As 2025 draws to a close, South African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) should consider pivoting from crisis management to strategic planning to navigate a landscape dominated by rising operational costs and logistical volatility. SME services provider Lula has highlighted the critical need for proactive financial and operational adjustments to ensure business resilience and protect profit margins in 2026. According to the company’s Chief Risk Officer, Garth Rossiter, the core challenge for business remains the lack of predictability in key input costs, coupled with external factors that impact cash flow and access to financing. Key cost pressures and mitigating strategies…
Author: Staff Writer
Namibia has taken over full operation of the China-Aided Satellite Ground Data Receiving Station (SGDRS), gaining its own platform for gathering and processing satellite data. The station now falls fully under Namibian control, giving the country direct access to satellite information used for government planning, scientific work and environmental monitoring. Officials from the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Youth, Sports, Arts and Culture (MEIYSAC) joined China’s Embassy in Windhoek for the signing ceremony, where Dr. Lisho Mundia and China’s Ambassador Zhao Weiping signed the Handover and Takeover Certificate and transferred full responsibility for the station to Namibia. The SGDRS includes a…
Camtel, Cameroon’s state-owned telecom operator, is gearing up to break into the mobile money arena in 2026 with Blue Money, a service the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has placed among the company’s upcoming projects. Minister Minette Libom Li Likeng confirmed the initiative, which points to Camtel’s late move into a market long shaped by MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money. Legal filings reveal that Blue Money begins its journey with CFA500 million in initial capital. The service will be steered by its appointed board chairman, Jean Marie Aimé Ottou, who is tasked with guiding the financial platform from development…
Synthesis has secured a major regional honour after being named a winner in the 2025 AWS sub-Saharan Africa Partner Awards. The recognition places the company among the most advanced cloud and AI engineering firms in the region, highlighting its ability to deliver measurable impact through sophisticated AWS architectures and disciplined execution. The awards celebrate organisations whose technical depth, innovation culture and collaborative delivery models set a benchmark for excellence across sub-Saharan Africa. Winners are chosen through a rigorous evaluation process verified by third-party analyst firm Canalys, ensuring transparency and objective assessment. A Decade of Modernisation Capability As an AWS Premier…
South Africa’s recent sanctions against Discovery Bank and eZI Remit highlight how inadequate FICA training leaves institutions exposed to fines, reputational damage, and regulatory scrutiny. The outline below, penned by Sameer Kumandan, MD of SW360, stresses that staff are the first line of defence against financial crime and outlines six practical training strategies to embed compliant behaviour, supported by automated tools like SW360’s VOCA to strengthen oversight and reduce risk. Author: Sameer Kumandan, MD of SW360 Earlier in November 2025, the South African Reserve Bank announced that it would impose administrative sanctions on two finance companies for failing to comply…
Samsung Electronics has introduced its first multi-folding smartphone, expanding its presence in a part of the mobile market where competition continues to sharpen. The new Galaxy Z TriFold strengthens Samsung’s position as Chinese manufacturers advance their own foldable devices. Analysts still warn that high prices and complex manufacturing may keep the category small for now. The TriFold costs ₩3.6 million (US$2 440) and unfolds into a 253mm display built from three connected panels. The expanded screen is roughly 25% larger than the Galaxy Z Fold7, giving Samsung a new form factor for early adopters and productivity-focused users. Positioning and Market…
Uganda’s state owned oil company has announced a significant discovery that could influence the country’s long-term energy outlook. The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) confirmed it has identified nine potential oil wells in the Kasuruban block, with early assessments indicating about 600 million barrels of recoverable crude. The Kasuruban block spans 1,285 square kilometres in the Butiaba area and was acquired by UNOC in 2023 under a production sharing agreement with the government. It is located near development projects led by TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), which are progressing the Tilenga and Kingfisher fields. Both projects…
Picture a transport hub at rush hour. Trains from different lines arrive, buses jostle for space, and passengers criss-cross between platforms. Without clear signals and coordinated timetables, the entire system grinds to a halt. For many CIOs, this image is uncomfortably close to how their multicloud environments operate. Each platform may have been chosen for valid reasons, but the lack of synchronisation leaves the business struggling with delays, inefficiencies, and missed connections. Multicloud was meant to be a route to resilience, agility, and freedom from dependency. Yet too often it creates overlapping tools, conflicting policies, and teams stretched thin trying…
Vodacom has cleared its final regulatory hurdle in the company’s long and difficult effort to acquire a 30% stake in Maziv. The deal, first signed in 2021, stalled repeatedly while regulators reviewed competition and ownership concerns. On Wednesday, Vodacom confirmed that Icasa, South Africa’s communications regulator, has approved the transaction. With every condition now met, Vodacom will implement the agreement on 1 December 2025, closing a process that drew intense industry and investor attention. The approval ends four years of legal and regulatory disputes around one of South Africa’s most consequential telecom infrastructure deals. In July, the Competition Appeal Court…
New independent data from Chainalysis and TRM Labs shows that illicit crypto activity on centralised exchanges has dropped to historic lows, signalling a new era of maturity for the industry. As of June 2025, the seven largest exchanges recorded just 0.018–0.023% of total activity linked to illicit addresses — a sharp decline from levels seen two years ago. Binance Leads at Global Level Both analytics firms found that Binance, despite processing volumes comparable to the next six exchanges combined, consistently maintains the lowest exposure to illicit funds. This performance reflects deep liquidity paired with robust compliance and monitoring. What “Direct Exposure” Means Direct…
