All about Tech.
You’ll soon be able to use the Google Assistant without saying ‘Hey, Google’ Written by BABU MOHAN There’s currently no word on when the features will begin rolling out to users. Google announced a bunch of new features coming to the Google Assistant with Android 12 at I/O 2021 — including shortcut expansions. A teardown of the latest Google…
Kenya’s MotiSure launches API-powered insurtech platform Written by TOM JACKSON Kenyan startup MotiSure has launched an API-powered insurtech platform that provides personal accident cover for commuters and riders through embedding insurance in tickets and other points of sale within mobility. MotiSure was co-founded this year by Joel Macharia, Jane Njau and Thuita Wachira after they sampled…
Tanzania: Govt Allocates 43bn/ – for Innovation Hubs THE government has reiterated its commitment to giving more attention to technology and innovations through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET), with allocation of 43bn/- for setting up new incubators and hubs. Opening the training on importance of technology and innovation for community development officers from…
Ethiopia: Innovation – Here’s What Cardano (ADA) Has Been Up to With the Ethiopia Project By Ana Grabundzija Charles Hoskinson, the founder of the Cardano (ADA) protocol and Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) CEO revealed the company’s progress in Ethiopia, where one of the world’s biggest blockchain projects keeps unraveling. The blockchain research and engineering…
Zimbabwe: Agritech Innovation Can Bring Youths Back Written By Adesuwa Ifedi The pandemic disrupted supply chains, upending many farmers’ precarious livelihoods that are already being hit hard by the climate crisis in new and unsettling ways. It’s easy to think that we are on an unalterable path toward a crisis of food security in Africa…
Which social media platforms, services do Internet users have most privacy concerns about? Written By Yinka Okeowo Kaspersky analysed anonymised data, voluntarily provided by Privacy Checker, a website that contains helpful advice on privacy settings for various Internet services and platforms. The results reflect which services and platforms’ Internet users have the most privacy concerns about. The data…
MTN Ghana plans to launch 5G next year in the country MTN will be the first operator in the region to introduce 5G if it succeeds to launch ahead of other big telcos in Ghana. MTN Ghana’s CEO, Selorm Adavehoh, has stated that the company expects to be able to introduce 5G services in the…
5 Top Instant Loan Apps in Nigeria Written By Luis Monzon It has never been easier to secure a loan for personal or business purposes. Modern, smartphone-based apps and platforms have made the process more seamless than ever. If you have a phone, an internet connection and a bank account, chances are there’s a platform that…
Windows 11 Release Date Set for October 5, No Android Apps Support at Launch By Jagmeet Singh New eligible devices will receive Windows 11 free upgrade first. Windows 11 release date is set for October 5, Microsoft on Tuesday announced — a couple of months after unveiling the new operating system. The software giant said that…
4 Fastest Mobile Internet Operators in Nigeria Ranked Written by Luis Monzon Internet and connectivity speed tester Ookla last month released its market analysis for Nigeria, ranking the country’s fastest mobile internet operators. The analysis only takes into account top mobile operators in the country, ones which account for 3% or more of total test…
How Smartphones Are Being Used to Test for Malaria in Uganda Witten by Luis Monzon The University of Glasgow has been working with the Vector Control Division of the Uganda Ministry of Health – collaborating for several years on new ways to achieve vital recommendations from the World Health Organisation (WHO) outlined in a 2018 report on controlling malaria,…
e4 launches Girls in STEM programme Written By Yinka Okeowo Fintech specialist e4 has announced its ‘Girls in STEM’ programme to provide girls in underprivileged areas with the support they need to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) post matric. Cognisant of the gender imbalance present in the science and technology industries…
Arab Bank launches fintech-focused accelerator in Egypt Written By TOM JACKSON Arab Bank has launched its fintech-focused corporate accelerator programme “AB Accelerator” in Egypt, following its successful rollout in Jordan in 2018. The launch of this programme in Egypt comes as part of the bank’s strategic efforts to foster and support innovation in the fintech…
TikTok owner ByteDance buys a top virtual reality hardware startup Written by Lucas Matney TikTok parent company ByteDance seems to be looking to one-up Facebook anywhere it can. After taking over the mantle of the most downloaded social media app in the world with TikTok, ByteDance is coming for Facebook’s moonshot, buying up its own virtual…
Understanding the value and impact of Emerging Technologies Emerging technologies are those technologies that are at the beginning stages of development or are in their early stages, where they are beginning to emerge into popularity from obscurity. Emerging technologies are a class of new technological innovations that are being developed or will be developed over the…
