Author: ITPulse

  My Martin Ekpeke As announced during Google for Nigeria event last year, the tech giant has today kicked-off the Launchpad Accelerator Africa programme, by  unveiling 12 Startups in Lagos, South-West Nigeria. In no particular order, the 12 Startups participating in the first Launchpad Accelerator Africa class are: Babymigo – Nigeria – a trusted social community for expecting mothers and young parents;  Flexpay – Kenya – an automated and secured layaway e-commerce system;  Kudi – Nigeria – payment for Africa through messaging and OkadaBooks – Nigeria – a social platform that allows users easily create, spread and sell their stories/books/documents…

  By Kester Omu The Chief Executive Officer of MainOne, Funke Opeke has insisted that the only sure way to unlocking Africa’s digital transformation is to increase investment in shared fiber network infrastructure, data center and cloud computing infrastructure in Africa. She noted this while speaking at the 2018 TMT Finance Africa Conference, a forum driving investment for telecoms, media and technology sector across Africa, held in Cape Town, South Africa last week. Ms. Opeke, who joined panelists from DLA Piper, Teraco, PAIX and Rack Center to discuss the need for continued investment and growth within the telecom sector and…

  Software giant, Microsoft has decided to empower  Richard Appiah Akoto, who teaches information and communication technology (ICT) at Betenase M/A Junior High School in the town of Sekyedomase, about two and half hours drive north of Ghana’s second city, Kumasi. Microsoft flew him to Singapore to participating in the annual Microsoft Education Exchange, after his picture drawing a Microsoft Word processing window on a blackboard with multi-colored chalk, to teach his students about computers—which the school did not have went viral on social media around the world. Apart from him being flown abroad for the training, Akoto, including Betenase…

  By Elvis Eromosele Nearly everyone agrees that the world as we know it changing rapidly. The change is driven largely by the growing pervasiveness of technology and the increasing number of new applications. This change is expected to expand into the foreseeable future. Every industry, sector and job will continue to rely more and more on technology to increase efficiency, improve productivity and boosts profitability. Experts indicate that this massive invasion of technology is the prelude to the emerging digital society. So going forward, we are not going to see less but more and more infusion of the digital.…

  The Minister of Communications Technology, Barr. Adebayo Shittu is asking the support of other Africa’s countries to help a Nigerian, Mr. William ljeh into an elective position of the International Telecommunication Union (lTU). He said Nigeria will be presenting Ijeh for election as Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau of ITU. “Nigeria will be presenting itself for re-election into the Administrative Council seat as well as presenting Mr William ljeh for election as Director, Telecommunication Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (lTU) during the ITU 2018 Plenipotentiary Conference to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirate in October/November,” he said…

By Angela Matthewson M&A activity in the technology and telecommunication sectors in Africa and the Middle East will more than quadruple in 2018, from 2017. This is according to Baker McKenzie’s Global Transaction Forecast, developed in association with Oxford Economics. The report shows that M&A in the tech and telecoms sector in Africa and the Middle East was valued at US$1 .2 billion in 2017. This is predicted to increase to US$5.9 billion in 2018 and a further US$5.9 billion in 2019, before decreasing to US$3.9 billion in 2020.  The report notes that a more positive global economic outlook, the expansion…

  By Martin Ekpeke The Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, South-West Nigeria, yesterday called on the private sector, especially companies in the Information and Communications Technology ecosystem to explore the potentials of its near completed  ICT-Driven Knowledge Park. Tagged, Africa Centre of Excellence, the $8million World Bank assisted ICT Park, according to the University is aimed to create a regionally-recognised and acknowledged model that is driven by high quality postgraduate education for uptake and commercialization of research and technology to advance the growth of ICT industry in Nigeria. “With the assistance of the World Bank, we have been able to build…

  The Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union ( ITU), Houlen Zhao was yesterday received by the Nigerian Communications Commission, where he reassures the Union’s commitment in ensuring that ICT is employed to drive the establishment of SMEs for employment. He commends the commission’s regulatory excellence and operational efficiency despite industry challenges,  the achievement of Digital Bridge Institutes established by NCC to bridge the digital divide gap and provide vocational ICT trainings in the country. While describing the institute as the best ICT Institute in Africa, Zhao assures the Commission that the Union will continue to work hand in…

  The GSMA has said the Mobile 360 West Africa forum, scheduled to take place next month in Ivory Coast will focus on two key drivers of digital adoption; the people and the technology. The global body that represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide, uniting nearly 800 operators with more than 300 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, said the forum will digest how the people and the technology are shaping the Digital Africa that is known and the Digital Africa that is wanted. Africa is one of the fastest growing mobile markets globally. Access to the Internet in…

  Researchers at Kaspersky Lab are said to uncover a sophisticated threat used for cyber-espionage in the Middle East and Africa from at least in the last six years. This was after researchers found a suspicious keylogger program and created a behavioural detection signature to see if that code appeared anywhere else Tagged ‘Slingshot’, the threat has ravaged over 100 victims in Kenya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Libya, Congo, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and Tanzania. According to a statement released on behalf of APO, ‘Slingshot’ attacks and infects victims through compromised routers and can run in kernel mode, giving it complete…