Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus
Altron Group announced last week that it was selling its Altron Nexus businesses in a management buyout led by Nexus MD Louis du Toit and BriteGaze founder and technology entrepreneur Reshaad Sha.
Sha and Du Toit are our guests in this episode of the TechCentral Show, where they tell TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the acquisition and their growth plans for the business.
As part of the acquisition – which is still subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions, which should be concluded by the end of June – Altron Nexus will be rebranded as Sentiv, a portmanteau of “sentient” and “intuitive”.
Sha will serve as Sentiv’s executive chairman while Du Toit will be CEO.
“Together they will steer Sentiv’s transformation into a future-orientated technology partner offering intelligent, context-aware, mission-critical communications and industrial internet-of-things solutions,” according to a statement from the acquiring parties.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Du Toit and Sha tell McLeod about:
• How the deal came about;
• The assets and businesses housed in Altron Nexus; and
• The plan to turn the business around.
Don’t miss a great conversation!
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23:49
Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround
TechCentral’s guests in this episode of the TechCentral Show believe Blue Label Telecoms and its affiliate (and soon to be subsidiary) Cell C present a compelling investment case.
Philip Short, global portfolio manager at Flagship Asset Management – which counts Blue label as its sole South African investment – and Dylan Bradfield, portfolio manager at Sharenet, tell TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod that they believe the turnaround taking place at Cell C is real, and will have a meaningful impact on Blue Label shares.
Blue shares, which have already rallied strongly – which have more than doubled in the past six months – could still have plenty of room to run, according to Short.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Short and Bradfield unpack:
• Blue Label’s announcement earlier this month that it is considering a JSE listing for Cell C;
• Why Cell C’s restructured operating model and strategy makes sense, and why that’s good news for Blue Label shareholders;
• The role of Cell C CEO Jorge Mendes in the turnaround – and what the opportunity is for the mobile operator with its new “asset-light” model of running its network – management of its radio access network has effectively been outsourced to partners (and competitors) MTN and Vodacom;
• Which operators would be most vulnerable to a resurgent Cell C;
• The importance of Cell C’s strategy around mobile virtual network operators and the significance of its relationship with Capitec;
• The move by Blue Label to sell Comm Equipment Company to Cell C – good move or not?
• Whether Cell C can compete with Telkom, Vodacom and MTN in the business market, something Mendes has signalled his desire to do;
• What the listing of Cell C could look like, what management’s focus should be before the listing and what kind of valuation the business could attract; and
• How much more value could be unlocked for Blue Label shareholders.
Don’t miss a fascinating discussion!
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35:59
Tertius Zitzke on 4Sight’s big turnaround
4Sight Holdings has turned the corner and has signalled this with a recent move from the AltX to the main board of the JSE.
CEO Tertius Zitzke is our guest in this episode of the TechCentral Show. He tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about the turnaround he’s leading – not to mention the mess he inherited when he took over leadership of the business in December 2019, months before Covid hit.
4Sight has been operating largely below the radar, but the investment community has begun paying attention – and, although the shares been moving sideways for the past year, over three years they have climbed by 250%.
In this episode of the TechCentral Show, Zitzke unpacks:
• What motivated the decision to move to the JSE’s main board;
• His background, including his leadership AccTech Systems, its acquisition by 4Sight and how he became CEO of the group;
• Why the business was listed originally, and how its focus has changed under his leadership;
• How the turnaround was achieved – and what still needs to be done;
• Where 4Sight fits into the ICT market in South Africa;
• The recent acquisition of XFour Group and plans for more acquisitions; and
• What’s next for 4Sight.
Don’t miss an interesting discussion!
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39:12
Reserve Bank fintech head Lyle Horsley on the G20 TechSprint
One of South Africa’s responsibilities as president of the global Group of 20 (G20) nations in 2025 is to hosting the G20 TechSprint, an event that invites innovators from around the world to develop financial solutions that solve the most pressing challenges faced by central banks.
The South African Reserve Bank is hosting this year’s TechSprint in collaboration with the Bank for International Settlements.
Lyle Horsley, head of fintech at the Reserve Bank, joined TechCentral’s Nkosinathi Ndlovu on the TechCentral Show to talk about the competition and other initiatives spearheaded by Bank under the G20 banner.
In this episode of the show, Horsley delves into:
The history of the G20 TechSprint and some of the solutions developed in previous iterations of the competition;
The problem statements entrants are required to centre their solutions on;
How central banks balance the often-opposing concerns of innovation on one hand and strong regulation on the other;
How digital identity and the principles of open finance are critical to digitised financial systems;
How the global central banking community will help winners develop and scale their solutions; and
Details about the format of the TechSprint, how to participate and the prizes up for grabs.
Don’t miss an interesting discussion!
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28:20
Dalene Steyn on Capitec’s ambitious mobile gameplan
Boasting 1.6 million subscribers after less than three years in the market, Capitec Connect has quickly become South Africa’s largest MVNO – and it has an ambitious plan for further growth.
Dalene Steyn, head of Capitec Connect, tells the TechCentral Show (TCS) that the MVNO – or mobile virtual network operator – market in South Africa is poised for further expansion as banks, retailers and other brands muscle into the mobile business through wholesale partnerships with network operators.
According to Steyn, although Capitec Connect is not a loss leader for the bank, the focus for now is building a critical mass of subscribers from Capitec Bank’s customer base – Capitec Connect users must be bank clients to sign up for the service.
In the interview, Steyn tells TechCentral editor Duncan McLeod about:
• Why Capitec Connect recently cut its prices, matching another MVNO, Afrihost AirMobile, as the cheapest MVNO provider in South Africa – spoiler: it’s all about building scale;
• Why Capitec is pulling ahead in the MVNO market and how big the bank wants to be in mobile – and why it’s so important to its business;
• Capitec Connect’s plans to introduce post-paid contracts later this year and how this aligns with its push into business banking services;
• The company’s plans for device financing;
• Its relationship with Cell C, whose network it uses to provide mobile services to its clients, and why it’s pleased with the relationship; and
• The unconfirmed market talk that Capitec might buy a strategic equity stake in Cell C.
Don’t miss the discussion!
The TechCentral Show (TCS, for short) is a tech show produced by South Africa's leading technology news platform. It features interviews with newsmakers, ICT industry leaders and other interesting people.
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