AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER 14 June 2019

AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER

14/June/19 Vol 70

Call for Travel Support to Attend the 14th Annual Meeting of the IGF

The mandate of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) calls for strengthening and enhancing of the stakeholder engagement from developing ‎countries. It also calls for the Forum to contribute to building capacity for Internet governance in ‎developing countries, drawing fully on local sources of knowledge and expertise‎. 

During the 13th IGF, the United Nations Secretary-General has called for action to increase inclusiveness in the IGF processes. The Secretary-General underlined that the IGF must.. .. read more

Angola Contracts Airbus to Build US$179-million AngoSat-3

Angola has signed an agreement with Airbus to build AngoSat-3, an earth observation satellite that will be used for military reconnaissance, territory monitoring, meteorology, natural resource inventory, climate studies and modelling, natural disaster prevention and monitoring. 

The deal for the project, expected to cost approximately US$179-million, was signed in Paris by Angola's foreign affairs minister Manuel Augusto and his French counterpart Jean-Yves le Drian. .. read more

Cameroon's Kiro'o Games not Playing Around on Expansion

Central Africa's first-ever video game company Kiro'o Games is in search of funds to scale up its operations. 

The Cameroonian tech company, which focusses on video games, education and technology, opened its capital to the public worldwide on 10 April 2019. 

William Fankam, Lead Community Manager of Kiro'o Games ... read more

Zimbabwe Struggles with Slow Uptake and Use of Mobile Telephony

The majority of consumers of telecom services in Zimbabwe are below the age of 35 claims a new consumer satisfaction survey, released this week, which also highlights that telecom operators in the country are functioning against "suppressed income levels" and growing informalisation of the economy. 

These factors have contributed to the slow uptake and use of mobile telephony services over the past three years ... read more

MTN Zambia Co-launches KASAKA Mobile Saving Offering

MTN Zambia, Barclays Zambia and JUMO have together launched KASAKA, a short-term mobile saving product. 

The savings account facility is built on JUMO's operating platform and is available to MTN Mobile Money users via Barclays Zambia. 

According to a statement issued to the media, Barclays Zambia, as the licensed deposit taking institution, is responsible and accountable to the Bank ... read more

Kenya to Invest US$59-million in DARE Submarine Cable System

The government of Kenya plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) to assess eligibility of applications within its affordable housing scheme. 

According to a policy document, officials will use data sourced from the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB), including mobile wallet transaction history, to rate the credit worthiness of each applicant. 

The policy reads in part: "In principle the scoring will provide ... read more

Kenya: Government Websites Attacked

A group calling itself KURD Electronic Team have hacked 18 government websites in Kenya, bringing to question the East African country's official cyber readiness. 

Websites affected included the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMIS), National Youth Service, National Environment Trust Fund, Department of Petroleum, the Department of Planning, the National Development Implementation Technical Committee, Refugees Affairs...  read more

Under-reported Cybercrime Piles on Pressure for Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe has lost about US$40 000 to cybercrime during the first quarter of this year, according to the latest crime statistics reported by police. 

The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has reported a decrease in the amount of money lost to cybercrime compared to the same period last year (US$63 726) 

The police report also stated that of the 4 001 officia accounts of cybercrime, there were at least 1 132 convictions. ..   read more

Uganda Embroiled in Internet Data, OTT Spend Debacle

Uganda's speaker of the National Assembly Rebecca Kadaga says she will block any attempt by lawmakers to use taxpayers' money to pay for internet data and Over the Top (OTT) services. 

This follows a report by the Contracts Committee which recommends that parliament provide at least 5GB monthly data bundles valued at Shs-30 000 for 458 lawmakers and a further Shs-6000 monthly to cover social media tax for OTT services...  read more

Going forward SAP plans to predict customer support questions, roll out the relevant solution for on-premises environments and automatically solve the problem in cloud environments.

The company announced its strategy to leverage AI, analytics and cloud, including SAP Cloud ALM (Application Lifecycle Management), as part of evolution of its customer support services.. .  read more

Digital financial services platform Wari has entered into an alliance with African smartphone manufacturer Mara Phones. 

According to the agreement, signed in Paris at the VivaTech 2019 event, Wari's offerings will be preloaded onto Mara devices and Wari will bundle its services with the Mara Phone to all its clients. 

Mara Phones' chief executive officer Ashish Thakkar said, "We are extremely excited about this collaboration and we...  read more

State-owned mobile operator Gamcel is seeking an urgent injection of capital from government in order to upgrade its infrastructure and stabilise its network. 

Addressing the Committee on Public Enterprises within Gambia's National Assembly Gamcel chief executive officer Elizabeth Johnson said the bailout is critical to sustain the company's operations. 

