Category: MENA

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Hisense, provider of high-performance cooking and home appliances, has announced it will be an appliance partner for the highly anticipated fourth season of MasterChef South Africa. As the creators of reliable smart home appliances that meet the demands of modern consumers, Hisense will support contestants to cook and bake their way to victory with the Hisense HHU60GAGR Hob and Hisense BI5223BB Oven.

“We are proud to sign on as an appliance partner for MasterChef South Africa’s fourth and most exciting season yet. Hisense looks forward to being the right hand for contestants, while also supporting South Africans to reimagine their daily lives with locally-made appliances that incorporate cutting-edge technologies, quality design, and warm service,” said Patrick Hu, marketing director of Hisense South Africa.

Featuring a space-saving front knobs control design and auto-ignition function, the Hisense HHU60GAGR Hob will help contestants save time and maximize their cooking area while whipping up inventive new dishes. The cast-iron pan stand keeps kitchenware steady, and Flame Failure technology protects chefs’ safety throughout the show’s 20 episodes.

When it comes to baking, the Hisense BI5223BB Oven cooks dishes quickly and evenly with its heated Turbo Fan, while delivering the same qualities as a wood-burning oven with its unique cavity shape. Coupled with the Cooling System Plus, removable inner glass door and steam clean function, the oven is fit to tackle any challenge in the MasterChef kitchen or the home kitchen.

Hisense SA will launch a series of campaigns, including digital campaigns, Competition Promotion, DSTV and YouTube ads, to promote its products, covering TV and white goods as well. Hisense’s other cooking appliances, such as Hisense HBO60201 Oven, Hisense H60STEB Hob, Hisense HHO60PABL Extractor, and Hisense HFS90GA5ES Free Standing Cooker, will also become attractions during the partnership.

MasterChef South Africa’s fourth season will see 20 contestants battle it out over 20 episodes for a grand prize of R1-million and the coveted title of MasterChef. The latest season will also welcome an all-new judging panel, which includes celebrated chef, food stylist and award-winning author Zola Nene; Gregory Czarnecki, the award-winning head chef at The Restaurant at Waterkloof; and South African culinary legend and Fresh Living magazine editor Justine Drake.

MasterChef South Africa season four premieres on Monday 28 February 2022 on M-Net (DStv Channel 101) at 18:00.

TORONTO, Feb. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — SQL Power, the global leader in financial regulatory and advanced analytics technology is proud to announce that their supervisory platform, the SQL Power Suite, was selected by the Bank of Namibia (BON) as the technology framework to digitally transform the Bank.

The SQL Power Suite is the most robust and compelling Financial Supervisory solution in the World. Delivering the ultimate in regulator flexibility, self-sufficiency, efficiency, and transparency; increasing the likelihood of timely successful intervention while providing all interested parties with the ultimate confidence in the regulated market.

The BON is the country’s central bank with financial supervisory authority, whose role is to promote stability and reliability of the financial system as well as to ensure sustainability, growth, and effective consumer protection.

“The Bank is automating various business processes in three supervisory departments, namely Banking Supervision Department, Payment and Settlement Systems Department and Exchange Control Division. This will assist our teams to work faster and more efficiently and effectively, saving our staff time and improving the reputation of the Bank, as we strive to improve on our service delivery and stakeholder satisfaction goals internally and externally.

The Interdepartmental Project will improve the work environment and place high-tech resources and expert digital skills at our disposal to carry-out our day-to-day activities. This change improves our work environment, improves efficiency, and improves tracking and delegating of responsibilities in our processes.”  Leonie Dunn – Deputy Governor of the Bank of Namibia

As regulators struggle to keep up with the accelerating pace of regulatory change, SQL Power’s highly configurable supervisory platform automates every aspect of financial regulation from registration to data collection to on-site examination and investigations; Ultimately future-proofing the Central Bank with a unified and flexible supervisory platform that will satisfy their regulatory requirements for decades to come.

“I am confident that the Bank of Namibia’s digital transformation initiative will be a huge success and will serve as a showcase implementation for all Central Banks in Africa and around the World,” said Sam Selim, President of SQL Power.

About SQL Power

Founded in 1989, SQL Power Group Inc. is a global application software firm specializing in data collection, data integration, business intelligence, and regulatory implementations.

