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Huawei Code4Mzansi Highlights Developers Building for South Africa’s Real Economy

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2 months ago

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Code4Mzansi

Code4Mzansi highlights the growing strength of South Africa’s developer ecosystem and the role of youth-led innovation in shaping the country’s digital future
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – Media OutReach Newswire – 26 May 2026 – South Africa’s emerging developers are building close to the ground, with many of the strongest solutions at the inaugural Huawei Code4Mzansi finals focused on systems people use every day: township retail, healthcare, energy, agriculture, payments and the creative economy.

The competition was held in partnership with the Department of Small Business Development. “The Code4Mzansi competition is not just a celebration of achievement, it is a launchpad for the future,” said Minister Stella Ndabeni, whose department co-hosted the event and delivered the closing address.

The finals revealed a clear shift from building abstract digital products to practical tools that help small businesses trade better, communities access services more easily, and local industries solve problems faster.

Four finalist teams focused directly on the township economy, with solutions covering food safety verification for spaza shops, offline point-of-sale systems built for load-shedding, WhatsApp-native marketplaces for informal retailers, and community credit systems for SASSA grant recipients.

Others addressed AI-driven healthcare access, electricity theft detection, smart agriculture, financial infrastructure for the creator economy, and AI-generated African music.

Held at Huawei Office Park in Woodmead, the finals brought together more than 100 attendees, including government representatives, academic partners, industry leaders and media.

“The quality of the finalist solutions demonstrated the potential of local innovation to respond to real market needs,” said Steven Chen, Cloud CEO of Huawei Technologies South Africa.

Academic partners included the University of Pretoria, the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand and the University of Cape Town.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, and technology is their greatest accelerator. The participants here today are future entrepreneurs who will drive South Africa’s digital economy forward,” said Professor Thokozani Shongwe, Vice Dean of Postgraduate Studies, Research and Internationalisation at the University of Johannesburg’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment.

Industry partner rain also attended. Leon Nortje, Principal and Senior Architect at rain, said the competition offered a strong view of the country’s emerging technology pipeline.

“It is always good to see new projects and new teams working on solutions that are valuable and industry-related. We will be looking out for potential new employees,” said Nortje.

The winners

The finalists competed for a prize pool of R800,000. MAAT by SIMVAK was named the overall grand winner and received the Business Value Award, taking home R300,000. The platform addresses food safety and regulatory compliance in South Africa’s informal retail sector through AI agents, real-time product recall alerts, and counterfeit detection for the spaza shop ecosystem.

“The spaza network is the supply chain for most South African households,” said SIMVAK founder Shingirayi Mandebvu.

HealthHive by FTCK received second prize in the Business Value Award category, taking home R200,000, for its AI telemedicine platform that matches patients with the right medical practitioners based on their symptoms.

Auraa received the Grand Innovation Award for its AI music engine built to generate authentic African sound. The platform has been associated with an album that has crossed one million streams.

The Future Star Award went to e-Khadi, a community credit and stokvel platform giving SASSA grant recipients access to essentials at their local spaza shops, supported by AI-assisted credit scoring and fraud detection.

The People’s Choice Award, voted by the public on Huawei’s social media channels, went to DevRift, a semi-finalist in the competition, who took home R100,000.

Minister Ndabeni delivered the closing address, positioning Code4Mzansi within the government’s agenda for youth entrepreneurship, small business development and digital inclusion.

“Our task is to ensure that innovation does not remain a moment of applause, but becomes a pathway to enterprise creation, digital inclusion, and sustainable growth,” she said.

“Thank you to Huawei for being a perfect partner on the journey that we are travelling, and of course, those that matter most, the developers who dared to compete,” she said.

Code4Mzansi forms part of the global Huawei Cloud Developer Competition. In its inaugural edition, South Africa attracted more participants than any other country: 1,041 across 353 teams, including 176 enterprise teams, resulting in the highest enterprise participation rate among all competing markets. Twenty semi-finalists were selected before the top nine advanced to the final.

For the finalists, the work is just beginning. As Minister Ndabeni said, “Go home today proud. But tomorrow, wake up, build again.”

