Tag: World Wide Worx

Most South Africans already run their businesses on WhatsApp. A hair salon takes bookings through voice notes. A courier firm shares delivery updates using photo messages. A restaurant sends out its weekly menu via broadcast. What began as an informal backchannel for orders and service has now become the country’s most entrenched digital business tool. In fact, for many, WhatsApp serves as the foundation of their daily business operations.

South Africa’s financial institutions are rewriting the rules of banking technology. The cloud has become a new balance sheet of innovation. For decades, the country’s banking sector has punched above its weight. For example, it provided electronic banking long before many global peers.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) used to be the rock star of the boardroom. The role determined how a company presented itself to the market. It also carried the authority of being the customer’s voice in an executive team dominated by finance and operations. The death of the CMO is now a growing concern.

For years, LinkedIn carried the aura of a digital name tag. It was present, but it largely stayed out of the spotlight. Now, in South Africa, corporate engagement with LinkedIn has moved beyond routine activity and into strategic intent. The new SA Social Media Landscape Report 2025, we produced, in partnership with brand intelligence company Ornico, reveals a sharp shift.

It has long been known that Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be biased. It can absorb the subconscious belief systems of its programmers. It can also reflect the worldview embedded in the content used to train it.

Cyber attacks on African organisations have surged past global averages. This has placed the continent firmly in the crosshairs of the world’s most dangerous threat actors. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, Africa experienced 3,286 attacks per organisation per week. This was the highest average of any region globally, according to cybersecurity platform provider Check Point Software.

Conventional wisdom has it that the story of Africa’s digital economy is one of catch-up. But that narrative is giving way to a more dynamic truth: in Sub-Saharan Africa, mobile phones have become the front door to digital life, shaped by mobile content, mobile payments and local innovation.

The loudest noise at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona in March was reserved not for new products, but for debates around who gets to set the agenda for the future. With Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the heart of the debate, and technologies like 5G-advanced and quantum computing vying for attention, the focus was almost entirely on the roles played by Europe, China and the USA in regulating and rolling out new technology.

Google is betting big on South Africa’s digital future. It is projecting R90 billion in economic output resulting from its new Johannesburg cloud region.

Many once assumed that Africa would remain on the fringes of the global music economy. The continent would export talent but never truly command its own industry. However, that notion was firmly silenced recently.