AfICTA e-Newsletter (July 29th, 2020)

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AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER 

29/July/2020 Vol 92

Register to Join AfICTA  (Africa ICT Alliance) Today

Hi, are you concerned about the realization of a Digital Africa? If yes, AfICTA (Africa ICT Alliance) welcomes you to register and join other group of concerned IT National Associations, Companies, Multinationals and Organisations in Africa to engender the delivery of the digital age for everyone in Africa.

AfICTA is a 32 member nations' alliance, in partnership with the African Union, with the vision to fulfill the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa and to connect IT role players on the continent.

Due to COVID-19 Pandemic, IGF-2020 to Hold Online

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the fifteenth meeting of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) will be held online. The IGF Multistakeholder Advisory Group (MAG) together with the IGF Secretariat and UN DESA have begun preparations and consultations on how best to carry out this virtual IGF annual meeting.  We will keep you updated on the progress.

The Government of Poland will now host the IGF 2021 Annual Meeting in Katowice in the 4th quarter of next year and the Governments of Ethiopia and Japan will be hosting the IGF annual meetings in 2022 and 2023, respectively, pending organizational ...  read more

UK Bans Huawei 5G Equipment, Also Orders 5G Kit to Be 

Removed From UK Networks by 2027

All mobile providers in the UK will be banned from buying new Huawei 5G equipment after 31 December and ordered to remove all the Chinese firm's 5G kit from their networks by 2027.

The move follows the U.S. sanctions claiming Huawei poses a national security threat that the Chinese firm denies. UK Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden says the move will delay the UK's 5G rollout by a year, and the cumulative cost could reach £2B.  

"This has not been an easy decision... read more

Google to Invest $10 Billion in India to Help Accelerate Its Digital Economy

A new Google for India Digitization Fund, announced by Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, will invest approximately $10 billion into India over the next 5-7 years. The effort aimed to accelerate India's digital economy will be carried out through a mix of equity investments, partnerships, and operational, infrastructure, and ecosystem investments. More specifically, the company says the investments will focus on four key areas essential to India's digitization:

1) Enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their own language. 2) ...  read more

Japan Fueling China's Leap to 5G, but for How Long?

As the U.S. is making it tough for American companies to help China roll out super-fast cellular networks, Japan, a U.S. ally, is fueling China with parts needed to blanket the nation with 5G cellular service, WSJ's River Davis reports."

China is one of the few reliable sources of profit for Japanese companies suffering from the impact of the coronavirus. "The question is how long Japan, whose territory is protected by U.S. forces, and other U.S. allies such as Germany and South Korea can keep up the business ...  read more

A4AI Renews Partnership with Bangladesh Government and Appoints First National Coordinator

A4AI has renewed its three-year partnership with the Government of Bangladesh through the Aspire to Innovate Programme (a2i). a2i is Bangladesh’s whole-of-government flagship digital transformation programme implemented by the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and Cabinet Division, supported by UNDP.

Under the renewed partnership, the a2i Programme and A4AI will share the common goal of promoting activities to advance affordable access ...  read more

ATC Nigeria Pens US$2.4m Infrastructure Deal

American Tower Corporation Nigeria (ATC Nigeria) has announced a deal with Indian firm Salasar Techno Engineering to increase the number of its telecommunication towers in order to meet an increasing demand for connectivity.

Nigeria's telecommunications industry continues to record growth, despite the impact of COVID-19. 

According to industry figures published by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the number of telecommunications subscribers grew...  read more

Safaricom Looks to Widen 4G Coverage with Device Payment Program

Safaricom has officially launched its device payment programme with the intention to sell one million smartphones and upgrade users to 4G via the Lipa Mdogo Mdogo campaign.

According to the company, the programme aims to upgrade 2G users to 4G by offering them a flexible payment plan to upgrade to the Neon Ray Pro Android device.

Users will be required to pay a Kshs 1,000 deposit then commit to a daily payment of Kshs 20 ... read more

MTN Nigeria Looks to Rural Connectivity, Backhaul to Balance Earnings

MTN Nigeria is looking at improved pricing, increased focus on rural connectivity and backhaul in its network in the longer term to make up for an anticipated drop in its earnings, according to a statement from the telecommunications services provider.

Company Secretary Uto Ukpanah said the drop follows an amendment to a service agreement in place with tower services provider IHS. 

The change in the agreement, which has been in place since 2014 when MTN Nigeria chose to ... read more

Jack Ma Foundation Selects 50 Netpreneur Finalists

Fifty finalists from 22,000 applications across Africa, representing 21 nations, have been selected by the Jack Ma Foundation to compete for a place at the grand finale of the 2020 Africa Business Heroes (ABH) competition.

According to the organisers half of the applications are female and work in sectors including agriculture, AI, e-commerce, fashion, healthcare, renewable energy and ICT.

A statement from the organisers reads: “Over the past month, a panel of 140 highly skilled... read more

STC's Vodafone Egypt Deal Postponed - Again

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has extended the deadline for the finalisation of its buyout of Vodafone Group's shares in Vodafone Egypt.

Citing COVID-19, the company issued a statement which reads: “Due to the logistical challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties need more time to complete the processes related to the transaction, including the due diligence.”

It announced that the parties involved have agreed to extend the memorandum of understanding... read more

Orange Sets Sights on Ivory Coast’s Financial Hub for Bank Africa Launch

French telecommunications firm Orange has partnered financial services group NSIA to launch Orange Bank Africa in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. 

