AfICTA e-Newsletter (July 14, 2022)

Newsletter Subscription                        Join AfICTA

AfICTA e-NEWSLETTER

14/Jul/2022 Vol 141

Request For Expression of Interest to Host the 10th AfICTA Summit

AfICTA – Africa Information and Communication Technologies Alliance is desirous to license the hosting of its annual Summits to its members in good standing as part of its strategic implementation plan for the realization of its vision and mission.

This Request for Proposal covering 2021 till 2024 is therefore the instrument for members to express their willingness, capacity and capability to host this important Summit.

The RFP outlines AfICTA expectations from potential hosts, which include information on Concept Note, Budget, Marketing/Media Plan, Schedule of Events

IGF 2022 Call for Village Booths

During the 17th annual IGF, interested stakeholders can display or distribute relevant information about their Internet governance-related activities at the IGF Village. The IGF Village consists of physical and virtual display booths, located in the meeting's area and online in accordance with the hybrid nature of the meeting. Organizations unable to attend the IGF in Addis Ababa can apply for a virtual booth only.

The booths are non-commercial in nature. They are free of charge, and allocated to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, while taking into... Read more

ICANN Advisory: Chinese Privacy Law’s Impact on Data Disclosure Complaints

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has published an Advisory on the impact of China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) on complaints pertaining to third-party access to nonpublic generic top-level domain (gTLD) registration data.

The ICANN organization alerted the community to the implementation of the PIPL in a 21 October 2021 blog, and the law went into effect on 1 November 2021. ICANN Contractual Compliance has begun receiving complaints concerning instances in... Read more

Automation, Analysis and AI Fuel Demand for IOT Platforms in SA

COVID-19 has pushed South African business in an entirely new direction, towards IOT, AI and machine learning – and has accelerated digital transformation. The shift has created an increased focus on IOT projects that lead to improved efficiencies, cost reduction and ROI.

This is according to Jeremy Potgieter, executive member of the IOT Industry Council of South Africa (IOTIC), who adds that there is a clear need for this technology and particularly within the manufacturing industry... Read more

Togo Claims World-First With New e-Visa Platform

The Togolese Republic has today announced the completion and re-launch of its electronic visa issuance system (e-Visa), Togo VOYAGE. The system is designed to simplify the entire visa and health check application process for visitors to the country.

According to a statement released by the country’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Transformation, the website marks an important milestone in the government's Digital 2025 Strategy.

It added that the new system will allow applicants to complete the application process ... Read more

Register to Join AfICTA  (Africa ICT Alliance) Today

Hi, are you concerned about the realization of a Digital Africa? If yes, AfICTA (Africa ICT Alliance) welcomes you to register and join other group of concerned IT National Associations, Companies, Multinationals and Organisations in Africa to engender the realization of the digital Africa and the Sustainable Development Goals - SDGs.

AfICTA is a 35 member nations' alliance, in partnership with the African Union, with the vision to fulfill the promise of the digital age for everyone in Africa and to connect IT players on the continent.

Zambia’s Gov’t Rubbishes Claims it will Sell Zamtel

Zambia’s government has refuted media reports that it has decided to sell financially embattled Zamtel.

The country’s Vice-President Mutale Nalumango said: “Government has not discussed the sale of Zamtel as being reported in some sections of society. Zamtel will be recapitalised and not sold. Zamtel in a competitive industry and so recapitalising would enable it to compete favourably in the market.”

She added that the government is offering the company an opportunity to find a solution to save... Read more

Philips Receives FDA Clearance for MR Acceleration Software

Adding advanced AI data collection algorithms to Philips’ existing Compressed SENSE MR acceleration engine, Philips SmartSpeed aims to deliver higher image resolution with three times faster scan times and virtually no loss in image quality.

With personalized treatment for complex diseases such as cancer increasing the need for high-confidence precision diagnoses, coupled with soaring caseloads due to ageing populations and high levels of clinician burnout, radiology departments are under increasing pressure to improve... Read more

The Economic Costs of Digital Exclusion in South Asia: 7 Takeaways

The Costs of Exclusion research series has a message for broadband policymakers: the digital gender gap is real, it’s sexist, and it’s costing all of us over a trillion in lost economic productivity.

Now, our latest report zooms in on women’s experiences across South Asia – a region with one of the world’s largest digital gender gaps according to GSMA. It includes interviews and focus groups in India and Bangladesh and a telephone survey in India.

