Issue no 758 22nd May 2015
Top Story
The Growth of Africa’s e-commerce sector – The Winners and Losers as this habit takes hold
Africa’s e-commerce sector has now got a foothold in a wide range of countries, some obvious but many less obvious. As with m-money, it will grow in some places but not others. Russell Southwood looks at how things will change and who the winners and losers will be in the telecoms and internet sectors.This week I met a Kenyan entrepreneur and at the end of our meeting he called Uber to get a car to take him to his next meeting. He said that in this gridlocked city it was safer to take a car that you could get out…
Telecoms
Zimbabwe: Parliament summons Telecel
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Youth, Indigenisation and Economic empowerment has summoned Telecel Zimbabwe to appear before Parliament and brief legislators on its plans to comply with the Indigenisation and…
Telecoms
Orange Bissau launches 3G+ network in three cities
Mobile operator Orange Bissau last week launched an ultra-high speed 3G+ mobile service in the capital Bissau, and the cities of Bafata (central region) and Gabu (east region), according to…
Telecoms
Telecoms – In brief
MTN Swaziland said it will hold a world music and arts festival called MTN Bushfire from 29-31 May, with Golden Lounge full festival tickets going on sale at the All…
Internet
Tanzania: UhuruOne taps Alepo to improve pre-paid Wi-Fi solution
Tanzanian wireless internet provider UhuruOne has selected Alepo to provide a complete Wi-Fi solution for its pre-paid business, with a view to supporting the monetisation and management of its domestic…
Internet
INWI Taps Aptilo Networks and Smartcom for Carrier Wi-Fi
INWI, the third largest telecommunications operator in Morocco, has selected Aptilo Networks and Smartcom for a major upgrade to “Wifi7dak,” INWI’s public Wi-Fi service. The upgrade will increase bandwidth, support…
Internet
Internet – In brief
Customers of Olleh Rwanda Networks (ORN) will now be able to monitor their homes and offices on their phones and PCs, thanks to the introduction of new innovative products by…
Computing
Liquid Telecom installs data protection infrastructure
Liquid Telecom has installed an $800 000 endpoint data protection and management solution infrastructure.The infrastructure, which is called CrashPlan Africa, is expected to enhance data protection and storage in the…
Computing
SA’s Snapt opens US office as it exceeds 10k customers
South African software provider Snapt has established an independent sales and marketing arm in the United States (US) to cope with increasing demand, reporting an annual growth rate of 400…
Computing
Dark Fibre Africa joins Hetzner data centre
South Africa's Hetzner's Data Centre Park in Samrand is offering ECS-licensed customers a greater choice of Internet service providers after Dark Fibre Africa (DFA) joined Hetzner's carrier-neutral facility. Hetzner says…
Money Transfer
Tanzania: BitPesa Launches Remittance Service in Tanzania
BitPesa, the Kenyan digital currency exchange startup, has launched its remittance service along with new features to improve User Experience (UX) in Tanzania.This move will see Tanzania become the first…
Money Transfer
Airtel introduces mobile money transfer in Seychelles
Seychelles has joined several African countries that have embarked on the revolutionized way of paying bills using mobile phones.This follows the recent launching of the ‘Mobile Wallet’ known as ‘Airtel…
Mergers, Acquisitions and Financial Results
Why Automattic’s WooThemes acquisition is so important to South Africa’s startup space
The acquisition of WordPress theme developer WooThemes, along with its signature ecommerce product WooCommerce, by WordPress.com holding company Automattic is massively important to the South African startup space. At US$30-million,…
Digital Content
GOGO Music launches free mobile app
House music lovers are in for a treat. Leading house label GOGO Music recently launched a free mobile phone app that enables them to listen to all episodes of the…
Digital Content
Cape Town dev team’s widget wins it SA leg of BBC development studio challenge
Building a simple widget that allows people to listen to BBC content online, a team of Cape Town developers has been selected as part of the BBC development studio challenge.The…
Digital Content
Africa’s inventors shackled by bad IP regimes
Patenting law in Africa needs to become more effective to better support local entrepreneurs and boost growth, the continent’s innovators have said.Attendants at the Innovation Prize for Africa (IPA) event,…
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People
ICANN President & CEO Resigns to Join the Private SectorThe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) today announced that President and CEO Fadi Chehadé has informed the Board…
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Opportunities
Orange launches the 2015 Orange African Social Venture PrizeOrange is launching the call for applications for the 5th edition of the Orange African Social Venture Prize. This initiative aims to…
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Events
Connected Africa26–27 May 2015The Sandton Convention CentreJohannesburg, South AfricaAfrica’s telecommunications sector is booming!Enterprises, ISP’s telcos and partners are under huge pressure to capitalise on the vast opportunities in the African…
