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Africa Tech Week Day 1: Unlocking Africa’s Tech Potential
Africa Tech Week has officially kicked off. The two-day virtual summit hosted a galaxy of out-of-this-world speakers, including the panel discussion by Marian Croak, VP of engineering at Google and Lindiwe Matali founder and CEO of Africa Teen Geeks. Marian and Lindiwe delved into how important it is for individuals, especially young girls, and women to have mentors. Starting with Inequality Marian motivationally advised that one should “find a sense of strength within one’s self and reiterated that if you are not failing you are not learning. Yemi Keri, CEO of Heckerbella and co-founder of Rising Tide Africa, was quoted saying that, “the more female investors we get on the continent the more we will reduce the funding gap for female entrepreneurs.” Yemi also spoke on the reasons inv...
New M-PESA Update Allows Users to Send Money to Multiple People
Sourced from Tech Weez. Safaricom has introduced a new M-PESA app feature that allows users to send money to up to five people at the same time. According to Gadgets Africa, a big reason why the telco may have introduced this feature is to make it easier for companies to pay employees via the app. “Most times you’d have to send them their dues one by one which can be tedious. Now this update should help ease that pressure. We’re not sure yet if it lets you select different amounts for different people but if that’s the case it’s even better.” MTN Bids for Ethiopian Telco Licence Alongside Vodacom and Safaricom MTN Group has reportedly made a bid for an Ethiopian telecommunications licence alongside Vodacom Group and Safaricom. Finance ministry adviser, Brook Taye says that the consortium o...
Uber Won’t Charge Trip Cancellation Fees in Kenya
Sourced from CNet. Uber revealed that it will no longer charge fees to Kenyan users, specifically in Mombasa and Nairobi, who cancel their rides. In an email to users, the ride-hailing platform says, “At Uber, we are always monitoring rider experience, market dynamics, and fare structures. This is to ensure our app continues to be a reliable and affordable option for you. With this in mind, we are removing all trip cancellation fees.” “Please note this has been implemented across all our products in Nairobi and Mombasa. As always we will continue to monitor your experience on our app, to ensure Uber remains your first app of choice.” This comes shortly after the company announced the expansion of its services throughout the country. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_f22.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: lef...
MTN Group Reports Service Revenue Growth in 2021
Sourced from TheTechieGuy (https://thetechieguy.com/) MTN Group has reported strong operational and financial performance for the first quarter of 2021. “The MTN Group has delivered a solid Q1 2021 trading performance, with service revenue and EBITDA margins expanding on the back of continued commercial momentum and resilient networks,” says MTN Group President and CEO, Ralph Mupita. He adds that the Group’s Ambition 2025 strategy had gained execution traction during challenging COVID-19 macroeconomic conditions in the quarter. In constant currency terms, service revenue grew by 17.8% to R42.3 billion at end-March 2021, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 21.3% and the EBITDA margin widened to 44.2% from 42.7%. “The overall Group results were suppo...
Facebook’s Workplace Reaches 7 Million Paid Subscriber Milestone
Facebook has revealed that its business communication tool – Workplace – has reached 7 million paid subscribers. This is an increase of over 40% over the past year and a clear indicator that more companies are prioritizing employee experience for the long-term in the wake of the pandemic. “Interesting milestone: Workplace, our business communication tool, has hit 7 million paid subscribers — a 40% increase in the last year,” says Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerburg. “We built Workplace as an internal version of Facebook to run our own company, and it was so useful we started letting other organizations use it too, including everyone from Spotify to Starbucks to the World Health Organization. More companies are starting to use our virtual reality tools for work as well, and I’m excited t...
Twitter Spaces Launches for Users with 600 or More Followers
Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy Twitter users with 600 or more followers can now host Spaces. The social media company – which has been building and testing this feature with a limited group since last year – revealed that this feature will now be available across iOS and Android devices. “Today, we’re bringing the ability to host a Space to all accounts with 600 or more followers on Twitter. Based on what we’ve learned so far, these accounts are likely to have a good experience hosting live conversations because of their existing audience,” reads an official statement from Twitter. “Before bringing the ability to create a Space to everyone, we’re focused on learning more, making it easier to discover Spaces, and helping people enjoy them with a great audience. Twitter goes on...
