Browsing: Digital economy

World Bank further notes that the unified digitisation of the East African economy is estimated to generate up to a US$2.6 billion boost in GDP and 4.5 million new jobs that will largely benefit those at the bottom of the pyramid.

Data by GSMA reveals that by the end of 2020, 495 million people subscribed to mobile services in Sub-Saharan Africa, representing 46 percent of the region’s population, an increase of almost 20 million on 2019.

GSMA revealed that smartphone connections will more than double by 2025 in Sub-Saharan Africa with the East African Community registering the largest incremental growth, led by Rwanda and Tanzania. …

Another study by PureProfile, an advertising agency company, surveyed investors responsible for around US$700 billion assets under management. The results showed that twenty-five per cent of investor managers expect Africa’s internet industry to increase by 51 per cent in the next three years.

Over 71 per cent of professional investors expect the affordability of mobile phones in Africa to improve by 2025. Currently, the mobile phone economy accounts for an average of 6.8 per cent of monthly incomes. Ninety-seven per cent of all professional investors believe that the Coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the demand for mobile phones.

World Mobile is compounding its unique hybrid mobile network supported by low altitude platform balloons in Zanzibar, which it plans to roll out throughout the continent. The company is already in discussions with government officials in Tanzania, Kenya, and other territories underserviced by traditional mobile operators.…

Even though the country knows that diamonds are a finite resource, it still holds the world’s richest mine and is the biggest producer of gem diamonds. The country has become something of a role model for good development, powered by diamond mining.
20 percent of Botswana’s gross domestic product comes from this one commodity.
It propelled the country from the second poorest country in the world in 1966, at US$70 per person per year, to a middle-income country in 2021. Botswana estimates the diamond economy will start dropping in 2030.…

Based on a report by Disrupt Africa, funding for health tech startups in Africa jumped 257.7% from US$28.8m in 2019 to US$103m in 2020. These startups provide a wide range of services from scheduling medical consultations to telemedicine and digitalized imagery.

MaiSoin from Cote d’Ivoire uses a decentralized, gig-economy model, to facilitate the relationship between healthcare professionals and patients needing care at home or via telemedicine. In their first year of operations, they have had an average of 50% growth month over month and are already looking at potential expansions in the region.…

The rise of digital technology presents a myriad of new inventions and conveniences and changes how people interact, communicate, and do business.

The immense benefits of technology carry with them cybersecurity risks. Given the complex and sometimes obscure nature of cyber threats, they are usually difficult to comprehend, identify and control. 

Issues of outright theft, hacking, piracy, identity theft, and information misappropriation, among other cyber-related activities, come to the fore when it comes to cyber risks. In addition, national security risks exist in the digital space that poses a significant threat. 

According to consulting firm Ovumone, it is estimated that the end of 2022 will see over a billion people having access to the internet. The rising internet access and improved digital usage open up the continent to increased online criminal activity.  

“Cybercrime is shifting towards emerging economies. This is where the cybercriminals believe the low-hanging fruit

Digital technologies could quicken economy recovery that has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, according to the World Bank’s latest Economic Update for Uganda.

The world bank focused on the digital economy this time around with their report titled ‘digital solutions in a time of crisis’.

The report noted that during this COVID -19 period there has been an increase of digital technologies such as mobile, digital disease surveillance and monitoring, on-line education, on-line shopping and dissemination of public health messages which showed great potential to support faster economic recovery and strengthen resilience against future crisis.

The World Bank country manager for Uganda, Tony Thompson said that the digital space in Uganda is very innovative and during this pandemic, it has quickly adapted to provide various solutions in various sectors.

He added that if the solutions are up-scaled and developed to their potential they would boost the digital economy in Uganda …

The world is much more digitally interconnected, compared to the past three decades, and Tanzania has been busy to get its fair share of interconnectedness.

In 2013, there were about 23 million telecom subscribers in Tanzania, surprisingly at the moment, the number is almost close to double, as Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), telecoms statistics show, over 43 million subscribers, with an 81 per cent penetration.

It is important to recognize the contribution of the telecoms sector in Tanzania, to the economy and to the promotion of innovative solutions to community problems. Tanzania’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) quarterly highlights, show that: information and communications sector recorded a 10.3 per cent growth, compared to 9.6 in the first quarter, thus—the growth is attributed to increasing in airtime used by mobile phone owners, and the expansion of Tanzania’s broadcasting and internet use landscape.

On the side of the context, Bank of …