Economy
Tata Consultancy Services South Africa achieves Level-1 B‑BBEE contributor status
Milestone strengthens client and market confidence, reinforces long-term TCS commitment to development and inclusive growth in South Africa
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS), a global leader in IT services, consulting, and business solutions, today announced that TCS South Africa has achieved the highest recognition in the country’s broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) codes. The Level-1 certification – the highest standard of B-BBEE compliance – acknowledges the deep, long-standing commitment of TCS to South Africa’s inclusive growth, economic transformation, and national development agenda since its inception in 2007.
Langa Dube, Country Head and Regional Director, TCS South Africa & Rest of Africa, said, “For TCS South Africa, achieving Level‑1 B‑BBEE status goes far beyond compliance—it reflects nearly two decades of sustained commitment to transformation, local empowerment, and meaningful impact. This milestone demonstrates that a global technology leader can genuinely invest in South Africa’s future through inclusive, ethical, and locally rooted growth. We believe it sets a powerful benchmark for how long‑term investment can drive socio‑economic development across the ICT sector.”
The milestone underscores TCS’s strong alignment with South Africa’s national values. As a Level-1 BBBEE contributor, TCS enhances the ability of its clients across both the public and private sectors to meet their own procurement and transformation objectives.
TCS achieved the Level-1 B-BBEE rating through the business’s significant contributions to skills development, job creation, and community upliftment across South Africa, providing real-world opportunities and fostering a more equitable society. Some of these initiatives include:
TCS Sustainathon and goIT: The TCS Sustainathon, a global flagship programme addressing community challenges, and go-Innovate Together (goIT) which equips young learners between the ages of 5 and 17 with Digital 4IR skills, confidence, design thinking and transformative mindsets for their future in STEM.
Socio Economic Development: Through TCS’ long-standing partnership with Black Owned non-profit organizations (NPO), the company has impacts over 11,000 young, marginalized learners every year across South Africa. The programmer empowering them to compete on a global level through various Robotics STEM programmes.
The TCS Makers Club: This is one of TCS’ most impactful learnership programmes yet. It supports Skills Development through a 12‑month programme for underprivileged students, which equips them with an accredited NQF level 4 iOt Certificate and an Entrepreneurship mindset. Through this programme TCS has reduced unemployment by launching 40 careers in this digital age, as well as developing five young entrepreneurs and non-profit owners.
Academic Partnerships: TCS associates itself with the country’s top universities and Technical and Vocational educational training (Tvet) Colleges in the region driving a large-scale graduate training programme. This programme equips graduates with advanced skills that are Future-Focused and Industry ready in Digital Skills amongst others and plays an important role in driving local employment.
Commitment towards South Africa’s growth
TCS has operated in South Africa since 2007 and has over 50 clients in the country. It serves most of the country’s large enterprises including the top telecommunication companies, banking and insurance firms, major retailers and Utilities and State-owned entities. It has more than 2,500 employees in the region, with women making up 26% of the workforce, with strong focus on young leadership development and local talent accounting for 44.2%.
With its recently launched Delivery Centre in Johannesburg, TCS continues to strengthen its long‑term commitment to South Africa’s economic and digital transformation by creating Local Employment opportunities catering to Global Markets.
Level-1 B‑BBEE status is also a testament to the dedication and passion of TCS South Africa employees, whose commitment to excellence, innovation, and communities continues to drive positive change. This reflects with TCS being awarded the Top Employer Award for nine consecutive years in South Africa as well.
This recognition strengthens TCS South Africa’s market competitiveness, enhances client trust, and solidifies the company’s standing as a trusted digital transformation partner committed to South Africa’s socio‑economic progress.
Introducing the Isisekelo Sethu Trust
The Isisekelo Sethu Trust is a registered South African trust established to drive meaningful empowerment and sustainable development within previously disadvantaged and economically marginalised communities. Operating in alignment with the B‑BBEE Act, the Trust, through its focused initiatives, it reinforces a commitment to transformation, equity, and shared prosperity across the region.
The Trust was established as a beacon of sustainable development and inclusive progress, drawing inspiration from the enduring values of the Tata Group – integrity, responsibility, excellence, pioneering spirit, and unity. The Trust supports community-oriented enterprises that promote sustainable development and re-energises pre-existing programmes aligned to the strategy of TCS.
About Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Tata Consultancy Services (BSE: 532540, NSE: TCS) is the technology partner of choice for industry-leading organizations worldwide. Since its inception in 1968, TCS has upheld the highest standards of innovation, engineering excellence and customer service.
It has set an aspiration to become the world’s largest AI-led technology services company and is enabling its clients to transform themselves across the full AI stack, from infrastructure to intelligence.
Rooted in the heritage of the Tata Group, TCS is focused on creating long term value for its clients, its investors, its employees, and the community at large. With a highly skilled workforce spread across 56 countries and 194 service delivery centers across the world, the company has been recognized as a top employer in six continents. With the ability to rapidly apply and scale new technologies, the company has built long term partnerships with its clients. Many of these relationships have endured into decades and navigated every technology cycle, from mainframes in the 1970s to artificial intelligence today.
