Innovation & Technology

About 2,000 people, aged 18-35, will participate in the clinical trials of a vaccine against Covid-19 in South Africa. The drug which was manufactured at the University of Oxford in the UK will be administered to half of the participants in the trials while the other half will receive a placebo, SABC reports. The trial will begin with a group of...

MFS Africa, based in Johannesburg, announced their acquisition of Beyonic (a fintech startup) which offers digital payment management solutions to fintech, SMEs, and entities focussed on social impact across the continent. MFS connects to over 200 million mobile wallets through one API. Dare Okoudjou is the company’s founder and CEO. Beyonic carries out domestic payments and collections alongside secure front-end business functionality. MFS is still awaiting approval...

China's largest game developer has surpassed Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. as Asia's most valuable company, with its shares rising above HK$500 (US$64.50) in intraday trading for the first time ever. Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s US$40 billion surge this week and the recent ascent of Pinduoduo Inc. have reshaped the landscape of China's richest people Pinduoduo is a Groupon-like shopping app, also...

Some of the biggest names in encryption are developing a smartphone app they hope will tamp down the coronavirus pandemic without trampling privacy. Private Automated Contact Tracing, or PACT, is designed to let people figure out if they've been near others who've caught COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus. If you've tested positive, you can use the...

In mid-March, Apple closed all of its stores outside of China “until further notice.” It was a sweeping — but necessary move for a world facing downturn as a result of a growing pandemic. In a statement issued on Monday, titled, “To our Customers,” Retail SVP Deirdre O’Brien offered insight into the company’s plans to reopen locations. Nearly 100 stores have already...

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to put huge stress on people’s and businesses’ finances, in an effort to meet some of the crunches, today PayPal and Visa announced an expansion of service to get cash into people’s hands faster. Instant Transfer — a service where PayPal lets people and businesses quickly access transferred funds by moving them to bank accounts (cutting down waiting time...

TECNO CAMON 15 series has been highlighted through several platforms including the first online launch event in Africa Premier mobile phone brand TECNO Mobile recently launched a new smartphone: the CAMON 15 series with 64MP SONY camera and trademarked TAIVOS™ technology.  As one of the most remarkable camera phones, the TECNO CAMON 15 series has been highlighted through several platforms...

Google on Monday said it will launch its newest slate of consumer devices at a virtual event on Sept. 30. The lineup includes the search giant's the Pixel 4A 5G and Pixel 5 phones, a new Chromecast streaming device and voice-enabled smart speaker. The event, which will start at 11 a.m. PT follows the launch of the company's Pixel 4A budget...

These days with the influx of messaging apps, it is difficult to keep an accurate account of who is messaging you and on what service. Also, moving from your laptop to your phone in a bid to follow up on messages while working can be a big distraction that can amount to a slow pace of work or ineffectiveness. But...

Paychant is the largest cryptocurrency payment gateway in Nigeria, introduced today by Paypal as the new innovative way to request money in digital currency. Through Paychant, users in Nigeria, Africa’s largest remittance-receiving nation can now request money in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether from friends and family living abroad in a simple and low-cost method Paychant users will be able to set up a...