IT news – Page 4 – Africa Tech Digest

How early-stage venture capital firm, Saviu Ventures, is funding Francophone African startups

15Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, Start-ups

How early-stage venture capital firm, Saviu Ventures, is funding Francophone African startups

It can be argued that most of the progress made in the African startup space has been concentrated in one part of the continent. One legacy of colonialism in Africa is language, with the United Kingdom and France colonising most of the continent. As a result, English and French are two of the continent’s most widely spoken languages. That difference is also seen in the developmental gap between Francophone and Anglophone African countries, with the latter significantly ahead of the former. However, the gap has gradually closed as more startups have sprung up in this region in recent years. Continue reading Image: Disrupt Africa

UN Launches the First Regional Online Portal to Bring Together all African Countries with Data and Evidence on Sustainable Development

14Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, Telecommunications

UN Launches the First Regional Online Portal to Bring Together all African Countries with Data and Evidence on Sustainable Development

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, September 14, 2021/APO Group/ -- Measuring and evaluating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa became much easier as a group of regional UN entities launched the first online data portal that brings together statistical data harvested across all countries on the continent. Today, 17 regional UN entities, under the Africa Regional Collaborative Platform (RCP), unveiled the Africa UN Data for Development Platform. This is the first platform to serve as a one-stop-shop repository that captures high-quality data and evidence on the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs from all the African countries. It is also the first of its kind to raise the profile of statistical progress toward the African Union vision – Agenda 2063. “With barely nine years left...

MTN Pumps $10.5-Million Into Fixing Infrastructure Damaged by KZN Unrest

14Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Telecommunications

MTN Pumps $10.5-Million Into Fixing Infrastructure Damaged by KZN Unrest

MTN today has announced a number of community interventions as part of its initiatives to assist in the rebuilding of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) after the deadly unrest that gripped South Africa in July, including the investment of R500-million ($35.2-million) which will go towards network upgrades and expansion throughout the province. A further R150-million ($10.5-million) is being channelled by MTN towards replacing stolen and vandalised network infrastructure including batteries and copper cables. MTN’s interventions also include R10-million ($704K) towards the support of qualifying spaza shops in KZN and Gauteng. This investment will see over 1,000 spaza shops benefiting. Each spaza will receive trading stock, airtime to resale, MoMo tools among other benefits. Continue readi...

5 New Devices Expected to Be Revealed at Apple’s Live Event Today

14Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Gadgets, Mobile

5 New Devices Expected to Be Revealed at Apple’s Live Event Today

After weeks of seemingly daily iPhone 13 rumours, today the device is expected to launch during Apple’s California Streaming virtual live event. Last week, Apple confirmed it was hosting an event on 14 September at 19:00 CAT. With the event’s announcement, Apple’s SVP of Marketing, Greg Joswiak tweeted out a short clip that also points to the 14 September date and shows off a new AR technology that Apple could be working on, possibly in relation to the iPhone 13, which can be experienced here. Today’s event holds the possibility of being the launch point for what could be some of Apple’s most important Spring products, with abounding speculations saying the iPad 9, iPad mini 6, AirPods 3, Apple Watch 7 and finally the iPhone 13 series will all appear at the event. Continue reading...

iPhone 13 Pro Models Reported to Have 1TB Storage Option

13Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Mobile, Telecommunications

iPhone 13 Pro Models Reported to Have 1TB Storage Option

According to reliable Apple and iPhone analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max will reportedly offer 1 TB storage options, marking the first Apple smartphone devices to cross this storage threshold. 9to5Mac reports that a new investor report from Kuo details what storage options the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini will be available in. These include configurations of 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. Notably missing is the 64GB storage option, which possibly makes the iPhone 12 series the final set of devices that will be released with the configuration. The iPhone 13’s storage configurations far outclass its predecessors, according to the report. In contrast, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are only available in 128Gb, 256GB, and 512GB storage options. The iPhone 13...

