[Africa Tech Review] Duncan Mochama: Facebook launches a new campaign against fake news in Nigeria

Fake news on the internet is becoming a cause of great concern for governments, policymakers, and even organizations. Social media companies have also in recent days been urged to extend fake news watch by flagging down any content deemed to be fake. This week, Facebook announced a new partnership with Big Cabal Media and Comic Republic to launch a new campaign against fake news in Nigeria. Dubbed #NoFalseNewsZone, the educational campaign aimed at helping individuals identify fake news and educate them on how to minimize the spread of false information across the west African country.

Still in  Nigeria, Sporty.com, an online sports media and entertainment brand partnered with NTA to simulcast its free-to-air broadcast of premium sports content. Releaf, a Nigerian agritech startup that develops proprietary hardware and software solutions to industrialize food processing also raised $2.7 million seed funding and grants. 

This week, Nokia also announced it has been selected by MTN, a leading emerging markets operator in Africa and the Middle East, to drive its voice core evolution and network modernization in South Africa. The company also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) to drive digital transformation and the knowledge economy for socio-economic development across the continent. 

Liquid Intelligent Technologies announced that it is now delivering affordable high-speed connectivity to communities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) using state-of-the-art Wireless Optical Communication technology (WOC). This announcement came at a time when The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) also announced a minority investment by the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA) into Liquid Intelligent Technologies (Liquid).

In South Africa, TransUnion Africa partnered with global commercial data company Dun & Bradstreet to help African small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) access international markets more easily. Sapiens International Corporation, a global provider of software solutions for the insurance industry, announced the integration of Sapiens ReinsuranceMaster for Old Mutual Insure, the oldest insurer in South Africa. 

Interswitch Group partnered with Codebase Technologies to enhance digital financial services offering across Africa. Kenyan fintech startup  Cellulant, Ecobank, and GAINDE 2000 partnered with KenTrade to provide a payment gateway to enhance service delivery. Indian tech solutions firm, Websites.co.in, expanded its footprint in Africa through its partnership with Flutterwave, Africa's payments technology platform, to help small and medium-scale businesses in Africa build their websites for free.

In Rwanda, the Bank of Kigali (BK) Plc re-launched its IKOFI digital product alongside a partnership with RWACOF with more than 86,000 farmers to raise their farming methods. The Mastercard Foundation and the University of Rwanda also announced a 10-year, $55 million partnership to enable higher education access for 1,200 young Africans. 

A number of new appointments were also made this week. Ingenico, a Worldline brand, appointed Ugo Obasi as the new Area Business Head for Anglophone West Africa. Ugo's arrival is an important step in Ingenico's strategic expansion into the West African market. Leading IT solutions and technology provider, Dimension Data, also appointed Christopher Makyao as the Managing Director for its Tanzania business.

Other top highlights of the week include Huawei announcing plans to launch DIGIX Lab,  a new facility targeting app developers in the Middle East and Africa, Madagascar Time startup launching $TIME, the new cryptocurrency focused on charity work around the globe, Kaspersky recording over 2 million phishing attacks in South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria and Business communication technology leader Mitel partnering with Mart Network, a value-added distributor, to launch remote working and mobility solutions in the region. 

Duncan Mochama is the solutions consultant at  Incentro Africa.

www.incentro.com

 

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