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Kenyans Will Now Pay More for Internet and Calls Following New Finance Bill Ruling

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Image sourced from Kenyan Wallstreet A new amendment in Kenya’s Finance Act of 2018 sought to change taxing on telephone and internet services from 15% to 20%. The change is set to go live today, 1 July. The amendment has seen criticism in the country since its first announcement because a large majority of Kenyans use their phones for both internet access and communication via SMS and calls. The country has also seen the recent adoption of many new services on mobile devices. New mobile services such as applying for a driver’s license, land transfers, paying for parking, and other licensing platforms, are but a few that will see increased taxation through usage. Techweez believes that the increased taxes will negatively affect the growth of mobile phones and internet penetration that has ...

Politics

Nigeria Still Waiting on Federal Government’s Approval for 5G Deployment

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Image sourced from the Verge. Nigeria’s final journey into the deployment of 5G technology is expected to begin sometime relatively soon, barring any unforeseen circumstances. The Guardian reports that the only obstacle to the deployment of the technology in Nigeria is approval by the country’s Federal Government. A previously existing obstacle, a supposed loose end, has recently been tightened by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC). Approval from the Federal Government is expected within the next few months. Nigeria’s Senate Approves 5G After two trials conducted by MTN and Ericsson in 2019, with the supervision of the NCC, Nigeria’s Upper Legislative Chamber, the Senate approved the deployment of 5G networks in the country. The Senate had agreed that the technological impact tha...

Politics

SA Amongst World’s Best at Coping with COVID-19 Business Challenges, says Report

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/* custom css */ .tdi_4_165.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_165.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Although organisations worldwide found their businesses disrupted, projects postponed, and strategies challenged during 2020, South African companies were very adept at coping with business-related challenges as a result of COVID-19, says Project Management Institute. “Drawing this conclusion in their annual Pulse of the Profession report, PMI reported that project leaders in 72% of South African organizations reported changes being taken in corporate strategy—against the 64% recorded globally,” says George Asamani, Business Development Leader, Africa at Project Management Institute. In addition to being adaptable, South African businesses displayed a higher tendency than the glo...

Politics

There Are More Fintech Startups in Africa Now Than Ever Before

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Image sourced from Payspace Magazine. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_77c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_77c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Africa’s fintech sector is growing and maturing, with more startups active in the space than ever before, platforms increasingly offering a variety of services, and investment and acquisitions taking place to an unprecedented degree. Every two years since June 2017, startup-focused news and research company Disrupt Africa has released the Finnovating for Africa publication, which tracks the extraordinary development of the fintech ecosystem across Africa over the last few years. The 2021 edition of the report, which is for the first time available free to all as part of an open-sourcing initiative in partnership with key partners Flutterwave ...

Politics

Elon Musk’s Starlink Set to Deliver Worldwide Internet from Orbit

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Elon Musk. Image sourced from CNBC Elon Musk’s satellite network – Starlink – is reportedly on track to deliver broadband internet everywhere on Earth except for its two poles by August of this year. The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) launched more than 1,500 satellites so far and is running Starlink operations in about a dozen countries. However, the financial investment for these operations has been and will continue to be, steep. Heavyweight Investments Musk said during a presentation at the Mobile World Congress (MWG) on Tuesday that SpaceX’s total investment in the network will be between, brace yourself, $5-Billion and $10-billion before cash flow becomes positive. This is only the beginning, with Musk adding that an additional $20-billion or $30-billion may be n...

Politics

Storing Data in the New PoPIA World

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Sourced from Tapscape /* custom css */ .tdi_4_64f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_64f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } With the Protection of Personal Information Act (PoPI Act or PoPIA) being enforced, more and more South African companies must reconsider their data storage location policy especially when a public cloud is in the picture. Thomas Dubus, VP EMEA at Aiven. Uncertainty with Cloud Storage Cloud companies are global entities–how would you know if your South Africa specific data was being sent to India or Spain for processing? /* custom css */ .tdi_3_c4d.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_c4d.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The answer is to check that the cloud provider can offer services in a geographically limited area. Many providers will in fact s...

Politics

Iron Mountain’s Kevin Akaloo Talks PoPIA – Crucial Steps for Compliance and Harsh Penalties for Not

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Kevin Akaloo, National Head of Sales – Private and Public sector – at Iron Mountain SA. PoPIA is here. After months of speculation and waiting with bated breath, the Information Regulator of South Africa has said that the PoPI (Protection of Private Information) Act will become effective as of 1 July 2021. “PoPIA enforcement powers as promulgated by the President of South Africa in June 2020 will still be coming into effect as of 1 July 2021,” said Information Regulator chair Pansy Tlakula. ITNA’s Luis Monzon had the opportunity to chat with Kevin Akaloo, National Head of Sales at Iron Mountain South Africa, a global leader for storage and information management services that is trusted by more than 220,000 organizations around the world, to get his insights into the PoPI Act –...

Politics

Social Media Adoption Helps SMBs Power Africa’s Economic Growth, via Study

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Sourced from MSU Today /* custom css */ .tdi_4_55b.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_55b.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A study conducted by Genesis Analytics in eight African countries – Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, the DRC, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Mauritius, and Kenya – reveals that social media platforms help accelerate economic growth and opportunity across the continent. The African continent is heavily reliant on its small and medium-sized enterprises and businesses (SMEs & SMBs), which are the backbone of the economy. As many countries across the continent have embarked on their digital transformation, the research shows that digital platforms can play a key role in the continent’s development. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_0f0.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_0...

Politics

COVID-19 Delta Variant May Soon Cause “Catastrophic” Wave of Infections in Kenya

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Sourced from Times Live. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_3c5.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_3c5.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant that is currently causing a massive third wave of infections in South Africa may cause the fourth wave of infections in Kenya over the next two months. This is according to Kenya’s Health Ministry. First identified in India and the cause of significant desolation in the Asian country, COVID-19 Delta is dominant in the West of Kenya, where it was initially detected in the country. In response, Kenya’s government has imposed restrictions on movement in the region in attempts to stem Delta from spreading nationwide. Kenya had 183,603 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 3,621 deaths as of June 29, according to the Health ...

Politics

Does the Pandemic’s Impact in East Africa Demand Accelerated Digital Transformation?

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Image sourced from US News. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe socio-economic impact in East Africa. While the region has escaped the worst of the health impact – infection and mortality rates are comparatively low next to those of Europe – the impact on businesses, communities and households has been devastating. With the exception of Kenya, Tanzania and Djibouti, countries in the region experienced negative real GDP growth in 2020, although all countries (with the exception of Sudan) are forecast to record positive growth this year. Traditional foreign exchange revenue sectors such as international tourism have all but disappeared. Data from the UN indicate that tourism numbers declined by 91% in Kenya: in August 2019, the country received 162,000 tourist visitors. By August 2020, th...

Politics

Facebook Increases Transparency for Political Ads in South Africa and Zambia

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Image sourced from Reuters. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_a28.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_a28.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Starting June 29 2021, Facebook will launch enforcement on ads about elections or politics in Zambia and South Africa. As a result, anyone running ads about political figures, political parties, the election or “Get out the vote” campaigns must go through the ad authorization process by verifying their identity with a government-issued photo ID, confirming their location in those countries and advertisers are required to provide more information about the person or organization responsible for the ad to place “Paid for by” disclaimers on these ads. This includes any person creating, modifying, publishing, or pausing ads that reference ads about electio...