Year 5 | Edition 39 | 23 June 2022
 
Vodafone partners with Oracle to accelerate technology modernization on Oracle cloud infrastructure

Oracle and Vodafone, the largest pan-European and African technology communications company announced a strategic partnership to modernize the operator’s European IT infrastructure and accelerate its transition to the cloud.

Under the multi-year agreement, Vodafone will modernize and migrate a large number of its systems to OCI Dedicated Region, a fully managed cloud region that brings all of Oracle’s public cloud services into Vodafone’s own network and data...

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Woolpert expands partnership with Google to support Google Maps platform in Europe, Middle East and Africa

Woolpert announced it is expanding its partnership with Google to provide Google Maps Platform services in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The international architecture, engineering and geospatial (AEG) firm has delivered award-winning Google Maps and Google Cloud services to hundreds of businesses across the U.S. for nearly a decade.

Woolpert will supply Google Maps Platform services, with a focus on mobility, to customers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. These capabilities align with those of Woolpert, which has delivered geospatial services for more...

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[Kenya] Empower Smart launches solution that supervises spending for dependents

Kenyan startup Empower Smart Limited has launched an innovative, new and automated Digital Escrow Supervised Payments Solution for Dependents dubbed “Super Pay” in a bid to give more dignified living to dependents and stress-free living to parents and guardians.

Empower Smart CEO Peter Muraya says the new solution “will greatly improve the quality of life for dependents since guardians can now send them sufficient money as lump sum and allowing the sender to select how much of that money is...

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J&T Express launches in Egypt to accelerate e-Commerce across the MENA region

J&T Express (J&T), an international express logistics company, announced it has officially launched its network in Egypt, another major step in J&T's expansion in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region, following the Company's launch of the network in the UAE and Saudi Arabia and announcement of establishing a smart logistics park in Riyadh.

This latest expansion brings J&T Express' global network coverage to a total of thirteen countries, expanding its global delivery network to Africa markets beyond Asia and Latin America. e-Commerce in the MENA region is fast catching up...

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[Kenya] Uber expands to five more towns in Kenya

Ride-hailing service Uber has announced that it is expanding its presence to five more towns across the country. Uber is taking its operations to Eldoret, Naivasha, Elementaita, and Gilgil as it seeks to grow its revenue amid increased competition.

“We have soft-launched the cities and we will be going as the product becomes more developed. We see the potential in these cities and are confident that they will grow and become very reliable for us,” said Uber head of East Africa, Imran Manji. The company said that fare charges in its new...

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Audiomack signs licensing agreement with Universal Music Group to expand global footprint in Africa

Audiomack, the artist-first music streaming and discovery platform, and Universal Music Group (UMG), the world player in music-based entertainment, announced a new licensing agreement to make UMG content available to Audiomack subscribers across Africa, the United Kingdom & Canada.

This expands on a previously signed licensing agreement between Audiomack and UMG for the U.S. Dave Macli, Co-founder and CEO, Audiomack: "Millions of listeners across Africa, the UK, and Canada use Audiomack every day. Our...

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[Kenya] Google partners with Carakana, a women cross stitch non-profit, to launch online exhibition

Google Arts & Culture has partnered with Carakana, a Kenyan social enterprise and non-profit, to launch an online exhibition for cross stitch and traditional craft. Carakana empowers marginalised women from various backgrounds to learn the intricate art of cross-stitch and turn it into a source of livelihood.

Cross-stitching is very intricate and is one of the oldest forms of embroidery. It uses number codes on a grid of squares marked on a piece of cloth to guide on thread colour and sowing direction, resulting in a pattern of threading that...

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Avanti and Viasat sign Ka-band capacity lease agreement targeting the energy sector

Avanti Communications, a provider of high throughput satellite capacity across EMEA, has signed a long-term capacity lease agreement with global communications company Viasat Inc. to help support the connectivity needs of its customers in the energy sector.

Capacity from Avanti's fleet of HYLAS Ka-band satellites will be used to extend coverage across the North Sea and Western Africa. Viasat and Avanti have a long-standing relationship. Having signed prior Ka-band capacity lease agreements...

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[South Africa] Vodacom launches initiative to connect youth to the gig economy

South Africa has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. In a bid to give youth a fighting chance in this tough economy, Vodacom has launched Get-a-Gig through NXT LVL with a three-year vision of connecting 1 Million Youth to jobs or gigs by 2024.

The latest employment data, released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), highlights the dire state of the country’s economy. The data shows that unemployment rose to 35.3% from 34.9% in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the last...

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Proparco joins forces with Digital Africa to provide financing solutions for African tech startups

As part of its 2022-2025 roadmap, Digital Africa, in partnership with Proparco, will support 200 African startups at different stages of their growth with a wide range of offers at their disposal.

This joint and sustainable mobilization will see new investment and support mechanisms being implemented to support tech startups 'Made in Africa'. Convinced that digital innovations have a uniquely transformative impact across all sectors of the economy and are a driver of change for the continent...

