technology news
What does WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy Update Mean for Businesses
Despite public pushback, Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp will be going ahead with the privacy policy update it announced earlier this year. While the public has begun to appreciate that WhatsApp’s privacy rules are in fact still very much in favour of the user, with messages sent remaining private and encrypted at all times, what will this mean for brands that use the app to reach and engage with consumers? “The benefits for brands are massive,” says Kyle Oosthuizen, COO at Blue Robot. “These updates form part of Facebook’s efforts to make communicating with a business secure, better and easier for everyone. The new updates will be made to business features that will help businesses engage with their users in a more intuitive and more advanced way.” “2021 is the year that WhatsApp wi...
How the Haller Foundation is Helping Smallholder Farmers Across Africa
The Haller Foundation is a grassroots organisation that guides communities through a holistic four-stage economic development model that is sustainable and environmentally sound. The model kick-starts a fragile farming community and, over a 3-year collaborative partnership, educates them to restore their soils, improve their environment and ultimately build the capacity to achieve economic resilience. Throughout the process, the organisation partners with the Ministries of Agriculture, Water, Health and local Government. And as an extension of its farmer training, the Haller Foundation uses its app — Haller Farmers — as well as Africa’s increasing mobile penetration, to reach those communities who they cannot reach directly. It all started in the 1970s when Dr Rene Haller, an a...
Top Tech Companies Driving Africa’s Growth – Africa Tech Week
Enhancing Tech-Parity Across Africa On May 5th and 6th, Topco Media and partners will be presenting a robust networking experience aimed at kick-starting economic growth in Africa, using technology. Africa Tech Week is alive with gleaming opportunities to shape fruitful connections, forge clearer paths to digital transformation and inspire collective and personal growth. Enjoy the Inside Scoop from Top-Tech Companies Registered attendees gain access to the 2-day hybrid conference where they can enjoy the inside scoop from top-tech companies. Listen eagerly as renowned leaders including, Dr Marian Croak – vice president of engineering for Google USA, Abe Smith – international lead for Zoom USA and Ayodele Odusola – United Nations representative for South Africa unveil their winning formulas...
7 Ways to Protect Organisations from Ransomware Attacks
Sourced from International IDEA Over the past few years, the methods cybercriminals use to distribute ransomware has changed dramatically. While a few years ago, they would spread encrypted files on a large scale, today, their ransomware attacks have become more focused. Now, fraudsters examine the target in detail and research each target, looking for additional leverage. In order to protect business data from ransomware attacks, experts at Kaspersky recommend these seven tips: Installing only applications obtained from reliable sources from official websites Always have fresh backup copies of your files, so you can replace them in case they are lost (e.g. due to malware or a broken device). Remember to store them, not only on the physical object but also in the cloud for greater reliabil...
5 Institutional Funds Invested in Bitcoin by Late 2020
We saw the astronomical comeback of bitcoin last year, with a lot of people rushing to buy bitcoin. Throughout the first six months of 2020, bitcoin sold under $5,009, however, its price went over $20,000 by the end of the year. It is thought that the growth in institutional funds invested in Bitcoin was the major reason for the increase in the price of bitcoin and the bullish run it experienced. This is because digital assets are fast becoming a class asset. Due to the increased gains of bitcoin and its capacity to hedge against inflation, there is a growth in the number of institutional funds being invested in bitcoin. Also, bitcoin is simple to buy and sell via p2p platforms and easy to make micro remittances. Check out the updated list of where to buy Bitcoin in South Africa. Instituti...
Safaricom Forced to Split Dividend Payouts by CBK
Image sourced from Techweez The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has pressured Safaricom into dividing its dividend payouts in order to “shield the weakening shilling when the telecommunications firm seeks dollars for repatriation to foreign investors”, reports Business Daily. Kenya’s local currency has faced immense pressure in recent months following the collapse of the tourism sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to people familiar with the matter, the CBK’s push is one of the “key factors for the firm to break its tradition of making a single dividend payment in August or September” – this comes after the telco announced its first-ever interim dividend of Sh0.45 in February. “Safaricom has to buy dollars from the market then repatriate the dividends. The dollar demand associated w...
