Africa By Region
Liquid Telecom Unveils New Identity and Pan-African Strategy
Image sourced from MyBroadband Liquid Telecom has unveiled its new identity as Liquid Intelligent Technologies. The pan-African technology group also revealed its plan to go from being a telecommunications and digital services provider to a full one-stop-shop technology group through a group-wide rebrand. Over the last two decades, Liquid has firmly established itself as the leading pan-African digital infrastructure provider with an extensive network spanning over 73,000 KM. This rebrand to Liquid Intelligent Technologies highlights the organisation’s expansion of its Cloud business, Cyber Security services, and other technologies added to its existing telecoms and connectivity capability. This furthers the Group’s aim of accelerating growth by providing tailor-made digital solutions to b...
Ajala Hosts Webinar on Artificial Intelligence and African Enterprises
Ajala, a leading provider of speech technologies for African languages, is pleased to announce the third event in their “Artificial Intelligence & African Enterprises” series, focusing on Delivering Economic and Operational Gains. The series examines the landscape of Artificial Intelligence solutions in the context of public and private African enterprises. Each webinar will address business and technological considerations relevant to African enterprises that have adopted or are considering adopting AI solutions as a part of their core business strategy. Thought leaders and experts will engage in topics ranging from operations, to policy, to economics and the technology underlying AI solutions and their relevance to African enterprises and consumers. Previous sessions include Da...
Register to Attend AJALA’s Artificial Intelligence and African Enterprises Webinar
Continuing the Artificial Intelligence & African enterprises series, ajala is pleased to invite you to attend the third session on Delivering Economic and Operational Gains set to take place on March 23, 2021, at 11:00 AM (WAT). The AI & African Enterprises series examines AI through an African lens, covering topics ranging from operations, to economics, and technology/deployment. The upcoming session will consider perspectives on productivity in Africa and the potential impact AI can on jobs, identity and regulations. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_3da.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_3da.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Previous sessions include Data Privacy, Data Security and Policy Considerations (November 2020) and Deployment and Integration: Managing AI Solutions ...
MTN Group Adds 29 Million Subscribers Despite a Challenging 2020
MTN added 29 million new subscribers in 2020, to reach a total of 280 million across 21 markets. The group also reported a 52% increase in adjusted headline earnings per share, a four percentage point increase in return on equity to 17% and a more than doubling in operating cashflow to R28,3 billion. “We continued to perform favourably against our medium-term targets,” says MTN President and CEO, Ralph Mupita. “In constant currency terms, service revenue grew 11,9% to R170 billion and EBITDA increased by 13,4%, maintaining our strong operating leverage. The Group’s EBITDA margin improved by 0,9pp to 42,7%, benefiting from the execution of our expense efficiency programme.” The solid results were supported by growth in MTN’s larger operations as well as a broad-based improvement across...
Dimension Data Appoints New CEO After Grant Bodley Steps Down
Image sourced from ITWeb Dimension Data MEA has appointed Werner Kapp as the new CEO for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) – this follows the departure of Grant Bodley who has been with the company for more than 20 years. Kapp will take up his new role from 1 April 2021. “I’m thrilled to be taking on the new role of CEO and look forward to progressing our leadership position in IT services across the region,” says Kapp. “I am especially excited about our One Dimension Data operating model, as I believe it is a critical part of our differentiation in the market and a key to ensuring the work we do with our clients across the organisation drives solutions-focused thinking and delivery.” Kapp, who has also been with Dimension Data for the last 2 decades, is currently the company’s Chief O...
Microsoft Joins Forces with Tech4Dev to Teach Women Coding Skills in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and Egypt
Microsoft and Tech4Dev have partnered to launch the Women Techsters Initiative in 54 countries. This programme aims to train girls and women across Africa in coding and deep tech skills, bridging the digital and technology divide and ensure equal access to opportunities across the continent. Ghada Khalifa, Regional Director of Microsoft Philanthropies MEA, was excited about the initiative being scaled to other countries on the African continent from Nigeria where the program was piloted. She says “when we empower girls and women in the ICT industry, through greater access to skills and training, we not only unlock innovation but also economic opportunities”. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_2ad.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_2ad.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A recent report&...
