For more than a year, I have been saying to anyone that will listen that long-term evolution and video will be a game changer in Africa. The logic for arguing this case was based on the fact that YouTube was in the top five of every country measured by
IBM is launching a 10-year initiative to bring Watson and other cognitive computing systems to Africa. Dubbed “Project Lucy”, the company intends investing US$100m in the initiative, giving scientists and IBM partners access to advanced cognitive computing technologies
The Zambia Information and Communication Technology Authority (Zicta) last week implemented a Sim card switch-off after the deadline for registration came to an end on 31 January, reportedly cutting off more than 2m cards in the process. The regulator had warned users that it would
Cameroon’s government is hanging on to its monopoly state telecommunications provider, Camtel, and the result is that the country now has some of the highest international and national wholesale fibre rates on the continent. The country refused World Bank funding because it
Altech, a subsidiary of Altron, plans to sell its Liquid Telecom stake, acquired in January 2013, to Econet Wireless, Liquid’s parent company. The 8,6% stake will be sold to Econet for US$55m, giving Liquid an implied value of $640m. Altech says it is exercising this option because the stake
YooMe is a privately held Swiss company that has two African Internet service provider (ISP) businesses, one in Cameroon and the other to open soon in Côte d’Ivoire. Its CEO, Dov Bar Gera, has set up and sold ISPs in Eastern Europe, but his focus now is Africa. YooMe’s Cameroon operation has deployed WiMax
As is customary at this time of the year, TechCentral is pleased to present its lists of who it considers the biggest technology newsmakers over the past 12 months, both internationally and in South Africa. We kick it off, as always, with the five people the publication’s editors believe
Eight leading American technology companies have joined forces to demand changes be made to US surveillance laws, calling for current laws and practices to be reformed in light of revelations of mass surveillance of Internet users’ activities by the National Security Agency. In a letter
Kenya and Senegal are leading the continent’s “Internet GDP”, according to a report by McKinsey & Company called “Lions go digital: The Internet’s transformative potential in Africa”. This is despite the two countries not being Africa’s largest economies. According to the report, the countries
It is 7pm in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, but the streets and highways are well-lit with the snaking car lights of thousands of bumper-to-bumper vehicles. Windows closed against the assault of exhaust fumes, the two hours it takes to drive the 30km from the airport to my hotel is plenty of time to wonder
