SERVICES NEWS

VODACOM, Africa’s largest cellphone company by market value, has won an estimated R5bn government contract as Treasury seeks to cut costs, according to three people familiar with the matter. read more

We live in a mobile world — everything and anything can be done with just a touch of a button on our smartphones. We can research and buy anything at any time. When on the move, it’s so much simpler to take out a phone and browse through a store app then it is to carry around a computer. Mobile apps are the newest way to stay connected and browse a retailer's inventory when on the go.  read more

Logistics is perhaps one of the industries that must adapt the most quickly with the continued and accelerated advancement of technology, especially considering that all the world's most innovative products and services require storage and transportation over great distances and within short time periods at some point. read more

Retailers are working to minimize the fallout from the bankruptcy of South Korea's Hanjin Shipping, the world’s seventh-largest ocean shipper by capacity, the National Retail Federation said Thursday. read more

Johannesburg - Imperial Holdings, the listed transport and mobility group, plans to significantly increase the size of its logistics business through acquisitions, with the majority of these acquisitions being offshore. read more

The global e-commerce logistics market is expected to increase from its 2014 mark of $122.2 billion to more than $781 billion in 2024, maintaining an estimated compound annual growth rate of 20.6% between this year and 2024, according to a new study from Transparency Market Research. read more

A few decades ago, packaging companies needed more tons of machinery to produce the output that they do today. Back then, the more heavy machinery they had, the more value was produced. Now, things are done differently; with less material. The difference is information. read more

One of South Africa’s largest Forex intermediaries ForexPeople, has introduced ClickFX to offer South Africans a simple and cost effective way to transfer Forex online.  read more

XDSL is launching a Network Performance Management product offering to meet growing demand among its clients and resellers for a fast, scalable and comprehensive data collection, monitoring, analysis and reporting solution. read more

HCM practices in South Africa are ever evolving, and with this a growing demand for software that’s more agile, mobile and flexible in order to support today’s dynamic working environments.  read more

29 April 2016 - The retail industry has reached a point of progress with robotics where it is not enough to look at how robots will drive business transformation, but at how they are already doing so. read more

3 May 2016 - Online sales and returns are taking the toll on retailers’ bottom lines. read more

Although e-commerce is growing fast in South Africa and across the continent, the majority of the population in African markets is still excluded from buying online.  read more

South Africa currently has no existing legislation dealing with what happens to your data after death. read more

Nedap, a global leader in loss prevention and stock management technology for the retail sector, announces the opening of a US sales office in the New York area for its retail division. read more

Johannesburg - Eskom on Sunday said it hoped that it would not need to implement load shedding in the upcoming week.  read more

Johannesburg - The dramatic revaluation of the Swiss franc has resulted in completely opposite fortunes for two South African companies with Swiss interests.  read more

Cape Town - There is just about enough electricity to survive next week as the country revs up again with businesses and big industries getting into gear.  read more

Cape Town - The national power crisis that has seen repeated blackouts daily around the country is likely to worsen, an energy analyst has warned.  read more

Johannesburg - Pioneer Food said profit rose 35 percent as the South African company recovered from a 2013 write-down of the poultry unit it spun off.  read more

French based telco, Orange says it is planning the imminent launch of its new Orange Wi-Fi service in South Africa, in partnership with the City of Cape Town. read more

Cell C CEO Jose dos Santos has expressed his disappointment that the company failed its customer, George Prokas – the person behind the anti-Cell C banner. read more

Johannesburg - Taxi strikes like the one that left commuters stranded in Johannesburg on Monday are hampering the country's economic drive, the Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) said. read more

Cell C said in a statement that it is disappointed with the judgment handed down by Judge Sharise Weiner in the South Gauteng High Court today (Thursday, 13 November 2014). read more

Cell C says that it needed to take legal action to remove a billboard because it contained personal details of one of their employees, and because the billboard was defamatory. read more

Regent Insurance, part of the financial services division of listed transport and logistics group Imperial Holdings, incurred an unexpected loss of R19 million on the write-down of an investment in African Bank Investments Limited (Abil).  read more

Harare - The Competition and Tariff Commission (CTC) says it will approve the Hunyani Holdings Limited (Hunyani) takeover by South Africa- based Nampak Holdings (Nampak) within the next two weeks. read more

South Africa’s power supply is “severely constrained” and will remain so for the rest of the week because of technical problems, state-run power company, Eskom said on Wednesday. read more

This year, Manica Group Namibia celebrates its 90th anniversary, making it one of the longest serving logistics companies in Southern Africa and the oldest in Namibia. read more

The changing attitude of consumers as they become concerned about the seafood they eat is creating strong incentives in the way retailers and suppliers procure supplies. read more

Sanral would provide the DA with any e-toll document it wants – provided the political party forked over R1 million, the e-toll panel has heard. read more

