For decades, Africa has been described through a single word. Potential, writes dentsu SSA CEO, Dawn Rowlands. The youngest population in the world. The fastest growing consumer base. The untapped market. The next frontier. The next five years will determine whether Africa becomes a creator of technology, intellectual property and innovation, or remains a consumer of a future designed elsewhere.

Walmart’s recently opened store at the East Point Shopping Centre has significantly outperformed the Game store that previously occupied the space. This indicated that South Africans preferred spending their money at Walmart outlets and that Game stores could be replaced wholesale by the American brand to recoup financial losses.

South Africa VML’s latest Future Shopper report suggests technology has yet to replace the fundamentals of shopping: value, trust, availability and a good customer experience. The report points to a growing gap between the enthusiasm surrounding AI in the retail industry and how consumers are actually using the technology.

Pinterest is introducing a scoring system for its Ads Manager to give marketers a view of how well a campaign is set up for performance across campaign setup, creative mix and signal strength. The "campaign optimization score," available as a new feature announced Monday, will surface specific recommendations so advertising teams know exactly where to optimize campaigns.

Prominent tech publications reported that the changes allowed ads on every Disney+ plan, including its more expensive Standard and Premium plans. “The change quietly ends completely ad-free streaming on the platform, even for those paying top dollar,” one publication reported.

MMA South Africa has released a draft South African Retail Media Measurement Standards Framework for a 60-day public consultation starting 14 September 2026. The Framework aims to create consistent, transparent and comparable retail media measurement across South Africa’s retail media industry.

FNB eBucks emerged as one of the standout performers, winning seven awards in total, including the flagship Best Overall Long-Term Loyalty Programme. The Xtra Savings team was additionally recognised as Best Loyalty Team of the Year.

Group revenue declined by 1.8% to R6.58 billion from R6.7 billion in the year to end-June. Holden said the decline was felt mainly in the group’s local newspaper publishing and printing operations, was partly offset by some growth in the packaging and stationery segment. He said the pressure on revenue, combined with new inflationary cost pressures.

South Africa recommends BRICS establish an international mechanism for the independent scientific evaluation of artificial intelligence (AI), said president Cyril Ramaphosa. This, amid the accelerated pace of AI development, sometimes resulting in AI models escaping test environments to hack companies or blackmail people.

Rogerwilco's 2026 Township Customer Experience Report, in collaboration with Field & Insights Africa, explores how shrinking budgets, infrastructure disruptions and changing consumer behaviour are reshaping South Africa's township economy.