tech news
Absa Group Appoints New Chief Risk Officer
Absa has appointed Deon Raju as the new Group Chief Risk Officer – effective 1 June 2021. Raju is currently Absa Group Treasurer, primarily responsible for the liquidity risk, funding, capital, and non-traded market risks of the Group. He has been with Absa for more than 20 years, having held roles including in Enterprise Risk, Finance, Investment Banking, Credit Portfolio Management and Global Markets. He is a seasoned banking professional with deep institutional knowledge of the Group, as well extensive and diversified banking experience in business, finance and risk management. Raju is a Chartered Accountant and a Chartered Financial Analyst. He holds a BCom (Honours) from the University of Natal and is currently completing an MSc in Finance at the University of Michigan (Dearborn). “De...
Top Tech African Entities Collaborate to Boost Digital Transformation for 2021 and Beyond
“To inspire people, don’t show them your superpowers. Show them theirs -” Alexander den Heijer. Africa Tech Week advocates are setting out to do just that. The event is the golden opportunity to showcase what’s hot in tech on the African continent – a platform to demonstrate to the rest of the world Africa’s superpowers. Welcome to the ‘new frontier,’ Africa Tech Week, created in Africa, for Africans, by Africans. The event is taking place on the 5th and 6th of May, and we are expecting an excess of 3000 attendees. Everyone is aware that Africa has faced challenges, and it is together that we can solve them. Africa is a hotbed of potential in terms of measuring and testing concepts and ideas. What we lack in capital, we make up for in passion, resilience and a ‘can do’ attitude. Afri...
MTN Ghana Promises $149 Million in Infrastructure Expansion
MTN Ghana has revealed its results for the quarter ended 31 March. The telco’s subscriberbase grew by 0.6 million to 25.0 million, as it improved its network and customerexperience. Continued demand for data and increased adoption of more digital payment services supported the active data subscribers’ growth of 0.4 million to reach 11.2 million and MoMo users growth of 0.1 million to reach 10.7 million. Most notably, MTN Ghana revealed that it would spend around $149 million in total CAPEX in the year to meet the heightened need for reliable and resilient voice, data and digital services. “We remain in line with our medium-term target to improve our margins and prudently manage our costs. EBITDA grew by 24.6%, with a corresponding margin expansion of 1.2 percentage points to 54.6%. Th...
Samsung Introduces the New Galaxy Book Pro Series
Samsung has unveiled the newest additions to its Galaxy Book Pro Series – including the Galaxy Book Pro 13 and 15 as well as the Galaxy Book Pro 360. “We at Samsung have pioneered countless exciting mobile experiences – new hardware, software, and new ways to help you stay connected and give you the freedom to live your life to the fullest,” says Dr TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “The new Galaxy Book Pro series offers true mobile computing for the connected world, enabling ultra-light, yet mighty portability, boundless connectivity and a window into your wider Galaxy ecosystem.” The Galaxy Book Pro Series is powered by next-generation hardware, including an 11th Gen Intel Core processor and Intel Iris® Xe graphics. The laptops are equippe...
Most Important Things to Look for in a Gaming Monitor
Since the start of global lockdowns, the gaming industry has been booming. A recent report shows that viewership on Twitch, the most popular live streaming platform for gaming content, reached 6.3 billion hours in the first quarter of this year – that’s more than double what it was during the first quarter of 2020. Now, with more people gaming, the demand for premium gaming equipment has also increased. But not everyone knows exactly what to look out for when it comes to gaming monitors. A monitor is your window to the world of gaming and, considering how much time you’ll be spending looking at it, it’s worth investing in the future of your gaming setup. Ultimately, you don’t want a monitor that holds you back from unleashing the full potential of your graphics card. High- and mid-ra...
Sony Sells 7.8 Million PS5s Worldwide
Sony has revealed that it shipped 7.8 million PlayStation 5 consoles across the world as of March 2021 – this number highlights the company’s ability to mass-produce the console, even though it has been extremely difficult to buy since its launch in November. According to The Verge, Sony’s record fourth-quarter figures bring the overall PlayStation business to a total operating profit of 342.2 billion yen ($3.14 billion) for the 2020 financial year. Sony PS5 System Specs and Features As previously revealed, the PlayStation 5 is running on a system similar to a high-end gaming PC. It features an 8 core Zen 2-based AMD CPU running at 3.5ghz. Its GPU is completely customised and based off of AMD’s next-generation RDNA 2 architecture capable of generating 10.28 teraflops. /* custom c...
