Author: Akin Naphtal

Infosys, a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting, has announced a strategic collaboration with GE Digital, GE’s software division, to accelerate grid transformation for the utilities sector. Together, GE Digital and Infosys will follow a joint go-to-market approach to deliver value added solutions for grid related products and services, for their new and existing clients. In the partnership, Infosys and GE Digital will jointly bring these solutions for the utilities industry to help grid operators realize a more reliable, resilient, and sustainable grid. This will be driven by an industry-leading grid orchestration software platform and a suite of…

The newly unveiled Initiative on critical and emerging information technology (iCET) has the potential to take the US-India collaboration to the next level, former Indian envoy to the US Arun Singh said in an exclusive interview with Mint. Singh said, India and the US have thus far been unable to achieve major successes in critical and defence technologies. He also believes that the rise of China as well as India’s market size and strength in the technology sector have driven the US towards closer cooperation. How does iCET enhance the India-US relationship? What are its strategic implications? With the decisions…

Umba, a digital bank for emerging markets until now operating only in Nigeria, has launched operations in Kenya as it begins to expand across the continent. Umba is a digital bank built for Africa, aiming to open up banking services for Africa’s vast, underserved market. The startup aims to make it easier for consumers and SMEs to interact with banks and mobile money networks, providing a transparent, low-fee service that allows users to take control of their financial lives. READ ALSO: MTN Nigeria rolls out 588 5G sites as 4G coverage hits 79.1% in Nigeria Ouranos Technologies boosts enterprise tech…

Telecommunications giants, MTN has announced that since the launch of the Fifth-Generation (5G) network in Nigeria last September, it has rolled out 588 sites across leading cities in the country. According to the Chief Executive Officer, MTN Nigeria, Karl Toriola, in the firm’s financial year report, ended December 31, 2022, released recently, informed that efforts are in top gear to expand 5G roll out in the country. Toriola said MTN continued to manage and invest in the resilience of its business and network in Nigeria “expanding coverage and capacity with a focus on expense efficiencies and disciplined capital allocation.” This…

A leading provider of IT services across West-Africa, Ouranos Technologies has launched Ouranos Labs, a venture studio focused on building the products and solutions that will power the future of enterprise technology in Africa.The Lab is backed by a $2 million investment from Ouranos Technologies and will be led by Olusegun Maleghemi as Chief Innovation Officer. Maleghemi has served as Director of Incubation at The Nest Innovation Technology Park, which provides support for startups building impactful solutions. Making the announcements, Managing Director of Ouranos Technologies Ltd, Joseph Aransiola, said, “Ouranos Lab is a natural next step for our company as…

Kenya’s sole power distributor, Kenya Power, aims to convert its 2,000 petrol and diesel-driven vehicles to electric over the next four years, it said on Tuesday, 7 February. The move is part of a rising trend in the East African economy to take advantage of the abundant electricity supply from renewable sources, and switch vehicle and motorcycle engines to electric from fossil fuels. Kenya Power will phase out its petrol and diesel vehicles by retrofitting electric engines and buying new electric vehicles. Kenya has installed generation capacity of 3,321MW against a peak demand of 2,132MW and off-peak demand of about…

World’s biggest crypto company, Binance has acquired a majority stake in South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Gopax as part of its ‘Industry Recovery Initiative’ (IRI). The investment, the financial details of which are undisclosed, marks the company’s return to the South Korean market after its exit in 2021. Announcing the deal, Binance says that in November, Gopax “halted the withdrawal of principal and interest payments in its decentralised finance (DeFi) service GoFi as a consequence of the upstream challenges experienced by Genesis Global Capital, LLC”. “Since then, Gopax has been working closely with local regulators and industry partners in an effort…

The Tech giant, Google has announced the introduction of its new AI chatbot technology called “Bard”, which will compete directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. According to the tech giant, the launch is powered by Google’s large language model, LaMDA (Language Model for Dialogue Applications), Bard will be rolled out in the coming weeks and made available to “trusted testers”. The company has decided to launch the technology in response to ChatGPT’s popularity and to maintain its competitive edge in AI. The CEO, Sundar Pichai, stated that the technology will simplify complex topics and provide users with easy-to-digest information from the web.…

Standard Chartered Bank has appointed Divyesh Vithlani as its new group chief transformation officer, based out of Singapore. Vithlani joins the global banking giant from Accenture, where he has spent the last five years. He most recently served as the company’s senior managing director, Southeast Asia market unit lead. He brings more than 30 years’ worth of banking and technology experience to his new role, working for companies in both Singapore and Europe. He previously spent over 16 years with Credit Suisse where he held a number of roles, including managing director – group technology chief operating officer from 2012…

IBM announced IBM Partner Plus, a new program that reimagines how IBM engages with its business partners through unprecedented access to IBM resources, incentives and tailored support to deepen their technical expertise and help speed time to market. The program is designed to fuel growth for new and existing partners, including resellers, hyper scalers, technology providers, independent software vendors and systems integrators, by putting them in control of their earning potential. IBM Partner Plus is central to the company’s Hybrid Cloud and AI strategy and aims to empower partners to help clients automate, secure and modernize their businesses. IBM Partner…