All about Tech.
Absa, one of South Africa’s largest banks and a pan-African lender, has officially launched facial recognition technology in its Android and iOS apps, which some users will need to utilize to authenticate certain transactions through facial scans. “Technology is leaping ahead faster than ever, and it’s up to us to ensure that you stay right…
Thirty-one African tech startups have been selected to take part in the Smart Cities Innovation Programme, which will help them scale up their products and services to boost urban transformation. Launched by the Rwandan Ministry of ICT and Innovation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft fu?r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the six-month Smart Cities Innovation Programme is designed to help…
Nigerian startup NucleusIS is building the technology to deepen insurance adoption, drive access to healthcare and improve health outcomes. Founded in 2019, NucleusIS has built a robust enterprise technology base for health insurance companies and care providers, which has so far on-boarded seven clients. The startup is also leveraging this technology to distribute health insurance via distribution …
When it comes to online calendars and calendar apps, services like Google Calendar and Outlook from Microsoft rule the roost with hundreds of millions of users globally. Now another company is hoping to ruffle some feathers with its own move into the space. TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that Yahoo is working Day, a new standalone…
Developing an innovation process can boost the long-term value of a company. Businesses are more than ever realizing the importance of the innovation process. The creation of an imaginative idea or even the alteration of an existing idea to create a modified solution is both examples of innovation. The value of innovation to a company’s long-term…
Mastercard has announced the creation of a new Sustainability Innovation Lab, which will lead the company’s continued development of environmentally sensitive digital products and solutions. As the global economy quickly digitizes, the Lab will focus on methods to empower businesses and consumers to revolutionize how they produce, distribute, and purchase products and services, guaranteeing that both people…
Making sure you stay safe online when shopping should be a lot easier thanks to a new update coming to Google Chrome. The company has revealed that the next build of its web browser will offer an upgraded security system when it comes to managing online payments. Google Chrome 95, which is in beta now, will include a new…
In November 2021, the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) summit will take place in Glasgow, UK, where world leaders will discuss the need to transition to a low carbon society by reducing CO2 emissions and preserving natural resources. Innovations in digital technology will play a key role. Uganda’s oil and gas (OGC) industry is expanding…
Unicorn Group, a pan-African, investment company targeting innovative ideas, start-ups, and early-stage companies in the technology and technology-enabled sectors across Africa has launched the Unicorn Incubation campus in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Unicorn incubation and innovation campus aims to host an entrepreneurial ecosystem under one roof and help African entrepreneurs bring their ambitious ideas to…
Apple surprised people by warning that “exposure to vibrations, like those generated by high-powered motorcycle engines” can damage iPhone cameras. There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for this, and it can affect Android devices, too. It’s easy to make the iPhone the butt of a joke—and Apple didn’t do themselves any favors—but this is a legitimate issue. It…
Mauritius emerged the most innovative African country in a recent ranking. The island nation placed 52nd among 132 countries globally. Mauritius, unlike most African countries, has a high human development score. Its economy has grown robustly in the last half a century, especially on financial services, tourism and information technology. It was followed by South…
Growing up, I never had much contact with deaf people. Of course, that is to be expected as I didn’t know any deaf people. In later years, I would come to — unconsciously — associate being deaf with being poor. Why? I only saw deaf people while travelling through Nigerian roads to or from school…
Paystack, the African fintech company that powers and processes payments for businesses, today announced that it is launching Pay with Apple Pay on its platform. The company, in a statement, called the integration “the fastest, secure way for Nigerian businesses to accept international payments.” Apple Pay, Apple’s mobile payments and digital wallet service, provides users…
Apapa, the Lagos town that hosts Nigeria’s largest and busiest port, is synonymous with gridlock. Roads leading into the port are lined by scores of trucks waiting days or weeks to be allowed into terminals where they load containers for transfer to warehouses. Most drivers, customs agents, and terminal operators trudging along at Apapa and other African…
API fintech startups are thriving in Africa’s tech ecosystem as they build the infrastructure to facilitate payments, banking, e-commerce, and insurance. By creating the technical foundations, they are allowing businesses to focus on serving their customers rather than work on a non-core business of building tech. An API, or application programming interface, is a group…