Here are the top takeaways from our latest... Read more

IFC Invests in Wave, a Mobile Money Company, to Increase Access to Digital Financial Services in West Africa

IFC, a global development organization, has announced an investment in Wave Mobile Money S.A. (Senegal) and Wave Côte d’Ivoire S.A., mobile money companies that are assisting with lowering pricing and extending services in the region. This investment aims to promote financial inclusion and boost economic growth in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.

With the support of financing from IFC and other lenders, Wave will be able to significantly expand its operations in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, broaden its product line, and increase the number of... Read more

Kukua, a Kenyan Educational Entertainment Startup, Has Raised $6 Million in Funding

Kukua, an educational entertainment company based in Nairobi and London and the creators of “Super Sema,” the first African animated superhero franchise, has raised $6 million in its most recent funding round.

This Series A round was co-led by Tencent and the Italian VC firm Alchimia. EchoVC, firstminute Capital, and Auxxo Female Catalyst are among the additional investors. Although Lucrezia Bisignani founded Kukua in 2018, the company didn’t release the first edition of Super Sema until three years later... Read more

Why Firms are Rushing to Comply with Data Law

Companies are racing to review their data privacy policies to avoid paying a fine of Sh5 million or up to one percent of their annual turnover for firms once the deadline lapses in one weeks’ time. The commencement date for the new rules under the Data Protection Act is July 14.

Under the law, sharing or offering for sale personal information could land those responsible for their safe storage in jail for up to six months or fines of up to Sh5 million. A data controller or data processor who uses personal data for commercial purposes... Read more

Entrepreneurship World Cup Kicks off in Lesotho

The Vodacom Lesotho Foundation, in partnership with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), launched Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC) in Maseru on Tuesday.

The EWC initiative was established to offer entrepreneurs and fledgling businesses an opportunity to pitch globally for a share of US$1-million in prizes, as well as access to international mentors. Winning pitches also stand to win M1-million in local prizes and local incubation.

The EWC is open and accepting... Read more

Cameroon: From Orange Money to Orange Bank

Having secured a licence from the Ministry of Finance, Orange Cameroun has announced ‘Orange Bank’ as a project and in the interim, will run its Orange Money Cameroun S.A subsidiary as a fully autonomous financial and payment services provider.

In 2019, the telecoms company created Orange Money Cameroun S.A as an independent enterprise and used a mobile payment licence held by BICEC Bank to enable it to provide mobile money services.

It then applied for a licence to provide payment services and this was granted on 5 May this year... Read more

Safaricom Ethiopia to Launch Phased Network Rollout Next Month

Having missed the April 2022 deadline to launch its network and services, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia now says it will begin with the phased commercial launch of its network and services in August this year.

The company said the plan is to achieve 25% coverage by April 2023, beginning with Dire Dawa in the East, close to neighbour Somalia.

Safaricom said Dire Dawa is almost ready and once completed, it will move on to other cities... Read more

M-Pesa Still a Cash Cow for Safaricom

The uptake of M-Pesa across Kenya has contributed over half of revenue generated by Safaricom. According to its latest annual report, the telco has signed up over three million businesses that use the M-Pesa service to receive and disburse payments.

In total there are 30.5 million M-Pesa customers on its network. “Due to its various innovations, M-Pesa has substantially contributed to growth in formal financial inclusion across the countries in which we operate,” reads an excerpt from the report.

The company’s profit before tax stood at... Read more

Nigeria’s Mono Sets up in Kenya as Part of East Africa Expansion

Nigerian Fintech start-up Mono has set up operations in Kenya as part of expansion plans. Mono’s value proposition is the use of open banking as a layer for financial data, identity data, and bank transfer payments for businesses.

According to the company Kenya is one of the most populous in the region and has an advanced mobile money technology and services ecosystem. This equates to a sizeable base of customers who demonstrate a growing appetite for innovative money solutions... Read more

Kenya’s Interest in Cryptocurrency on the Rise

Over four million Kenyans own cryptocurrency, making it the one of the largest – if not largest share in Africa, according to a new report released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The report says 4.25 million people or about 8.5% of the country’s population own cryptocurrencies.

A closer look at the UN organisation’s ranking of countries based on the level of digital currency ownership as share of population in 2021 shows that war-torn Ukraine is at the top of the list with 12.7%, Russia is at 11.9%, Venezuela at 10.3%... Read more