TCS sponsors 14 of the world’s most prestigious marathons and endurance events, including the TCS New York City Marathon, TCS London Marathon and TCS Sydney Marathon with a focus on promoting health, sustainability, and community empowerment.
TCS generated consolidated revenues of over US $30 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026.
For more information, visit www.tcs.com
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Economy
Jacobs expands premium portfolio with launch of Origins Kenya & Uganda Beans this Africa Day
As Africa Day is celebrated across the continent in May, Jacobs Coffee marks the occasion by turning the spotlight to Africa’s rich coffee legacy with the launch of Jacobs Origins Kenya & Uganda Beans, a premium, origin‑led blend that captures the depth, diversity and craftsmanship of two of the world’s most influential coffee‑producing nations. Jacobs Origins Kenya & Uganda Beans brings together two contrasting yet complementary coffee traditions.
Africa accounts for approximately 12% of global coffee production, with countries such as Uganda and Kenya playing a significant role in shaping the global coffee landscape. The launch taps into a clear shift in consumer behaviour.
Coffee drinkers are becoming more curious, informed, and intentional about what they consume, with provenance, origin transparency and flavour exploration increasingly influencing purchase decisions. At the same time, premiumisation in at‑home coffee continues to accelerate, as consumers look to recreate café‑quality experiences in their own kitchens.
“Consumers are increasingly looking for coffee that tells a story where it comes from, how it is crafted, and what makes it unique,” says Domaine Rautenbach, Senior Brand Manager at Jacobs. “Jacobs Origins Kenya & Uganda Beans speaks directly to that shift by bringing together two iconic African origins to create a premium coffee experience rooted in flavour, quality and authenticity.”
With an intensity of 8/10, Jacobs Origins Kenya & Uganda Beans is crafted for coffee lovers who enjoy a strong, flavour-forward cup, whether enjoyed black or paired with milk-based recipes. The beans are ideally suited for fully automatic coffee machines, delivering consistent extraction and a robust, satisfying finish.
More than a new product, the launch reinforces Jacobs’ ongoing commitment to celebrating origin, culture and craftsmanship within its premium portfolio. By drawing attention to Africa’s enduring role in global coffee and launching in alignment with Africa Day.
Jacobs invites consumers to experience the continent’s richness, diversity, and expertise in every bean.
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Enhancing AI powered, advisor‑led customer service through responsible, human‑led design
FNB has announced the enhancement of its virtual assistant platform, NAVi, as part of a broader move to strengthen advisor-led banking and improve how customers experience servicing in real time.
NAVi was launched as a virtual assistant on the FNB Banking App late last year, to enhance everyday banking for customers. This latest evolution represents a significant step-change in how AI is embedded into advisor workflows, helping bridge the gap between digital convenience and personalised experience.The enhancement of NAVi moves beyond traditional self-service tools, introducing a more integrated model where AI supports advisors in customer interactions. This results in faster, more intuitive and consistent interactions without replacing human judgement which remains central to an elevated individualised financial journey.
“NAVi represents another innovative and important milestone in how we support our customers, through embedded AI,” says Johan Maree, Chief Executive Officer at FNB Nav. “Our focus is on empowering our advisors with intelligent tools that remove friction, enhance consistency and enable them to deliver meaningful advice at scale and in a way that is helpful, responsible and ultimately improves the customer experience.”
Rather than attempting to replace human expertise, NAVi is purposefully designed to strengthen it. The solution equips advisors with real‑time intelligence and contextual insights – where NAVi can assist an employee to quickly and efficiently access information that is pertinent to the customer’s needs – during live customer conversations, with guided next‑best actions soon to come. By reducing the need to navigate multiple systems, advisors can focus more on understanding customer needs, applying judgement, and building stronger relationships with customers.
“As customers’ financial needs grow more complex, the expectations placed on advisors continue to rise,” says Eric Enslin, CEO of FNB Private Banking and Advisory. “To meet those expectations consistently, advisors need systems that actively support them in real time, not slow them down. NAVi provides that critical layer of support by bringing relevant insights, context and guidance directly into the flow of conversation. This allows our advisors to spend less time navigating systems and more time applying judgement, building trust and delivering high-quality, personalised advice,”
Responsible and ethical AI adoption remains central to FNB’s approach. NAVi has built-in guardrails that support compliant, safe and transparent use of AI, while ensuring that human accountability remains firmly at the centre of every interaction. This provides both customers and advisors with confidence and trust in how AI is applied.From an operational perspective, NAVi also drives measurable efficiency by simplifying tasks, reducing rework and improving first-time resolution in helping customers. This enables advisors to help more customers without compromising on quality, personalisation or service standards.The rollout of NAVi aligns with FNB’s long-term vision to scale advice‑led banking through thoughtful and trustworthy technology. Further enhancements are already planned as the bank continues to evolve its AI‑enabled service model.
“Ultimately, NAVi reflects the kind of bank we are building; one where technology works quietly in the background to make human interactions more meaningful, more consistent and more impactful,” concludes Maree.
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