Africa Data Centres, the only pan-African network of interconnected, carrier-and cloud-neutral data centres on the continent, has completed its new Johannesburg data centre, based in its Midrand Campus, which, the company says, is one of the largest in Africa. This state-of-the-art facility, designed with the latest global standards is the ideal location for technology companies…
Now that Microsoft lets you ditch your passwords for Outlook.com, Xbox Live and other online accounts, you might want to consider taking the jump. Dumping your logins can improve security and convenience. Ditching your password can improve security, if only because it means you don’t have to rely on your memory to get into your accounts. We…
It’s a doozy of a digital spying case. Security researchers have found evidence of attempted or successful installations of Pegasus, software made by Israel-based cybersecurity company NSO Group, on 37 phones of activists, journalists and businesspeople. The targets appear to have been targets of secret surveillance by software that’s intended to help governments pursue criminals and…
COVID-19 and its resulting worldwide pandemic have resulted in a fifth of Nigeria’s workforce losing their jobs, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics. The job cuts followed significant disruptions to supply chains, continuing supply and demand shocks, and a drop in consumer confidence, the agency said in a statement, seen by Bloomberg, citing a study…
There is no doubt that the pandemic has accelerated most digitalisation trends, compressing what was expected to take years into months. And this has been applauded by the technology industry and business alike, with, for instance, even the most cloud-skeptical CEO appreciating technology’s ability to ensure business continuity as we rapidly shifted to a distributed…
South African fintech startups have been invited to apply for the ZAR1.5 million (US$100,000) AlphaCode Incubate programme, which aims to identify, partner with and grow innovative entrepreneurs in financial services and related industries. The AlphaCode Incubate programme is open to entrepreneurs with early-stage fintech or related sector startups, or even ideas for one. Innovative business concepts led…
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and eighth largest population in the world with a booming 200+ million people, 53.2% of whom fall into the active population of 15 to 65 years- indicating abundant vast human capital. She parades some of the World’s most ingeniously innovative minds, industry champions and technology leaders scattered within her population….
Google Meet is bringing a new feature to correct poor lighting during video calls. Following the introduction of a low-light mode on mobile last year, the internet giant has now added a new feature that automatically detects when a Web user appears underexposed during a video call and enhances the brightness of their device to…
Beyond the immediate benefits like having data about business operations available in real-time, businesses are increasingly exploring and adopting Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to drive their sustainability goals. The global outbreak of COVID-19 and the impact it had on economies around the globe, coupled with the USA’s renewed resolve to address climate change, has…
Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology, H.E. Dr. Amr Talaat, has revealed plans to bring high-speed internet to more than 60 million people in rural areas as part of an ambitious campaign to create new opportunities for economic development. Minister of State for Digital Economy and Employment H.E Talaat said the project is part…
Ethiopian construction-tech startup ConDigital has raised a pre-seed funding round to help it cement its presence at home and expand into the wider East African region. Launched in January of 2019, ConDigital digitises the process of construction project management for contractors, consultants and owners. Among the services it provides are data calculation, processing and reporting; schedule, resource…
The Chinese version of the popular short video app TikTok, known as Douyin, will limit users in China who are under 14 years old to 40 minutes a day, parent company ByteDance said in a blog post Saturday. The app’s youth mode keeps it in line with the Chinese government’s new restrictions on access to video games…
Many students go to university but few think about creating businesses that can even help them afford some basic needs at school. Marie Aline Iraguha , 22-year-old young female student currently second year African Leadership University, has beaten the odds by founding AliFarms Group Ltd, an agribusiness that focuses on growing fruits and vegetables with…
Yellow, a Malawian off-grid solar company, has received a $4 million loan from SunFunder, a company that finances solar energy projects all over the world. The funding will help the company expand its solar home system sales. Yellow has enhanced energy availability for over 400,000 people while also reducing CO2 emissions by 12,000 tons per…
Written by Joan Aimuengheuwa Mobility platform, Bolt, formerly known as Taxify, focused on ensuring affordability, ease and sustainability in urban travel, has taken a step in Kenya which is considered ‘unreasonable’ by the public. Recently, one of the company’s drivers was assaulted by female passengers. Rather than Bolt taking adequate actions, the company suspended the driver…