[South Africa Business Week] Monash South Africa is now AdvTech owned
One of the news that have made healines in South Africa's business desk this week is definitely the acquisition of Monash South Africa (MSA) by ADvTECH. Monash South Africa is a leading South African private tertiary education institution with students from more than 50 countries. This acquisition will now bring ADvTECH’s tertiary student complement to more than 40,000 full-time and 30,000 distance students. Monash South Africa has a world class education environment but it will now have to alighn itself to ADvTECH's values.
Another news that made it to the headlines of South African business sector is the opening of a South African office by China mobile international, in an event that was graced by the who is who in the South Africa and China telecom industry, as well as representatives from Chinese and African governments, enterprises and telecom operators.The main aim of the office is to strengthen cooperation through communications authorities between South Africa and China.
Still in the telecommunicaation sector, Vodacom has announced that it has invested over R270 million, approximately $17 million to primarily expand its 3G and 4G footprint in Limpopo Province. It will deploy new sites in the rural and urban areas of the province as well as performing site upgrades. The aim of his investment is to improve network capacity, expand rural coverage, enhance data speeds, reduce dropped-call rates and ensure that Vodacom continues to deliver on its ‘Best network’ promise to its customers in that province.
Samsung has arranged the Global Start-up Acceleration Programme in South Africa to mentor start-ups in various fields in order to support the sustainable growth of entrepreneurs. It did this by partnering with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and NGO Nangila.The mentors will come from Samsung’s global headquarters in South Korea, to monitor 19 start-ups in Cape Town for four days.
Another thing that happened during this week is that Raven Property Group Limited was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Main Board. This move idicates that there is still ample trust in the market and an opportunity for growth. It will also give South African investors the opportunity to participate in the long-term performance of the Group. In the same light, Sygnia shares began trading on A2X under share code SYG. The listing will provide Sygnia with an opportunity to broaden and diversify its offering in order to benefit its clients as well as spur local innovation. Sygnia is the eleventh issuer to secondary list on the exchange and it has retained its primary listing on the JSE.
In the Banking industry, Nedbank and Mastercard unveiled a payment system for South Africa businesses.The two companies have partnered to launch Qkr! (pronounced as quicker) with Masterpass, a mobile order-ahead and payment platform developed by Mastercard Labs, and Nedbank POSplus™ as part of their efforts to open up new revenue channels for merchants, so as to enable them to meet the demand of today’s connected shopper.
In South Africa's insurance world, the Hollard Insurance Group has announced a partnership with the largest inssurance group in Japan,Tokio Marine Group. Although subject to regulatory approval, Tokio Marine will acquire a 22.5% stake in Hollard South Africa and Hollard International for approximately R5 billion. This comes as good news to the Hollard Insurance Group as partnering with a major international insurance group has always been their long term goal.
In matters trade and industry, the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) and the motor industry are close to finalizing the South African Automotive Masterplan, which is expected to come into effect in January 2021 and operate until 2035. The automotive industry is a big player and contributor to the SA economy because it forms half of annual manufacturing input and increasing industrialisation through more local content and higher production volumes are integral components of the Masterplan.
This week has also seen one of the world's largest sports, technology and management companies, Global Sports Commerce (GSC), acquire a strategic stake in South African-based company, Megapro Holdings. GSC looks forward to providing support to Megapro Holdings for acceleration and enhancement of their offerings in solutions, sponsorship/rights and services into Africa.This will include digital LED signage technology, scoring software, content creation and management, in-venue fan connectivity and sponsorship measurement solutions.