Ukheshe Confirms Global Expansion of its FinTech Operations
Ukheshe set to expand its fintech operations across the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific. The move comes on the back of partnerships in various African countries including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Botswana, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Ghana. In addition to collaborating with numerous blue-chip banks, telcos and fintechs, Ukheshe has built strong alliances with Mastercard while acquiring two companies and raising just under R100m within a two-year period. “We will continue to look for potential acquisitions in these new markets to further support Ukheshe’s growth and strategy as we pursue our goal of reaching unicorn status within the next three years,” says Clayton Hayward, CEO of Ukheshe. “Ukheshe is ex...
Vodacom Launches First-of-its-Kind Mobile Health Service in DRC
Vodacom and Mondia have partnered to launch ‘Mum & Baby’ across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Mum & Baby is a free-of-charge mobile health intervention service that provides subscribers with maternal, neonatal and child health information designed to encourage good health practices amongst pregnant women, mothers, partners and caregivers. Mondia creates Mum & Baby’s tailored content in the local language and includes expert articles, videos and information-sharing SMS messages. Mum & Baby’s future enhancements in the DRC will provide interactive tools including a due-date calculator, an immunisation calendar, medication reminder, medication safety information and other health tools and services. “Accessing healthcare services in Africa can be challenging, and ...
Jumia to Expand Food Delivery Service in Africa
Jumia is set to expand its eCommerce offering to include food delivery. According to the company’s co-CEO, Sacha Poignonnec, 20% of all transactions across the Jumia platform is already made up of food and this is growing quickly. He also revealed that the service will expand to Egypt following the exit of Uber Eats. TechCentral writes [Poignonnec’s] comments come “after a year where demand for delivered meals and groceries has exploded worldwide as restrictions to contain the coronavirus kept people indoors”. And while countries in Africa have taken longer than others around the world to adopt this trend – due to limited access to affordable Internet solutions – Jumia is making waves to expand before other eCommerce goliaths – like Amazon – do. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_bce.td-a-rec-im...
Haller Farmers: Restoring African Land for Over 50 Years
The Haller Farmers app is taking advantage of Africa’s increasing mobile penetration by equipping the next generation of farmers with knowledge, information and education through technology. The app — which was developed for farmers by farmers — takes its unique name from UNEP Global 500 Laureate, Dr Rene Haller, who has spent the last 50 years experimenting with nature to restore life to degraded landscapes. Since the 1970s, Dr Haller has used science and careful observation to allow barren quarried landscapes to be transformed into abundant and diverse forest ecosystems, sanctuaries for endangered species, and resources for local African communities. An example of this is Haller Park, a former limestone quarry that is now a flourishing hub of biodiversity. The 7km² landscape is curr...
6 Reasons to Sponsor IoTFA 2021
The Internet of Things Forum Africa is set to lead the conversation on the latest IoT challenges, opportunities and innovations. Taking place on 25 – 26 March 2021, this free virtual summit will see hundreds of executives, entrepreneurs and solution providers equipped with the knowledge and tools needed to plan and implement successful connected projects. This year’s virtual Internet of Things Forum Africa is themed ‘Envisioning The Role of IoT in a Post COVID-19 World’- with a key focus on how the digital enterprise of the future will be shaped by our current pandemic experiences. Join us on the 25th and 26th of March 2021 and find out about the growing influence of IoT in business transformation, and how focused attention on data regulation, cloud and cybersecurity will become cruc...
Google News Initiative Launches in Africa
Image sourced from Pymnts Google has announced the second Google News Initiative Innovation Challenge in Africa, with an “open call for projects that increase reader engagement and explore new business models for media”. The first GNI Innovation Challenge saw 21 projects in 13 countries receive funding last year. Awardees were from Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Turkey, and the UAE. In Nigeria, Ringier Africa Digital Publishing was awarded funding to increase personalisation across its platform using a blend of prediction, recommendation and local information pages to increase user engagement. Kenyan awardee Africa Uncensored is aggregating news from members of the public to produce at scale. Applications open today ...
