom SIM cards through its wider network that covers most part of the country. “The on-screen Internet access was fast and I was able to load with ease Techfinancials.co.za. I also integrated my iPhone instantly on the car. That was really stunning,” I told him. This was aimed at showing off the interoperability of the technology in the BMW i8. He was chaffed. The moment we left the N1, and joined the road to Ruimsig I was driving slowly at 70km/hour, some passengers in cars were taking videos and photos of the BMW i8 as it navigates the road. They were either in their husbands or boyfriends or girlfriend’s expensive cars, but they couldn’t resist the BMW i8 as it hugs the ground in typical BMW style as it glides along. Lloyd left me with powerful questions: Does the in-car app technology increase the value of the car? What backups does the BMW i8 in-car app technology provides if the network is off? What should you do if you are out of range of the network? After all the amusement from the drivers on our way to Ruimsig and questions from Lloyd, I went home to sleep. Still enjoying the car, in the morning, I went to see Maphamola in Diepklook with a fully charged BMW i8. As I entered Diepkloof the car solicited screaming ladies and guys who wanted to have images for their social media pages. I obliged. But it was really awkward for me as I am not an insatiable attention seeker – thanks to my parents. But I was happy that the car was given a stamp of approval and belonging by the residents of the oldest township in South Africa – Soweto. Everywhere we drove with Maphamola in Soweto; the BMW i8 was given a double clenched fist salute. To get a
clenched fist, mostly associated with struggle resistance, was as a symbol of approval of the German machine – the BMW i8. I think this could only be attributed to the monolithic appearance of the BMW i8 that lends it an extraordinary powerful stature. Maphamola loved the spectacular silhouette of the BMW i8. When we visited Maphamola’s friend, aptly called Mcgyver by his moniker, dabbles up as a specialist in old BMWs and Mercs, I quickly showed them how the comfort access really works. I locked the BMW i8 and slipped the remote control in my pocket and ask them to open the car and as expected they couldn’t access it. I thereafter went to the car to open it without activating the remote control. They didn’t believe me. We slipped the key into Maphamola’s pockets and I couldn’t open the car but he was. Maphamola’s gorgeous daughters loved the spectacular scissor doors of the BMW i8. The doors swing upwards when opened. They said the scissor doors made the car to look as if it was about to take off like an aeroplane. The BMW i8, which went on sale in South Africa in March 2015, combines the uncompromising performance of a BMW M3. Final verdict The BMW i8 it’s a fantastic car. It is available from R1.93 million in South Africa. Now I know what personal elegance is after enjoying the stylish BMW i8. So I am inviting those who can spare R2 million to try this beautiful machine and they shall be awe struck with its technology and beauty. Last year, global sales of the BMW i8 exceeded the combined figure of all other hybrid sports cars produced by other manufacturers; 5,456 units of the i8, which is powered by
the combination of a three-cylinder turbocharged engine and an electric drive system, were sold worldwide in 2015. This is a car for a tech savvy and distinguished gentleman.
BMW i8, A car for a tech savvy and distinguished gentleman (Photo Credit: Gugu Lourie) Share this:
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What’s the best way to describe personal elegance that is tailored for your individual character? You donning that designer suit from Tiger of Sweden neatly crafted for your beautifully trimmed body? Vintage shoes, you may say. A fine-looking house in Kraaibosch Country Estate in George. Self-delusion, you may argue. A Patek Philippe timepiece, obviously, but it’s too small to be noticed and you require something that’s fast and perceptible in the streets. By Gugu Lourie While, I was pondering these questions of how to be stylish with grace; my iPhone rang and it was Lloyd Nedohe on the line. He ask me to come over to his house in Ruimsig Country Estate, a golf estate in the Johannesburg’s West Rand suburb. He is one of the most sophisticated and humble gentlemen I have met and aspire to dress like him (the day I make my first million). LLoyd was sitting in the front of his snobbish house sipping something on his trendy glass. Cheerful, wearing a custom made suit, clean shaved head, Lloyd was impressed with me coming to his house in a new BMW i8, in crystal white with blue accents. We climbed into the BMW i8 and drive around the picturesque Ruimsig area. Arriving in Sandton at Rivonia On Deck – a business and lifestyle centre that offers a true experience of South Africa’s modern lifestyle – we were welcomed by a car guard who ushered us to park on the front of the hair salon, which is part of the Rivonia On Deck. The place is owned by prominent businessman Kenny Kunene and Gayton McKenzie, who both introduced Jo’burgers to the famous or scandalous ZAR.