What will it take to build the future of e-commerce in Africa?

12Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, ecommerce

What will it take to build the future of e-commerce in Africa?

From the early days of trade by barter to the days of online shopping, commerce has come a long way. Consumers no longer have to wait long periods to get their goods delivered or limit themselves to trading within their environs. Now, consumers can place orders from the comfort of their homes and have them delivered in a short time, ranging from a few hours to a few days. This increase in convenience has led to a corresponding increase in consumer spending. In Africa, the average spending by online shoppers has risen steadily over the years. How much progress has the industry made? In 2020, the African e-commerce market was estimated to be worth $20 billion, and between 2014 to 2018, the number of online shoppers on the continent increased annually, at an average growth rate of 18...

Nigerian one-click checkout platform OurPass raises $1M pre-seed, wants to build ‘Fast for Africa’

11Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

ecommerce, Nigeria, Start-ups

Nigerian one-click checkout platform OurPass raises $1M pre-seed, wants to build ‘Fast for Africa’

We like to buy things online ranging from e-commerce stores to subscription-based sites. However, no one enjoys the hassle when you have to always re-log into different sites and stores. I mean, shopping can be a whole lot more fun if a fast logging and checkout system existed across all your favorite online stores. In the U.S., high-flying startup Fast already caters to this need. Although the company is building a global product, it is limited in Africa, and OurPass has taken an interest to build one for the market. The Nigeria-based startup, which describes itself as the “Fast for Africa”, has also closed a $1 million pre-seed round to scale across the country. The round was led by Tekedia Capital and angel investors from Fortune 500 companies, the company said. E-commerc...

How Scrapays is helping Nigerians get value from waste with USSD technology

11Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Nigeria, Start-ups

How Scrapays is helping Nigerians get value from waste with USSD technology

Being the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria faces a number of urban challenges and uncollected trash is high on the list. Waste collection methods driven by local authorities remain inadequate, particularly in rural areas. Furthermore, most Nigerians are not inclined to collect and dispose of their waste properly. In Lagos, for instance, where trash volume grows by 15,000 tons daily, only 40% of waste generated is collected and just 13% is recycled each year. The rest – including materials that could feed the local recycling industry – litters the streets and clogs open drains. Over the past few years, trash-for-cash initiatives have emerged in Nigeria, looking to tackle the widespread waste problems by incentivising Nigerians while supplying recycling plants with much-needed ...

How Unmanned Drones Are Delivering Medical Supplies Across Botswana

10Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

Africa, Health Tech

How Unmanned Drones Are Delivering Medical Supplies Across Botswana

A collaborative project in Botswana is getting essential and emergency healthcare products to remote communities quicker than ever before through leveraging unmanned drones. The Drones for Health project sees a partnership between the country’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST), the United Nations Population Fund, and Dutch drone company Avy. Launched in May of this year at the BIUST campus in Palapye, the pilot project aims to demonstrate how drones can expedite the delivery of essential and emergency medical supplies to far-flung communities. Continue reading

ICASA Cancels Spectrum Auction in Attempt to Avoid Lengthy Court Battle

7Sep

By Africa Tech DigestNo Comments

5G, Africa, Telecommunications

ICASA Cancels Spectrum Auction in Attempt to Avoid Lengthy Court Battle

The Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the country’s communications regulator, has announced that it will not be publishing invitations to apply (ITA) to participate in the long-awaited auction of high-demand spectrum in South Africa. ICASA says that the move was made to avoid a lengthy court battle against several litigators that had issues with how ICASA was handling the auction. The regulator is likewise withdrawing an ITA for the licensing of the planned wholesale open-access network (WOAN), pending court approval. “ICASA has now decided to consent to an order setting aside its decision to publish the invitations to apply (ITAs) in order to avoid a long, drawn-out litigation, the effect of which would only be to delay further the licensing of high-deman...