IT News Africa: Top Stories Of The Week

This week was yet again filled with tech news stories that grabbed the headlines both across Africa and around the world.

This week was dominated by Black Friday. The sales frenzy, which kicked off on Friday 24 November 2017, grabbed attention around the world. We also looked at how consumers could protect themselves around this time of year.

Making headlines worldwide, Uber revealed a massive data breach which affected 57 million customers.

In Nigeria, Facebook launched a new initiative which is aimed at improving the startup community in the country.

From all of us at IT News Africa, have a great weekend. The top stories of the week can be found below.

News

Uber reveals massive data breach
Taxi-hailing company, Uber, has revealed that they concealed a hack that affected 57 million customers and drivers. The breach occurred in October 2016 and Uber paid hackers $100,000 to delete the data. Read More.

MTN extends Black Friday deals
On Thursday 23 November 2017, South African telecommunications company, MTN announced a new array of Black Friday deals which will be running from this Friday 24 November 2017 through to Cyber Monday 27 November 2017. MTN revealed that customers can walk away with free devices, televisions and data deals of up to 100Gigs. Read More.

South Africa: Makro buys WumDrop
On Tuesday 21 November, Makro, a cash and carry chain store in South Africa, announced that it has acquired a majority stake in South African last mile delivery startup WumDrop. The company believes that the move will allow it to speed up delivery of orders to customers. Read More.

Nigeria: Facebook launches new digital growth initiative
On Wednesday 22 November 2017, Facebook announced a new nationwide initiative in Nigeria which, according to the company, will further cement its commitment and investment in the country, and across the continent. Incorporating a series of high profile partnerships, training programmes and a physical space that will serve as a center for learning and skills development, this set of initiatives is aimed at helping to develop and nurture communities, including small businesses, the tech and start-up ecosystem, youths and creatives. Read More.

Ethio Telecom launches electronic payment services
Ethiopia’s sole telecommunication provider, Ethio Telecom has announced the launch of payment services for prepaid mobile recharging. The service allows customers to recharge their mobile airtime online. The new system has been made available to customers across the telecom’s 214 service centres, while the existing manual payment system will remain functional. Read More.

Top Opinions & Features

Interview: Why Africa needs blockchain
IT News Africa recently spoke to Leishen Pillay, partner at Hogan Lovells law firm, in an interview which unpacks just why Africa needs blockchain technology. Read More.

Black Friday: Where to find the best deals
Black Friday, the day that bargain hunters have waited the whole year for has finally arrived. On 24 November 2017, thousands have gone out in search for the deal of the year as prices from multiple stores have be slashed down as they jump on the bandwagon. Read More.

How startups can cash-in on Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Provided that SMEs prepare ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, there is an opportunity to leverage off the global hype, where some simple alignment to the theme can result in big benefit without much investment into promotion. Read More.

“Africa cannot operate in isolation” says NetApp’s Patrick Maphopha
Data management and storage company, NetApp will host a Partner Academy event on the 23rd of November 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya. At the event, NetApp will discuss some of the latest solutions and services they offer in Africa. Read More.

Darkness on Black Friday as online stores crash
Thousands of South Africans woke up a little bit earlier on Friday 24 November 2017, in an attempt to get a jump on the madness which is Black Friday. These bargain hunters, however, were met with a massive stumbling block… the websites that had been offering massive Black Friday sales had crashed. Read More.

Gadgets and Gaming

MyKi Touch Review – Keep your child safe
Wearable devices are all the rage these days; however, many wearable devices only focus on heart rate monitoring, fitness, and sleep tracking. While these devices do come in handy, they do not track the individual wearing them. This is where the MyKi Touch comes in handy. Read More.

L.A. Noire Remastered Review
While originally released in 2011, Rockstar and Team Bondi’s L.A Noire has officially been remastered for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, HTC Vive, and the Nintendo Switch. While the story and gameplay remain the same, Rockstar has improved various gameplay and visual elements in this title. Read More.

Infinix Zero 5 launches in Nigeria
On Monday 20 November 2017 Infinix mobility unveiled, in Nigeria, its flagship model for 2017 the Infinix Zero 5. Read More.

Rocket League and Warner Bros. partner up for updated retail release
Rocket League has been on the sidelines of the esports world as of late, often overshadowed by other more prominent games like Dota, LoL, and Overwatch. However, it’s still one of the most successful online games to date by selling over a million retail copies thanks to their previous distributor, 505 games, and countless digital copies. Read More.

By Dean Workman
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