All about Tech.
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…
Google Chrome, approximately used by 2.65BN users, dominates the web browser market. The problem with such dominance, however, is Chrome has become the number one target for hackers and now Google has had to issue another serious upgrade warning. This dominance has caused it to be a major target for hackers. The company recently issued…
Written by Joan Aimuengheuwa Fintech unicorn, Flutterwave, has partnered with Currencycloud to stimulate expansion in Europe and the United States. Interestingly, Flutterwave was listed as one of the 100 Most Influential Companies in Time’s recently published magazine. The current partnership with Currencycloud will help the company increase its customer base, gaining wider traction. The company…
Written by Luis Monzon One of South Africa’s big 4 telecoms, Vodacom, has announced the launch of a programme that will see over 600 young girls between the ages of 14 and 18 receive coding training virtually from 4-7 October 2021. The initiative is called the #CodeLikeAGirl programme and aims to encourage more girls to explore careers that…
Written by Luis Monzon Microsoft has revealed the launch date for its Office 2021 consumer release on 5 October 2021. The tech giant also announced that its Microsoft Office Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) for Windows and Mac will be available for commercial and government users from today. According to The Verge, Office LTSC is designed for…
Liquid Intelligent Technologies, is now delivering affordable high-speed connectivity to communities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) using state-of-the-art Wireless Optical Communication technology (WOC) from Project Taara at X, Alphabet’s moonshot factory. This achievement marks a robust high-capacity communications bridge between Kinshasa and Congo Brazzaville. Despite being just 4.8 kilometres apart, internet is more…
Written by Queenie Wong Facebook said Thursday that it’s taking a tougher approach against groups of accounts from real users who work together to cause harm. The social network says it may reduce the reach of content from these accounts or disable them if they’re working together to cause harm and evade the rules. The…
Written by Luis Monzon TECNO Mobile’s Spark 7 series of smartphones is set to officially launch in South Africa on 16 September 2021, a statement from the company reads. After the September launch, TECNO says the Spark 7 series will be available for purchase from October 2021. “We aim to provide the best contemporary technology in artistic designs…
The Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG) stands out as an investment vehicle supporting early-stage tech startups by establishing a new fund aimed at investing in early tech innovations startups across Africa. The curaçao-based private investment fund, GIIG Africa Fund, invested annually in winner pools across the Africa region of the Global Startup Awards (GSA) – the world’s…
Written by Luis Monzon Standard Bank and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced an expansion of their strategic relationship to drive the growth of Africa through digital infrastructure, digital ecosystems, and future-ready solutions that empower our customers and our partners. Building on a relationship that enabled Standard Bank’s migration to the cloud, Standard Bank will collaborate…
Written by Ingrid Lunden One of the biggest problems in the world of e-commerce is the predicament of shopping cart abandonment: when shoppers aren’t getting to what they want fast enough — whether it’s finding the right item, or paying for it in a quick and easy way — they bounce. That singular problem is…
Cybersecurity issue is on the rise in today’s interconnected world at a fast pace. As businesses become more reliant on the internet and technology, the threats posed by online criminals will only grow. In today’s world, no company can be considered secure against security breaches. Hackers prefer to target well-known corporations, but small businesses also have…
Written by South African startup FlexClub, a global vehicle subscription marketplace, has partnered with the sole distributor of Bajaj Auto in South Africa to offer motorcycle subscriptions to individuals and businesses in South Africa. Formed in November 2018, FlexClub is a managed marketplace that simplifies investing in cars rented to people using gig platforms to earn a living….
In Africa, internet data is expensive currency Sudan leads nine other African countries that charge its citizens less than $1 for a gigabyte (1 GB) of mobile data, a report by British technology research firm Cable shows. The Northeastern Africa nation offers the lowest cost of internet access over a smartphone anywhere in Africa and…
Written by TOM JACKSON Legal-tech startups in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Burundi have been invited to apply for the Justice Innovation Circles incubation programme. Run by HiiL, Justice Innovation Circles is an incubation programme curated for justice innovators who only have a minimal viable product or prototype and no real traction. It is looking…
Written by MARIA MELLOR It cuts down on eye strain, prolongs battery life and it may even be good for your health. So if you haven’t investigated the dark side of operating systems yet, here’s how to do so on Android, iOS, PCs, Macs and even individual apps Dark mode is here to help with…
Written by TOM JACKSON South African ed-tech startup FoondaMate is enabling students with limited internet access to study online using just WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Basically, by sending a text to the startup’s number on WhatsApp you can search anything you are confused by, get help with maths, and download practice questions and memos. For…
Written by Furqan Shahid It seems like Google is having a hard time staying on its feet as the company has now been hit with another fine for alleged anti-competitive practices. This time in South Korea. According to the news outlet Korea Herald, the latest fine is 207.4 billion won (~$177 million). The company is being fined for…