Technology In Africa Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

A Growing Young Generation may be the Secret to Africa’s Success

3Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Main

A Growing Young Generation may be the Secret to Africa’s Success

By Varda Berenstein Listen to any political speech in Europe and the West, and you'll hear over and over again, repeated to the point of cliché: "Our children are the future." Young people are held up as the great hope for social, cultural, political, and economic development. They will ‘save the planet’. Their energy and motivation will ‘invigorate our public arena’. Their grasp of technologies that the older generations have long abandoned hope of keeping up with will see them ‘innovating in ways we cannot yet conceive’. Yet when it comes to the children of Africa, suddenly the language changes. They are a demographic challenge. A bulge. A burden. A problem to be resolved. Africa has the world’s youngest population by a distance, with a median age of just 18 and over 40 percent of its ...

18Jun

By Baker McKenzieNo Comments

Main, South Africa News

No IPOs in Africa in the first half of 2021, but global IPO Activity on Pace to Hit Historic Highs in 2021

There were no cross-border Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on African exchanges in the first half of 2021 (H1 2021) according to new Baker McKenzie analysis, H1 IPO Snapshot: Unfolding Trends for 2021. However, the continued global demand for special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs reached African shores in the first half of 2021 - with a cross-border listing from a South African SPAC issuer - African Gold Acquisition Corporation - into the New York Stock Exchange. Globally, however, Baker McKenzie’s analysis shows that the continued global demand for SPAC deals, as well as current high liquidity and investor enthusiasm, caused capital raising to surge to new highs in the first half of 2021, with the bulk of companies preferring to list their IPOs locally. Globally, a total of 1,26...

9Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

Telkom launches Africa’s first virtual card for transacting on WhatsApp

Ukheshe, Mastercard, Nedbank and Telkom collaborate to grow access to the digital economy with virtual product that enables secure e-commerce payments on phone Telkom has launched Africa’s first Mastercard virtual card for use on WhatsApp, enabling Telkom Pay customers to make e-commerce payments. This move is expected to empower millions of South Africans – even those without a bank account – to access the digital economy and transact online. Launched in 2020, Telkom Pay is a digital payments wallet that enables its users to make and receive payments using WhatsApp on their mobile phone. With the addition of the Mastercard virtual (non-plastic) card to the wallet, users can now make payments to local and global online merchants that accept Mastercard, including Uber and Netflix. Telkom ...

14May

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Kenya News, Startups

Why a wave of technology giants will come from Africa

Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC, investors in early-stage, high-growth technology businesses, notes a significant increase in investment demand for African technology startups. He says startups on the continent are at a distinct advantage because they compete out of necessity. As a result, they can, and very often do stand toe to toe with startups in more the established tech hubs of Palo Alto, Singapore, London and Tel Aviv. “African innovators face local challenges so pervasive; they simply have no choice but to tackle them head on and become subject matter experts in finding solutions for real world problems like food security, health, education, safety, financial services and logistics.” Lessem adds that African technology driven solutions borne out of necessity create efficien...

28Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Tech

Top Tech African Entities Collaborate to Boost Digital Transformation for 2021 and Beyond

“To inspire people, don’t show them your super powers. Show them theirs -” Alexander den Heijer. Africa Tech Week advocates are setting out to do just that. The event is the golden opportunity to showcase what’s hot in tech on the African continent - a platform to demonstrate to the rest of the world Africa’s super powers. Welcome to the ‘new frontier,’ Africa Tech Week, created in Africa, for Africans, by Africans. The event is taking place on the 5th and 6th of May, and we are expecting an excess of 3000 attendees. Everyone is aware that Africa has faced challenges, and it is together that we can solve them. Africa is a hotbed of potential in terms of measuring and testing concepts and ideas. What we lack in capital, we make up for in passion, resilience and a ‘can do’ attitude. Africa T...

20Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

IITPSA announces 2020’s leading lights at virtual President’s Awards event

The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa (IITPSA) capped an unusual year and its first ever virtual President’s Awards ceremony by naming joint winners of the Visionary CIO of the Year Award this week. Dr Stanley Mpofu, CIO of the University of the Witwatersrand, and Nomthi Nelwamondo, CIO of Assupol, were jointly recognised as 2020’s Visionary CIO of the Year for their professionalism and excellence, particularly during the challenges of 2020. Ntuthuko Shezi, serial entrepreneur and innovator, and founder of livestock investment platform Livestock Wealth, was named IT Personality of the Year for 2020. Girl Code, an NPO empowering young girls and women through technology, was named winner of the Social Responsibility/Community Award, and Andre Jacobs, Chief of Pro...

16Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Tech

Creative Africa Nexus Presents a Digital Event: World IP Day 2021 – Harnessing African Creative Intellectual Property

If the creative industry of Africa was a car, intellectual property would be its fuel. The Creative Africa Nexus (CANEX), a programme put in place by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to support Africa’s creative and cultural industries, announces a series of virtual forums in the lead-up to the Intra-African Trade Fair 2021 (IATF2021) taking place in Kigali, Rwanda from 8 to 14 December, 2021 with the next event being focused on intellectual property. Most African states have in place intellectual property laws that are important tools to safeguard creativity and innovation so as to fuel growth of copyright based industries under the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. A number of issues remain critical if IP rights are to evolve into an asset class that can be monetise...

4Apr

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, South Africa News, Tech

Top Tech Companies Driving Africa’s Growth – Africa Tech Week

On May 5th and 6th, Topco Media and partners will be presenting a robust networking experience aimed at kick-starting economic growth in Africa, using technology. Africa Tech Week is alive with gleaming opportunities to shape fruitful connections, forge clearer paths to digital transformation and inspire collective and personal growth. Enjoy the Inside Scoop from Top-Tech Companies Registered attendees gain access to the 2-day hybrid conference where they can enjoy the inside scoop from top-tech companies. Listen eagerly as renowned leaders including, Dr Marian Croak – vice president of engineering for Google USA, Abe Smith – international lead for Zoom USA and Ayodele Odusola – United Nations representative for South Africa unveil their winning formulas and “techs of the trade.” Redefinin...

24Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Tech

Building a successful multicloud strategy unlocks IT business value

South Africa’s cloud market is showing good signs of growth and development as enterprise customers begin to take serious notice of multicloud and its benefits. As a result, it is imperative to develop and maintain a robust mutlicloud strategy that meets continuously evolving business demands. Andrew Cruise, managing director, Routed, a neutral cloud infrastructure provider, notes there are clear business benefits of pursuing a multicloud approach, including having a choice of best-in-class platforms to match a variety of business requirements and the ability to efficiently allocate scarce capital by utilising the operating cost model of cloud consumption. “However, some other no less important advantages of mutlicloud involve its potential to drive innovation, flexibility, and scalabil...

14Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, Tech

Less Than 30% Of Telcos In Africa and the Middle East Have Developed a Strategy for Digital Transformation

- Telcos in the region lag behind the rest of the world significantly in developing roadmaps to digitalize sales channels. - More than 70% of telcos in LATAM and Europe already have established roadmaps, and more than 80% of telcos in APAC have a digitalization strategy. Fewer than three in 10 telecommunications operators in Africa and the Middle East have established a digital transformation roadmap, putting the region far behind the rest of the world when it comes to monetizing digital sales channels. That’s according to a new report from the Technology Innovation Council commissioned by mobile technology specialists, Upstream. The report, titled “The Road to Digital”, provides a cutting edge glimpse into how telco operators around the world are preparing for digitalization during a glo...