![[Africa Tech Review] Duncan Mochama: Public and private organizations are stepping up their efforts in cybersecurity training and awareness](Images/Key Persons/DuncanMochama-IncentroAfrica.JPG)
[Africa Tech Review] Duncan Mochama: Public and private organizations are stepping up their efforts in cybersecurity training and awareness
Cyber security has always been one of the biggest concerns for most African organizations. This week, cyber security firm ESET, called on public and private organizations to step-up their efforts in cybersecurity awareness training. At the same time, Liquid Intelligent Technologies released a new report revealing that over 90% of IT decision-makers across South Africa, Kenya, and Zimbabwe have accelerated their focus on Cyber Security due to the substantial emergence of digital ways of working.
The study established some of the main concerns about Cyber Security threats and the most significant impacts of digital breaches on an organizational level.
Vodacom South Africa Central Region this week switched on 5G mobile network in Mangaung Municipal District, with other municipal districts in the Free State and Northern Cape provinces to go live later this month. Remember just a week ago, Ericsson projected that 5G mobile subscriptions will exceed 580 million by the end of 2021, driven by an estimated one million new 5G mobile subscriptions every day.
In Tanzania, the government reiterated its commitment to giving more attention to technology and innovations through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET), with the allocation of 43 billion, approximately $19 million, for setting up new incubators and hubs. It also this week reduced mobile money transaction levy by 30 percent.
African startups were also in the news this week. Kenyan-based fintech startup Cellulant entered into a 5-year partnership with Senegal based GAINDE 2000 to offer an end-to-end Pan-African technology infrastructure and payments solutions for trade, revenue & tax collection for governments and multinational companies. South African fintech startup SOLmate, unveiled a new product offering together with an extensive rebrand and renewed corporate vision. Shuttle-hailing startup SWVL also completed $35.5m pre-funding to accelerate growth strategy while Kenyan retail tech startup MarketForce raised $100,000 funding from Harambeans Prosperity Fund. Another South African fintech startup Ukheshe Technologies also announced a new partnership with global next-generation card solutions and digital security company, dzcard.
Although different sectors were exposed to and impacted in diverging ways to the extensive changes of the COVID-19 pandemic, Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) confidence across most sectors is on the rise, according to the latest research by Mastercard.
South African tech company iiDENTIFii this week also announced it has attained Microsoft co-sell Partner status with its biometric digital authentication and automated onboarding solution hosted in Microsoft Azure. In Ethiopia, Ethiopian Airlines unveiled a new digital option dubbed My Sheba Space, to enable economy class travelers purchase one or more empty seats on board to get extra space and relax.
Other top stories of the week include food delivery service Bolt announcing that it’s expanding to new areas within Nairobi, South African fintech specialist e4 launching a Girls in STEM programme to provide girls in underprivileged areas in South Africa with the support they need to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) post matric and Sopra Banking Software (SBS) partnering with BANK OF AFRICA to launch a new innovative offering for North to South money transfers based on SBS Open Banking Platform.
Duncan Mochama is the solutions consultant at Incentro Africa.