This nasty new email scam tricks victims into calling the fraudsters Written by Sead Fadilpaši? No, you didn’t order three new iPhones Experts from security firm Kaspersky have warned of new waves of vishing (voice phishing) scams making the rounds that target users with extravagant purchase demands. The company says that as-yet-unknown criminals are impersonating well-known hardware…
Controversial WhatsApp Terms of Service Could Be Optional Soon Written by Furqan Shahid Remember the controversial terms of service that WhatsApp introduced earlier this year? For those who do not remember, the terms of service would mandate users to share their data with Facebook. Not accepting would have resulted in the functionality of the app being crippled, and…
Windows 11 shouldn’t run on older PCs – but Microsoft won’t stop you from trying By John Loeffler When Microsoft announced its minimum hardware requirements for Windows 11 back in June, many were upset by the fact that only AMD Zen 2 and Intel eighth-gen processors or later would be supported. After an outcry, Microsoft hasn’t…
Work from Home Increased Worldwide Phishing Attacks Written By George Dascalu Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 cybersecurity team reveals alarming findings about the new work-from-home environment. Over the course of September 2019 to April 2021, Palo Alto Network’s Unit 42 monitored firewall traffic and phishing sites detected by URL filters. The number of new phishing pages per week…
Nigerian startup launches crypto investment robo-advisor Written by TOM JACKSON Nigerian startup ComiBlock has launched a goal-based investing crypto robo-advisor, giving anyone with a smartphone access to planning tools, advice, curated and thematic crypto-portfolios. Launched in February, ComiBlock uses technology to help its users become better crypto investors. “We measure progress by helping our users achieve specific life…
Apple will now let App Store developers talk to their customers about buying direct Written by Catherine Shu Apple announced today it has reached a proposed settlement (embedded below) in a lawsuit filed against it by developers in the United States. The agreement, which is still pending court approval, includes a few changes, the biggest one being…
Message reactions are coming to WhatsApp Written By Tyler Lee Sometimes certain messages don’t always warrant or need a reply. Sometimes replying just “OK” or “lol” seems a bit rude, but it seems that in the future, you can just react to your WhatsApp messages. This is according to the folks at WABetaInfo who discovered…
Google sounds the alarm over nasty Chrome vulnerabilities Written by By Anthony Spadafora Seven high-severity vulnerabilities have been discovered in Google Chrome Google is urging users of its browser to update Google Chrome immediately after seven high-severity vulnerabilities have been discovered. The vulnerabilities in question affect all desktop versions of the search giant’s browser regardless of whether a user is…
Facebook Bringing Voice and Video Calls Back to the Main App Written by DAVE LECLAIR Facebook has splintered chat away from the main Facebook app to move people over to its Messenger app. However, the company is looking to bring people back to the primary Facebook app by adding voice and video calls. Bloomberg is reporting that…
Check your permissions: default settings in Microsoft tool exposes 38 million user records online By James Vincent Thankfully, there’s no evidence the data has been exploited Default permissions settings in an app-building tool from Microsoft have been blamed for exposing the data of 38 million people online. Information including names, email addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, and…
Africa Tech Alliance Forum (AfriTECH2021), has offered stakeholders in the telecommunications and ICT sector the platform to showcase solutions to drive digital transformation on the continent. The TechEconomy.ng’s annual event formerly known as Mobile & Disruptive Technology Forum (MoDiTECH) has been scheduled to take place on Wednesday, October 13, 2021 by 10:00am (WAT). The hydride event with…
Ethiopia hints on launching social networking platforms, rules out Facebook, others from country Writen by Joan Aimuengheuwa Ethiopia has embarked on the development of its own social networking platform in opposition to Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and Zoom. Shumete Gizaw, director-general of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA), Ethiopia, accused Facebook of widely spreading a wrong…
SA virtual accelerator Sw7 builds on offering with formal AWS partnership Written by TOM JACKSON South Africa’s Sw7, which claims to be Africa’s largest virtual business accelerator, is looking to up the ante of its content and support for thousands of African enterprises by tapping into a formula partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the…
Tunisia’s Junior Robotics Lab scaling cloud-based learning platform across borders Written by TOM JACKSON Having started life as a simple robotics club, Tunisian ed-tech startup Junior Robotics Lab now has resellers in various African and European markets, and is targeting further growth. Born in 2017 as an organiser of robotics clubs, with kids starting from…
African fintech OPay valued at $2B in SoftBank Vision Fund 2-led $400M funding Written by Tage Kene-Okafor Chinese-backed and Africa-focused fintech company OPay raised $400 million in new financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Bloomberg reported Monday, valuing the company at $2 billion. The round, which marks the fund’s first investment in an African startup, drew…