Since implementing the first supervisory solution in Canada in 2009, SQL Power has been at the forefront of financial regulatory software innovation – rolling out the world’s first fully-integrated XBRL-based data collection, risk management, case management, and advanced analytics solution that evolves seamlessly with evolving Global Financial Standards and customer needs.

Contact: Bojana Nikolic, bojana@sqlpower.ca

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1737263/SQL_Power_Group_Inc__The_Bank_of_Namibia_Selects_SQL_Power_s_Sup.jpg

–   The round was led by Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV) with the participation of Dynamo Ventures, Rackhouse Venture Capital, Flexport Inc, Knuru Capital, Launch Africa Ventures, Uncovered Fund, and strategic angel investors

–   Amitruck’s new funding will be used to expand its presence across Africa and hire new talent

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Kenya-based digital trucking logistics startup Amitruck has announced today that it has secured $4m in a seed funding round that had the participation of investors from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

The fundraising was led by Better Tomorrow Ventures (BTV), a San Francisco-based venture capital firm that targets early-stage startups. Also in the round were supply chain and mobility venture capital Dynamo Ventures, an investor to Berlin-based Digital Freight Forwarding unicorn, Sennder GmbH. Other investors included Rackhouse Ventures, founded by Kevin Novak, one of the early members of Uber Freight; Flexport Inc, a digital freight forwarding and customs brokerage company based in San Francisco; Knuru Capital, Launch Africa Ventures, the Uncovered Fund, and several strategic angel investors.

Amitruck’s CEO and Founder, Mark Mwangi, said the funding will be used to lead the startup’s expansion across Africa and to hire teams across its technical, operations, and sales units, including senior leadership.

“We are thrilled about the positive response that Amitruck has received from cargo owners and transporters alike. Transport touches on almost every sector of the African economy and is crucial to its development; we are excited to be part of that journey. Thanks to the support from our investors, we look forward to expanding our footprint across Africa and bringing more carriers and shippers to our marketplace,” he said.

BTV’s General Partner Jake Gibson said Amitruck was selected for investment due to its high level of innovation and a growing need for its services.

“As an investor in unicorn CloudTruck startup here in the US, we have in-depth knowledge of the operational and financial requirements from truckers. While the trucking and logistic business in Africa has grown tremendously over the years, the pace of innovation particularly in its administration has been slow. Amitruck’s solution is ideal for bringing the industry into the 21st century.” he said

BTV previously invested in Cloudtrucks, the $850 million California-based startup that uses technology to bridge administrative bottlenecks for trucking businesses.

Amitruck was founded in 2019 to streamline the trucking business in Africa, which had, hitherto, been informal, fragmented, and based on archaic manual systems that unnecessarily increased operating costs. As a result of the informal arrangements that a majority of the continent’s trucking operations have been based on, the cost of transportation remains five times higher than in developed countries, and the final cost of goods can be up to 60 percent more.

With Amitruck, clients connect directly with transporters eliminating the cost-prohibitive middlemen. Moreover, the vehicles and drivers on the platform are keenly vetted for quality and reliability, and the customers’ goods are insured against loss or damage.

It is this convenience, security, efficiency, and competitive pricing that has seen the startup’s database grow to over 8,000 vehicles, which have in just over two years completed almost 100,000 deliveries for more than 300 corporate clients. Consequently, its revenue grew 1,000 percent in 2021, despite the limitations brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. The startup’s revenues had grown 400 percent in the previous year, based on rising popularity from up to 30 percent in cost-savings for clients.

Amitruck is eyeing market dominance in the Africa trucking and logistics market, which accounts for almost 80 percent of transported goods. The startup participated in the JICA-backed Ninja Accelerator program in 2021, and was also accepted to the Google-backed Black Founders Fund Accelerator as well as AbInbev’s Budstart Accelerator program later that year.

 ABOUT AMITRUCK

Amitruck is a trucking logistics marketplace that allows transporters (owners of motorbikes, pick-ups, vans, and trucks) to find and connect with shippers through its mobile and web applications.

Transporters bid for work on the platform, ensuring competitive prices, while cargo owners have convenient access to a range of competitive offers and can choose a transporter based on price, rating, and experience.

With its expansion across Africa, the startup is hiring across its key functions, including sales, engineering, and customer success. Interested candidates are invited to apply at https://www.amitruck.com/careers.