AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER 15 May, 2019

AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER

15/May/19 Vol 68

Five IT Business Experts from AfICTA Selected to Undergo 

AUC Train the Trainers Workshop

AfICTA - Africa ICT Alliance in cooperation with the AUC - African Union Commission has presented 5 of its outstanding members from the 5 African Regions to represent the Private Sector in the forthcoming Internet Governance Train the Trainers Workshop holding in AUC headquarters, Addis Ababa from 27th - 31st May, 2019. 

The successful experts approved by the AUC to participate in the workshop were selected out of the 24 Expression of Interests received by AfICTA Secretariat with priority to...  read more​

Kenya: Jamii Telecom acquires full 4G licence

Kenyan telecommunications services provider Jamii Telecom Limited, operator of the Faiba brand, now holds a full 4G operating license for local service provision. 

In December 2017 the operator - owned by entrepreneur Joshua Chepkowony – paid Kshs-100,000 to secure a one-year experimental license for ultra-fast broadband on the 750MHz spectrum.

The decision was unpopular among...  read more

SA digital lenders target SMEs

International cloud-based accounting platform Xero has partnered with South African digital lenders - Bridgement, Retail Capital and LulaLend, to secure additional funding for small business customers. 

According to a media statement, the partnership was established to help SMEs address the challenge of access to funding – particularly when it comes to supporting increased stock levels, new locations and new channels to. ... read more

Cameroon telcos taken to task over irregular installations

Telecommunications operators in Cameroon whose infrastructure (including pylons, masts and towers) fail to adhere to installation norms will be sanctioned and their infrastructure dismantled, the country's Telecommunication Regulatory Board (TRB) has warned. 

The Director General of TRB, Philemon Zoo Zame directed communication at Camtel, MTN Cameroon, Orange Cameroun, Nexttel and IHS Cameroon - key owners of telecommunications infrastructures totalling over 5,000. ... read more

Tunisia Prepares for 5G

Tunisian telecommunications regulator Instance Nationale des Telecommunications (INTT) has confirmed it is carrying out a study to determine local market demand for- and implications of 5G.   

Speaking at a regional forum on emerging technologies, Lassaad Hamzaoui, INTT President said the international tender for the completion of the study was launched in March and ended on 5 April

He added that the objective behind the research was to ... read more

Isocel Expands Fibre Footprint in Benin

Telecoms operator Isocel has launched the first phase of its fibre optic network in Cotonou, Benin and offers customers zero cost on migration to fibre. 

Spanning 70km, the first phase forms part of Isocel's 450km-long Next Generation Access Network, dubbed iNGAN, that would see the deployment of fibre optic across Greater Cotonou.  The entire project is expected to be completed by 2020 ... read more

MainOne to Deliver Data Centre, Submarine Cable 

in Cote D’Ivoire

Following the issuance of a submarine cable landing licence to MainOne by the government of Cote D’Ivoire, the company has announced that it is on schedule to land the cable and launch services in Abidjan by October 2019. 

MainOne, in a statement published in Punch Newspaper said it had made significant progress in the project implementation process as all critical surveys had been completed, and work was ongoing at the cable landing station and data centre in Abidjan ...   read more

5G is here! Can it deliver on Affordable Access 

to close the Digital Divide?

Cisco has launched a R10-million incubation hub in Durban, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa - the second business development resource in the country after the first was launched in Pretoria in 2018. 

Last week the company also launched its first hub in East Africa, a KES69-million centre in Kenya, hosted at the University of Nairobi. 

General Manager (GM) for Cisco East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, David Bunei is quoted as saying: "We ar e. ..   read more

AFF Wants Collaboration between Technology Startups, 

Large Corporates

The Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF) has called for collaboration between technology start-ups and large corporates to fostering innovation in Africa. 

AFF, an initiative of Access Bank, said that this kind of relationship is extremely beneficial to all parties with the ecosystem benefitting immensely. 

The Foundry noted that in the long run, this helps corporates enter and create...  read more

Two technology companies, from Nigeria and UK, have signed a £56 million agreement to provide card technology, which would allow commuters to travel with public transport without cash or a paper ticket. 

The UK Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said this during the signing of the agreement between Nigeria’s Interswitch and UK’s Becoz in Abuja on Tuesday. 

Mr Hunt said the technology will be similar to London’s Oyster card system.. ..  read more

American technology giant Microsoft Corporation has unveiled a plan to set up a technology development centre in Kenya. 

Speaking at a meeting hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta at State House Nairobi on Monday, top executives of Microsoft led by Vice President for Gaming Phil Spencer said the Africa Development Centre will serve the Eastern Africa region. 

The technology centre, the seventh globally, will not only be the corporation’s gateway...  read more

The ongoing Huduma Number registration and discussions have elicited considerable debate, including a court injunction against forceful and limiting timelines for registration. There is no doubt that at some point, all Kenyans will get the number, but the contention is largely the process and safeguards. 