IT services spending in South Africa is expected to increase 10.5% year on year in 2015 to total $5.7 billion (R64 billion), according to the latest forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC). read more

Johannesburg - Famous Brands [JSE:FBR] announced on Wednesday that it has expanded its existing relationship with strategic alliance partner, Total South Africa, to introduce a new offering to the upper-end metropolitan service stations in the petroleum supplier’s service station network. read more

Free delivery, in a shorter amount of time, ranks as the top desire for online shoppers in South Africa, according to three new surveys. read more

New data from Google shows that mobile is far bigger in South Africa than initially thought, having blasted past its growth projection a year sooner than expected. read more

Johannesburg - Auto dealer and logistics group Imperial Holdings [JSE:IPL] reported a 7% drop in full-year profit on Wednesday, as a weakening rand weighed on its auto importing business. read more

A new ISP set up in Uganda’s remote north and 4G became available in Ghana from a new operator. Neither of these developments involved mobile operators and how they came about may set the pattern of Africa’s new rollouts. read more

Texton Property Fund, the listed property company with a heavy office sector weighting, is planning to diversify to other property sectors and look at opportunities outside South Africa.  read more

Nampak would invest $10 million (R107m) in the next 12 months to expand its Zimbabwean business after consolidating the operations under one company, the local chief executive of the packaging firm said yesterday.  read more

Las Vegas - A resident of Las Vegas has launched a shoe vending machine, according to the Las Vegas Business Press. The business was born of a need to change out of high heels and into footwear that is more comfortable. read more

The National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) have launched a R2.7 billion Youth Fund aimed at fostering entrepreneurship among South Africa’s youth. read more

Media24 eCommerce, a division of Media24, today announced the launch of Efinity a new e-commerce fulfillment service.  read more

Some of the country’s major retailers have been implicated in a food labelling scandal that could see consumers suffering from diarrhea, vomiting and, in severe cases, death. read more

From investigating alleged maladministration at local government level, all the way to corruption in the executive branch of South Africa’s government, Thuli Madonsela and her office of the Public Protector have become South African heroes. read more

With all the skill of a master weaver at a loom, Esther Ogble stands under a parasol in the sprawling Wuse market in Nigeria’s capital and spins synthetic fibre into women’s hair. read more

South African companies including TomTom, 1Life, and Hippo, through Telesure, have collaborated with new micro-jobbing platform M4JAM (money for jam) to make over 100,000 micro-jobs available at launch next week. read more

San Francisco – Twitter is reportedly making moves that indicate it is considering launching e-commerce services.  read more

The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it welcomes the mooted partial privatisation of Eskom, the under-fire state power utility. read more

Vodacom has launched the Smart Kicka, a new smartphone that costs R549 and runs on Android 4.4 KitKat. read more

Johannesburg - It is a slow-motion train wreck happening before our eyes, on a scale so vast, it has already stunted the economic growth potential of the country, yet it is only now that the government appears to have fully grasped the danger.  read more

Value fashion retailer, Mr Price, has launched a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), on the back of its successful push online over the past 18 months. read more

Johannesburg - South African labour groups are close to agreeing a wage deal that would end a four-week metalworkers’ strike that has threatened growth in the continent’s second-biggest economy, according to a union official. read more

FirstBank Limited and global payments provider, PayPal, have announced a partnership to encourage Nigerians to shop online. read more

The introduction of banking apps, cashless payments and futuristic bank branches over the past ten years have pointed to a shift in banking from bricks to clicks. read more

While South Africans are embracing online and mobile shopping, the in-store experience is as important as ever. read more

Kaspersky Lab has found that targeted cyber attacks are on the rise year-over-year, and identified the most likely business sector targets. read more

Johannesburg - Solidarity intends using social media and court action to stop what it says are race-based retrenchments at Telkom, the trade union said on Tuesday.  read more

Thousands of motorists, who were lured into buying new cars by an attractive offer, which meant to see them paying as little as R699 a month, are up in arms after the company managing the deal, Satinsky Group, unexpectedly cut its losses with its Hong Kong-based holding company. read more

Madibacoin, a new alternative cryptocurrency has launched in South Africa. read more

California – Facebook has agreed to acquire LiveRail, an advertising technology company that helps companies serve better ads in the videos that appear on their websites and apps. read more

A new survey has highlighted the potential threats to the future of the internet within the next 20 years, to 2025, including surveillance and government interference. read more

The US Marshals Service had one winner in its auction of nearly 30,000 bitcoin, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday, without revealing the name of the successful bidder. read more

San Francisco - Twitter’s Dick Costolo is gutting the company’s top ranks as he seeks to build an executive dream team. read more

Johannesburg - The rand edged down against the dollar on Wednesday as a national engineering strike entered its second day, weighing on investor sentiment in Africa's top economy. read more

Public service managers are being encouraged to keep posts vacant rather than fill them with whites, an SA Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR) consultant said in a newsletter this week. read more

The Democratic Allinace has revealed that President Jacob Zuma’s new additions to his cabinet will cost tax payers approximately R36 million. read more

California – Researchers at computer security firm Duo Security have discovered a flaw in the two-step method PayPal uses to authenticate account-holders. read more

Cape Town - Naspers [JSE:NPN] has been very good about delivering return for its investors in the last two decades and the global media player aims to do just that with the investments it is currently making.  read more

The national power system will be tight on Monday evening and is expected to stay that way during peak hours for the rest of the week, Eskom said. read more

The Western Cape government, the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), and Neotel signed a strategic agreement to provide broadband services to approximately 2,000 government sites. read more

As a cold front settles in across the country, set to reach Johannesburg on Thursday, Eskom faces a difficult task to “protect the national grid from a total shutdown”. read more

San Francisco - Facebook’s website crashed briefly on Thursday, temporarily preventing computer and mobile phone users from reaching the site around the globe. read more

French telecoms group, Orange, may open its own branded stores after its retail partner Nashua Mobile’s decision to sell its customer base and exit the market. read more

Internet service provider, MWEB, has launched a free Wi-Fi ‘zone’ in Florida Road, Durban; its first Wi-Fi activated high street. read more

Johannesburg - Eskom has asked large industrial customers to reduce their electricity usage by 10 percent, as it seeks to avert a second evening of rolling blackouts read more

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has honoured Ghana for bridging the communication gap in rural communities in the country. read more

Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma should focus on restoring confidence in the South African economy when he takes to the podium during his State of the Nation address, the DA said last Thursday. read more

London - Tesco Bank, the financial services arm of Britain's biggest retailer, has launched its first personal current or checking account, looking to challenge established lenders and bring shoppers back into its parent's stores. read more

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) is calling up motorists to chase up payments for outstanding e-toll bills. read more

Cape Town - Local competition authorities on Thursday fined petrochemical group, Sasol, R534 million for charging domestic customers excessive prices for chemicals between 2004 and 2007. read more

Cape Town entrepreneurs, Wayne Gosling and Daniel Guasco, joint chief executives of online company Groupon South Africa, started their business in a garage and used some inventive e-mail techniques to grab the attention of the big boss of Groupon USA.  read more

The price of all grades of petrol will drop by 22 cents a litre next month, the energy department said on Friday. read more

San Francisco - Google has designed its own self-driving vehicles, that transport passengers at the push of a button, as it aims to spread the new automotive technology, co- founder, Sergey Brin, said. read more

Value fashion retailer Mr Price said online sales grew as much as 293.4% for the year ended March 2014. read more

Cape Town-based online retailer, takealot.com, has raised more than $100m for continued expansion in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. read more

With 35 ministers’ and 37 deputy ministers’ salaries to pay, President Jacob Zuma’s new cabinet is set to cost South Africa over R143 million a year – excluding perks. read more

The Tsumeb Shopping Centre was opened on Tuesday. In a speech read, on his behalf, by Minister of Trade and Industry, Calle Schlettwein, President Hifikepunye Pohamba thanked shareholders of Reydev Holdings Namibia for investing in the facility. read more

Harare - Diversified group Meikles Limited (Meikles) is shutting down its upmarket Greatermans store and is replacing it with Pick n Pay supermarket. read more

London - Miner and commodity trader Glencore Xstrata will appoint a female director to its board by the end of this year,  read more

A small minority of the 30% of South Africans who drink alcohol are responsible for causing the national and provincial governments to spend R17bn a year combating the effects of alcohol abuse, says the Treasury. read more

Harare - Barclays Bank Zimbabwe (BBZ) says it might increase its loan book to $80 million depending on the prevailing market conditions. read more

The more favourable rand exchange rate and stable international petroleum prices could result in a fuel price drop in June, the Automobile Association of SA (AA) said on Friday. read more

Metrorail, in the Western Cape, is reportedly rolling out free WiFi internet access at train stations, with Cape Town Station coming online next week. read more

Johannesburg - The reputation of retailer Woolworths strengthened this year, while other companies fared poorly, the Reputation Institute said yesterday. read more

San Francisco - Facebook is taking steps to open a sales office in China to work with local advertisers, according to people with knowledge of the matter, in a move that would put the social network’s employees in the country for the first time, even as its service remains censored there.  read more

Seattle – Slightly more than half (51%) of retailers do not have a plan for responding to security breaches. read more

Johannesburg - Eskom is not getting a handle on the problem of power plants breaking down, said power expert, Chris Yelland, according to City Press. read more

San Francisco - Twitter fell 7.4 percent in trading before the market open, as more shares became available from insiders who got their first chance to sell since the company’s initial public offering. read more

Extending agency banking to rural areas of the country has been identified as a critical condition for attracting the informal sector into the banking system. read more