About Huawei
Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. With 213,000 employees operating in over 170 countries, we serve more than three billion people worldwide.

Huawei is committed to bringing digital to every person, home, and organisation for a fully connected, intelligent world. In 2025, Huawei generated CNY880.9 billion in revenue, reinvesting 21.8% (CNY192.3 billion) into R&D, with about 53.7% of its employees working in R&D. As a private company fully owned by its employees, Huawei focuses on customer-centric innovation and open collaboration to create lasting value and drive technological breakthroughs globally.

 

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Canon returns to Visa pour l’Image to champion outstanding photojournalism

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20 hours ago

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July 31, 2026

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Canon

Canon to recognise outstanding contributions to photojournalism with two grants

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, July 30, 2026/APO Group/ –This September, Canon (https://en.Canon-CNA.com/) will be championing the work of photojournalists for the 37th consecutive year, as part of its decades-long partnership with Visa pour l’Image.

Canon will honour the craft of documentary storytelling during the festival’s Pro Week (31 August – 5 September 2026), held in Perpignan in the south of France, by awarding two independent project grants, bringing together industry experts to encourage meaningful discussions and providing recourses for the professional community at the Canon Lounge.

Canon to recognise outstanding contributions to photojournalism with two grants

For 26 years, Canon and Visa pour l’Image have awarded at times career-defining project grants to female photojournalists pursuing a long-term documentary project, alongside the opportunity to showcase their work on the acclaimed Visa pour l’Image stage.

This year, the international jury has awarded Finnish photojournalist and Canon Ambassador Meeri Koutaniemi, for her 14-year documentation of female genital mutilation (FGM) and the grassroots activists working to end the practice. Spanning 14 countries, the project explores both the impact of FGM and the efforts of survivors and communities driving change from within, culminating in a return to Kenya to examine how activism and education can transform future generations.

Canon and Visa pour l’Image are also presenting the seventh Canon Video Grant to German-Mexican filmmaker Axel Javier Sulzbacher for Antes de ser Niño – Before Being a Child. Set in Michoacán, Mexico, the film follows a youth militia where children receive military-style training amid cartel violence, exploring the tension between protection, militarisation, and childhood through long-term observational filmmaking.

We are proud to support photographers and videographers who devote years to telling stories that can shape understanding and help build a more informed and compassionate world

“Photojournalism has the power to make visible the realities that too often remain unseen. For more than two decades, the Canon Female Photojournalist Grant has supported women whose dedication, courage and empathy bring these stories to light. Meeri Koutaniemi’s work exemplifies the profound role documentary storytellers play in bearing witness, amplifying underrepresented voices, and inspiring meaningful change.

Alongside photography, documentary filmmaking plays a vital role in helping us understand the world and the experiences of people whose stories might otherwise go untold. This year, the Canon Video Grant recognises the remarkable work of Axel Javier Sulzbacher, whose dedicated, long-term approach brings nuance and humanity to a complex and challenging subject,” says Ingrid Masachs, EMEA Marketing Director at Canon.

“We are proud to support photographers and videographers who devote years to telling stories that can shape understanding and help build a more informed and compassionate world.”

Canon to host a Photo Studio

As a special highlight this year, Canon will host a dedicated Photo Studio and offer visitors the opportunity to receive a professional headshot and live demonstration of Canon’s Authenticity Imaging System (https://apo-opa.co/4c8UlT2), which embeds secure, verifiable credentials into images in accordance with the C2PA standard.

Canon support at Visa pour l’Image

The Canon Lounge will showcase the strength of Canon’s complete professional imaging offering, bringing together industry-leading cameras, lenses, professional print technology and software solutions that help protect image authenticity, and the unrivalled expertise of Canon Professional Services (CPS).

Throughout the festival, accredited photographers can benefit from complimentary check-and-clean services, hands-on access to the latest equipment, one-to-one advice from Canon product specialists, and a fine art print of their work. As the only imaging brand offering this full suite of products, software and services support, Canon is uniquely positioned to help professional photographers create, protect, and share their work with confidence.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Canon Central and North Africa (CCNA).

