Month: January 2020

Rwanda launched a campaign to collect one million smartphones to increase access to phones. With the country’s smartphone penetration at 20 per cent according to officials, connect Rwanda aims to increase the access of the devices.

Around 1.6 million Rwandans own smartphones out of the 10 million Rwandans who own mobile phones this is according to Statistics from the ministry of information and communication technology (ICT) and innovation.

“The Connect Rwanda campaign is aimed at increasing smartphone ownership in the country. To date, phone penetration stands at 79.8 per cent, but smartphone penetration is still low at 14.6 per cent,” said Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s ICT and innovation minister.

Also Read: Ghanaian digital payments company partners with Visa targeting 180M Africans

She added that smartphones are critical to helping Rwandans gain access to online services and information.
She said that Rwanda has digitised several services and many businesses are going e-commerce …

The Tanzanian government has found itself within mining dispute after three mining companies operating in the country, over various mining disputes.

The three have engaged the government in among other disputes a breach of international laws and mining licenses.

Winshear Gold Corporation

Canadian miner, Winshear Gold Corporation was the first miner to serve notice of intent to the Tanzanian government on January 10, which is in accordance with the 2013 Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (Bilateral Investment Treaty – BIT) was delivered to the Attorney General of Tanzania.

According to the company’s statement, the dispute develops out of certain acts and omissions of the United Republic of Tanzania in breach of the BIT and international law, relating to the Company’s investment in the SMP Gold Project located in Tanzania.

The gold miner commenced exploration activities on the SMP Gold Project in 2006. Successfully the company via …

South Africa is set to increase its tourist arrivals from India, according to Tourism Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane.

Kubayi-Ngubane has hailed as a resounding success her two-day market roadshow to Mumbai in India from January 14 to 16, the tourism department said in a statement.

The roadshow was characterised by “robust engagement” with tour operators, destination management companies, film producers and potential investors.

South Africa increased its efforts to unlock market opportunities for the realisation of the country’s 2030 target of doubling international tourist arrivals from 10.5 million to 21 million.

Also Read: South Africa’s miners decry power crisis crippling business

“India remains one of our key trading partners and [a] priority market for driving arrival numbers to South Africa. We will continue to invest in our marketing and engagement efforts, both with our trade partners and travellers, while providing diversified tourist products,” Kubayi-Ngubane said in the statement.

With the forecasted …

As banks, security organizations and other entities requiring data storage, Africa is seeing a growth of data centres across the continent. The Jasco Group, an ICT smart technology solutions partner has signed an agreement with Icolo to create a data centre in Karen, Nairobi. 

In light of this, new points of presence (PoP) are growing. Nairobi is becoming a hub as data storage and security is becoming needed ever so more. 

Jasco co-locating with Icolo takes the company a step towards ensuring it provides its customer’s guaranteed solutions. Data centres offer non-stop available of internet and data with guaranteed backup and protection against damage, disaster and damage.

iColo is a carrier-neutral data centre service provider. They offer access to co-locate to business in all fields including cloud providers, content providers, financial sector and enterprise segment. Therefore, it creates an ecosystem for businesses to hold on as well as grow. The …

MTN Cameroon received the highest quality certification on its Mobile Money (MoMo) service from GSMA.

With the certification, MTN Cameroon becomes the first telco in the six-nation Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) to be awarded the award.

The GSMA Certification signals safer, transparent and reliable means of sending and receiving money by the mobile phone carrier’s users.

In a statement, MTN Cameroon said in December, the certification of the reliability of its financial services followed a rigorous, independent assessment describing the feat as “a source of pride” for the company.

Also Read:Former MTN boss Phuthuma Nhleko invests in Kenyan data centre

“Mobile Money users in Cameroon can rest assured in the capacity of MTN to secure their transactions, educate them on the use of the products and services that it puts at their disposal and communicate transparently on the tariffs for various services to ensure optimal quality …

Africa Oil & Power (AOP) launches Renewables, African LNG and Energy Finance Event at Africa Oil & Power 2020 in Cape Town, South Africa.

It is the first time AOP is hosting the forum which is in line with the vision of South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, the government and private sector partners from all four corners of Africa.

The Africa Oil & Power forum 2020 will host presidents, ministers, utility and national oil company heads and renewables executives. The event will majorly focus on the driving factors behind energy transition.

The theme of the conference which marks the entrance of the African Continental Free Trade Area is ‘Invest Without Boundaries’. The Africa Oil & Power is the only conference on the continent that fully unites power and petroleum

Also Read: Uganda oil refinery gets funding from Africa Finance Corporation

“AOP 2020 is the meeting place for …

The company’s media spend was Ksh63.3 billion which was on different means and platforms to keep it in people’s consciences…

Dr. Esther Njoroge-Muriithi is the Vice President and Regional Director for Smile Train Africa.

When we speak of inclusivity in healthcare, cleft lip and palate surgery is often considered a footnote in the priorities given to healthcare financing. Many children with clefts around the world live in isolation, making it difficult to make friends and go to school, but more importantly, have difficulty eating, breathing, and speaking. As we seek to achieve Universal Health Coverage, the long-term benefit of treating a single cleft at an early stage can bring in as much as $50,000 to the economy. This economic benefit therefore deserves to be considered a priority as governments address pediatric surgical care.

The Fourth meeting of the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery (GICS IV) which took place in Johannesburg from 17^th-18^th January 2019, brought together providers and implementers of surgical services for children, along with health, …

Maize flour is a live wire for the Kenyan authorities so this may be an issue the government treads cautiously on.…

Government officials who nabbed the Lato milk were acting on directions from the presidency…