SA’s electricity shortage was stifling economic growth, the head of the Independent Power Producers’ Association said on Tuesday. “You cannot grow your economy without new electricity,” the association’s MD, Doug Kuni, said at a Free Market Foundation media briefing in Johannesburg. Blackouts in 2007 and 2008
First National Bank has been named as the most innovative bank worldwide for 2012 at the BAI-Finacle Global Banking Awards in Washington, DC.
The awards are designed to recognise banks for “game-changing products, services, practices and other achievements”. “Running since 2004
Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) CEO Themba Dlamini has moved to explain the decision by the auditor-general once again to submit a qualified audit of the telecommunications and broadcasting regulator’s annual financial statements. The authority has asked for “condonation” from government in an
If you’re in the market for a smartphone, one of the key considerations, once you’ve settled on the platform, is screen size. With a multitude of sizes, ratios, and resolutions on the market, one thing is clear: average screen is increasing and it’s showing
SA has started negotiations with foreign partners to help fund the construction of the world’s next generation radio telescope, officials said ahead of a visit by President Jacob Zuma Tuesday. SA is building the world’s most powerful radio astronomy telescope — the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) — which is set to dwarf any other existing
Fraudcheck, a new start-up based in the Cape Town suburb of Bellville, has been established to offer individuals and businesses peace of mind when dealing with people or companies they don’t know. The site is meant to help protect them from falling victim to fraudsters by offering vetting services that can check
Despite good revenue growth of 11% in the six months ended 31 August 2012, JSE-listed Altron’s profits have been pummelled due to margin pressure and writedowns at subsidiary Altech. For the period, Altron reported operating profit before capital items of R586m, from R627m previously. However, the problems at Altech
The rand nose-dived against major foreign currencies on Monday hitting a new three-and-a-half year low of R8,97/US$, before recovering slightly. The slide means gadgets and computers are about to get a lot more expensive, though not necessary
A decade ago, Steve Ballmer described the free and open-source Linux operating system as a “cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches”. The famously boisterous Microsoft CEO was attacking the General Public Licence which governs much of the software code developed by the
M-Pesa, which has more than 14m subscribers in Kenya, could be forced to increase transaction costs by 10% as East African nation’s treasury looks to impose a levy on transactions made using the mobile money transfer service. Though Kenya’s treasury says it expects mobile
