Yet another week has flown by where all the biggest news stories from across Africa, and indeed the rest of the world, have all had one thing in common, they have been about technology.
This past week, the utilities regulator in Rwanda approved Airtel’s acquisition of Tigo.
Making headlines in Nigeria, Rensource, a Lagos-based distributed energy provider, announced that it had raised $3.5 million USD in bridge financing to grow its power-as-a-service renewable energy business by expanding across Nigeria.
The team at IT News Africa also produced a number of quality features this week, which included: How to avoid getting scammed: combating cybercrime, and the digital evolution of South Africa’s shipping industry.
From all of us at IT News Africa, have a great weekend. The top stories of the week can be found below.
News
Rwanda: Utilities Regulator approves Airtel’s acquisition of Tigo
Telecommunications services provider, Bahari Airtel has announced that the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority (RURA) has approved the transfer of 100% of shares held by Millicom in Tigo Rwanda. This will make Airtel the second largest operator in Rwanda behind MTN. Read More.
FBI extradites Nigerian from South Africa for cybercrimes
On Friday 26 January 2018, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), announced in a statement the extradition of Onyekachi Emmanuel Opara, a Nigerian national, from South Africa, for participating in fraudulent business email operation that attempted to scam thousands of victims around the world out of millions of dollars, including victims from the United States. Read More.
Hacked Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, Coincheck, to reimburse customers after $400 million theft
According to a report by Bloomberg, on Friday 26 January 2018 Coincheck, a Japanese cryptocurrency exchange, revealed that it was hacked. The Japanese company, however, were quick to announce that it will use its own capital to reimburse customers who lost money in Friday’s USD $400 million theft. Read More.
Renewable energy provider raises USD $3.5M financing for Nigerian expansion
Rensource, a Lagos-based distributed energy provider, announced that it has raised $3.5 million USD in bridge financing to grow its power-as-a-service renewable energy business by expanding across Nigeria. Read More.
South African National Space Agency and Airbus launch Open Innovation Challenge
The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) together with the Airbus Defence and Space have launched the Open Innovation Challenge project which is aimed at developing and supporting home-grown applications for earth observation data obtained by satellites. Read More.
Top Opinions & Features
Dell report reveals uncertain future for human-machine interaction
On Tuesday 31 January 2018, Dell Technologies revealed its quantitative research conducted by Vanson Bourne which follows Dell Technologies’ seminal story, “Realising 2030: The Next Era of Human-Machine Partnerships.” The study forecasted that by 2030, emerging technologies will forge human partnerships with machines that are richer and more immersive than ever before, helping us surpass our limitations. Business leaders agree: 82% of respondents expect humans and machines will work as integrated teams within their organization inside of five years. Read More.
How to avoid getting scammed: combating cybercrime
From phishing to identity theft, the invasion of privacy, Internet/ATM/wire fraud, file sharing and piracy, counterfeiting and forgery, child pornography, and hacking – cybercrime is a chilling and imminent threat across the globe. With botnets, ransomware, spam and social engineering afoot, both individuals and companies must safeguard themselves against these constant attacks. Read More.
Breakthroughs in AI will make your smartphone even smarter in 2018
More and more smartphone users are using virtual assistants such as Google Assistant to enhance their mobile experiences. These voice-powered artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced assistants are making it easier and faster to gain access to a wide range of services and information via your phone. Read More.
The digital evolution of South Africa’s shipping industry
As South Africa’s maritime and shipping industry continues to benefit from technological interconnectivity, the sector is on the brink of a true digital evolution – but requires dynamic changes to be made to its policies. Read More.
5.7 million jobs are at risk of total automation in South Africa
New research from Accenture highlights the impact of digital technologies on jobs and economies. It’s an important topic for South Africa as new local research indicates that more than a third of jobs in this country may be automated. Read More.
Gadgets and Gaming
Dell reinforces gaming commitment with new software launch
At the Consumer Electronic Show 2018, held in Las Vegas this January, Dell debuted its new Alienware Software Command Center which according to the company shows its continued commitment to Gaming. Read More.
Kenya: Samsung launches Grand Prime Pro
Samsung Electronics has launched a new 4G enabled smartphone, the Galaxy Grand Prime Pro (2018) in the Kenyan market. As revealed by the firm, the Galaxy Grand Prime Pro features a rear curved-edge design, which has been optimised for comfortable handling. It also comes in a variety of modern colour schemes. Read More.
Monster Hunter: World Review
Developed and published by Capcom, Monster Hunter: World has finally arrived on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While console players have access to the latest game in the franchise now, PC players will, however, need to wait as the game is only set to release late 2018. This is according to Monster Hunter: World Producer, Ryozo Tsujimoto. Read More.
Drones offer inspection and maintenance benefits
In facilities management, inspecting large institutional, engineering, manufacturing, mining and commercial facilities and assets can be a challenging, dangerous, and dirty job. Ensuring that assets are performing reliably to design standards means balancing tight budgets and ageing infrastructure or finding new ways to maximise the value of existing assets. As digital technologies merge with unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), otherwise known as drones, maintenance and engineering managers maintain assets and facilities while also reducing costs and safety risks. Read More.
Nokia unveils 5G focused chipset
On Monday 29 January 2018, Nokia unveiled its new ReefShark chipsets. The chipsets leverage in-house silicon expertise to reduce the size, cost and power consumption of operators’ networks and meet the massive compute and radio requirements of 5G, according to the company. Read More.
By Dean Workman
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