December 2022

The US-based tech giant continued its investment drive during the past quarter by launching a number of new services. Early in October, Google announced that it will set up an African cloud service as part of its US$1 billion investment plan for the continent. The infrastructure will be based in South Africa and will give users the option on where to store their data – a flexible, regional cloud service is however required, as African countries have limited laws on data sovereignty. In parallel, Google Cloud joined forces with Prudential, an Africa and Asia-focused insurance group, to enhance health and financial inclusion for communities. Twiga Foods, a Kenyan technology food distribution platform, is also leveraging Google Cloud systems into its platform, enabling an efficient value-chain between farmers and vendors, and addressing wastage of perishable goods. In the same period, Google’s key competitor, Microsoft, has partnered with Liquid Cloud to offer cloud services across Africa.

One of South Africa’s largest retailer in the FMCG space launched several disruptive services during Q4 2022. In early October, Pick n Pay introduced a ‘PnP Groceries’ section on the Takealot Mr D platform, a popular online shopping and delivery service in the country. Customers will have access to over 10 000 food and grocery products at the same in-store prices, with Smart Shopper reward points integrated into the system. Currently the service is being piloted in Cape Town and Johannesburg but will expand further in December 2022. In November, the retailer revealed that it will also allow transactions via cryptocurrency – this feature is being tested in multiple stores following the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s decision to allow cryptocurrency as a mainstream method of payment. Additionally, a new online-only homeware store – Pick n Pay Home – was launched in late November in time for Black Friday and is dedicated to homeware and appliances.

Africa’s aerospace sector took a giant step in November as Zimbabwe and Uganda joined forces with Japan to launch their first satellites into space. Early in the month, the former’s ZimSat-1 was successfully launched from the Mid-Atlantic NASA Regional Spaceport in Virginia, USA. Built by three Zimbabwean scientists with assistance from the Japanese Kyushu Institute of Technology, the satellite will provide the country with valuable data relating to its mineral reserves, detection of natural disasters and weather monitoring. Simultaneously, Uganda’s PearlAfricaSat-1, built by Ugandan and Japanese engineers, was designed and launched with similar intent, and is poised to provide research data to deliver solutions in weather forecasting, land observations, water body levels, mineral mapping and agriculture monitoring, among others. The developments fall under the Kyushu Institute of Technology’s BIRDS-5 project, intended to create an indigenous space programme by designing, testing, launching and operating the first satellites for participating countries.

The southern African country’s mining sector is undergoing adjustment as the government implemented a new mineral royalty policy in early October. President Emmerson Mnangagwa revealed that mining operators in the country will have to pay half of their royalties in refined metals, targeting four key groups namely gold, diamonds, lithium and platinum. Over the years, Zimbabwe has struggled to capitalise on its significant mineral reserves due to policy uncertainty. The present policy update will allow Zimbabwe to benefit from what were meant to be international exports and build a reserve of mined minerals at home. In November, the government further announced that mineral royalties to the Zimbabwean Revenue Authority will be paid ‘on the basis of 50% in kind’, whereas the cash component of the royalties will be made up of 40% Zimbabwean dollars and 10% in foreign currency – current royalty rates range between 5% for gold and platinum group metals and 10% for diamonds.