Author: Akin Naphtal

The Kenyan government is implementing the Kenya National Digital Master Plan 2022-2032, with the aim of boosting digital competitiveness. The plan has five key pillars, including digital infrastructure, digital services and data management, digital skills, digital entrepreneurship, and effective alignment to policy, legal, and regulatory frameworks. The Cabinet Secretary, Eliud Owalo, stated that the government is leveraging ICT to deliver more efficient information and public services. Through the E-citizen platform, 839 services have already been digitized, with a target of 5,000 government services to be digitized by June 2023. He also mentioned that plans are underway to establish and operationalize…

The United Nations rights chief, Volker Turk, has warned that recent advances in artificial intelligence pose a serious threat to human rights and called for safeguards to prevent violations. This follows a call this week by more than 60 nations, including the United States and China, for regulating AI in defence to ensure it “does not undermine international security, stability, and accountability”. Concerns have been raised over AI-guided drones, “slaughterbots” that can kill without human intervention, and the risk that artificial intelligence could escalate military conflicts. READ ALSO:Key players from the public and private sectors host a disinformation conference in…

South Africa and the rest of the African continent are not immune to the dangers of disinformation campaigns, and the impact is felt even more now than ever. This was the focal point for the forum today, as these critical players examined the intersection between cyber security and disinformation campaigns in Africa. Over the last three years, the digital presence of private and public entities has increased exponentially. The increased scope and opportunity for malicious actors to disseminate disinformation have resulted in reputational damage and financial loss for organisations and entities. Professor Sibusiso Vil-Nkomo, Executive Dean of the Thabo Mbeki…

Bahrain FinTech Bay (BFB), a prominent fintech hub in the Middle East and Africa has partnered with Reboot01, a global platform for digital skills and career transformation. The two organizations have signed a strategic agreement to support the development and growth of the fintech ecosystem and talent pool in Bahrain and beyond. “We are delighted to partner with Reboot01, a leading platform for digital skills and career transformation, to enhance our offerings and value proposition to our fintech and partner network,” said Bader Sater, CEO of Bahrain FinTech Bay. Reboot01 has a proven track record of delivering high-quality training and…

The Communications Authority of Kenya has established the Universal Service Fund (USF) to improve communication connections in remote and hard-to-reach areas of the country. The USF is projected to be completed in five years and will provide private sector partnerships to support mobile connectivity in these areas, according to Principal Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Information, Communications, and the Digital Economy Mr. Eric Kiraithe. Speaking to KNA at a Kabarnet resort, Kiraithe said the sub-locations include Kaptuya, Nginyang East, Mugurin, Kulal, Akoret, and Kapedo North have been earmarked to benefit from mobile connectivity in the ongoing 2021 Phase II of the…

The Kenyan government has partnered with civil society organizations to launch a public awareness campaign on the planned massive digitization of essential registration services. The move is aimed at addressing concerns around privacy and the security of data that will be collected during the registration process. At a consultative forum between the government and representatives from 25 civil societies, Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary (PS) Julius Bitok announced the creation of a joint working group to ensure the success of the digital registration project. The government hopes to digitize over 5,000 services to avoid implementation challenges experienced during previous…

Orange and Vodafone have reached an agreement to create an Open Radio Access Network (RAN) with RAN sharing in rural areas of Europe where they both have mobile networks. This marks the first time that two companies have agreed to share Open RAN networks in Europe. The companies plan to deploy the first commercial sites in a rural area of Romania near Bucharest, providing a real-life experience of this new operational model based on the integration of multi-vendor hardware and software. This will pave the way for wider scale deployments. Orange and Vodafone are working individually to select strategic vendors…

Dove Payments Gateway, a healthcare-focused technology startup based in Accra, Ghana, has emerged from its private beta testing phase. The firm aims to simplify healthcare payments for developing markets, starting with Ghana. By utilizing the platform offered by Dove Payments, healthcare providers can easily make payments for various expenses such as waste management, equipment maintenance, pharmaceutical suppliers, and laundry services. The company’s transfer-check mechanism ensures that the Healthcare Business Owner (HBO) gives approval for all financial transactions, which ensures full accountability and traceability of funds disbursement. Furthermore, Dove Payments allows patients to scan and pay for their healthcare bills and…

Mastercard, a global technology company in the payments industry, has announced the creation of two new leadership positions to accelerate the company’s delivery against its strategic priorities. Karen Griffin, currently the company’s Chief Compliance Officer, will take on a new role as Chief Risk Officer. The ability to manage an organization’s risk appetite in order to maximize growth opportunities has become increasingly important in recent years. In this new role, Karen will strengthen the company’s risk management strategy and activities, building on the robust processes and procedures currently in place. Jennifer Rademaker has been named Chief Future of Work Officer,…

A global technology company in the payments industry,Mastercard has partnered with Network International, the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa, to address fraud, declines and chargebacks in order to reduce costs and risk for acquirers. Through the partnership, Network will launch Mastercard’s Brighterion Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology across the region, providing transaction fraud screening and merchant monitoring to acquirers and businesses. According to the Nilson Report, payment card fraud losses are projected to hit $49 billion by 2030. Furthermore, 68 per cent of card fraud losses in 2020 were related to transactions where cards were…