It is building into a bigger conversation on data protection in the country. A strong argument by naysayers of Huduma Number is the insufficient legal safeguards to protect the...   read more

How do you manage the trick of feeding school children better and at a lower cost? 

How do you count the number of mangoes on your farm so that you get a fair price? 

And what’s a clever-but-cheap way for a farmer to cut down his irrigation bill? 

Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa may have the image of relentless toil and low productivity, but experts say new tech is changing the picture...   read more

The Government of Uganda through NITA Uganda finalized the extension of internet connectivity in the West Nile region on May 11th with President Museveni officially launching the Fourth Phase of the National Back bone infrastructure project (NBI) at an event held in Koboko district. 

In the Fourth Phase, NBI extends to the districts of Pakwach, Nebbi, Arua, Yumbe, Koboko, Adjumani, Katakwi and the boarder points of, Oraba, Vurra and Mpondwe. NITA Uganda has successfully completed the implementation of three phases of the NBI project connecting 39 districts... read more

Three schools will represent Kenya at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in the US next week.

Ten students from two public institutions and one international school will present five projects at the global stage that has attracted more than 1,750 high school students to compete for the prestigious awards. 

The students are drawn from Keriko Day School, Mary Hill Girls and Shree Cutchi Leva ... read more

Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) will soon begin the second phase of its audit of Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) registration data and processes across all mobile network Operator (MNO) platforms. 

NCC stated yesterday that the audit would not prejudice the on-going “backend verification and scrubbing” of SIM registration data already submitted by MNOs. 

The audit is specifically to monitor...   read more

Equity Group Holdings PLC and Safaricom have announced plans to create a joint transformation agenda that aims to enable more Kenyans to access critical services using an innovative combination of technology and finance. 

In a statement the companies explained that the objective is to roll out more inclusive financial products, explore regional synergies, simplify cash delivery between their agents and share technical knowledge to build a common approach to risks such as fraud and cyber-security...   read more

The MTN Group has recorded a 10% year-on-year growth in its first quarter update for the period ended 31 March 2019, citing strong operational performance in Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. This despite ongoing challenges within the Africa market, including MTN Nigeria's tax battle with the country's attorney general of the federation (AGF). 

ITWeb reported that the matter is scheduled to be heard on 26 June after the Federal High Court ruled to dismiss the application filed by the AGF in response to the lawsuit...   read more

From Ghana, the recently drafted National Communications Authority (Quality of Service) Regulations 2019 is expected to be adopted and signed into law before the end of 2020 – representing a new set of regulations for telecommunications operators. 

The revised regulations, introduced by Ghana's National Communications Authority (NCA) after consultation with industry stakeholders in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale, are aimed at filling gaps that have emerged over time within...  read more

The rise of use of telecommunication technologies has caught governments offside when it comes to regulations. One of them has been regarding SIM card ownership. We have multiple carriers and a lot of people don’t only own one SIM card. 

However, such practices has led to some people conducting fraud using their multiple SIM cards. This has led to governments doing such activities like the one being done by Tanzania.

According to  The East African ...  read more

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has acquired the latest surveillance equipment to aid officers execute their duties in line with international standards and the modernisation agenda of the organistion. Deputy Commissioner-General Learn Ncube revealed this yesterday at the end of a week-long rebranding and refresher course for 55 senior officers at Ntabazinduna Training Depot. 

He said latest technologies are essential for the operations of any...   read more

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") has received reports that a phishing email from "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." has been sent to ICANN contracted parties. 

The This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email address, for example, is not a valid ICANN organization email address. Contracted parties may have recently received emails from "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.", which is a valid ICANN org email address. If you receive an email from the "This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it." address, or any other suspicious email address, do not respond. Please forward the email in its...    read more

South African Breweries (SAB), a subsidiary of global brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), is using an IOT solution to track and monitor the temperature and location of its coolers and fridges across South Africa. 

In conjunction with UK-based Thingstream, focused on enterprise connectivity for IOT applications, SAB has deployed a Fridgelogic Connected Cooler system that delivers real time information from cooling ...   read more

The South African Office of the Chief Justice (OCJ) has chosen CaseLines a global provider of Digital Evidence Management to implement paperless digital courtrooms across the country. 

CaseLines will help meet the OCJ’s vision for a single, transformed and independent judicial system with integrity and protection for all. The software, which is initially to be used in all civil litigation cases across South Africa, will eliminate the need for paper in court by introducing an entirely digital platform. The software’s ... read more

The Transform Africa Summit is the Smart Africa flagship event. Following four successful editions, the fifth Summit will take place in Kigali, Rwanda, from 14 – 17 May 2019. 

Under the theme “Boosting Africa’s Digital Economy”, the Summit is expected to attract over 4,000 participants, including Heads of State and Government, First Ladies, UN Broadband Commissioners, Ministers, Regulators, Mayors & Governors, Public & Private Sector, International Organizations, Industry Leaders... read more