Opportunity Issue 115

News & snippetsIndustry

News & snippetsIndustry insights from the past quarterGreen light for Vodacom/MAZIV mergerMAZIV has welcomed the Competition Appeal Court’s approval of the Vodacom/MAZIV merger transaction,marking a critical milestone in South Africa’s telecommunications landscape. This development paves theway for major capital investment and accelerated fibre rollout. The approval follows extensive negotiationsbetween the merging parties and the Competition Commission, resulting in revised conditions intended tostrike a balance between encouraging investment and safeguarding fair competition. As part of the mergerconditions MAZIV has committed to spending at least R12-billion over five years on broadband infrastructureexpansion and maintenance, particularly in underserved areas. Dietlof Mare, MAZIV Group CEO, commented,“This approval marks a pivotal milestone in South Africa’s telecoms evolution. It frees us to harness substantialcapital and accelerate fibre rollout while embedding the customer-centric conditions we have championedfrom the start.”The merger remains subject to final regulatory sign-off from the Independent Communications Authorityof South Africa (ICASA). The proposed merger was first announced in November 2021.Digital stars shine at Bookmarks AwardsThe Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) South Africa has announcedthe winners of the 2025 Bookmarks Awards. The IAB South Africa isfocused on growing and sustaining a vibrant and profitable digitalItalCham honours Payne brothersBrothers Tony and Kevin Payne of Technogym were named BusinessPersons of the Year at the ItalCham Business Excellence Awards2025, for their role in expanding the brand’s regional footprint,investing in skills development and driving sustainable growth. Theaccolade comes on the back of a year during which a 29% increasein new equipment sales and a 58% growth in its Key Account Clubsegment were recorded. The company also expanded its team to 93employees. Technogym will open a new showroom and experiencecentre in Dunkeld, Johannesburg, in the course of 2025. The award’sevening is part of a long-running charity gala hosted by the Italian-South African Chamber of Trade and Industries. Since 1999, theevent has brought together over 250 business leaders to celebrateachievement and strengthen ties between the Italian and Southmedia and marketing industry. Among the gold winners wereOgilvy, Media24, Joe Public, TBWA\Hunt Lascaris and Rogerwilcoacross various categories. Jarred Cinman won the inauguralOutstanding Individual Impact in Digital Award.The event drew an audience of leaders from advertising,publishing, technology and brand-marketing sectors alongsidecreative agencies, corporates and entrepreneurial innovators.Winners were recognised across platforms, channels, communities,publishing, campaigns, emerging digital technologies and craftcategories. Ogilvy secured multiple gold accolades for campaignsincluding KFC South Africa’s KFC Sauce Code and Cadbury PresentsReal Mzansi Names. “The awards showcase the incredible talent andimpact driving South Africa’s digital landscape,” said Chris Borain,Executive Director at IAB South Africa. “Our winners are settinguniversal benchmarks, proving that digital marketing is not onlygrowing in scale and skill, but creating work that competes on aglobal stage.”African economies. Past recipients include Matteo Brambilla of RedRocket, Guido Giachetti of RDC Property Group, Stefano Marani ofRenergen and Fred Crabbia of Mining Pressure System.10 | www.opportunityonline.co.za

Civil engineers honouredThe 2025 SAICE National Awards was a night dedicated to celebrating the excellence, innovation and leadership that define civil engineeringand the built environment. The South African Institution of Civil Engineering (SAICE), founded 122 years ago, honoured individuals andgroups who showed strong professionalism, ethics and quality in their work, playing a key role in building the country’s infrastructure nowand in the future. “Together, we are building more than infrastructure, we are building a stronger, more sustainable and inclusive SouthAfrica,” remarked Friedrich Slabbert, 2025 SAICE President.“SAICE has deepened its collaborative engagementswith key partners in government, the private sector,academia and civil society, enabling us to launchcritical initiatives, strengthen professional trainingand contribute meaningfully to national policydialogues,” noted Sekadi Phayane-Shakhane, SAICECEO. Project awards for technical excellence wereawarded to SANRAL, Nyeleti Consulting, ActophambiliRoads-Imvula Roads JV (civil); Ethekwini Municipality,Naidu Consulting, Afrostructures (structural/building);Western Cape Govt, AECOM, Roadmac Road Surfacing(rehabilitation); Lesotho Roads Directorate/SMEC,Qinjian Group (international).Online visas are hereIn June 2025, the Federated Hospitality Associationof South Africa (FEDHASA) welcomed theannouncement by the Department of Home Affairsthat South Africa’s first online instant visa system,incorporating advanced “selfie-based” biometrictechnology, would go live in September. The systemrepresents a significant step forward in the digitisationof South Africa’s border-control processes andis poised to have a meaningful and far-reachingimpact on the tourism and hospitality sector.“This is a milestone. FEDHASA has long advocatedfor an online visa system and we are pleased thata concrete rollout plan has now been confirmed,”said Rosemary Anderson, National Chairpersonof FEDHASA. “For many international travellers –particularly from key source markets such as India,China and other parts of Asia – the current visaapplicationprocess has been a frustrating and timeconsumingprocess,” explains Anderson. FEDHASA isconfident that the new, streamlined system will drivea substantial increase in inbound tourism.Investors back electricity trader startupOpen Access Energy (OAE), a South African startup using AI to enable digitalinfrastructure for electricity trading, has closed a .8-million seed-fundinground with participation from E3 Capital, Equator VC and Factor E Ventures.The round will accelerate product development and customer growth as thecompany scales to meet rising demand for flexible, decentralised energyinfrastructure. OAE’s flagship product, EnergyPro, is a cloud-based softwareplatform that enables energy wheeling – the process of delivering electricityfrom decentralised renewable producers to distributed consumers via existingtransmission infrastructure. OAE’s platform automates the backend processesincluding metering, risk management and forecasting – ensuring that energygeneration and consumption loads are efficiently matched in real time. OAEwas founded in 2021 as South Africa accelerated its transition away from coaldependency. “Open Access Energy has built a software-led solution for a realworldproblem, enabling renewables to flow through existing infrastructure,”says Andrew Darge, E3 Capital’s lead on the transaction.PHOTO: Unsplash, freepik.comwww.opportunityonline.co.za | 11