IT News
MTN Ghana to Become a Fully Digital Operator by 2023
MTN has introduced a month-to-month payment option that aims to give customers “control of their spend commitments”. With no lock-ins, no credit checks and no complicated paperwork, MTN Month-to-Month is available to anyone that either doesn’t want to be tied to a contract or who is unable to get a long-term contract due to not meeting minimum requirements. New or existing customers simply need to choose the package they want and opt for the month-to-month payment option, allowing them to experience the MTN network without a 24-month obligation. All they will be asked for is their name, SA ID and debit order details should they opt to pay via debit order. “These are uncertain times for many, so with this product, we are responding to our customer’s needs with greater flexibility, as not ev...
UnionPay and Interswitch Partner to Digitise Payments across Africa
UnionPay International and Interswitch East Africa have partnered to support digitalization across the continent, allowing cardholders and merchants within the region to transact seamlessly and conveniently across various platforms on the global UPI network. The agreement with Interswitch will facilitate UnionPay card acceptance across ATMs, Points-of-Sale, QR Payments and online payments, thereby consolidating the existing partnership with Interswitch in West Africa, helping to drive wider acceptance on the continent. These initiatives are expected to ultimately enhance the current payment landscape and in turn, improve the lives of the mass markets in Africa. “UPI and Interswitch East Africa share a mission to provide convenient and secure payment solutions across Africa, and this p...
Luno is Acquired by Global Blockchain Investor
South African-founded Luno has been acquired by Digital Currency Group (DCG) – a global enterprise that builds, buys and invests in blockchain companies. Luno began in South Africa in 2013. It now has five million customers spanning over 40 countries as well as almost 400 employees based in London, Singapore and South Africa. Led by co-founder and CEO Marcus Swanepoel, Luno has become a digital asset powerhouse in many emerging and frontier markets, providing digital asset education, knowledge, and investment tools for individuals in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. The company is a leading exchange in several countries that have the highest percentage of cryptocurrency ownership, including South Africa (third-highest of its citizens owning digital currencies), Nigeria (fifth-highe...
Rubrik moves to Leaders in Gartner Magic Quadrant
Risna Steenkamp, General Manager: ESM Division at Networks Unlimited Africa Rubrik, which simplifies backup and recovery for hybrid cloud environments, has joined the Leaders section in the Gartner Backup and Recovery Magic Quadrant. According to the global research and advisory firm’s criteria, this implies that Rubrik is a company that executes well today, and is additionally well-positioned for tomorrow, when measured against its completeness of vision and ability to execute. Rubrik is distributed throughout Africa by value-added distributor, Networks Unlimited Africa. Risna Steenkamp, General Manager: ESM Division at Networks Unlimited Africa, clarifies, “Previously, Rubrik was placed in the Visionary section of the Backup and Recovery Magic Quadrant. According to Gartner’s evalu...
Vodafone Foundation to Expand ‘Ambulance taxi’ Programme in Africa
The Vodafone Foundation has announced that it will commit $28 million to expand its ‘ambulance taxi’ programme beyond Tanzania for the first time to sub-Saharan African countries. The programme is expected to initially expand to Lesotho, with a co-investment of $4.5 million by the Foundation and the Government of Lesotho. Lesotho has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world, and the programme could potentially save 200 lives over the next four years alone. “Vodafone Foundation shares the commitment of the Government of Lesotho to reduce maternal mortality and contribute to the UN’s health goal. Our long-term investment of US$28 million to expand m-mama within sub-Saharan Africa will save the lives of thousands of women through an emergency service that governments can af...
Google Launches Android 11
Image sourced from The Verge Google has launched the highly-anticipated Android 11 – the latest version of its mobile operating system – to a number of users who own select Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi, OPPO or realme devices. The tech company says that this update has been optimised for how people use their phones – “giving you powerful device controls. And easier ways to manage conversations, privacy settings and so much more”. Here are some of Android 11’s key features: Accessibility /* custom css */ .tdi_3_433.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_433.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Voice Access – Intuitive labels on apps help you control and navigate your phone, all by speaking out loud. Even use Voice Access offline, for more support whenever you need it. Talkback braille ke...
What East Africa could Teach the Continent about Economic Growth
The 21st century is widely touted as the ‘African Century’, a period promising unprecedented economic and technological growth for the continent. Africa’s future looks bright. The continent features five of the ten fastest-growing economies in the world. Its population is the most youthful, with 60% of all African citizens under the age of 25. And the world’s largest free trade area in terms of participating countries, the African Continental Free Trade Area, is now active and expected to boost intra-African trade by as much as 52% by 2022. With Africa’s fortunes continuing to improve, one region stands out as a possible example to the rest of the continent. As the world starts its slow recovery from a year of constant disruption and immense challenges, a closer look at the continued econo...
A Cyber Pandemic May Be Next: How Secure are you in the Cloud?
The Coronavirus pandemic has influenced us in a more global way than the Cold War, affecting the environment, industry, finance, healthcare, leisure and almost every other human endeavour. Some of the areas of influence are clear and obvious. For example, the acceleration of digital transformation, which changes how organisations operate and provide value to their customers. There is also an increased demand for cloud computing, which provides most of the foundations, tools and infrastructure to fuel the digital transformation. Some world leaders in the cybersecurity space, including the World Economic Forum, predict that this rapid and unplanned move will result in a cyber-pandemic down the road – more on that later. This acceleration in digital transformation and demand for clo...
MultiChoice South Africa CEO Resigns
Image sourced from The Vanguard Nigeria MultiChoice South Africa has revealed that CEO Mark Rayner has resigned – “it is with great regret that today we announced the departure of Mark Rayner from MultiChoice, effect 30 November 2020.” “Having been part of the MultiChoice family for the past 14 years leading in various parts of the group, Mark Rayner has now decided to further his journey outside the group.” MyBroadband reports that Rayner began working at the company in 2007 where “he served as the CFO of DStv Mobile until September 2008, after which he took the helm at the company”. The African entertainment company ads that an announcement on Rayner’s successor will be made in the near future. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_f46.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_f46.td-a-rec-img img{ marg...
How COVID-19 has Impacted Africa’s Wealthiest Countries by GDP
Sourced from IDG Connect Spanning 54 countries, Africa is a powerhouse in the world of natural resources and innovation. And despite the social and political issues the continent faces, there’s was no doubt that it was on track to see an abundance of opportunities to grow in the coming years – however, there was no telling what impact COVID-19 and subsequent national lockdowns would have on local GDPs. Here is a quick look at the richest countries in Africa in a COVID-19 economy: Nigeria A key component of the African economy, Nigeria has a population amounting to half of West Africa (just over 202 million). With an abundance of natural resources, it remains Africa’s number one producer in terms of GDP output, roughly $446,543 Billion at the end of 2019. The country is Africa’s large...
These WhatsApp Messages could cause your App to Crash
A flaw in WhatsApp allows users to send “Scary Messages” that can cause the recipient’s app to crash, or even worse, result in the loss of their chat history/media etc. According to a report by WABetaInfo, these messages often make no sense to users but WhatsApp interprets the characters differently – “sometimes WhatsApp is unable to render the message totally, because its structure is so weird: the combination of these characters create a situation where WhatsApp isn’t able to process the message, determining an infinite crash.” An infinite crash occurs when users try to open an app but it freezes or closes and restarting the app doesn’t restore functionality. I receive this report every day, really, in particular from Brazilian users.Unfortunately it’s not a fake news.@WhatsA...
Is Africa Heading towards a Cashless Society?
Sourced from Redbubble and iStock. Cash may have traditionally been king, but Covid-19 has contributed to a faster pace of digital payment adoption. Recently, two global fintech players discussed the emergence of a plethora of digital payments and debated if cash is on its way out. Omosalewa Adeyemi, Head of Global Partnerships and Expansion at Flutterwave and Nicolas Vonthron, co-CEO of Mama Money; explored the future of payments and banking in an increasingly digital world. Sending money home during the lockdown Vonthron says Mama Money’s digital offering grew five times during lockdown as users look for ways to send money home online following sudden border closures. “There are 5 million migrants in South Africa who came to find a better future for their families. At Mama Money, w...
