AfICTA e-Newsletter (March 9th, 2021)

             Read online                    Newsletter Subscription                        Join AfICTA                           

AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER

12/March/2021 Vol 105

Register Now for the 1st AfICTA Quarterly eConference

Join us at the 1st AfICTA Quarterly Webinar as we discuss ways of Solving the Challenges of Modern Remote Access in the Post COVID-19 World.  The webinar would discuss what needs to be done to improve the monitoring and mitigation of insider risks caused by the rapid adoption of digitisation across the world.

Economic stress, Pandemic fatigue among many others create a "perfect storm" for digital identity thefts and insider risk and we would be addressing proactive measures to be employed to ensure safety online. Theme: Insider Risks: Secure Digital Identity and Solving the Challenges of Modern Remote Access in the Post COVID-19 World. Date: March 18, 2021 Time: 10:00 am (GMT)...  Register

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 realization of the digital Africa and the Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs.

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 players on the continent.

ICANN Terminates Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) with Net 4 India Limited

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced the termination of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) with Net 4 India Limited as a result of its failure to cure multiple breaches of the RAA. The termination notice can be found here.

For information about the next steps in the termination process, please go here

Zambia Passes Controversial Cyber Crime Law

Zambia’s government has enacted the controversial Cyber Security and Cybercrime Bill, despite vehement opposition from civil society and official opposition political party the United Party for National Development (UPND).

Government claims the law will help combat cyber crime, coordinate cyber security matters, develop relevant skills and help promote the responsible use of social media platforms.

It will also facilitate the identification... Read more

Telecom Egypt Plans HARP Subsea System Launch

Telecom Egypt is planning to launch the Hybrid African Ring Path (HARP), a subsea system that will ring Africa and connect its landlocked coasts with Europe by 2023. 

The HARP system will leverage the telco’s existing terrestrial and subsea infrastructure to connect multiple points from Africa’s East, West and South to Europe’s Italy, France and Portugal.

It will also cross the Sinai Peninsula as well as the Suez Canal to form a hybrid terrestrial and subsea fibre connectivity solution for landing points... read more

Malawi Targets 80% Internet Connectivity by 2025

Malawi’s government aims to increase network access for internet usage to 80% of the population from the current level of 14%, and device ownership from 51% to 80% by 2026.

This is according to the Malawi Digital Economy strategy (2021-2026), prepared by the National Planning Commission (NPC).

Authorities said access to affordable internet will enable the country to protect the environment while achieving urbanisation and...  read more

Ethiopia to Implement US$200m Digital Project

Ethiopia’s Ministry of Innovation and Technology says it has finalised preparations to implement a Digital Ethiopia Foundation project valued at US$200-million. 

Funded by the World Bank, the five-year project aims to boost the country’s competitiveness in the digital sector through increased inclusion and affordability of digital services and job creation.

The Ministry said it has already drafted the legal framework and stakeholders’... read more

Zambia Rubbishes Allegations of Spying on Citizen’s Communication

Zambia’s Minister of Communications and Transport Mutotwe Kafwaya has denied claims raised in a report that the country is among seven in Africa using Circle platforms to intercept and eavesdrop on the private communications of citizens.

The report by the University of Toronto Running in Circles: Uncovering the Clients of Cyber-Espionage Firm Circles, lists Zambia as one of the seven African countries using ICT tools to spy on text messages and SMS’.

It adds that the Circle platform intercepts data from mobile networks, allowing the...  read more

Start-up Looks to Cover Botswana with ‘Wi-Fi Blanket’

Start-up telecommunications services provider One Wireless has announced plans to deploy macro Wi-Fi solutions to “Wi-Fi blanket’ Botswana, covering several cities including Francistown, Gaborone, Kasane, Maun and Palapye.

The company says the wireless technology, also known as ‘mass Wi-Fi’, guarantees a faster internet speed, and will benefit the public as well as IOT, OTT service providers, infrastructure and SaaS providers.

The expectation is that this will also create...  read more

Mauritius’ First Nanosatellite Heads to Space in May

In May this year Mauritian Infrared Satellite (MIR-SAT1), the island nation’s first nanosatellite, will head to the International Space Station (ISS) on a rocket to be launched by the Japanese Space Exploration Agency (JAXA).

The Minister of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation in the government of Mauritius Deepak Balgobin said the satellite has passed a third safety review by JAXA and is now at the Tsukuba Space Centre in Japan.

A statement by the government reads... read more

Paratus Namibia Signs First Infrastructure Sharing Agreement

Paratus Namibia has signed its first ‘fibre open access’ agreement on-boarding Africa Online as a client. 

According to a statement by the company, this is the first of many deals in which Paratus will share its infrastructure with licensed operators in delivering fibre connections to the broader business and domestic market in Namibia.

Paratus says by removing the main barrier to enter the market, Open Access allows multiple... read more

9mobile Affirms Support for Lagos' Smart City Initiative

Alan Sinfield, CEO of Nigerian telco9mobile, has affirmed the company's support for the Lagos 'Smart City' initiative.

Sinfield gave the affirmation at a panel session of the Lagos State Economic Summit - Ehingbeti 2021 themed 'For a Greater Lagos: Setting the Tone for the Next Decade.'

Speaking at the panel session on 'Digital Transformation Solutions for Smart Cities', Sinfield noted the significance of the Smart City Masterplan of Lagos State and how 9mobile... read more

Being Future-fit Enough to Compete in SA’s Digital Revolution

Training and the development of 4IR skill sets will be central to successful digital transformation in business. These skills are essential to ensuring that companies remain relevant and competitive within the unfolding digital revolution.