New ‘for Africans by Africans’ Social Media Platform to Launch in Kenya
MyCountry MyWorld is set to launch a new ‘for Africans by Africans’ social media platform – called MY! – in May 2021. “Having developed the app over a period of two years, with a series of tests; we are now confident that the app is ready to be released to the world”, Samuel Zean Jr, Co-founder of MY!. MY! is expected to work as a platform where users – especially from developing economies – can tell their stories. Zean Jr adds the “majority of Africans complain of how African nations are portrayed by the western countries on both traditional media and digital media. The MY! app is developed by Africans for Africans to help change this narrative. Whereby, everyone is given a chance to tell their story their way.” /* custom css */ .tdi_3_59c.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_59c.td-a-...
6 Ways to Protect Your Business from Ransomware
With an ever-growing number of people working from home, primarily due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, cybersecurity attacks are on the rise, meaning that dealing with security risks is an ongoing journey for enterprises. IDC predicts that by 2023, 60% of data will be generated at the edge by people working from home and from devices outside of the corporate firewall. While at the same time, many corporate cloud services are already being rendered from locations outside the data centre. This has given rise to ransomware attacks as many employees who are working remotely have their firewalls and access points configured to allow remote access. With that in mind, here are 6 things Kaspersky experts recommend to protect your company from ransomware: Always keep software updated on all t...
PlayStation Network Up and Running After Outage
Sourced from Wikimedia. The PlayStation Network appears to be up and running again after reportedly suffering a global outage. The outage all the categories listed on the PSN’s status page — account management, gaming and social, PlayStation Now, PlayStation Video, PlayStation Store, and PlayStation Direct. According to The Verge, all were marked as being down for about an hour though reports of the outage started rolling in around 20 minutes before the status page lights started turning red. Sony Shows Off Next-Gen PlayStation 5 VR Controllers Sony has shared a sneak peek of its next-generation PS5 virtual reality (VR) controllers. The orb-shaped controllers are expected to play a critical role in changing the way VR games are played. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_001.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: ...
South Africa Ranked as 3rd Most Targeted Country by Ransomware
Over the last few years, the number of users encountering targeted ransomware – malware used to extort money from high-profile targets, such as corporations, government agencies, and municipal organisations – increased by 767%. This increase in targeted ransomware occurred alongside a 29% decrease in the overall number of users affected by any kind of ransomware, with WannaCry still the most frequently encountered family. These are among the most important findings in Kaspersky’s recent report on the ransomware landscape from 2019-2020. The ransomware threat – when attackers encrypt private information and hold it to ransom – became mainstream news in the 2010s following large-scale outbreaks, such as WannaCry and Cryptolocker. They targeted tens of thousands of users and often requested r...
Microsoft Teams Reaches to 145 million Daily Active Users
Sourced from Tech Republic. Microsoft Teams has exploded in popularity since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent remote work exodus. Millions of people have brought their offices home with them, and with that, they’ve turned to Microsoft Teams. In fact, more than 145 million Daily Active Users have turned to MS Teams to be exact. #MicrosoftTeams now 145 million daily active users 🙏💜 – thank you to customers, partners, and team — Jeff Teper (@jeffteper) April 27, 2021 According to The Verge, at the beginning of the pandemic, Microsoft had around 32 million daily active users of Microsoft Teams. That jumped to 75 million in a matter of weeks, and these numbers have more than doubled since even the early days of the pandemic. /* custom css */ .t...
Will an eCommerce Boom Benefit South African Consumers?
The acceleration of eCommerce as the global COVID-19 pandemic revolutionises buying trends is giving rise to exciting new developments in the financial technology industry. According to research by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), eCommerce’s share of global retail trade grew from 14% in 2019 to about 17% in 2020. And the phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down. “Businesses and consumers who were able to ‘go digital’ have helped mitigate the economic downturn caused by the pandemic,” says UNCTAD Acting Secretary-General Isabelle Durant. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_7e3.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_7e3.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “But they have also sped up a digital transition that will have lasting impacts on our societies and daily live...
