An attendee stands in front of a screen displaying QR codes for various programs and services at Tencent Holdings’ WeChat Open Class Pro conference in Guangzhou, China, earlier this month. The WeChat social network, which is nearly ubiquitous in China, has some 580 000 mini-programs in operation. The significance for South Africans lies in the fact that Naspers owns 33% in Tencent; a holding that has transformed the media group into Africa’s largest corporation by market value. Photograph: Qilai Shen for Bloomberg