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Radisson Hotel Group and Accenture Redefine Travel Discovery on ChatGPT

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2 days ago

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July 30, 2026

By

Radisson Hotel

New Radisson Hotels app in ChatGPT helps travelers move from trip intent to relevant hotel options, live rates, and direct booking paths, advancing Radisson Hotel Group’s agentic commerce strategy

AI is radically transforming how people search for and book hotel stays, and we are committed to being at the forefront of this shift

BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 29, 2026/APO Group/ –Radisson Hotel Group (www.RadissonHotels.com) has collaborated with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) in launching an AI-powered hotel discovery app in ChatGPT, helping travelers move from trip intent to search, comparison and planning through natural conversation.

 

Available as @RadissonHotels in ChatGPT, the app enables travelers to search for Radisson Hotels properties across over 100 countries, and more than 1,000 hotels through natural conversation. Through starting a new ChatGPT conversation with @RadissonHotels at the start of the prompt, travelers can ask for advice to plan a family-friendly weekend stay in Amsterdam, or a hotel in Paris with a gym and spa near the Eiffel Tower. The app will respond with relevant Radisson Hotels properties with live inventory and rates, location context, amenities, hotel details, and interactive map-based results. When ready, travelers are directed to complete the reservation through the Radisson Hotels website.

The launch marks an important step in Radisson Hotel Group’s move toward agentic commerce (https://apo-opa.co/4w1xwbb): a shift from traditional, channel-based booking journeys to AI-led experiences where discovery, comparison, and decision-making happen through conversation. As travelers increasingly turn to AI to ask questions, narrow down options, and plan trips, hospitality brands need to be visible, accurate, and actionable at the moment of intent.

This shift is already underway. According to Accenture’s Consumer Pulse Research (https://apo-opa.co/4fqvOLv), 87% of travelers are open to collaborating with an AI-powered travel agent to find the best option, and 71% of travelers say that at least half of their spend for hotels or airlines will be influenced by AI over the next 12 months. Radisson Hotel Group is seeing the change firsthand, noting that organic and direct web traffic channels that have historically driven online bookings are giving way to new touchpoints like ChatGPT.

“AI is radically transforming how people search for and book hotel stays, and we are committed to being at the forefront of this shift,” said Gianni Di Fede, chief commercial officer, Radisson Hotel Group. “With Accenture, we are reimagining hotel discovery for the next generation of travelers—meeting guests in the planning moment with a branded experience that makes it easier to find, compare, and book Radisson Hotels properties.”

The collaboration began with Radisson Hotel Group using an MCP accelerator that is part of Accenture’s AI Merchant Center, an agentic readiness and intelligence platform. This helped structure, validate, and optimize how Radisson Hotels’ content, inventory, rate, and booking signals could be monitored for AI-led discovery. Accenture then worked with Radisson Hotel Group to design the app experience, shaping how travelers interact with it and how it works across devices. The app connects directly to Radisson Hotel Group’s existing systems, delivering real-time hotel information that helps travelers move from a broad idea to a relevant shortlist more quickly. Over time, the companies plan to expand this experience to include deeper personalization, loyalty recognition, in-chat booking, reservation management, trip modification, and AI concierge capabilities.

“Agentic commerce is fundamentally changing how people discover and choose brands. As journeys become more conversational and intent-driven, companies have to rethink how they show up — not just to be found, but to be chosen, and to deliver value in that moment,” said Ndidi Oteh, CEO of Accenture Song. “Radisson Hotel Group is taking a step in that direction, creating a more direct and meaningful way to connect with travelers when decisions are being made.”

The app is part of Radisson Hotel Group’s broader digital transformation and direct booking strategy. Accenture has supported the Group in modernizing its digital and data foundation (https://apo-opa.co/4pPQ78O), uniting its brands on a single global platform and enabling more personalized marketing across more than 1,000 hotels. With the Radisson Hotels app in ChatGPT extending that foundation into a new AI-native discovery channel, the Group will remain visible, relevant, and bookable as traveler behavior continues to evolve.

