All about Tech.
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…
Mobility startup Plentywaka picks up $1.2M seed, acquires Ghana’s Stabus Written by Tage Kene-Okafor Lagos and Toronto-based mobility startup Plentywaka has raised a $1.2 million seed round to scale its operations on the back of leaving the Techstars Toronto accelerator program last month. Canadian-based VC firm The Xchange led the round, SOSV and Shock Ventures participated, while…
Are Our Smartphones Making Us Dopamine Addicts? Ask, addiction expert Dr. Anna Lembke. Written by David “According to addiction expert Dr Anna Lembke, our smartphones are making us dopamine junkies,” reports the Guardian, “with each swipe, like and tweet feeding our habit…”As the chief of Stanford University’s dual diagnosis addiction clinic (which caters to people with…
Google has apparently been paying phone manufacturers not to install third-party app stores. Written by Tyler Lee Google’s Android operating system is seen as being more “open” compared to Apple’s iOS platform. Users can install apps from outside the Play Store, and if they wanted, they could even download and install third-party app stores like…
Is public shaming by online lending platforms that gives loan a legal or criminal?- A legal perspective Written by Ejike Kanife Nigeria is a country with millions of people existing in abject lack. With an unemployment rate of 33.3%, the country has the second-highest rate on the global ranking. According to a Bloomberg report, about 23.5…
Is Uber raising your fare based on your battery percentage? Written By Aleksandar Anastasov The topic of privacy has been a heated one for some time now, and if you are wary of large companies taking a peek into your life without you knowing, you would not be the only one. Recently, a Twitter user reported…
Crypto-currency adoption in Africa: The ups and downs Challenges include a lack of reliable internet and a lack of financial literacy. Written by Eugene Yiga Africa is booming in terms of cryptocurrency adoption, according to the 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report by Chainalysis – a blockchain analysis company that provides data, software, services, and research…
Unlocking the potential of blockchain technology Written by Zach Winn Algorand uses a unique architecture developed by MIT Professor Silvio Micali to offer a decentralized, secure, and scalable blockchain. The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a country of around 50,000 people spread across more than 1,000 islands in a remote part of the Pacific…
The Six Biggest Blockchain Trends Everyone Should Know About In 2021 Written by Bernard Marr Blockchain has been one of the most talked-about tech trends of the last few years. As with many other trends that were important before the pandemic hit, it didn’t make as many headlines in 2021 as it has done previously….
As the market for Virtual Reality (VR) is growing rapidly, these are the 5 VR Startups to Watch in 2021 Written By Adriaan Brits The market for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology, which uses advanced displays and movement-tracking to immerse its users in a particular experience, is set to grow at a rapid clip in the coming…
Meet Wale Abba, who designed Interswitch’s Quickteller and several Nigerian banking apps Written By Oluwanifemi Kolawole Nigerian fintech unicorn, Interswitch, has, for the past 19 years, led the way when it comes to digitising payments in Nigeria — where it provides most of the country’s digital banking infrastructure — and other African countries. Interestingly, an…
SA fintech startup Revio set for continental expansion as it powers SaaS businesses Written By TOM JACKSON South African fintech startup Revio, a subscription billing and payments platform that powers software-as-a-service (SaaS) businesses, is planning an expansion into other African markets soon. Co-founded in 2019 by venture builder The Delta and a private investor, Revio is a SaaS company…
Eight African fintech startups have been selected to participate in the latest edition of the GreenHouse Lab accelerator, securing access to funding and mentorship. Written by TOM JACKSON GreenHouse Lab is the flagship accelerator programme run by GreenHouse Capital, a Lagos-based fintech investment fund and platform focused on supporting early-stage companies and world-class emerging market entrepreneurs…
Zoom is coming to your living room. Why not take your video calls on the biggest screen in your house? Written By Anthony Spadafora After launching Zoom for Home last year, Zoom has been working with its hardware partners to develop solutions to ensure that users have the best video conferencing experience wherever they find themselves working. As organizations are…
How Nigeria’s Nguvu Health provides on-demand therapy sessions to Africans Written by TOM JACKSON Nigerian startup Nguvu Health is providing on-demand online therapy sessions to Africans anywhere in the world via their smartphones. Founded in March 2020, Nguvu Health utilises Android and iOS apps to connect users with licensed therapists via in-app messaging or video call, in…
Ghanaian fintech Waya sees strong growth propel it into other African markets Written by TOM JACKSON Ghana-based payments startup Waya is seeing month-on-month growth of between 20 per cent in its three existing markets, prompting it to launch expansion activities into three additional African countries. Founded in 2018 after co-founder Delali Anku-Adiamah faced a challenge sending…
How Kenya’s Paylend is helping MSMEs better record data and access loans Written by TOM JACKSON Kenyan fintech startup Paylend, which is helping MSMEs better record data and access loans, is conducting surveys in Tanzania and Nigeria ahead of beta tests in those markets. Founded in 2019 by Bendon Murgor and Eliutherius Juma, Paylend is digitising the…
More than 300 African tech startups have raised over $1.1bn so far in 2021 Written by TOM JACKSON More than 300 African tech startups have raised more than US$1.1 billion combined so far in 2021, the first time the sector has broken the US$1 billion mark – and with four-and-a-half months of the year still to…
Wazo Challenge East Africa is open for applications for tech entrepreneurs across Eastern Africa Hindsight Ventures, Africa focussed vertical of Startup Réseau, has announced Wazo Challenge East Africa as its latest program catering to tech entrepreneurs in the region. The India-headquartered emerging markets focussed startup accelerator has been ramping its program operations in East Africa…