Nutanix Labs Helps Local Computer Science Honours Students Clinch BSG Award
Image sourced from Glassdoor Nutanix, a leader in software for private, hybrid and multicloud computing, recently assisted two Computer Science honours students from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in South Africa, with the provision of the infrastructure needed to support the completion of their final honours practical. The students, Brooke Stewart and Christina Spanellis, were given access to an Ubuntu Virtual machine with 3 8 Intel Xeon Gold 6254 CPUs @ 3.10GHz. and 32GB RAM from Nutanix Labs on which to run their project titled “Evolving Robot Bodies and Brains – a Computer Science Honours project investigating the impact of a complexity cost and environmental complexity on artificially evolved robots”. Based on the results of their findings and the calibre of their final assig...
Millicom Sells Operations in Tanzania and Ghana
Millicom has signed agreements for the sale of its operations in Tanzania and for its stake in the AirtelTigo joint venture in Ghana. Once closed, the transactions will complete Millicom’s multi-year plan to divest its African operations and focus on its Latin American markets. In Tanzania, Millicom has agreed to sell its entire operations to a consortium led by Axian, a pan-African group that was part of the consortium that acquired Millicom’s operations in Senegal in 2018. In Ghana, Millicom along with its joint venture partner, Bharti Airtel Limited, have signed a definitive agreement for the transfer of AirtelTigo to the Government of Ghana. Millicom will take a $25 million charge as a result of this agreement. “Today Tigo is a leading provider of broadband services to consumers, busin...
Showmax Reveals Reduced Mobile Plan Prices Across Africa
Showmax has revealed that African mobile subscribers could pay up to 20% less each month. “We believe this change will be appreciated by our mobile customers as will the decision not to increase any of our other prices,” says MultiChoice Group CEO for Connected Video, Yolisa Phahle. “We have our most exciting slate of Showmax Originals this year and look forward to more of our subscribers enjoying our proudly African stories”. Here’s a quick look at how the mobile plans will now be priced /* custom css */ .tdi_3_e69.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_e69.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Showmax Showmax Mobile WAS Showmax Mobile NOW Showmax Pro Showmax Pro Mobile South Africa R99 R49 R39 R449 R225 Kenya KSh 790 KSh 380 KSh 300 KSh 2100 KSh 1050...
5 Ways Cybercriminal Gangs Use Ransomware
Over the past few years, the methods cybercriminals use to distribute ransomware has changed dramatically. While a few years ago, they would spread encrypted files on a large scale, today, their ransomware attacks have become more focused. Now, fraudsters examine the target in detail and research each target, looking for additional leverage. Infamous ransomware gangs behave like fully-fledged online service providers, using traditional marketing techniques. And according to Kaspersky, Internet users can see five clear examples of this transformation by looking at Darkside ransomware gang: 1. Darkside actively establishes contact with the press On their website, there’s a semblance of a press centre set up to enable journalists to ask questions and receive first-hand information and learn a...
Over 80% of Businesses Expect to Work Remotely, According to Research
One year after the global remote work revolution, the shift to work from home (WFH) and work from anywhere (WFA) is already resulting in profound effects on businesses’ digital transformation as well as data security concerns. According to Lenovo’s new Future of Work and Digital Transformation study, a vast majority of businesses (83%) expect to work remote at least half the time, whereas 60% of employees not only agree but are happy to do so. Most employees (83%) want a hybrid work model post-COVID, which businesses say are more than happy to accommodate because they know it’s a way to drive employee engagement and attract new talent. Enabling remote work has meant a change in digital adoption, with increased usage of personal devices for work; wider adoption of collaboration cloud and so...
Facebook is Exploring New Audio Apps
Facebook is said to be working on a series of audio tools for users, reports Recode. A spokesperson from the social media company says that “we’ve been connecting people through audio and video technologies for many years, and are always exploring new ways to improve that experience for people”. According to the Vox publication, Facebook’s audio plans include: An audio-only version of Rooms, a videoconferencing product it launched a year ago, when the pandemic spurred massive adoption of Zoom. A Clubhouse-like product that will let groups of people listen to and interact with speakers on a virtual “stage.” A product that will let Facebook users record brief voice messages and post them in their newsfeeds, like they currently can do with text, pictures, and videos. A podcast disco...