According to a statement released to the media, Orange Bank Africa will be headed by Jean-Louis Menann-Kouamé and will offer a range of services accessible via mobile phone

Orange Bank Africa has been established to address the needs of un-banked or those with limited access to conventional banking services... read more

Malawi: ISPs, Telcos Under Pressure to Reduce Costs for Internet Services

Malawi’s Minister of Information and government spokesperson Gospel Kazako has ordered the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) to urgently reduce the cost of data charges.

Kazako expressed concern that locals are being charged “a lot of money” for internet services compared to neighbouring countries.

He said in Tanzania, people buy a 1GB data bundle for 40 cents (US$), while in Malawi people buy the same for 80 cents (US$). .. read more

Nigeria’s Covenant University partners Coursera for full-scale Blended Learning

African higher education institution Covenant University has partnered with online learning platform Coursera to address the need for job-relevant skills on the continent.

According to a statement released to the media, Covenant will offer full-scale blended learning to 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Prof. AAA Atayero, the Vice-Chancellor, Covenant University, said, “Covenant has a long history pioneering and disrupting the higher education system in Africa and with this new partnership it is now leading in accelerating the long-overdue digital transformation in African ... read more

Uganda: MTN Given Two-Year Ultimatum to List

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has given MTN Uganda two years to list a minimum of 20% shares on the country’s stock exchange or face sanctions.

An IPO on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE) was part of the negotiated conditions for the operator’s 12-year new operating licence effective 1 July 2020. 

MTN is the first operator to acquire the licence under the new licencing regime, according to which services providers have to guarantee network...  read more

Court Stays EcoCash Search Warrant

Zimbabwe’s Econet has won a court reprieve to stay the execution of a search and seize warrant that would have empowered police to seize data related to mobile money subscribers and transactions.

Econet had applied for an interdict of the warrant at a Harare court earlier this week.  This was after police sought to seize data related to EcoCash mobile money subscribers and transactions for the period January to June 2020, arguing that the platform was complicit in money laundering activities.

The Court will determine the lawfulness ... read more

Uber Targets 50% Female Drivers in Sub-Saharan Africa  

in a New Deal with Nigeria’s Moove Africa

Uber, the global ride-sharing company that relies on smartphone technology for dispatch and fee payment, is targeting 50% female drivers in its recent partnership with Nigeria’s Moove Africa, a subsidiary of Grace Lake Partners (GLP).

The partnership will see Moove Africa providing potential and current Uber drivers in sub-Saharan Africa with newer car models when they request a ride and long-term access to vehicles as well.

The transport sector on the continent is dominated by men but Uber hopes to change that... read more

Outcry over Econet’s Network Blackout in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe’s leading telecom operator Econet Wireless experienced a technical glitch yesterday evening leaving its millions of subscribers across the country stranded.

Econet Wireless owned by Zimbabwean billionaire mogul Strive Masiyiwa’ Econet Group controls 69.8 percent market share of the country’s mobile subscriptions with over 9.5 million subscribers, according to the First Quarter 2020 report by Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.

The network outage left Econet’s subscribers unable to make calls, to access the internet and to send texts messages. Econet took ...  read more

Uganda: Radio Broadcasters to Submit New Applications for Licenses by End of Month

The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) has called for all radio broadcasters in Uganda to submit fresh applications for radio broadcasting licenses of their choice by July 31, 2020

In addition to providing for different license fees for commercial and communal broadcasting services, the new framework also provides for a five-year license as opposed to the previous one, which was only valid for one year. Over the years, the current licensing framework has been rendered inadequate by the changing technology, including broadcasting services... read more

Kenya: World First for Safaricom with New Pay-As-You-Use 4G Smartphone

In a unique partnership with Google and a first in the world, Safaricom will now give qualifying customers easier access to the internet through the Neon Ray Pro, a 4G Android (Go edition) smartphone at a low rate of KES20 daily.

The world first initiative called Lipa Mdogo Mdogo in partnership with Android, Google's operating system for mobile, will allow qualifying customers access to the internet and the world of possibilities.

“We are delighted today to launch this product in line with our pillar of customer-centricity. .. read more

Kenya: Digital Literacy Programme that Targets 24000 Public Schools Moves to Phase 2

The ICT Authority CEO, Dr. Katherine Getao, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and Moi University for the implementation of Digital Literacy Programme Phase II.

The objective of the Programme is to impart learners with the required skills and knowledge to competitively participate in a knowledge-based economy. These skills include critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and innovation. 

The Government of Kenya (GoK) has...  read more

Rwanda Uses Drones to Send Safety Covid Messages from the Air

During the first phase of lockdown that started on 21 March in Rwanda, the Government of Rwanda observed that some of the densely populated neighbourhoods and high-risk zones were not respecting COVID-19 preventive measures as it was difficult to reach them by the usual awareness messages. The Rwanda National Police intervened with Drones which were deployed to compliment radio/ TV messages, community health workers and other community leaders by bringing educative messages directly to residents by air. ...   read more

Zimbabwe: Econet Search Warrant Undermines Citizens’ Privacy

Zimbabwe’s leading civil society groups have petitioned the High Court seeking to block a lower court order requiring Econet Wireless to hand over its subscribers’ information.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa led government is accusing the country’s largest mobile operator Econet Wireless through its mobile money platform Ecocash for money laundering.

Ecocash is owned by Cassava SmarTech Zimbabwe Limited after Econet Wireless unbundled its financial. ..  read more