Innovation & Technology

The Anzisha Prize, a partnership with African Leadership Academy and Mastercard Foundation, is celebrating inspirational entrepreneurship journeys as part of the new Hall of Fame list. Zambian entrepreneur Mutoba Ngoma has been inducted as one of ten African entrepreneurs in the Anzisha Prize Hall Fame that highlights successful transitions into entrepreneurship before the age of 25. The Hall of Fame...

Clickatell, a global leader in mobile communications and chat commerce, today announced the launch of Chat Desk, a digital contact centre solution that helps agents resolve customer queries and obtain customer insights in real-time using chat channels for live agent support. The solution addresses the growing consumer demand for easy and personal experiences by transforming the traditional call centre...

As part of its focus in bringing people together and building communities, Facebook has announced the 12 African community leaders who have been selected to join Facebook's Community Accelerator. A six-month programme that aims to equip communities with the training, mentorship, and funding they need to grow. As part of the global Facebook Community Leadership initiative launched in 2018, the...

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has approved the creation of a Digital Economy Department, which will be responsible for promoting the digital economic agenda of the federal government. Among other things, this department will renew the Commission’s strategy for delivering its programmes and policies, and give the necessary push to promote the national digital economy. In a press release signed by...

Apple recently launched a new web portal for managing its Apple Card credit card (including paying bills, viewing the current balance, and seeing past bill statements), which makes the experience as a whole less reliant on an iPhone or iPad, via AppleInsider. Previously, the only way to manage an Apple Card required having a compatible iOS device with the Wallet app installed. Which made it far...

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...

Following the introduction of virtual learning by the Lagos State Ministry of Education in response to the shutdown of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Old Mutual has announced comprehensive material and financial support for the initiative to fast track the adoption of virtual learning especially amongst children from vulnerable communities across the state. The support comes at an appropriate time when the global...

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...

Amazon could be planning to bolster its Prime Video service, which is mostly known for its on-demand video offerings, with live TV, according to a report from Protocol and publicly available job listings. Details are light about what the new live TV services might entail, though the efforts appear to be in their early stages. One job listing says Amazon is looking for someone who...

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...