“With travel, planning is becoming easier for consumers, but more competitive for brands,” said Emily Weiss, senior managing director and global Travel lead, Accenture. “Travelers want to compare options quickly, narrow down choices and book with confidence, often in a single journey. That puts pressure on brands to show up with accurate, up-to-date, and easy-to-navigate information at every step. With Radisson Hotel Group, the focus was on making hotel content more accessible, so travelers can find what they need, explore options, and move to booking more seamlessly.”

This work builds on Accenture and ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI’s broader partnership (https://apo-opa.co/4pOOVlZ) to help organizations use AI in more practical, decision-driven ways, unlocking new opportunities for growth, stronger customer connections, and more efficient operations. Accenture is an OpenAI Elite Partner and was recently named OpenAI’s AI Transformation Partner of the Year

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Radisson Hotel Group.

 

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Novum Studio Secures New Funding to Launch Ahoy Project, an AI-Native Enterprise Transformation Platform, Building on Its 20-Million-User Gen Z App Frog

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1 week ago

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July 24, 2026

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Novum Studio
  • Novum Studio has raised a new round of funding to launch Ahoy Project, its enterprise AI solution, with internal testing scheduled for July 2026.
  • Ahoy Project is positioned as the infrastructure for AI-native enterprise transformation – an AI-native communication platform serving as the underlying system, delivered as an end-to-end tailored solution.
  • The launch expands the company beyond Frog, its Gen Z consumer social app that has reached 20 million users across the U.S. and Europe.
  • Novum Studio said it is applying lessons from operating high-frequency social platforms at scale to workplace communication and knowledge systems.

NEW YORK, USA – Media OutReach Newswire – 24 July 2026 – Novum Studio, the company behind Frog – a Gen Z social app often described as a “new-generation Snapchat” – said it has raised a new round of funding and will use the proceeds to launch Ahoy Project, an AI-native enterprise communication and collaboration platform, with internal testing scheduled for July 2026.

The Novum Studio team at London Tech Week 2025.

Unlike conventional workplace software, Ahoy Project will not be sold as a standalone software subscription, the company said. Novum Studio provides the infrastructure and a full tailored solution for enterprises undergoing AI-native transformation, with the communication platform serving as the underlying system on which that transformation is built.

Founded as a consumer social company, Novum Studio has reached more than 20 million users across the U.S. and Europe. Frog gained traction among younger users through spontaneous, real-time sharing designed around authenticity and low-pressure interaction. The company said its experience building large-scale social “spaces” – where millions of people communicate, form groups and coordinate in real time — directly informs its approach to enterprise collaboration.

The new funding will support the launch and international expansion of the enterprise business as artificial intelligence reshapes how organizations communicate, collaborate and operate, the company said.

Novum Studio was founded by Anna Danyi, who graduated from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2018 and began her career in consulting and technology. Before founding Novum Studio, she built multiple consumer applications and exited through an acquisition. In 2025, Forbes China recognized her among the Top 100 most influential global Chinese figures in AI digital products area.

“We spent years understanding how millions of users communicate online,” Anna Danyi said. “In the AI era, communication itself is becoming intelligent. We believe the next generation of platforms will not only connect people — they will understand workflows, collaboration and organizational behavior.”

From Consumer Social to Enterprise AI

Modern organizations face growing challenges as critical knowledge, decisions and workflows become fragmented across chats, meetings and disconnected tools, the company said. Ahoy Project addresses this as a conversation-driven, AI-native collaboration layer: it captures context from day-to-day communication to build a searchable enterprise knowledge base and support workflow coordination.

Core capabilities include conversation-based knowledge organization, AI-assisted collaboration and workflow support integrated directly into team communication. Because the platform sits at the layer where work is discussed and decided, it can serve as the foundation for a broader AI-native operating model – with Novum Studio designing and delivering the surrounding transformation solution for each enterprise client.

Ahoy (Popeye AI) turns everyday team conversations into a searchable enterprise knowledge base.

A New Direction for Social Technology

Novum Studio said its expansion reflects a broader shift across the technology industry. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram defined how content was distributed and consumed in the mobile social era; as AI becomes embedded in digital products, the company believes the next stage will center less on feeds and more on intelligent systems that understand communication and coordination.

“We are no longer just building products where people post content,” Anna Danyi said. “We are building systems that understand how humans communicate and operate together.”
 

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