IT News
Tech-Driven Agriculture to Boost 50,000 Women and Youth Farmers in Nigeria
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_809.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_809.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Building on its work to boost food security in Nigeria through technology-drivenagricultural services, Thrive Agric has launched a 1-year project to support 50,000 smallholder farmers growing rice, maize, and soybean. This comes as part of Thrive Agric’s commitment to strengthen agricultural value chains in the country, including for these three staple crops. The USAID-funded West Africa Trade & Investment Hub (Trade Hub) is backing this effort with a $1.75-million co-investment grant. Thrive Agric /* custom css */ .tdi_3_be9.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_be9.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A natural partner for the Trade Hub, Thrive Agric has already helped...
Twitter Introducing 30-Second Long Full-Screen Ads to Fleets
Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy /* custom css */ .tdi_4_71c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_71c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Twitter has been focusing extensively on adding new features to the service over the last few months in efforts to fuel engagement with users and increase revenue from advertisers. Last year November, Twitter introduced its Instagram and Snapchat-like stories feature, Fleets to mixed reactions from users. However, it seems that the feature has been garnering significant usage as the company plans to introduce up to 30-second long full-screen adverts to Fleets. The adverts will reportedly work similarly to those users stumble across while scrolling past stories on Instagram. Twitter says it will start adding full-screen ads to Fleets, s...
South African Government Now Seeks to Regulate Netflix Content
Sourced from Getty Images. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_360.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_360.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A new white paper proposal from the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies is set to enforce locally produced content on digital streaming services, with Netflix zeroed in. The paper also seeks to apply other regulations to these services, according to Business Tech. The white paper proposal, contained in the department’s Audio and Audio-Visual Content Services policy framework, suggests that the department will regulate up to 30% of the video catalogue that Netflix has available in South Africa. Netflix’s director of public policy for sub-Saharan Africa, Shola Sanni, says that the streaming goliath is already investing heavily in produci...
4 Fresh Venture Capital Trends Shaping New African Investments
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_d6c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_d6c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } With the second half of 2021 approaches and COVID-19 vaccinations roll out across the globe, albeit at varying rates, Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAIC, investors in early-stage, high-growth technology businesses, considers the trends making an impact on the African Venture Capital landscape. Homegrown Solutions With the world having adjusted to new ways of shopping, learning, and doing business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the appetite for solutions that solve real, tangible problems are without a doubt the best opportunities for growth. Solutions that offer people and organisations better ways of living and working with less friction will reign supreme. In the Afr...
“Ready for Third Wave” Claim SA Oxygen Suppliers
Sourced from Times Live. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_6ee.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_6ee.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A few weeks after the third wave of COVID-19 infections was confirmed in South Africa, the number of daily infections has again begun to steadily rise. During earlier waves last year many public and private hospitals experienced severe shortages in their oxygen supplies. Now, amongst increasing concerns that oxygen will again begin to run dry, oxygen suppliers have confirmed that they have learnt their lessons during the second wave and have helped increase capacity to meet the demand in the coming weeks or months as the third wave crests upon the country. The Third Wave is Here /* custom css */ .tdi_3_110.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_110.td-a-...
South Africa’s COVID-19 Variant Renamed to Avoid Discrimination
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_517.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_517.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The several mutated variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, otherwise known as COVID-19, will now be known according to letters of the Greek alphabet in order to avoid “stigmatization and discrimination”, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). This new system will apply to the variants seen to be of most concern – the most severe of the four currently in circulation on Earth – and the second-level mutates of interest being tracked. Maria van Kerkhove, WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, suggests that the new names will not replace the scientific names of the variants, but instead will be “aimed to help in public discussion.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_c11.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: l...
Massive Undersea Mudslide Caused Internet Problems Across Africa
Image sourced from Medium. A recent study conducted by Professor Peter J. Talling and a team from the Departments of Earth Sciences and Geography, from the University of Durham in the UK, co-led by Angola Cables and supported by the Vodafone Group, British Telecom, NERC Environmental and others, has delivered important findings presenting valuable insights for the routing and protection of future subsea cables. In January 2020, the South Atlantic 3/West Africa (SAT-3/Wasc) cable, linking Africa to Portugal and Spain was hit by a breakdown in Gabon, whilst the West Africa Cable System (Wacs) that connects South Africa to the United Kingdom saw an outage off the coast of the DRC Congo. In March, the WACS cable experienced a further break affecting international bandwidth. Whilst many I...
Why Immutable Architecture is Key to Protecting Backup Data
Ransomware and other malware are a constant threat, and data backup is critical to safeguard a business’ most important asset. However, cybercriminals are increasingly targeting and encrypting backup data copies as well, a strategy that leaves organisations unable to recover unless they pay the ransom. Keeping an immutable copy of backup data is a best practice for data protection and is the solution in the event of a successful two-pronged ransomware attack. What is an immutable architecture? For data to be immutable means that it is unable to be changed over a period of time. With an immutable architecture, when retention policies are set for data backup and recovery, data will be secured, locked and unchangeable for that retention period. This in turn means that it cannot be encrypted b...
Vodacom Tanzania and Mdundo Partner to Launch New Premium Music Bundle
From left: DJ Bike, Nguvu Kamando (Head of VAS, Vodacom), DJ Feruuh, Martin Nielsen, DJ Summer, Prisna Nichaulous (Music Manager, Mdundo), Michael Okeje (Head of Growth, Mdundo). Image sourced from TechCabal. Vodacom Tanzania has announced a new partnership with African music distributing and streaming service Mdundo. Together the companies are launching a new music bundle for the telecom’s subscribers. As reported by TechCabal, this new bundle will give Vodacom Tanzania subscribers access to Mdundo’s premium service as well as a bevy of curated mixes from some of Tanzania’s top DJs. “Instead of struggling and moving from one platform to another, we as a digital valuing company, saw the importance of creating one bundle which will include all music genres, that’s why we also decided to par...
9 out of 10 Kenyan SMEs Use M-Pesa for Payments, via New Survey
Image sourced from WeeTracker /* custom css */ .tdi_4_9b7.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_9b7.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A new survey conducted by Amethyst Consultants on SME perceptions of banking products in Kenya showed that up to 95% of SMEs (9 out of 10 companies) in the country use M-Pesa, Vodafone’s mobile money service, according to Business Daily Africa. The survey, commissioned by SNDBX, took place between the months of March and April 2021 and included 131 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) across 17 “key sectors”. “The survey highlighted that SMEs continue to be resilient through the pandemic season and a third [of SMEs] are looking forward to a better future in 2021,” says Amethyst Consultants Founding Director, Sharon Mbugua. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_7f1.t...
Twitter is Testing New Facebook-like Tweet Reactions
Sourced from Wired. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_f96.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_f96.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Social media juggernaut, Twitter seems to be continuing its roll-out of new features with, what appear to be, Facebook-like Tweet reactions in a bid to better user experience and increase engagement. This comes from a series of tweets from noted app researcher, Jane Manchun Wung. She shows off a WIP version of the system in the Tweet below: Twitter is working on Tweet Reactions view: “Likes”, “Cheer”, “Hmm”, “Sad”, “Haha” The icons for the Cheer and Sad reactions are WIP and shown as the generic heart one at the moment https://t.co/ZCBhH8z7JR pic.twitter.com/dGqq1CzIis — Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) May 28, 2021 /* custom css */ .tdi_3_190.td-a-rec-img{ text...
Innovative Tech Critical in Vaccinating South Africa’s Rural and Remote Areas
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_9b2.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_9b2.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } As South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccination programme ramps up, with a target to vaccinate 41-million people by the end of March next year, health NGO Right to Care is deploying teams to vaccinate South Africans living in hard-to-reach places in remote parts of the country. Dr Ntombi Sigwebela, chief of party for vaccinations at health NGO Right to Care, says that “No-one should be left out of the vaccine programme, including people living in far-flung areas. There is an urgency to vaccinate as variants may emerge and spread. We need to achieve herd or population immunity to break the chain of transmission as quickly as possible.” Right to Care is supporting the National Department of...
