Browsing: African Development Bank (AfDB)

Prosthetic Arm - The Exchange (www.theexchange.africa)

th?id=OIPInnovation is ferrying Africa to a brighter more successful future, a future of technology and digital realities in everyday life. From mobile Apps that allow John in the city centre to Dr. Atish Shah’s affordable battery-powered prosthetic arm that even the least fortunate can afford, innovation is defining Africa’s reality.

African Innovation: Tanzanian Doctor creates mobile-battery powered prosthetics

 

Tanzania’s Dr. Atish Shah has been recognized the World over for his innovation the Mkono-1, a 3D-printed functional prosthetic hand. Dr. Shah a biomedical engineering Masters candidate says the design was made with the average Tanzanian in mind. It is affordable and functional giving amputees an inexpensive solution for improved mobility and independence.

The prosthetic hand is charged by a simple mobile phone battery, bringing a revolution to an otherwise very expensive industry. In Tanzania, prosthetics are unaffordable for those in middle and low-income communities, and no other battery-powered prosthetics are …

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You have a debtor, it is time for them to pay, you pick up your mobile phone dial the number and the most annoying automatic response comes on; ‘Sorry, the number you are calling is not available.’ 

Upset you hang up and redial, same message, now you are really getting mad, you hang up redial and voilà! You are connected. You exchange a barrage of why are you switching off your phone, they reply no, my phone was on, you finally settle on, it must be bad network! 

Sound familiar? 

Well here is some good news, finally the telecomm services watchdog, the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has taken note of this poor service ordeal and taken action. 

Six telecoms fined for poor service delivery

Six major mobile phone operators have been slapped fines reaching a grand total of USD16.4 million for what authorities describe as ‘violation

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th?id=OIPThe Central Bank of Nigeria has banned all cryptocurrency transactions as of February 5th 2021 citing terrorism concerns. The central bank is of the view that cryptocurrency transactions are been used to fund terror groups.

As a result, it has ordered all banks as well as non-bank financial institutions and all other financial institutions that deal in cryptocurrencies or facilitate payment for cryptocurrencies to stop with immediate effect.

The development comes after the Central Bank issued a warning back in January cautioning against the use of cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrencies are volatile and risky since unlike in regular banking transactions, these are transactions that are irreversible. Further still, transactions are anonymous so you do not know who you are dealing with and also, there are no regulators for cryptocurrency dealings, it is all just you and a host of other people that you do not know trading online, to call it …

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th?id=OIPIn its fight against Covid-19 Rwanda has opted to have robots replace humans when coming into contact with infected persons.

With the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Rwanda is to deploy its second set of three ‘THOR UVC’ robots.

What are these avenger bots all about? As its name suggests, the THOR ultra-violet (UVC) uses UVC to disinfect. Using room mapping technology, THOR UVC is able to go around a given cleaning space and disinfect it efficiently.

It uses UVC energy to kill germs and pathogens that way, the robots minimize contact of persons with the pathogens.  So the deployment of the THOR UVC robots will help clean and disinfect Covid-19 risk areas like hospitals.

The robots will also serve to disinfect areas of mass gathering like border areas and market places as well as office spaces.

This second dispatch of robots was handed over on …

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th?id=OIPThe Paris Club (Club de Paris), a group of officials from major creditor countries has approved Kenya’s request for more debt relief to help it ease Covid-19 related financial weight.

Formed in 1956, the Paris Club, which works to find sustainable solutions to payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries, announced earlier this month that it had accepted Kenya’s request for debt-servicing suspension and gave the East African country a six-month leeway (January to June) before it resumes to pay its national debt.

“Kenya is committed to devoting the resources freed by this initiative to increase spending in order to mitigate the health, economic and social impact of the COVID19-crisis,” said the Paris Club.

Maybe the rest of East Africa can learn from Kenya and take advantage of the G20 bilateral creditors that offer what is called the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). Launched last year, the DSSI serves to suspend …

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Absa suffered a major data leak in South Africa and even though the breach did not occur at the bank itself, the data leak still raises security questions concern the safety of client’s money.

Absa is new in Tanzania, the newest big player in the banking industry and has invested a great deal in creating a positive image. However, earlier this month, that image was gravely tainted after an Absa employee allegedly leaked some of the bank’s customer data.

The incident occurred in the bank’s South African main branch where it is reported that the said employee provided customer information to unknown third party interests. The leaked customer info included client ID numbers, bank account numbers, credit card numbers and even mobile phone numbers.

The information that was leaked includes names and surnames, identity numbers and physical addresses, the bank admits.

Further still it also admitted other leaked data includes …

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th?id=OIPEvery year, the L’Oréal Fondation along with UNESCO short lists 20 African women researchers for the academic excellence of their work. The young women then, enter the Sub-Saharan Africa Young Talent Awards For Women in Science.

Sourced from 16 countries, these 15 PhD students and 5 post-doctorates embody, through their backgrounds and research subjects, all the diversity and potential of tomorrow’s African science – L’Oreal.

The shortlisted 20 youth had to fight their way through a maze of nearly 330 applications. The submission were sifted through by a jury that was Chaired by Professor Nelson Torto who is the Executive Director of the African Academy of Sciences.

“They all have in common the excellence of their projects and the desire to contribute to fueling innovation in Africa” he commented.

“They are joining the community of 3,400 women researchers around the world who have been supported by the For Women in

African Development joins World Business Angels Investment Forum board

The World Business Angels Investment Forum announced the African Development Bank as its newest Board Member.

The bank will represent Africa’s early-stage equity markets, angel investors,  entrepreneurship and startup ecosystems, small and medium enterprises and high-growth businesses and private equity funds.

The African Development Bank Director of Industrial and Trade Development, Abdu Mukhtar will occupy the bank’s board seat.

“We are delighted to have the African Development Bank Group as a global board member of the World Business Angels Investment Forum. I am confident that by including AfDB, WBAF will be able to provide a wide range of opportunities for start-ups, scaleups and high growth businesses in Africa—ones that will open the doors for economic development. By working together across borders, with a common vision, and with these smart dynamics in mind, we are well placed to bring about positive change in Africa and the global economy.” Said Baybars Altuntas, …

BRT Tanzania

BRT Tanzania

With several 100 million dollars in investment, the Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit System (BRT) is an infrastructure that deserves as much awe as any other in the world.

The investment involves some19.3km of roadways traversed by over 100 buses. It has27 bus stations built with such style and elegance they do indeed give the city a facelift so to speak.

More than the aesthetic function, the infrastructure has indeed transformed the port city of Dar Es Salaam from the usual narrow roads dotted with vendors to 6 lanes and pave ways for passengers, it looks good.

The BRT system that was designed by a Brazilian international consulting firm called Logit ferries 1000s of passengers every day and given that its buses run on specialized lanes, they face no traffic and so it takes less time to complete the same routes that regular commuter …

$69m grant to support Ghana’s COVID-19 response plan

The African Development Bank approved a grant worth $69 million to support Ghana’s efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and mitigate its socio-economic impact.

The grant is from the African Development Fund (ADF) a concessional arm of the African Development Bank.

The grant will provide fiscal budget support to finance the national COVID-19 Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan and Coronavirus Alleviation Program in Ghana.

The funds will specifically help upgrade the capacity of healthcare facilities to isolate, diagnose and care for the patient and provide more pharmaceuticals, test kits, equipment and beds. It will also support financial incentives and an insurance package for health and allied professionals as well as ensure adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) for health workers.

“Overall, the objective is to help contain the spread of the virus, expand testing and ease the impact of the virus on social and economic life, through measures aimed at protecting …