IT News Africa: Top Stories of the Week

For those in the tech industry November can be a very busy time. Not only did we just experience the GSMA’s Mobile 360 Series – Africa event, but we also have Africacom 2014 coming up next week.

In case you missed it, the GSMA made two very big announcements, one being its 2014 report, and the other being the new code of conduct for mobile money providers.

Also making the headlines this week was MTN. The mobile service provider is expecting to break the land speed record by utilising its network and tech. Cisco also made the headlines, as it uncovered heightened security risks in South Africa.

If you missed out on any of our top stories this week, be sure to scroll down to get all the latest news, or alternatively, click here.

News

2014 GSMA report predicts half a billion mobile subs by 2020
According to the report, the number of unique mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa will pass the half billion mark in 2020 as mobile services become increasingly affordable and accessible to millions of currently unconnected citizens across the region. Read More.

GSMA reveals code of conduct for mobile money providers
he Code of Conduct outlines a series of common business principles to enable the development of safe and responsible digital financial services. The first mobile network operators (MNOs) to endorse the Code are Airtel, Avea, Axiata, Etisalat, Millicom, MTN, Ooredoo, Orange, Telenor, Vodafone and Zain. Together, these MNO groups represent 82 mobile money deployments operating in 51 countries. Read More.

MTN to use network & tech to break land speed record
MTN once again commenced a series of test runs of its state-of-the-art network built for the Bloodhound Supersonic Car (BSC) Bloodhound commenced the tests project on the Hakskeenpan desert in the Northern Cape today enabled by the MTN state of the art network. The MTN’s network will be used to transmit data – in real-time – at high speeds to the BSC as it prepares to break the land speed record and reach speeds in excess of 1,609 kilometers per hour. Read More.

Nigeria warns Nitel/Mtel bidders to adhere to Nov 7 deadline
The BPE, the Bureau of Public Enterprises within Nigeria, has warned pre-qualified bidders in the liquidation of Nitel/Mtel to adhere to the 07 November deadline for the submission of technical and financial proposals. Read More.

Security research in SA uncovers heightened IT security risks
ritical company data is at risk in South Africa as a result of organisations focusing IT security policies and resources more on external threats, such as cybercriminals and hackers, and not enough on the threat from within the business… this is according to research released by Cisco. Read More.

Opinions

Botnet Malware: Robots you want to avoid
Malware has been around in some form for over 40 years, but the use of malware to take control of a group of computers that are then organised into something called a botnet is more than a 21^st century phenomenon, says Carey van Vlaanderen, CEO of ESET Southern Africa. Read More.

Interviews

Video Interview: Simple supply chain into complex supply chain – SYSPRO
Meryl Malcomess is the Marketing Director at SYSPRO. She has been with SYSPRO for over 18 years and is involved in determining the strategic direction of its marketing activities. Watch the interview here.

Video Interview: Top 5 software challenges faced by SA companies – HP
As a veteran employee at HP, Lorna Hardie, in an exclusive interview with IT News Africa, details the top 5 software challenges faced by South African companies. Watch the interview here.

Top Feature

Rwanda accelerates plans for cashless economy
The Government of Rwanda has moved to accelerate its plans to transform Rwanda into a cashless economy and achieve 80 percent financial inclusion by 2017. Read More.

Top List

Top 5 apps to ease exam stress across Africa
Various students from a multitude educational institutions, across the continent, will preparing to hit the books, internet and other forms of educational resources in order to gain knowledge as well as prepare for their upcoming exams. Read More.

10 African tech start-ups to look out for
Africa is bursting with potential, especially when it comes to the tech start-up scene. A great number of companies have entered the African tech scene recently; however, 10 of these start-ups have shined, much like the glorious African sun, in the eyes of IT News Africa. Read More.

Gadgets and Gaming

MTN SA launches low-cost Steppa Tablet
Following the sell-out of the Steppa 1, MTN SA has revealed the next device in their low-cost range – the Steppa Tablet. Read More.

PS4: Major 2.0 update incoming
Sony PlayStation is setting up to roll out a rather major update to PlayStation 4 consoles across the globe. According to PlayStation, the update will offer up Share Play, YouTube and a host of other features. Read More.

Darryl Linington