Johnson revealed the company is struggling with "serious...   read more

Telecel Zimbabwe, which is majority-owned by the government of Zimbabwe, has suspended Francis Mawindi, former chief executive officer, citing confidentiality breaches. 

The company's chairman James Makamba confirmed the development and issued a statement which reads: "The Telecel Zimbabwe board of directors wishes to inform stakeholders that a resolution has been passed for the suspension of Mr Francis Mawindi from holding office of Telecel Zimbabwe board director effective 6th...   read more

MTN Nigeria is reportedly under investigation by the Nigerian Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over its recent listing in Nigeria. Reuters reports that despite the investigation, MTN said it "has not been accused of any wrongdoing" by the Nigerian financial crimes agency. 

The listing of MTN Nigeria on 16 May made it the second-largest firm on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), and since then its share price has risen from 90 naira to 140 naira, giving the company a market capitalisation of 2.8 trillion naira ($7.8 billion).. . read more

Silicon Valley-based based global payment solutions platform Flutterwave is entering the South African market this month. 

Flutterwave provides a payment service for merchants, payment service providers and pan-African banks. 

The Y-Combinator alumni,  Flutterwave, was granted its South African Reserve Bank licence to operate in the country in April, and it is set to launch its online product RAVE, with launch events scheduled ... read more

The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC has presented the sum of N65 million to 1I universities in Nigeria for research and development. 

The Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, made the donation at the official presentation of the award letters to the benefiting institutions in Abuja. 

Prof. Danbatta noted that the multi-million naira award was instituted in recognition of the role of the Acadamia...   read more

Zimbabwe telecommunications operator Econet Wireless and its closest rival NetOne, the mobile arm of TelOne, have signed a telecom infrastructure sharing agreement. 

The move is in compliance with the directives of the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ). 

NetOne plans to leverage Econet Wireless' footprint, while Econet will utilise NetOne's infrastructure to extend its reach in....   read more

State-owned Tanzania Telecommunication Corporation (TTCL) says it needs a Sh1.77-trillion capital injection from the government to fund its strategy to compete with market rivals, including dominant operator Vodacom Tanzania. 

According to the latest statistics from the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), TTCL has a market share of 2%, while Vodacom Tanzania enjoys 32% market share and the second largest operator Tigo with 29% market share....   read more

MainOne, West Africa’s premier connectivity and data centre solutions provider is playing a role in providing support towards the capacity development of Nigerian youths with the successful completion of the second batch of its Bright Minds Graduate Trainee Programme. 

The 2-month intensive training session was deliberately designed to groom recent Nigerian graduates into highly skilled technical professionals by taking them through the fundamentals of the company’s various...  read more

Users across Latin America and the Caribbean who use 1GB of mobile internet each month have to buy more expensive plans with larger data allowances as compared to like-minded users in Africa or Asia. This pricing structure for data plans inflates the cost of connectivity across much of the Americas and impedes progress towards affordable internet access for all. 

These insights come from the latest data from the Alliance for Affordable Internet (A4AI), which conducts a pricing snapshot twice a year across 99 low- and...  read more

Google's artificial intelligence (AI) lab based in Accra, Ghana, is making inroads in using the technology to solve Afro-centric problems. 

This week, ITWeb toured the Accra-based AI centre to see the progress Google researchers have made since the opening of the lab last year. 

Google has similar facilities in Berlin, Paris, Beijing, New York and San Francisco, among others...   read more

It has been 2 decades since the end of military rule in Nigeria. In the short period of time since its return to civil rule, the country has experienced significant developments as well as down times. And the tech ecosystem has not been immune to it. 

Many companies have succumbed to the upheavals of a changing political landscape and collapsed in the last 20 years. But several others have withstood the test of time and continue to thrive today. And in honor of Democracy day, here’s a compilation of resilient...   read more

The way energy is produced and distributed is changing rapidly as the industry moves away from carbon-based energy production. Technological development in the production of alternative energy has also speeded up the emergence of decentralized systems. These build on large numbers of actors who generate small quantities of energy. 

But for a decentralized system to be sustainable, a flexible grid is required to accommodate variable renewable energy...   read more

Thousands of Liberians descended on the capital Monrovia today to protest the corruption that has bedeviled president George Weah’s administration. The government’s response: blocking social media outlets.  

The Internet monitoring organization NetBlocks said platforms including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook were blocked to subdue the protests. While the cut-off didn’t impact all providers, restrictions affected mobile internet provider Orange ... read more

US$250-million directed towards continent's telecommunications industry, claims research by Thomson Reuters/Refinitiv. 

The technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector in Africa is expected to show impressive growth in 2019, with transactions forecasted to exceed earlier predictions of mergers & acquisition (M&A) investments worth US$5.9-billion in 2019, according to Baker McKenzie's Global Transaction Forecast (Forecast) in association with Oxford Economics...  read more