South African fintech startup PayJustNow has gone live on Takealot ahead of Black Friday on November 28. The integration lets Takealot shoppers split purchases into installments, aligning flexible payments with a peak retail moment. Both companies frame the move as consumer friendly at a time of tighter household budgets. Pioneering BNPL in South Africa Founded
Fresh insights spotlight rural adoption, digital inclusion, and Jumia’s role in powering Nigeria’s ecommerce evolution as the brand gears up for its biggest annual shopping event, Black Friday 2025. Jumia, Nigeria’s leading e-commerce platform, has launched the second edition of its flagship “ECommerce in Rural Areas” report, revealing how digital commerce continues to transform lives
YOOBIC selected from competitive field by the Shoprite Group, one of the world’s largest grocery chains, to transform store operations and communication for its employees. YOOBIC, the AI-powered frontline employee experience platform, today announced that Africa’s largest retailer, Shoprite Group, is actively rolling out YOOBIC’s digital workplace platform across its extensive network of more than
Clicks Group delivered a strong trading and operational performance in a constrained trading environment for the year ended August 2025, driven by expanding margins, disciplined cost management and robust cash generation. Diluted headline earnings per share increased by 14.1% and the group achieved an industry-leading return on equity of 49.2%. Group turnover increased by 5.3%
What if the biggest barrier to South Africa’s future success isn’t in the classroom or the workplace, but in the kitchen? This World Food Day (16 October) and National Nutrition Week (9–15 October), we are reminded that food is not only about filling stomachs, it’s about building stronger bodies, sharper minds, and more resilient communities.
Seekr has entered an agreement with MTN Digital Infrastructure, commercially known as Bayobab, to integrate its AI capabilities into MTN’s Data Centre ecosystem, and bring AI-powered applications to MTN’s 300 million subscribers in 19 markets. The partnership is focused on opportunities to enable digital governance, citizen engagement, and public safety in the public sector, while unlocking
Algiers, Algeria –African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is promoting uptake of factoring, an innovative supply chain financing tool that allows Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) to sell their unpaid invoices to immediately access working capital, in Africa. On the sidelines of the recently concluded Intra-African Trade Fair 2025 (IATF2025) in Algiers, Algeria, Afreximbank held a Factoring Exposition
Mr Price Foundation targets empowering 500,000 youth by 2035 to tackle SA’s unemployment crisis The organisation released its FY2025 Integrated Impact Report, which highlights the strides made in youth employability, entrepreneurship and primary education. Mr Price Foundation has announced an ambitious plan: to get 500,000 youth economically resilient by 2035. The target, revealed in its
Mr Price Foundation has announced an ambitious plan: to get 500,000 youth economically resilient by 2035. The target, revealed in its newly released FY2025 Integrated Impact Report, comes as the country faces a youth unemployment crisis, with 7.7 million young people not in employment, education or training. READ THE REPORT HERE READ THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Partnership aligns with Jumia’s push for ecofriendly deliveries and sustainable e-commerce Jumia (NYSE:JMIA), a leading e-commerce platform in Africa, has partnered with Spiro to launch a fleet of electric bikes (e-bikes) to power deliveries in Uganda, within Kampala. This initiative marks a significant step in Jumia’s ongoing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategy to reduce
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) today announced a commitment to invest $100 million throughout the Middle East and Africa, fueling innovation, supporting entrepreneurs, and driving inclusive economic growth in one of the world’s fastest-growing digital commerce regions. This strategic investment will be deployed through a mix of minority investments, acquisitions, PayPal Ventures funding, people, and
Originally published by Cross Switch here: https://cross-switch.com/cross-switch-at-seamless-africa-2025-orchestrating-growth-in-payments/ Seamless Southern Africa 2025, held in Johannesburg, brought together over 6,000 professionals from the banking, fintech, retail, and e-commerce sectors. The energy in the air confirmed the feeling that Africa isn’t just following global digital commerce trends, but is moving ahead at its own lively pace, showing that
Peter Ludi, Business Development Executive at redPanda Software and Solutions In 2025, the South African retail sector has seen a 4.2% year-on-year increase and the ecommerce sector is anticipated to reach R225 billion, a 150% growth over the past five years[1][2]. Omnichannel retail capabilities, supported by personalisation, customer data analytics, AI-powered recommendations and automated inventory
