Big finish {{ FIRSTNAME | there }}? Yesterday, South African Adriaan Wildschutt worked his way up from 8th place to win the New York Half Marathon in a time of 59:30. Way to represent! 🇿🇦

In This Open Letter

SA’s R294 billion electricity market’s seen 900% increases, yet not every business has the capital for solar – so this venture’s bringing the hardware at outlay…

SA business owners know the cost of keeping the lights on. But the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) just approved another 8.76% tariff increase from 1 April 2026, on top of the 12.7% 2025 increase and with another 8.83% coming in April 2027.

Eskom’s prices skyrocketed by 937% since 2007 (normal inflation just 155%). And we have pylons falling over and the US-Iran conflict pushing up fuel prices, so don’t be too surprised if we see a return to the dark ages of 2023 and 2024’s Stage 6 loadshedding.

SA hasn’t had that level of disruption since 26 March 2024, when it pushed so many towards solar out of sheer necessity that we imported R17.5 billion’s worth of solar panels (3x what we spent in 2022).

But the crazy part is we’re nowhere near adequate: Africa has 60% of the world’s best solar resources, but only 1% of the installed solar PV capacity.

What’s the holdup?

In simple terms, cost. Even the smallest, simplest solar setup needs R100K+ cash outlay. And most businesses need a proper one, easily running into the millions and cannibalising growth capital.

And then comes the maintenance: Solar systems are a 20-year commitment to maintenance, cleaning and near-constant technical oversight.

For consumers, we’ve seen innovative models like rent-to-own and full-on Solar-as-a-Service subs. It’s about time for a dedicated business solution…

The local venture renting out the sun

SolarSaver gives businesses capex-free solar installations where you pay for the cheaper, greener electricity, not the hardware. They install the system, maintain and own it, and all you do is pay for the power it generates.

SolarSaver currently operates over 700 systems across South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zambia, through long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) or rent-to-own contracts. 

As part of the Sedgeley Solar Group, it recently secured a R1.8 billion ($60 million) equity investment led by Inspired Evolution, alongside the Dutch (FMO) and Swedish (Swedfund) development banks.

The big task: Offsetting the risks of defaulting and business closures/movements, likely well-balanced by the types of businesses they target, and, of course, building up density so that technical support remains efficient.

But in a country where electricity keeps getting more expensive, the real opportunity might be changing how it’s paid for.

We’re watching this space…

After retiring from pro rugby, Bob Skinstad was juggling multiple roles as an entrepreneur, investor and public speaker. But, while he is a legend in person, getting the same digital traction on LinkedIn isn’t something he enjoys, so it always lags.

But then he met the guys at FDC, and they took full ownership of his LinkedIn presence, updating his brand, posting and engaging on his behalf.

The results? In 3 years, Bob’s LinkedIn unlocked 33.5 million impressions, 797’000+ engagements and 70’000+ new followers, driving 72 direct business leads.

Want that too?

♻️ CT Going Cleaner & Greener. The City of Cape Town has officially launched a monster R400 million recycling hub in Muizenberg. This ramps the Coastal Park Material Recovery Facility’s 25 tonnes of recyclables to 65 tonnes as it doubles its team from 80 to 160. Nice one.

🤖 Tripping Up The Bad Guys. Discovery’s investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are showing some serious results, with a mega 80% drop in EFT fraud since October 2025, thanks to its digital systems that can flag suspicious activity and beneficiaries. Lekker.

🔘 Elon Hits Restart (Again). Elon Musk says his AI company xAI “was not built right first time around, so it’s being rebuilt from the foundations up” as he continues in his quest to compete with AI rivals. Sjoe, hey…

📚 Leaning Into It. As tertiary learning institutions around the world grapple with how to police students' use of AI in their studies, local higher education player Stadio has implemented a traffic light system to help its students use artificial intelligence (AI) responsibly. Very interesting.

⚙️ Scale Built Fast. LeaseSurance had a validated PropTech idea, but the platform to scale it nationally would take months/years to build. So Octoco rebuilt the core system with automation, risk profiling and claims processing to make it market-ready in just 5 months (not years).*

* From our partners. Find all the best service providers for your business in our Founder Stack.

The next phase of crypto will be driven by software. Binance recently introduced a set of tools that allow AI agents to access market data, trade derivatives, manage margin positions and even move assets between wallets programmatically.

In simple terms, it means autonomous software can now analyse markets and execute trades directly through exchange infrastructure.

For developers and experienced traders, this opens the door to automated strategies that monitor markets 24/7, manage risk and execute complex positions without manual intervention. But the broader implication is even bigger: financial systems are becoming programmable.

Instead of humans placing every order, AI agents can continuously monitor funding rates, liquidity and price signals, reacting in milliseconds. It’s an early glimpse of a future where algorithms handle much of the routine work of trading and asset management.

See what the AI-first investment feature looks like.

Disclaimer: Digital asset prices can be volatile. The value of your investment may go down or up and you may not get back the amount invested. You are solely responsible for your investment decisions and Binance is not liable for any losses you may incur. Not financial advice. For more information, see our Terms of Use and Risk Warning.

Last Friday, we told you the real story behind Showmax’s failure, asking where you’ll watch locally produced movies and TV shows. Most prefer the internationals…

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 🤷 Will wait and see what Netflix/Canal+ do (30%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 🫣 I don't watch any local stuff (39%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🤔 Does this smell like an opportunity to you? (13%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 😎 Pretty sure eVOD/SABC Plus are going to swoop in (6%)

🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ☹️ It’s game over for local content, I’m afraid (12%)

Your 2 cents…

Great point, Angel! YouTube’s become Nollywood’s global distribution engine — can SA do the same? 🎬

Sales & GTM Standup – 17 Mar, Online: A fast bi-weekly session where founders share sales progress, blockers, tools and lessons learned. Join The Founder Collab.

Founder-Led Sales – 27 Mar, Online: Heinrich Swanepoel shares how to qualify, handle objections and close deals confidently without feeling pushy. Live roleplay included. More information here.

How AI Is Shaping Fintech Across Africa – 16 Apr, Johannesburg: Shola Akinlade joins a high-signal Open Letter event exploring scaling fintech and the role of AI across African markets. Get your tickets.

What Changes Legally When You Start Growing – 17 Apr, Online: Jacques Stemmet unpacks the legal shifts startups face as they scale, from contracts to governance and investor expectations. Join via Founder Collab.

🎬 Tool to Try: VidShift is a free in-browser video and audio converter.

🚀 That’s Interesting: After becoming the first human in space, Russia could not track Yuri Gagarin’s craft on his return to Earth — he had to ask some farmers where he could find a phone so he could tell Moscow where he’d landed.

🥛 Next Level: Watch a 7× Olympic gold medalist swim with a glass of chocolate milk on her head.

🗺️ Hack: A delightfully complicated decision tree for dating old maps.

🍎 Wow Site: Apple Rankings features comedians ranking and reviewing different apple varieties to help you find the juiciest ones.