Month: October 2017

By Paul Ducklin We try not to guffaw at cybercrime, but sometimes – especially on a Monday just after the clocks have gone back to remind us that summer is very much over – we allow [c]

DHL Express to deliver African-made products to MallforAfrica clients in US

DHL Express has announced its partnership with e-commerce firm MallforAfrica to facilitate selling of made-in-Africa products to customers in the United States. Businesses can do so via the eBay platform powered by MallforAfrica. Through this partnership, DHL locations will [c]

India overtakes US as second largest smartphone market globally, China still first

After a wobble in Q2 2017, India’s smartphone market recovered quickly, with shipments growing 23% year on year in Q3 2017 to reach just over 40 million units. India has now overtaken the United States [c]

Traction Camp seeking Eastern African startups, entry deadline is January 15, 2018

Traction Camp, an accelerator program that seeks to connect high-growth startups with the knowledge, capital, and access to markets, is currently accepting applications for the second cohort. The program supports growth-oriented startups in scaling their [c]

Bob Collymore on sick leave, CFO and Director of Strategy left in charge at Safaricom

The Safaricom board has announced that the telco’s CEO Bob Collymore “has started medical leave to receive specialised treatment for a number of months”. In his absence, Sateesh Kamath, the current Chief Financial Officer (CFO) who also [c]

Siemens hosts Technology Day in Addis Ababa, to make Ethiopia its East Africa hub

October 30, 2017 admin 0

Last week, on October 25, 2017, Siemens hosted customers and partners at a Technology Day at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa. The aim was to showcase their portfolio and technologies that are relevant for Ethiopia [c]

#DStvNaInternet – The importance of internet to Kenyan households

October 30, 2017 admin 0

This past week, someone posted on Facebook that schools have closed and students would be home for the longest period – 77 days. That is two and a half months of having children at home [c]

Jumia Nigeria extends this year’s Black Friday sale to one month

October 30, 2017 admin 0

Jumia Nigeria has announced the dates and partners for its biggest sales event of the year, Jumia Black Friday 2017. This year’s event is billed as the Jumia Black Friday Festival and will run for 31 [c]

EagleMobi, the SingPlus app developer, announces online Karaoke contest in Africa

EagleMobi, an African karaoke mobile app developer, has announced a 10-day online karaoke competition in its Andriod app SingPlus with a recent single release by Xtacy. Xtacy is a rising afro-beats / highlife artist in [c]

Sophos detects BadRabbit, a new ransomware targeting consumers and businesses

The BadRabbit Ransomware prevents you from accessing files from an infected computer until you pay the ransom. For the past few months, users especially in Russia and Ukraine have experienced several strains of ransomware, the [c]

Liquid Telecom named Best African Wholesale Carrier at Global Carrier Awards

Liquid Telecom, a subsidiary of Econet Global, has once again been named as Best African Wholesale Carrier at the annual Global Carrier Awards. For the sixth consecutive year, Liquid Telecom has been recognised for its [c]

Fortinet among three cybersecurity firms named in Fortune Future 50 list

By Bill McGee Fortinet has been listed in the inaugural Fortune Future 50 list, a new ranking of elite companies best positioned for breakout growth. Produced in partnership with BCG, the rankings were determined based on the [c]

Sophos unveils new version of XG Firewall with Synchronized App Control capability

October 26, 2017 admin 0

Sophos has announced the latest version of its next-generation Sophos XG Firewall that delivers a breakthrough in network traffic visibility. Using Synchronized Security to obtain information from the endpoint, XG Firewall can identify, classify and allow the control of all [c]

INTERPOL develops own e-learning module on security document examination

INTERPOL, with funds provided by the US Department of State, has designed its own e-learning module on Security Document Examination which is available in INTERPOL’s four official languages (Arabic, English, French and Spanish) to all its [c]

GE, African Leadership University partner to enhance digital skills of professionals

The African Leadership University (ALU) and GE Africa have launched the ALU Africa Industrial Internet Program. Powered by GE, the program aims to combine GE’s technical expertise with ALU’s learning model in a 12-month professional training program that merges the [c]

