Author: Duncan McLeod

Phuthuma Nhleko, the man who led MTN Group on an acquisition spree that turned the telecommunications operator into an emerging-markets giant, has stepped down from its board of directors.

MTN South Africa will have a second go at a mobile money offering in South Africa when a redesigned platform goes live to the public next month after more than a year of development.

EOH Holdings subsidiary EOH Abantu has agreed to sell its shares in Dental Information Systems (Denis Group) to AfroCentric Investment Corp for an effective R250-million.

MTN Group CEO Rob Shuter on Thursday voiced his disappointment in the Competition Commission’s report on the data services market in South Africa, arguing it was poorly framed and failed to acknowledge the successes of the industry.

Link Africa said on Wednesday that is has acquired additional nationwide fibre-optic network infrastructure from a “leading Internet service provider”. TechCentral has determined the seller is Internet Solutions.

Eskom has implemented stage-6 load shedding as the problems at the failed state-owned utility keep mounting.

Telkom Group CEO Sipho Maseko has slammed the Competition Commission for intervening directly in prices in the data services market, warning using this “blunt and archaic” tool is an “ineffective instrument that may ultimately have unintended and deleterious consequences”.

Vivo, one of China’s biggest smartphone brands, has been launched in South Africa. The company has partnered with Vodacom for the initial launch of devices.

Eskom said on Friday that persistent rain on the Highveld in recent days – which is not predicted to stop until the middle of next week – has contributed to the latest load shedding crisis.

The Competition Commission’s final report on the data services market in South Africa is, frankly, an embarrassment. It amounts to regulatory overreach and dangerous populism that could threaten billions of rand in planned investments in the coming years. By Duncan McLeod.