JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA--(Marketwired - July 22, 2014) - Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:UEPS)(JSE:NT1) today announced that its Net1 Mobile Solutions ("N1MS") business unit, partnered with other South African-based companies and organizations to bring care-packs to hundreds of pupils at Jon Kotlolo School, and surrounding community members, in Nellmapius, Pretoria, in celebration of Mandela Day, on July 18, the iconic leader's birthday.
The care packs, each with their own personal message and carefully filled by N1MS' employees, included a bucket, soap, a wash cloth and a Sun-e-light, the enhanced solar-powered lamp and mobile phone charger introduced to South Africa by N1MS.
"We created Sun-e-light for South Africans who have little or no access to electricity, as an ongoing corporate social investment project," said Philip Belamant, Managing Director of N1MS. "We heard that the students at Jon Kotlolo Primary School are often victims to power cuts, if they have electricity in their homes at all, and we hope that the Sun-e-lights will give them the light that they need to do their homework and study. Nelson Mandela, who we honoured with this pilot project, said that education is the greatest engine of personal development – and we want make it possible for these learners to achieve their full potential."
A Jon Kotlolo School student, on receiving his Sun-e-light, excitedly remarked "I'm now solar-powered! The light will help me when I'm studying and the mobile phone charger is awesome, I can stay in touch with friends!" A community member, Mama Mazibuko, said "You have no idea how much this will help my family, we have so many power cuts here that last for days, and we can now use the lamp to light up our house and charge our phones so I can call my family and know they are always safe."
The first edition of the Sun-e-light is a solar-powered lamp that can also be used as a torch and it also has a port that makes it possible to use it to charge mobile phones. The next generation Sun-e-light, available in the next few months, can be used as a Wi-Fi hotspot, offering users the ability to research online and experience the digital world, giving learners access to academic material, and school graduates access to job-searching portals, for example.
"The Sun-e-light is about so much more than just providing light, it's about providing accessibility and connectivity," says Belamant. "Sun-e-light gives learners the illumination and the access to information that they need to complete their education. We will be distributing the solar lamp at schools and tertiary educational facilities across South Africa in the coming months, in areas where learners do not have access to a consistent electricity supply."
About Net1 ( www.net1.com )
Net1 is a leading provider of alternative payment systems that leverage its Universal Electronic Payment System ("UEPS"), to facilitate biometrically secure, real-time electronic transaction processing to unbanked and under-banked populations of developing economies around the world in an online or offline environment. Net1's UEPS/EMV solution is interoperable with global EMV standards that seamlessly permit access to all the UEPS functionality in a traditional EMV environment. In addition to payments, UEPS can be used for banking, healthcare management, payroll, remittances, voting and identification.
Net1 operates market-leading payment processors in South Africa and the Republic of Korea. In addition, Net1's proprietary MVC technology offers secure mobile payments and banking services in developed and emerging countries.
Net1 has a primary listing on the NASDAQ and a secondary listing on the JSE Limited.
About Net1 Mobile Solutions ( www.net1mobile.com )
Net1 Mobile Solutions is a South African-based technology entity encompassing a combination of world class solutions tailored to the specifically identified needs of the global market. Its diverse product offering is consolidated into five primary business lines, namely: Mobile Banking, MNO Solutions, Chip & SIM, third Party Payments (FIHRST) and Cryptography.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A discussion of various factors that cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements are included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to revise any of these statements to reflect future events.