Mastercard in deal with Yoco to roll-out 15,000 mPOS devices in South Africa

Mastercard has announced a collaboration with South African fintech company Yoco to roll out 15,000 mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) devices to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) by the end of the year, while educating [c]

Creative Media Works, owner of BBM Messenger brand, to host Innovation session in Lagos

Creative Media Works, operating as BBM Messenger, will host the first of its Innovation Information sessions in Lagos, Nigeria in November. The session will focus on fintech and feature innovation-rich content, sharing and networking, aimed [c]

Presidential Digital Talent Programme seeking interns, application deadline is October 30

The Presidential Digital Talent Programme (PDTP), initiated in 2014 by the Ministry of ICT and being implemented by ICT Authority through a Private and Public Partnership (PPP) arrangement, is seeking interns for next year’s session [c]

Our priority is to protect users against cyberthreats, no matter their origin – Eugene Kaspersky

Following a barrage of attacks, mostly in US-based media outlets, that his company – Kaspersky Lab – has been colluding with the Russian government to use the firm’s IT security products to spy on American [c]

About 19% of total online Ad revenue to be lost to Ad Blockers by 2022

A new report from Juniper Research has found that digital advertising spend will grow by 18% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) over the next five years, rising from US $184 billion in 2017 to US $420 billion [c]

Mastercard makes debut on Fortune Future 50 ranking, takes 14th position

Mastercard has been listed at position 14 in Fortune Future 50 and also recognized as a ‘leader’ on the ranking that looks at the world’s forward-looking, innovative companies that are best set up for the future. [c]

Newtec wins contract to upgrade Teledata network in Mozambique

Newtec, a specialist in designing, developing and manufacturing equipment and technologies for satellite communications, has announced that its Newtec Dialog multiservice platform is being used by publicly-owned telecommunications specialist Teledata for hundreds of mobile backhaul (2G, [c]

Visa Foundation launched, pledges $20 million in 5 years to women-led enterprises

Visa has marked the launch of the newly-incorporated Visa Foundation, which has been established as part of Visa’s larger social impact strategy that will prioritize the growth of micro and small enterprises around the world, enabling [c]

Why accurate weather forecasts are essential for businesses

By Ben Mann Weather affects every area of the economy, and analyzing it can help both consumers and organizations make better decisions. In fact, weather is the largest external swing factor in business performance. Variations [c]

Alexander Jenewein, former Oracle exec, to head Hitachi Vantara operations in sub-Saharan Africa

Hitachi Vantara, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, has appointed Alexander Jenewein as its GM and MD for Sub-Saharan Africa, from October 19, 2017. In his new role, Jenewein has been tasked with driving the [c]

Liquid Telecom to provide free internet, cloud-based services DataHack4FI contestants

Liquid Telecom is supporting start-ups entering the DataHack4FI innovation competition by providing free high-speed internet access and cloud-based services. Now in its second year, the DataHack for Financial Inclusion (DataHack4FI) competition, an initiative by insight2impact (i2i), brings [c]

Kaspersky Lab to offer $100,000 reward to anyone who detects severe vulnerabilities in its solutions

Kaspersky Lab has announced the launch of its Global Transparency Initiative as part of its ongoing commitment to protecting customers from cyber-threats, regardless of their origin or purpose. With this Initiative, Kaspersky Lab will engage the broader information [c]

Education solutions vendor jp.ik takes up diamond sponsorship at Innovation Africa Summit

jp.ik will be at the 7th edition of Innovation Africa, from October 23 to 25, 2017 in Maputo, Mozambique, which is the referral ministerial meeting in Africa, bringing together over 40 Ministers from Africa and [c]

Kigali, Rwanda to host 2018 Africa Innovation Summit in June 2018

Ihaba and the government of Rwanda have announced that the second Africa Innovation Summit (AIS II) will take place on June 6 – 8, 2018 at the Kigali Convention Center in Kigali, Rwanda. The AIS II [c]

Gaming Africa conference and expo to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa