48 h. ago Botlhale AI Brings Speech Recognition to African Languages in Call Centers

Botlhale AI, a South African startup founded in 2019, is helping enterprises understand what’s said in the 70% of customer calls that aren’t in English. The company builds speech recognition and analytics tools in African languages – like isiZulu, Sesotho, and Setswana – designed for enterprise call centers. Its suite includes speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and natural [...]

Politics

49 h. ago SA Startup 4C Predictions Bets Big on Transparent AI for Global Markets

In the world of AI, forecasts aren’t just data – they’re belief. That’s the insight behind 4C Predictions, a South African startup building a transparent, AI-powered prediction marketplace with global ambitions. While much of the AI spotlight shines on Silicon Valley or Shenzhen, 4C is proving that deep tech can thrive in Cape Town too. [...]

Politics

67 h. ago Development banks to invest over R60 billion in ocean plastics fight

Plastic waste entering the ocean could triple to up to 37 million metric tons per year by 2040

Politics

3 d. ago UKZN First in South Africa to Equip Visually Impaired Students with AI Smart Glasses

The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) has become the first South African university to provide visually impaired students with Envision Smart AI Glasses – an advanced assistive device powered by artificial intelligence to enhance independence. Five students—Bright Sello, Thandeka Ngcobo, Londiwe Ndaba, Siboniso Mabuza, and Thembisa Xolo – received the glasses, valued at R75,000 each, through [...]

Politics

3 d. ago Absa Becomes First African Bank To Launch Agentic AI For Customers

Absa Bank has become the first financial institution in Africa – and one of the first globally – to deploy agentic AI for customer use, according to Salesforce. The announcement was made at the Agentforce World Tour in Johannesburg this week. The bank’s AI-powered chatbot, Abby, runs on Salesforce’s Agentforce platform and offers dynamic, contextual [...]

Economics

3 d. ago Ethiopia’s PM Urges Africa to Build Homegrown AI for Inclusive Growth

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has urged African nations to develop homegrown artificial intelligence, warning that relying on foreign-built tools could deepen inequality. Speaking at the Ethiopian Technology Expo, Ahmed said Africa must “become innovators and owners of our future,” stressing the need for AI systems built to address the continent’s specific challenges. “Africa must [...]

Politics

3 d. ago Gwarube to address Policy Dialogue on Entrepreneurship Education

This in Gwarube's efforts to prioritise early childhood development and address unemployment.

Events

4 d. ago City of Tshwane urges residents to prepare for icy weather conditions

This as the South African Weather Service forecasts inclement weather conditions across Gauteng

Politics

4 d. ago AI in African Elections: Kenya and Nigeria Weigh Innovation Against Trust

As Africa’s major democracies explore the use of artificial intelligence in elections, both optimism and caution are shaping the conversation. Kenya, with general elections due in two years, is taking early steps. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has been consulting stakeholders on the role of AI, social media, and digital platforms in election [...]

Politics

5 d. ago Electricity grid is stable ahead of next week’s cold front: Eskom

The South African Weather Service has warned of a spell of extreme weather.

Politics

5 d. ago Reserve Bank’s work in G20 includes climate funding: Deputy Governor

The G20 will see a focus on role of vertical climate funds like the green climate fund.

Politics

6 d. ago NCC Moves to Bolster Cybersecurity With New National Framework

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has launched efforts to develop a comprehensive cybersecurity framework aimed at safeguarding the country’s critical communications infrastructure. Announced as part of its wider push to enhance national digital resilience, the NCC said the new framework will set clear guidelines, enforce best practices, and encourage collaboration across government agencies, private companies, [...]

Politics

6 d. ago Zambia’s former president Edgar Lungu has died, his party says

Lungu was head of state of the Southern African country between 2015 and 2021

Politics

7 d. ago Expensya Founders Return with Thunder Code, an AI Startup Backed by $9M in Seed Funding

A year after selling their startup Expensya in a deal reportedly worth over $120 million, co-founders Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani are back with a new venture: Thunder Code, a generative AI-powered software testing platform that has already raised $9 million in seed funding. Despite vowing never to start another company, the duo was pulled [...]

Politics

7 d. ago DeepSeek AI Accused of Training on Google Gemini Outputs Amid Data Contamination Concerns

Chinese AI lab DeepSeek is under renewed scrutiny following the release of its updated R1 model, with researchers suggesting it may have been trained on outputs from Google’s Gemini models. Developer Sam Paech pointed to linguistic similarities between DeepSeek’s R1-0528 and Gemini 2.5 Pro, claiming in a post on X that the model’s phrasing patterns [...]

Politics

7 d. ago SARB’s fight against inflation yielding positive results: Kganyago

Kganyago led the SARB Forum engagement with Soweto community members after interest rate cut notice.

Politics

8 d. ago More than 4 million refugees have fled Sudan’s civil war: UN

UNHCR’s Dossou Patrice Ahouansou said shelter conditions are dire in Chad due to funding shortages.

Events

9 d. ago Marginal price decrease in fuel as increase in general levy kicks in

Reports by the Department's Central Energy Fund, the price of petrol expected to come down by 19c.

Politics

9 d. ago Qualcomm Shortlists 10 African Startups for 2025 ‘Make in Africa’ Mentorship Program

Qualcomm has named 10 startups for its 2025 Make in Africa mentorship program, part of its Qualcomm Africa Innovation Platform. The equity-free program, now in its third year, supports early-stage deep-tech startups applying 5G, AI/ML, IoT, and edge technologies to build scalable solutions across sectors. This year, Qualcomm received 435 applications from 19 countries. The [...]

Politics

1 week ago Social Development MEC calls for release of sex offenders registry

The  march from Peter Roos Park in Parktown was joined by  activists and child organisations.

Politics