6 Tips to Defend Against Ransomware Attacks
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%. With that in mind, here are 6 things you can do to defend against ransomware attacks: Assume you will be hit. Ransomware remains highly prevalent – no sector, country or organization size is immune from the risk. It’s better to be prepared, but not hit, rather than the other way round. Make backups and keep a copy offline. Backups are the main method organizations surveyed used to recover their data after an attack. Opt for the industry-standard approach of 3:2:1 (three sets of backups, using two different media, one of which is kept offline). Deploy layered protect...
How Technology Companies Generate Leads with Webinar Marketing
If you’re a marketing executive within an IT company and are undecided about using webinars as a tool for lead generation, don’t be. Webinars are the most cost-effective way to engage with your prospects while also generating and educating new leads about your technology solutions. According to a 2019 research report by the Content Marketing Institute, 57% of B2B marketers use webinars. Out of this number, 11% said they used it to convert leads into sales. Another survey conducted by Wyzowl revealed that 87% of marketers found webinar marketing to be highly effective. What is a webinar? /* custom css */ .tdi_3_9bb.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_9bb.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } A webinar is simply an online event that allows you to showcase you...
Kaspersky Expands Footprint in Nigeria and Ghana
Image sourced from Discover Germany Kaspersky has partnered with DataGroupIT to grow its cybersecurity business within Nigeria and Ghana. “DataGroupIT is a well-known distributor in Africa with a clear value-add when it comes to generating focused business growth, especially in the enterprise segment. It also has the capacity to support the Kaspersky business logistically and provide valuable technical expertise on Kaspersky solutions,” says Lehan van den Heever, Enterprise Cyber Security Advisor for Kaspersky in Africa. DataGroupIT has more than 1 000 clients in over 15 Sub-Saharan African countries with its professional teams delivering exceptional sales, pre-sale, logistic, marketing, and financial support. The partnership between the two organisations is expected to further enhanc...
Liquid Telecom Announces New Identity in Uganda
Image sourced from MyBroadband Liquid Telecom has unveiled its new identity as Liquid Intelligent Technologies in Uganda. As part of the rebrand, the pan-African technology group also revealed its plan to go from being a telecommunications and digital services provider to a full one-stop-shop technology. Over the last two decades, Liquid has established itself as a leading pan-African digital infrastructure provider with an extensive network spanning over 73,000 KM. This rebrand to Liquid Intelligent Technologies highlights the organisation’s expansion of its Cloud business, Cyber Security services, and other technologies added to its existing telecoms and connectivity capability. This also furthers the Group’s aim of accelerating growth by providing tailor-made digital solutions to busine...
How Do Technology Brands Take Advantage of Content Marketing?
Most technology businesses are well aware that in order to survive and thrive in today’s ultra-competitive environment, a certain amount of their budget must be dedicated to advertising online. The ideal scenario would be for an IT company to advertise on some of the top online technology news outlets so their message can be seen by millions of eyeballs every single day. This massive exposure would enable practically any brand to quickly gain recognition and traction. Popular media outlets – like ITNewsAfrica.com, for example – are prime candidates for online advertising, but the obvious factor that keeps most businesses from doing so is the perceived exorbitant expense. There are many content marketing benefits regardless of whether you are marketing to businesses (B2B) ...
Airtel Africa Names New Group CEO
Image sourced from Khusoko – East African Markets Airtel Africa has appointed Segun Ogunsanya as the group’s new CEO – effective from 1 October 2021. He is taking over from Raghu Mandava who led the telco for the last five years. “We are delighted to appoint Segun Ogunsanya as the Group’s next Chief Executive Officer. He has displayed significant drive and energy in turning around the Nigeria business by focusing on network modernisation, distribution, and operational efficiency. It is this commitment, together with his industry experience, strategic vision, constant customer focus and proven record of delivery that will enable him to continue to deliver our strategic objectives and to lead the Group in the next stages of its development,” says Airtel Chairman, Sunil Bharti Mittal. He goes...
