AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER 12 April, 2019

The  fourteenth Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be hosted by the Government of Germanyin Berlin from 25 to 29 November 2019.

The Impact of Taxation on Internet Affordability:

the case of Benin

In September 2018, the Benin government proposed a tax on over-the-top services. The proposed tax was two-fold: a 5% tax on the pre-tax price for voice, SMS and internet services and a 5 CFA fee per MB for data used to access social media and OTTs. 

This move was the latest case in a recent trend among governments to impose consumer-related taxes on internet access with the goal of raising revenues and in some cases stifling free speech. Our previous analysis from ... read more

Namibia's Main Telecom Operator Hails Partnership with 

China's Huawei

An official with Namibia's main tele-communications firm MTC has hailed the firm's cooperation with Chinese tech giant Huawei. 

Such a partnership is not only promoting the development of information communication technologies, but also promoting the overall technological progress, said Kim Jin, head of MTC's Account Department, in an interview with Xinhua. 

The cooperation between MTC and Huawei over the years has brought 3G,  4G, and ... read more

Sierra Leone's Telco Regulator Under Fire for 

Alleged Mismanagement

Following a technical audit, it is alleged that Sierra Leone's telecom regulator NATCOM promoted favouritism and unfair competition within the telecommunications industry between January 2015 and July 2018. 

This is understood to have cost the country approximately US$68-million. The full audit report was prepared by members of the African Organisation of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions (AFROSAI-E)...  read more

Time we fought Cybercrime, the Beast Terrorising 

our Children  

That today’s child is hooked to the internet is not in doubt. 

The sooner we accept that this all-powerful communication and learning tool is here to stay and start working on how to deal with its negative aspects as far as children, the most vulnerable group, are concerned, the better. 

Lack of online security for children and mastery of protecting them is a global problem, and governments and society must...  read more

Jiji to buy OLX in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda and Tanzania

Nigerian online marketplace Jiji is to acquire the businesses of fellow classifieds platform OLX in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania, and redirect OLX users in Nigeria to its own platform. 

All users of OLX Nigeria, OLX Ghana, OLX Kenya, OLX Tanzania, and OLX Uganda's sell-and-buy classifieds websites will be redirected to Jiji. 

The agreement, which is pending...  read more

The global professional body for the technology sector has called for defined minimum professional standards for ICT practitioners working on computer systems where human life might be at risk. 

The call – from IP3 (International Professional Practice Partnership), the professionalism arm of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) – follows reports that Boeing has developed a software patch to...  read more

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has cautioned local banks and payment companies to be extra vigilant amid a spike in the volume of internet and mobile payments, fuelled by the ongoing cash shortage in the country. 

Central Bank Governor John Mangudya urged businesses to be on their guard against cyber security breaches as consumers head online rather than use traditional channels like ATMs to secure cash...   Read more

Ghana has launched a US$97-million World Bank-funded electronic justice (e-justice) system that would see the country's courts run paperless. 

President Nana Akufo-Addo launched the system on 20 March2019 and said it would provide an electronic platform to automate case filing, fee assessment, online payments and execution of court decisions, among other functions. 

The platform is expected to reduce the. ..  read more

National ICT initiative(NIISP) is a program set up by the government of Uganda in conjunction with Ministry of ICT and national guidance to encourage software innovations and get Ugandans developers to bring to the market solutions which can benefit the nation at large. 

Last year in November, the call for applications for the 2018/2019 support program was made through the office of Hon. Frank Tumwebaze which attracted about 665 applications as per report from the ministry.   Read more

Internet disruptions have become a mainstay in Africa, with five countries—namely Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Chad, and DR Congo—already blocking connectivity just three months into 2019.

Besides cutting access, a new study posits that all five nations share another crucial characteristic: authoritarianism. The report from the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) notes that the less democratic a country is, the higher the chances of... read more

FinTech start-ups in Egypt could soon have access to 1 billion Egyptian pounds (approximately US$57-million) after the country's government set up fund via the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). 

According to the CBE the fund will support research into FinTech as well as start-up companies focused on digital finance. 

The objective is to position Egypt has a regional centre for electronic financial... read more

The Nigerian Telecommunications Commission (NCC) has engaged telecom stakeholders and service providers on their role in the quest to curb the ugly trend of cybercrime in the country. 

This move was made at the 87th edition of Telecom Consumer Parliament (TCP) that was convened yesterday in Lagos State. 

Speaking at the quarterly forum, the NCC board chairman, Senator Olabiyi Durojaiye, decried the negative impact of cybercrime on...   read more

Cairo - Egypt’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has issued a decree to appoint Hala El Gohary as the Deputy Minister for Human and Institutional Capacity Development for a year, and the Acting CEO of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA). 

El Gohary has nearly 25 years of deep industry and technical expertise in IT operations, client management fields with professional experience in business integration, innovation management, and global delivery centers’ growth and expansion.

Before joining  ITIDA, Hala worked for  IBM for over 20 years where she moved up the...   read more

West Africa’s leading connectivity and data center solutions provider, MainOne, has advised Africa’s Research and Education Networks (RENs) not to relent in its effort to improve the region’s research and educational capability through collaborations with MainOne and other innovative technology solutions providers, reports Ghana Web. 

The company’s Business Executive for Francophone West Africa and Ghana, Kazeem Oladepo made this call at the...  read more

SA's FutureLearn and ITSI, which both fall within the PSG Group, have concluded a merger on 1 April 2019. 

According to a joint statement from the companies, FutureLearn provides accessible education solutions to schools, tutors, parents and learners. It is known for brands that include home education provider Impaq as well as adult education and training provider Media Works. 

Learning software specialists CAMI...  read more

You are invited to submit proposals for workshops at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF). 

The deadline has been shifted from 12 April to 14 April 2019 23:59 UTC. 

Three Thematic Focus Areas in the IGF 2019 Programme At its first face-to-face meeting in January, and following extensive discussions on a strategic, thematic direction for IGF activities in 2019, the IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) identified three priority themes on which to build a focused and cohesive programme this year. These are, (1) Data Governance; (2) Digital Inclusion; and...   read more

A British cyber criminal who carried out an attack so powerful it knocked a nation offline has been jailed. 

Daniel Kaye admitted attacking an African phone company - inadvertently crashing Liberia's internet - in 2016. 

The 30-year-old remains at the heart of a major international investigation into hundreds of acts of cyber sabotage around the world. 

The National Crime Agency says Kaye is perhaps the most significant cyber criminal yet caught in the UK.   Read more

African Development Bank (AfDB) President Akinwumi Adesina has urged Africans to embrace technology, and governments to urgently move away from "investing in the jobs of the past, but rather in the jobs of the future. A future that is just around the corner." 

Adesina was addressing a debate entitled The New Tech Era: Job-killer or Job-creator? organised by Africa Report and Jeune Afrique as part of the 2019 Mo Ibrahim Governance Week in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire..   Read more

Visa, together with Foundation Capital, has led a $170 million Series C funding in African-based financial app, Branch. 

Branch and Visa share a vision of bringing financial access to billions of people still unreached by banks. Visa's investment in Branch will help expand financial access across the African continent, while fuelling new expansion in India and Latin America

The companies will team up to offer ... read more