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46% of SMEs in EEMEA earning more money than before the pandemic, Mastercard report

Data from Mastercard’s 2022 Borderless Payments Report has revealed two in five (46%) small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) are earning more money than before the pandemic.

Online business and international sales are key drivers, with seven in ten (71%) recording above-global-average growth in online sales, while 77% are planning to do more business internationally going forward. The research, which covered...

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[UNICAF] Scholarship Opportunities

Unicaf is an online and blended learning higher education platform that is dedicated to making higher education of international standard accessible, by offering scholarship opportunities to professionals and young school leavers.

What are scholarship opportunities?

A scholarship could be defined as financial aid that relieves the burden of tuition fees and living costs that students and families have to pay to secure a place in secondary and tertiary education. Considering the rising costs of student expenses and debts, we could nowadays describe education...

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The Africa Trade Expo (TATE) | Virtual Conference and Trade Show | 9 March 2022 - 9 March 2023

The Africa Trade Expo (TATE) presents direct access to African buyers whose main aim is to source the latest products, establish partnerships, and conclude import/export deals. TATE is an ongoing virtual trade show for African businesses to network, collaborate, and enter into partnerships with international manufacturers and exporters. Present your new opportunities, network, build relationships and grow your business in African markets...

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Future Foods | African Food & Beverage Industries Virtual Conference & Trade Show | 9 March 2022 - 9 March 2023

Future Foods is a virtual meeting place for importers, F&B managers, retail category buyers, owner-operators, agents, and distributors from across Africa’s diverse and booming market to come to conferences, to network, meet exhibitors, source products, new ingredients, retail shelf-ready products, and the latest processing, packaging, and logistics solutions. Future Foods connects attendees exhibitors across the...

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[Interview] Kate Woolley, Ecosystem General Manager, IBM

Kate Woolley is the IBM Ecosystem General Manager. In this interview, she talks about her priorities and her big plans for growing the IBM Ecosystem.

What prompted you to take the IBM Ecosystem leadership role?

When I look at the future of IBM the chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna has defined and that we’re executing towards, there are three big priorities – Hybrid Cloud and AI, Innovation and technical expertise, and the ecosystem. In looking at these priorities and where I wanted to go next, I saw the IBM...

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[Interview] Michelle Matthews, Director, Viridian, South Africa

An estimated 45% of young people aged 34 years in South Africa were not in employment, education or training last year according to data released by Statistics South Africa in Q4 of 2021. In 2022, predictions for the South African youth unemployment rate are projected to be as high as 64%.

Following the rising levels of unemployment among young South Africans, the UK-South Africa Tech Hub Launch League initiative undertook a research project dubbed ‘Skills and Training offered by South Africa’s Hub Network: How can...

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[Column] Kevin Dherman: Ways manufacturers can unlock the value of data to drive business intelligence

Data forms the backbone of any manufacturing enterprise. With continuous supply chain disruptions, the allure of data and Business Intelligence (BI) is the ability to look deeper into production, performance, and efficiency.

For today’s industries, the issue isn’t whether they’re generating enough data, it’s whether they’re getting value from that data. SYSPRO research reveals that only 20 percent of manufacturing and distribution businesses have looked at investing in big data analytics tools to process and analyze...

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[Column] Carlo Bolzonello: Demystifying Cyberattacks on Critical Infrastructure

The notion of cyber-attacks seems distant from our daily lives, as we go about our work, social and family lives. Cyber-attacks feel like they happen to big businesses who can quickly bounce back from them after the issue is identified and fixed– just as quickly as we would bounce back from being sick, once the illness was diagnosed and treated. 

Cyber-attacks have the potential to disrupt our lives completely, and in instances where critical national infrastructure is attacked, they could disrupt the country’s entire economy, leading to loss of life and livelihoods...

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[Column] Nitesh Singh: Communications Service Providers have critical role to play in the race to net-zero

As concerns over climate change's lasting impact intensify, CSPs (Communication Service Providers) need to tackle an urgent double-edged dilemma. They need to determine how they can take action to accelerate their transition to a more sustainable future and use their position to build a net-zero global economy.

The very nature of their business places them at the centre of a paradox. They are simultaneously creators and champions of a new efficiency paradigm powering innovation and new solutions. They are the gatekeepers of a massive rise in...

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[Africa Tech Review] Nixon Kanali: African startups are still getting the attention of VCs

This has been another interesting week for tech in Africa with a number of African tech startups across different industries raising funding to scale. 

In Uganda, Tugende, a fintech platform providing asset financing and digital services to small businesses raised a pre-Series B investment. On the heels of a recent $1.50 million (KSh 170 million) investment, Kenyan insurtech startup mTek secured an additional  $3 million (KSh 340 million) investment.  Still on startups, Digital Africa, in partnership...

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