Boodil, a UK-based innovator in payments technology specialising in e-commerce and open banking, has entered into a strategic partnership with Transaction Junction, a prominent South African provider of omni-channel transaction solutions. The collaboration aims to deliver advanced payment experiences to Shopify e-commerce merchants across South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, introducing a secure, streamlined, and flexible
This article was originally published on the Cross Switch website here. Cross Switch, a global payment orchestration platform built for the unique needs of emerging markets, has unveiled a refreshed brand and newly redesigned website that reflect its continued growth and expanding presence across Africa and other high-growth regions. This announcement builds on recent momentum, including
Takealot and Pick n Pay are rolling out more convenient Pickup Points in Pick n Pay supermarkets as a growing number of South Africans collect their Takealot orders while doing their grocery shopping. What began with just two pilot locations in 2023 has expanded to 30 Takealot Pickup Points in Pick n Pays across the
The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, Ms Sonja Boshoff, has welcomed the launch of Proudly SA’s new online platform for locally produced consumer goods. Ms Boshoff characterised the platform as a significant step towards reindustrialisation of the South African economy, which will protect local jobs. “This digital marketplace will serve
Stitch Express, part of payments infrastructure company Stitch, today announced Elevate25, a new e-commerce conference set to take place on 7 August 2025 in Johannesburg. Designed to unite South Africa’s leading e-commerce brands, logistics providers, growth platforms, and digital agencies, the summit will welcome over 200 attendees for a day of actionable insights, strategy sharing,
Petshop Science has partnered with Sixty60, South Africa’s number 1 on-demand delivery service, to offer same-day delivery within precisely scheduled 60-minute timeslots of a wide range of specialised pet food, treats, toys and vet-approved local and international brands. From 25kg bags of dog food to top up treats, Petshop Science is enlisting Sixty60 to handle
Jumia, Africa’s leading e-commerce platform, has teamed up with Algerian finance provider Diar Dzair to roll out Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services for customers across Algeria. This strategic collaboration is designed to make online shopping even more accessible, offering shoppers the flexibility to split their payments while encouraging greater use of digital financial services.
Cross Switch, a global payments technology company, has found a strategic collaborator in its mission to bring faster, smarter, and more scalable payments to emerging markets. In partnership with South African fintech leader Paysoft, these two forward-thinking platforms are joining forces to swing the axe against digital transaction logjams that hamper South African businesses. Be
Pick n Pay has launched a powerful new app that brings together its on-demand delivery service asap!, Smart Shopper loyalty programme, and value-added services into a single, next-generation platform. This is the retailer’s most significant digital milestone since launching asap!. The asap! back-end and front-end technology has been completely re-platformed over the past 18 months, resulting
This article was originally published here. Cross Switch, a leading provider of innovative payment solutions, has reached a significant milestone by securing its own Third-Party Payment Processor (TPPP) licence. The TPPP, issued by the Payments Association of South Africa (PASA) and sponsored by Absa, is a regulatory status that strengthens Cross Switch’s position in the
Alibaba.com, a world leading B2B e-commerce platform and Kwik, a leading digital platform for logistics services in Nigeria, announced a partnership to support Nigerian exporters. Kwik is now an official Authorized Channel Partner of Alibaba.com in Nigeria, the first such partnership signed by Alibaba.com in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kwik will market the Alibaba.com platform to Nigerian
AliExpress, an international online retail marketplace, announced today a significant expansion in its payment options for shoppers across Africa to elevate online shopping in the continent. This initiative follows AliExpress’ introduction of various local mobile payment methods last year, which was welcomed by consumers seeking better access to global products. Starting this March, AliExpress has
Logidoo announced the launch of Doomaket, an innovative marketplace platform poised to transform African e-commerce by addressing critical challenges in global trade. This solution is a powerful tool to empower African merchants, enabling them to expand their businesses worldwide and overcome traditional barriers to international commerce. Doomaket stands out from similar platforms through a comprehensive
Jumia, the leading Africa e-commerce platform, has chosen the state-of-the-art Agility Logistics Park (ALP) in Tema, Ghana, to be its new nationwide fulfilment operations centre for Ghana. Jumia will occupy 6,000 SQM of warehousing at the park, using the facility for storage, fulfilment and office space under a 10-year lease agreement with ALP. The facility
Jumia and D-MARKET Electronic Services & Trading (“Hepsiburada”) have announced a commercial partnership. Under the partnership, Hepsiburada will list its private label products, a portion of its retail assortment, and a selection of other curated Turkish brands on Jumia. Headquartered in Istanbul, Hepsiburada is a leading e-commerce technology platform in Türkiye. Through this partnership, the
Pargo, a South African eCommerce logistics startup, has announced its expansion into Egypt following a successful $4 million funding round. The funding round was led by 3Capital Ventures formerly part of Allan Gray), Endeavor, SAAD Investment Holdings, and UW Ventures. The startup has launched its collect and return services at over 500 Pargo Points in
Jumia, the Africa-focused e-commerce retailer, will close its South African online fashion platform Zando and its Tunisian operations by year-end to concentrate on other markets, the CEO told Reuters. Jumia is aggressively cutting costs to try to turn profitable, including by reducing head count, exiting everyday grocery items and food delivery and cutting delivery services
South African retail has experienced profound transformation over the past few years, with digital platforms and ecommerce reshaping consumer expectations. However, we are just in the earliest phases of digital transformation and SME retailers will need to be agile to keep up with emerging customer demands and new competitors. Steven Heilbron, CEO of Capital Connect,
Telr, the award-winning online payment gateway, has announced its strategic collaboration with Mastercard to introduce its digital checkout solution, Click to Pay, across its extensive network of merchants in the UAE. Through this partnership, Telr will deploy cutting-edge payment technologies to enhance the customer experience. Click to Pay is an innovative, seamless, and secure payment
Backed by 20 years of tech expertise, leading IT solutions provider Braintree has seen their retail turnover increase by 1,200% since launching their e-commerce offering two years ago. With the objective of supporting business professionals in both home and office environments, Braintree brings to the tech e-commerce market over 3 000 premium products across 30
Bob Group’s Ship Logic platform is helping the country’s courier companies overcome faulty address details, failed delivery attempts and poor communication with customers South African ecommerce ecosystem Bob Group is playing a leading role in optimising courier services around the country through its Ship Logic platform, a software solution that enables delivery specialists handling high
By Thomas Kingombe, Managing Director and Partner and Vishakha Chopra, Project Leader, BCG Johannesburg As global e-commerce giants like Amazon, Shein and Temu set their sights on South Africa’s growing e-commerce space, local retailers may find themselves feeling the pinch. Will South African stalwarts rise to the challenge, or crumble faced with international competition? Although
Jumia, Africa’s leading e-commerce platform, announces a successful partnership with Sprinklr to elevate customer experience (CX) across its diverse user base. Jumia implemented Sprinklr’s unified customer experience management (Unified-CXM) platform to streamline support for millions of customers, sellers, and employees across 11 African countries. “Sprinklr’s solution is a perfect fit for our diverse customer base
With Amazon’s South African operations now up and running, the question on everybody’s lips is what the impact will be on homegrown online shopping platforms. The ecommerce giant has market capitalisation of more than a trillion US dollars, and there are fears it will crush local competitors. What some may not realise, however, is that
By Gary Bowers, Product Manager and Shaun Shehab, Senior Sales Engineer at Ecentric Retailers need to keep costs under control and reduce complexity in economic conditions that can best be described as uncertain and challenging. Yet, despite this, they need to give customers (and their employees) the kind of payment experience they demand. Beyond this,
Africa’s high mobile penetration rates as well as its young population have contributed to the continent’s positive response to digital marketplaces and on-demand services. Several notable marketplaces that have grown exponentially on the continent include Nigeria’s Jumia, South Africa’s Takealot and the international e-hailing service Uber. This year, the continent sees the arrival of new
By Mark Wilson, CEO, SYSPRO EMEA & APAC There’s no avoiding the reality that we’re in a tough economic cycle laden with global and local uncertainty. Since 2020, the manufacturing sector has undergone a period of unprecedented change. Multiple overlapping – and largely unpredicted – macro-level shocks have combined to create a radically changed world.