After realising we were not celebrities or soccer stars, the car guard politely clipped our wings and informed us that we should be thankful to the stylish BMW i8 for being given a prime spot, which is not usually allocated for parking. The BMW i8 cuts a dramatic figure amid a coterie of sports cars (such as Audi RS8, Lamborghini, Range Rover Sports, Nissan GT-R etc.) and expensive vehicles parked in front of the Rivonia On Deck. Even Gayton’s young boys were welcoming enough to take pictures of the BMW i8, and the eldest one exclaimed, ‘this car is beautiful I must really convince my dad to buy it”. Sandton, the richest square mile in Africa, has always been an area that sets the trends and is where the wealthy showcase their new priced objects. That’s why I was surprised to see the car garnering attention at Rivonia On Deck. When I called Maphamola Lebelo, a BMW fanatic of note, to relay the attention the BMW i8 was spawning in Kunene and McKenzie’s chic place, he crisply responded: “Gugz, BMW has struck a balance between being environmentally conscious while still oozing elegance. Until now, being a tree hugger meant putt-putting around in some visually challenged junker, the BMW is a clear illustration that a distinguished gentlemen with deep pockets can still save the polar bears without having to compromise on style and swag.” A statement that embodies the accomplished vision of a modern and sustainable sports car.
The BMW i8 is a sports car that is exclusive and elegant, yet also leaves up to its motto of being ‘The Most Progressive Sports Car”. I digress.
I told Maphamola will come showed him the car the next day and dropped the call, leaving him wondering whether will really come take him for a ride with the stunning BMW i8 in his Diepkloof ‘Expensive’ in Soweto. Inside the swanky Rivonia On Deck, situated at the heart of Sandton on 17 Autumn Road in Rivonia, we feasted on some good Mzansi and Nigerian food. Lloyd waxed lyrically about the potential customers of the BMW i8. What made the conversation interesting is that Lloyd wasn’t chatting about whether the car has a turbo-boost that makes the car to take off faster, but was talking about the technology qualities of the car. The car is virtually soundless when you switch-on the ignition, whispered Lloyd. I blushingly responded, “My chiff, driving a BMW i8 encouraged me to actively explore my playful side, but still kept my integrity intact. It represent style, class and a sense of real ownership of an elegant car for a discerning owner.” I added as if I was a brand ambassador of BMW, “This car touches your emotions in ways you can’t really explain”. Lloyd retorted, “It’s a car that is designed and catered for the connoisseur of the BMW brand.” I quickly listened attentively without disturbing as I realised maybe am about to be schooled by a man who favours the Mercedes Benz brand (and drive one of their elegant cars), but has secretly fallen in love with a Beemer (Thanks to BMW i8). “You, see this is a car for a niche market owners, who are seeking different kind of value in owning a sports car. This new clientele of BMW who is tech savvy and interested in having the same experience they are having on their expensive smart devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, are seeking the same easy access to data and services they are enjoying on their cool smartphones,” Lloyd explained.