This is according to a recent virtual panel discussion involving Professor Josef Langerman - Transformation Specialist at Standard Bank Group; Dion Harvey – Regional GM at Red Hat SSA; Steve Briggs – Chief Commercial Officer at SEACOM; as well as Arthur Wade Anderson – Chief Commercial Officer... read more

Morocco Confirms Interest in Central Bank Digital Currencies

Morocco’s Central Bank, Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), has set up an institutional committee to identify and analyse the benefits and risks of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) to the country’s economy, the Moroccan Press Agency has reported.

The report cites a source from within BAM as saying the Committee has also been asked to examine all related consequences of the CBDC on monetary policy and financial stability, as well as measures to be taken in view of the evolution of the use of crypto-assets at national and international level. o cement its... read more

Split in Government Over Takeover of SH16 Billion Fibre Optic from Telcom

A split has emerged in Government over plans to end Telkom Kenya’s management of State-owned Sh16 billion fibre optic network that the telco operates without licence.

The ICT Ministry and a State agency, the ICT Authority (ICTA) — are locked in a dispute over how to end Telkom Kenya management of National Optic Fibre Backbone (Nofbi) -- which provides telecommunications connectivity in all the 47 counties.

Jerome Ochieng, the ICT Principal . .. read more

Ghana’s Parliament Suspends Appointment of Communications and Digitization Minister

The appointment of the Communications and Digitization Minister, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has been put on hold by Parliament pending further investigation.

She is expected to appear again before the parliament appointment committee in the course of the week to provide concrete evidence on claims that Kelni GVG contract has resulted in monthly savings of US1.1million ... read more

Nigeria Extend MTN, GLO, Airtel, 9mobile NIN Registration Licenses to 5 years

Nigeria’s government has directed telco's to establish SIM Swap Replacement Centres across each of the 774 local government areas in the country plus authorities have extended MTN, GLO, Airtel and 9mobile NIN registration licenses to 5years.

The government has approved an extension of tenure granted to Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), for NIN registration to 5years from the initial one year given earlier. The approval was given due to satisfactory performance of the initial licenses and to simplify the registrations process for Nigerians...  read more

Telecommunication Sector Drives Nigeria's Economic Recovery

In spite of the resurgence of the second wave of Covid-19 which affected businesses globally in 2020, Nigeria’s ICT/ telecommunication sector has proven to be a catalyst for diversification and growth of the economy as it contributed significantly to the country quickly exiting recession.

The data from the Q4 GDP report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), did excite stakeholders in the sector.

According to the Statistic Bureau, Telecommunications & Information Services under Information ... read more

Nigeria’s Broadband Subscriptions Fell by 4.87% in 2020

In spite of the contribution of ICT/telecommunications sector to Nigeria's GDP growth, the country's Broadband penetrations dropped to 42.93 per cent in January 2021, compared to 45.02 per cent in December 2020, with Telco losing over 4million voice subscriptions in one month.

According to the March 2021 industry statistics report by the telecoms regulator, Nigeria communications Commission, Broadband subscriptions dropped by 4.87% from 85,941,222 in December 2020, to 81,949,983 as at January 2021...  read more

Kenyan Scholars Get Access to Student Loans through a Smart Mobile Payment Solution

Safaricom has partnered with the Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) to roll out a smart mobile payment solution for Kenyan students of tertiary institutions to access and utilise their loans and bursaries.

The solution will aid HELB to promote responsible spending with the funds locked for specific allocations, such as tuition or library fees only accessible to the specific Paybill account of the recipient's University or TVET institution. The students upkeep allowance can now also be transferred into the student’s M-PESA wallet for everyday use. ...   read more

Mobile Data Costs fall but as Demand for Internet Services Surges, Progress Remains too slow

The latest edition of our mobile pricing data shows that costs continue to come down. This is welcome news. But our data also makes clear that in a world where internet access has become a lifeline, progress is far too slow, a billion people still living in countries where basic access is not affordable. As demand for ICTs continues to grow, we must also take a hard look at today’s affordability targets and consider how we raise ambitions to meet people’s need for affordable meaningful connectivity.

Costs fall but still unaffordable for the many... read more

A4AI’s 2021 Plan: Pushing the Boundaries and Shaping the Post-Covid-19 World

When I was invited to serve as the honorary chair of A4AI’s Advisory Board in 2018, I did not hesitate because I saw an opportunity to contribute to a cause that touches billions of lives every day around the world. Today, the mainstream idea that the internet is a lifeline was nonexistent in the early 2000s when I was starting my career. I was part of the first Rwandan-educated cohort of computer science graduates from the National University of Rwanda. At the time, the entire campus of more than five thousand students relied on a few hundred computers to access the internet. Mobile communication was still a luxury in the... Read more

Three challenges facing the Internet in 2021

Last year, the Internet faced its biggest test yet. We learned that the Internet performs incredibly well under pressure. The infrastructure behind it has proven its scalability and resilience, as it has become more essential than ever before for our daily lives.

However, there are still challenges ahead which the Internet community must tackle if we are to keep the Internet’s infrastructure strong. Ensuring global Internet access, managing its sustainable growth, and protecting users from cybersecurity threats are all important issues for the Internet community to navigate... read more

Microsoft Makes Running a Virtual Machine on Azure Safer - and Free

Microsoft has rolled out a new free Azure module that users can use to deploy virtual machines (VMs) with verified and signed bootloaders.

The new module builds upon the Virtual Trusted Platform Module (vTPM) to ascertain the integrity of the bootloader. While TPM has been a mainstay on modern servers for quite some time now, it’s still a comparatively new phenomenon in cloud computing.

“The vTPM measurements give administrators visibility into the integrity of the ... read more