After the long-awaited soft launch of Amazon, many local brands will be accelerating their e-commerce strategies. However, too few brands have properly considered how to include a solid retail media strategy to support their efforts. And, with 74% of global consumers starting their buyer’s journey on the Amazon platform, this oversight could end up hurting
Africa’s last-mile delivery market is expected to be worth $2.3 billion (R43 Billion) by 2030. If one considers that the continent will be home to some two billion people by 2050, it becomes clear that this sector will grow exponentially and offer many new business opportunities. Meanwhile, South Africa’s total ecommerce market is on track
Physical retail businesses remain crucial in the South African landscape, catering to the preferences of many customers. However, as eCommerce continues to surge, these businesses will experience challenges competing with industry giants like Amazon. The trends outlined below are essential considerations for a thriving retail business in an increasingly online world. While they’re not a
The South African retail industry operates in a complex and challenging environment. Economic uncertainty, rising costs, and unpredictable consumer demands have created conditions in which retailers must constantly adapt to survive. Loadshedding further disrupts operations and sales, while compliance with regulations like FICA and KYC (Know Your Customer) increases the administrative burdens for retail businesses.
Africa has one of the world’s fastest growing consumer markets, projected to boast 1.7 billion consumers by 2030. The number of ‘ultra-high net worth’ individuals in Africa with assets exceeding $30 million is expected to grow by almost 50% this year, making way for ample retail opportunities. Consumer and business spending in Africa should reach
With online sales in Africa on course to top the trillion-rand mark by 2026, the race is on for ecommerce businesses to claim their piece of the pie. Research by Payments and Commerce Market Intelligence (PCMI) indicates that in the next two years the digital commerce market is expected to reach US$72-billion across South Africa,
Bob Group Managing Director Andy Higgins believes 2024 will be the year online retail in South Africa will start to accelerate and catch up with international uptake. Higgins, who took the reins when marketplace giant bidorbuy (now Bob shop) and logistics powerhouse uAfrica (now Bob Go) amalgamated to form the Bob Group ecommerce ecosystem last
By Joel Bronkowski, South Africa Country Lead at Paystack In the ever-evolving landscape of retail, a notable turn has taken centre stage as multiple brands continue their transition from traditional brick-and-mortar sales to a dynamic fusion of ecommerce platforms. This move has not only redefined the way businesses operate but has also enhanced their capacity
It doesn’t matter whether a company is a small to medium-sized enterprise or a large corporation, or where it’s based, we are all now operating in a global economy. Irrespective of the size of an enterprise, its location or what its product offering is, with the right payment and transaction mechanisms, it can compete equally
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of MultiChoice Group. Mauritius Telecom, the number one telecom operator in Mauritius, and MultiChoice, Africa’s leading entertainment platform, are pleased to announce their partnership to bring DStv Stream to Mauritius. A signing ceremony between Mauritius Telecom, represented by its CEO Kapil Reesaul and MultiChoice Africa, represented by Jose Escobar,
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