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Zimbabwe: Strive Masiyiwa’s Liquid Partners Facebook in DRC Fibre Network Expansion

United Kingdom-based Zimbabwean business magnate, Strive Masiyiwa’s firm, Liquid Intelligent Technologies has partnered with Facebook in a landmark fibre network expansion project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project will also connect the East and West Africa regions, and in the process improve internet access to over 30 million people in that part […]

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Nigerian President Buhari Clashes With Twitter Chief Executive Dorsey

The Buhari administration’s June ban on Twitter in Nigeria, combined with proposals within Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) to allow the federal government to establish a “code of conduct” for Nigeria’s media to counter, among other things, “fake news,” rightly sets off alarm bells within the human rights community. Nigeria is challenged on multiple fronts: […]

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The Africa Long-Term Finance Initiative Launches Its Website

What: Webinar Launch Who: The African Development Bank, Making Finance Work for Africa (MFW4A) Partnership, Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Africa & German Development Cooperation (BMZ/GIZ) When: 8 July 2021 at 12.00 GMT Where: Virtual The Africa Long-Term Finance Initiative will virtually launch its website on 8 July 2021 at noon GMT. The event will include […]

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Africa: How Uber-Style Trucking Business Is Changing Long-Haul Transport in Africa

Registered trucks and drivers are connected online, matched with cargo transport demand Karim Dembele, a truck driver from Mali, emerges from his truck where he has been taking a nap. He is in Togo’s capital Lomé, waiting to cross the border in neighbouring Ghana, and then truck some 720 km to his destination, Abidjan, in […]

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Africa: Liquid, Facebook Team Up to Build DRC Fibre Network

Liquid Technologies and Facebook announced a partnership to build an extensive long haul and metro fibre network in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that is expected to improve internet access for more than 30 million people and help meet growing demand for regional connectivity across Central Africa. Facebook will invest in the fibre build […]

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Africa: Nigeria Has Third Most Developed Internet Ecosystem in Africa – Report

“Internet Exchange Points (IXP) are critical to improving internet access and lowering connectivity costs in the continent,” the report states. Nigeria has the third most developed Internet ecosystem in Africa, a new report has shown. The report by Internet society, a global nonprofit organisation promoting the development and use of the Internet, said Nigeria ranks […]

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Swaziland: Internet Shutdown in Eswatini Challenged in the High Court

On Friday, 2 July 2021, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre supported the filing of an urgent application in the High Court of Eswatini before Honourable Justice Qinisile M. Mabuza (Melusi Simelane v MTN Eswatini, Eswatini Mobile and others). The application was filed to oppose the internet shutdown in the country after the Eswatini Communications Commission […]

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Nigeria’s Electronic Waste Is a Public Health Problem and Needs Urgent Attention

A new World Health Organisation report warns that pregnant women’s exposure to electronic waste raises the risk of stillbirth and premature births. Environmental contamination researcher Okunola Alabi spoke to The Conversation Africa’s Wale Fatade about the problem of electronic waste in Nigeria. How serious is the exposure of women and children to electronic waste in […]

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Terry HE appointed President of Huawei Northern Africa

Huawei has announced the appointment of Terry HE as President of Huawei Northern Africa. In this role, he will be responsible for coordinating the group’s overall operations in the 28 African countries in the region. Terry HE holds a Bachelor’s degree in electronic information engineering from Wuhan University in China and joined Huawei Group in […]

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Rwanda: Zipline Raises $250 Million for Operations Expansion

Zipline, arguably the world’s largest drone delivery service for medical supplies which was founded in Rwanda has raised $250 million in new equity financing, bringing the company’s valuation to $2.75 billion. The new financing will enable Zipline to continue advancing its integrated service, including its autonomy platform, aircraft, fulfilment systems, and operations. The funding will […]

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Africa: The Fight Against Economic Fraud – How African Countries Are Tackling the Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic has stifled many sectors of the global economy. But it has apparently boosted the business of fraudsters. Experts note that some fraudsters have taken advantage of the new opportunities of the pandemic economy and that they seem to become ever more sophisticated in their methods. At the same time anti-fraud measures are […]

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Tunisia: Orange to Launch Experimental 5G Network Amid Telecom Rush to the Cloud

Madrid /Spain — Orange said on Wednesday it will launch an experimental 5G network using a cloud-based open platform and artificial intelligence in July, as the telecom industry rushes to shift services onto the cloud in a bid to cut costs and modernise. Orange will build the network in Lannion, northern France, in partnership with […]

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Africa: Report – Africa’s Online Sector Could Grow With More Support

Nairobi — A global development organization says women run more online businesses in Africa, but face greater challenges than online firms led by men. The International Financial Corporation, which is the arm of the World Bank that helps the private sector and Jumia, the largest online business platform in Africa, said in a new report […]

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Kenyan Universities Face Big Challenges Going Digital. but It Can Be Done

As an academic working at a university in Kenya, I’ve witnessed at first hand the massive disruptions to learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The situation is not unique to Kenya. Universities in neighbouring Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia are similarly affected. Kenya has over 70 universities, 38 of them public and 35 private. Over 500,000 […]

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Tunisia: Lab’ess Launches 8th Promotion of Its Incubation Programme

Tunis/Tunisia — The social innovation accelerator Lab’ess has just launched the 8th promotion of its incubation program which will support a dozen new social impact project leaders. Each project leader will get a training worth 20,000 dinars over a period of six months, Lab’ess said in a press release on Monday. This comprehensive support system […]

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Egypt’s Minly Raises $3.6m to Connect Celebrities and Fans Through Personalized Experiences

In the past couple of years, we’ve seen a growing trend of creators adopting digital and social media, not just as a supplement to their media presence but also as a cornerstone of their personal brand. The pandemic has surely accelerated creator economy trends. Many popular artists and figures have had to postpone concerts and […]

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Nigeria: 2023 – INEC Launches Online Portal to Register Voters

… Rules out dedicated cybercafé, registration centres The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has launched an online portal for eligible voters to register ahead of the 2023 general elections. Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said on Thursday in Abuja, on the resumption of the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise that the portal was […]

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Rwanda: Busingye Makes Case for ICT in Justice Delivery

There is a need for more efforts in leveraging ICT in service delivery in the justice sector during Covid-19, Minister of Justice Johnston Busingye has said. He was speaking during the launch of Justice and Legal Aid Month on Thursday, June 24. “Differently from previous years, we have decided to adapt both the Justice Week […]