Author: Akin Naphtal

Kenya’s transportation industry is increasingly adopting electric vehicles and motorcycles as part of its efforts to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable transportation. BasiGo, a well-known electric vehicle provider, has announced impressive achievements in carbon dioxide emission reduction. Within a span of only two years, they assert that they have successfully prevented the release of an astounding 217.4 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The implementation of their electric buses has not only drastically reduced fuel costs but has also made a significant contribution to environmental preservation endeavors. Fredrick Mutitika, the Product Marketing and Operations Manager at BasiGo, has…

Due to the removal of Canada’s Facebook news tab, Meta is set to eliminate Facebook’s new tabs in several countries. With effect from December, the news section of the platform will no longer be seen in the United Kingdom (UK), France, and Germany. This is to invest more and develop services and products that the users value more. Meta, which confirmed that it is committed to the existing agreements with publishers in the UK, France, and Germany as to Facebook news made it known that new products that are tailored to news will not be introduced in the future nor…

Nigeria’s Itana, formerly known as Talent City has secured $2 million in pre-seed funding to develop Africa’s first Digital Free Zone. It aims to enhance the ease-of-doing-business index, attract foreign direct investment, and boost employment. Itana, which plans to establish an eco-friendly startup district in Alaro free zone by 2027, will serve as an online jurisdiction for the digital economy, offering the necessary policies, services, and technology for global digital and service businesses to operate and expand across Africa. Itana will enable tech and service companies to establish their African operations in Nigeria and benefit from competitive business policies and…

US payment technology giant Stripe’s Nigerian payment service provider, Paystack, has officially launched in Kenya after completing its private beta phase. The company aims to expand its services to ambitious businesses across Africa and has already established operations in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. Paystack obtained authorization from the Central bank of Kenya, the country’s regulator for remittance, banking, and payments, 10 months ago to operate as a payment service provider. Vikaran Ubhi, Country Lead, Kenya, Paystack said “We’ve worked very closely with a vibrant community of business owners, developers, and partners. Over 700 businesses signed up for the…

Deputy Finance Minister David  Masondo announced that South Africa plans to offer financial assistance to the monitoring industry as it shifts towards manufacturing electric vehicles. The funding will be included in the midterm budget on 25 October, which comes at a challenging time for government revenue and the risk of not meeting its debt stabilization goal. The objective is to promote investment into the production of EVs and their components “comes at a time when the focus is particularly stretched”, Masondo said in an address to the industry. “The only way to justify the government’s fiscal support to the sector is…

Paystack , the Nigerian payment service provider owned by US payment technology giant Stripe has launched out of private beta in Kenya, and available to all businesses in a move the firm expects will bring its payments and business growth tools to even more ambitious businesses across Africa. Paystack, with operations in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, launched in private beta 10 months ago after it had received a Payment Service Provider Authorisation from the Central Bank of Kenya, the country’s remittance, banking and payments regulator. “We’ve worked very closely with a vibrant community of business owners, developers, and partners.…

In a recent report, more than half a dozen handset brands have launched new devices in South Africa in the past three months. Over the past three months, a wave of new smartphones from more than half-a-dozen Chinese brands have been launched in South Africa, and promotional campaigns have intensified as they challenge for a share of Africa’s most strategic market. According to report, the brand; Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Honor, Vivo, Realme and Itel have all released new handsets, ranging from the entry-level to high-end flagship devices. During the same period, the market leader, Korean manufacturer Samsung, released its new…

The social network formerly known as Twitter, now called X, has updated its privacy policy to include the collection of a new type of user data. However, does not provide a clear definition of what it considers to be biometric data, although other companies have used this term to refer to data obtained from a person’s face, eyes, and fingerprints. “Based on your consent, we may collect and use your biometric information for safety, security and identification purposes,” the company said in its new policy. X doesn’t define what it considers biometric, though other companies have used the term to describe data…

Vodacom has signed a virtual wheeling agreement with Eskom – the first of its kind in South Africa – to speed up efforts to solve the country’s energy crisis. As well as adding capacity to the nation’s power grid, the agreement – described as a Vodacom innovation co-developed with Eskom – will also move Vodacom closer to its goal of sourcing 100% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2025. The agreement allows Vodacom to carry out the next phase of the plan: securing independent power producers (IPPs) under the same terms and conditions that underpin its agreement with Eskom.…

Dell Technologies has announced the global availability of Dell NativeEdge, which is an edge operations software platform that simplifies how customers deploy, manage and secure their edge infrastructure and applications. According to Dell, a recent analysis of Dell NativeEdge and standard edge deployments showed the platform can simplify and accelerate edge deployments, offering up to 22 times faster lifecycle management by automating routine and repetitive tasks, such as onboarding devices at scale and managing applications. As edge use cases proliferate across industries, Dell’s partner community plays an important role in supporting customers in their edge journeys. Dell NativeEdge provides a…