I didn’t want to disturb him in his speech while promoting the BMW brand; as I realised that he has‘discovered the pure impulse’ that comes with the territory of being in a BMW i8. He loved BMW i8 combination of an electric motor and a combustion engine and said: “That’s the true convergence of technology in a car.” The BMW i8 comes with eDrive and intelligent energy management that propels the driver into the modern era of the hybrid sports car. It is also armed with all-wheel drive, which enables it to accelerate from standstill to 100 km/h in 4.4 seconds. The car has a blend of high-tech that helps it protect environment and is powered by an economical hybrid drive system. It has a combination of an electric drive system for emission free driving and a BMW Twin Power Turbo engine for maximum performance. The result is a breath-taking plug-in hybrid sports car with the fuel consumption and emission of a compact vehicle. As we drive back to Ruimsig Country Estate, Lloyd wants us to take the N1 concrete highway, I knew why. Test speed of the car. However, I quickly disappointed him as my driving remained controlled and more leisurely to enjoy the car. He quickly snapped: “You are a tamed men, Gugu! Just do what the car was intended for.” I ignored him, but he continued to show his appreciation of the car as I rev to 120km/hour. “I’m amazed by the way this car fuses together high tech and ecology to create tremendous power,” argued Lloyd.
The BMW’s iDrive with ConnectedDrive multimedia is as good as it gets (Photo Credit: Gugu Lourie)
I informed him boastfully that the BMW i8 in-car app experience linked to the BMW’s iDrive with ConnectedDrive multimedia is as good as it gets. I remembered that in South Africa it is powered byVodacom SIM cards through its wider network that covers most part of the country. “The on-screen Internet access was fast and I was able to load with ease Techfinancials.co.za. I also integrated my iPhone instantly on the car. That was really stunning,” I told him. This was aimed at showing off the interoperability of the technology in the BMW i8. He was chaffed. The moment we left the N1, and joined the road to Ruimsig I was driving slowly at 70km/hour, some passengers in cars were taking videos and photos of the BMW i8 as it navigates the road. They were either in their husbands or boyfriends or girlfriend’s expensive cars, but they couldn’t resist the BMW i8 as it hugs the ground in typical BMW style as it glides along. Lloyd left me with powerful questions: Does the in-car app technology increase the value of the car? What backups does the BMW i8 in-car app technology provides if the network is off? What should you do if you are out of range of the network? After all the amusement from the drivers on our way to Ruimsig and questions from Lloyd, I went home to sleep. Still enjoying the car, in the morning, I went to see Maphamola in Diepklook with a fully charged BMW i8. As I entered Diepkloof the car solicited screaming ladies and guys who wanted to have images for their social media pages. I obliged. But it was really awkward for me as I am not an insatiable attention seeker – thanks to my parents. But I was happy that the car was given a stamp of approval and belonging by the residents of the oldest township in South Africa – Soweto. Everywhere we drove with Maphamola in Soweto; the BMW i8 was given a double clenched fist salute. To get a
clenched fist, mostly associated with struggle resistance, was as a symbol of approval of the German machine – the BMW i8. I think this could only be attributed to the monolithic appearance of the BMW i8 that lends it an extraordinary powerful stature. Maphamola loved the spectacular silhouette of the BMW i8. When we visited Maphamola’s friend, aptly called Mcgyver by his moniker, dabbles up as a specialist in old BMWs and Mercs, I quickly showed them how the comfort access really works. I locked the BMW i8 and slipped the remote control in my pocket and ask them to open the car and as expected they couldn’t access it. I thereafter went to the car to open it without activating the remote control. They didn’t believe me. We slipped the key into Maphamola’s pockets and I couldn’t open the car but he was. Maphamola’s gorgeous daughters loved the spectacular scissor doors of the BMW i8. The doors swing upwards when opened. They said the scissor doors made the car to look as if it was about to take off like an aeroplane. The BMW i8, which went on sale in South Africa in March 2015, combines the uncompromising performance of a BMW M3. Final verdict The BMW i8 it’s a fantastic car. It is available from R1.93 million in South Africa. Now I know what personal elegance is after enjoying the stylish BMW i8. So I am inviting those who can spare R2 million to try this beautiful machine and they shall be awe struck with its technology and beauty. Last year, global sales of the BMW i8 exceeded the combined figure of all other hybrid sports cars produced by other manufacturers; 5,456 units of the i8, which is powered by
the combination of a three-cylinder turbocharged engine and an electric drive system, were sold worldwide in 2015. This is a car for a tech savvy and distinguished gentleman.
BMW i8, A car for a tech savvy and distinguished gentleman (Photo Credit: Gugu Lourie) Share this: