Southern Africa
South African Investors Lose $3.6-Billion in Massive Crypto Scam
Image sourced from Shutterstock. AfriCrypt, a South African cryptocurrency investment company, has reportedly defrauded around $3.6-billion in investor funds after the company made claims that its trading systems had been hacked. Investors in AfriCrypt reportedly count amongst South African celebrities and other high profile individuals. In a matter of hours the staggering monetary amount, around R54-billion, seemingly disappeared without a trace on 13 April. $3.6-Billion in Stolen Cryptocurrency Shortly after claiming that its systems had been shut down by a hack, AfriCrypt’s teenage “directors”, brothers, Ameer and Raees Cajee (17 and 20, respectively) allegedly transferred all investor funds from their South African bank account before fleeing to the UK, reports Independent Media. AfriC...
PoPIA Deadline Extended – Information Officer Registration Portal Broken
After a series of technical glitches with the Information Regulator’s registration portal for information officers looking to achieve compliance with the PoPI Act, the 1 July 2021 compliance deadline has been scrapped. In a statement released on Tuesday, the Information Regulator said that this decision is also based on numerous concerns raised by responsible parties regarding the registration process. “The regulator is currently looking into alternative registration processes and will communicate this in due course. We understand that our portal malfunctioning has caused a lot of anxiety and panic and for that, we really do apologise,” Information Regulator chair Pansy Tlakula said. Deadline Extended by 1 Year With this, the regulator has extended the applications for prior authorisation ...
Mastercard and Zamtel Partner to Drive Financial Inclusion in Zambia
Today Zamtel, a government-owned telecommunication service provider in Zambia, and Mastercard have announced a strategic partnership that will enable Zamtel Mobile Money customers – even those without bank accounts – to make safe and seamless digital payments on the Mastercard network including international e-commerce transactions. This is expected to drive financial inclusion and improve access to the digital economy. Under the agreement, Zamtel will launch a suite of Mastercard products including a Mastercard virtual solution, a physical debit card, and Mastercard QR, giving its Mobile Money customers new ways to access and pay for products and services at the millions of merchants that accept Mastercard in Zambia and abroad. Virtual Payments via Zamlet Mobile Money With a Mastercard vi...
Ramaphosa, Macron Announce “Landmark” Plan to Produce mRNA Vaccines in South Africa
French President Emmanuel Macron and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. Image sourced from The Sowetan. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_eed.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_eed.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } South Africa is set to build a new hub for manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines, announces President Cyril Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa addressed a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday. The conference was facilitated by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Macron, who referred to Ramaphosa as “my friend”, said that the partnership was the result of his state visit to South Africa at the end of last month. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_7dd.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_7dd.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The WHO issued a call for Expression...
The Key to Boosting Women in Tech in South Africa
Sourced from Women in Tech Africa. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_365.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_365.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Women remain a largely untapped resource in the technology talent pool in South Africa. The statistics don’t lie: there are only 56000 women filling 236 000 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) roles in the country. That is 23%. Women fare even worse in emerging technology roles, such as cloud computing, and data and AI, with only 14% female participation in professional cloud computing and 28% in data and AI. Perhaps even more concerning is the lack of female talent filtering into the pipeline. For every two women who graduate with a STEM-related (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) degree in South Africa, there are fiv...
New Renewables Offer Energy Security for SA’s Beleaguered Economy
Sourced from Saur Energy. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_bb6.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_bb6.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } In a bold move last year, the South African government launched an emergency energy procurement plan with a view to relieve the current energy crisis and limit load-shedding. The shortfalls are currently partially alleviated, however at great expense, as there is extensive use of diesel-based open cycle gas turbines. Such fossil-fuel-based contingencies undermine our ability to reduce carbon emissions, curb global warming, and achieve sustainable development. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_b0f.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_b0f.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Dubbed the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (RMIPPPP), t...
Uber South Africa is Offering 100,000 Free Rides to Get Teachers Vaccinated
Sourced from CNet. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_09d.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_09d.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } The South African government has fast-tracked the vaccine rollout for teachers and staff at schools across the country. Educators and staff of schools will begin receiving their COVID-19 jabs on Wednesday 23 June in a two-week push project aiming to administer 582,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine. Teacher Vaccines Fast-Tracked Fast-tracking the rollout for teachers and schools staff is a major step in managing the country’s school system that has become embattled since the pandemic began in earnest. Thousands of teachers have succumbed to COVID-19 since March of 2020, and students have been living in anxiety of school closures and from h...
Wits University Robotics Team to Compete in AI-Powered “Robot Soccer World Cup”
Image sourced from the Mail & Guardian. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_0f9.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_0f9.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } For the first time, a Wits University team will compete in the international RoboCup tournament. RoboCup, the world cup for soccer robots, is a major annual event on the artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics calendar with a goal to advance the state of the art of intelligent robots. It sees teams from across the globe competing in different soccer leagues to show their mastery in AI and machine learning. The soccer robots can either be working physical robots or simulation robots. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_2e0.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_2e0.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Wits will be participating in the 3D simul...
Why SMEs in South Africa Benefit from Alternative FinTech
Image sourced from Cape Business News. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_c3c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_c3c.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Data and automation are rapidly changing the lending game in South Africa. The country is seeing the emergence of an agile new class of fintech that uses proprietary data and algorithms to vet loan applications within minutes so that retailers can access working capital they need to grow and thrive. This is according to Steven Heilbron, CEO of the Connect Group. “Alternative, technology-powered financing solutions are disrupting South Africa’s commercial lending market, especially the retail space and in the process, it is helping thousands of SMEs to navigate the threats and opportunities of a volatile economic landscape during the pandemic...
SA Schools May Face Penalties for PoPIA Non-Compliance
Image sourced from Business Tech. /* custom css */ .tdi_4_b41.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_b41.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } With the third wave of COVID-19 crashing upon South Africans and amidst increasing calls for schooling to be temporarily suspended, it could prove helpful for educational institutions across the country to use the time away from teaching to put some focus into protecting their data privacy. Schools and other tertiary institutions store and process more personal information than most other organisations, they are by far the most affected by the Protection of Personal Information Act, No 4 of 2012 (PoPIA), which comes into effect on 1 July 2021. PoPIA Applies to Schools, Universities /* custom css */ .tdi_3_cab.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi...
Vodafone and UNHCR Expand Connected Education for Refugees in Mozambique
/* custom css */ .tdi_4_200.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_200.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Ahead of World Refugee Day (June 20), Vodafone Foundation and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), have expanded their Instant Network Schools (INS) programme – which supports over 94,000 refugee students and communities in four African countries – into Mozambique. Two new INS, in the Maratane Refugee Settlement and the city of Nampula, will benefit nearly 9,000 students in the 7th-12th grades, 25,000 family members and over 200 teachers. Instant Network Schools /* custom css */ .tdi_3_68b.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_68b.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } INS transforms existing classrooms into multimedia hubs for learning, complete with internet connectivity, sustaina...
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Launches Multi-Cloud Data Centre Solution in South Africa
Sourced from Silicon Angle /* custom css */ .tdi_4_b63.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_4_b63.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has brought a new multi-cloud Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) data centre solution to the South African market. This powerful multi-cloud data centre model is all about leveraging the cloud to define the customer experience, while underpinned by HPE’s GreenLake platform. This unique multi-cloud offering is the latest culmination of a long-standing partnership between HPE and Datacentrix, and the infrastructure power of Teraco – Africa’s largest data centre ecosystem. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_66b.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_66b.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “With their expertise and knowledge of cloud ho...
