[Africa Tech Week] Google empowering African communities

Google has over the last few months been actively involved in different activities across the continent. The search giant has also been rolling out some new features and also working closely with different organizations to empower local communities.

This week, the company announced a Sh100 million grant to train more than 100,000 Kenyan smallholder farmers in digital skills. This came just a few weeks after the company celebrated its 20th anniversary by unveiling a number of new enhancements aimed at making the task of finding answers even easier to billions of users around the world. Last month, it also partnered with Vodacom Tanzania to give customers the option to pay for content on the Google Play Store using Vodacom Airtime balance. During the same month, Google also hosted the first Web Rangers summit in Africa aimed at spreading awareness about internet safety and promoting responsible digital citizenship on the continent.

A number of smartphones were also unveiled this week. HMD Global, the home of Nokia phones, announced the availability of the Nokia 6.1 Plus in Kenya. Samsung Electronics East Africa also unveiled the Galaxy A7 in Kenya, the latest addition to the Galaxy A series family. Egypt’s smartphone maker Silicon Industries Corporation (SICO)  also announced that looking to enter the broader African market by the end of 2018 as it seeks to boost its exports.

African startups were also in the news this week. Kenya’s leading e-health platform, MYDAWA signed a partnership deal with iPay Limited, an innovative payment processing solution and payment gateway for Africa. The new partnership is intended to scale MYDAWA service delivery in line with achieving better health outcomes through the increase of payment options for customers who buy their health and wellness products on the platform.  Frankfurt-based firm GreenTec capital has announced that it is expanding its West African presence with the opening of a new office in Lagos, Nigeria as it seeks to invest in more African startups.  London-based startup accelerator Founders Factory, on the other hand, partnered with Standard Bank to launch its first international location in Johannesburg, South Africa to build and scale further 100 technology startups.

This week, Internet Solutions unveiled a consumption-based billing service for its customers. The solution, which is now available in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana, is expected to help companies cut down on the overheads experienced during downtime and off-peak seasons. This came just a few weeks after the company also launched the first iDirect DVB-S2X network in Africa, which is currently live across more than 300 sites in Nigeria. Last year, in an article published by the Africa Business Communities, we wrote about the company’s Kenya office selected telco systems to upgrade its fibre network to 10GB. Previously, the company also partnered with South Africa’s Accuris Networks to introduce pan-African Wi-Fi network.

A number of new appointments were also announced this week.  Pan-African telecoms group Liquid Telecom appointed Adil Youssefi as the new Regional CEO of East Africa.  Adil will oversee five key markets in the region. Last year, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer succeeding Ben Roberts, who became board Chairman of Liquid Telecom Kenya.  

Still on Liquid Telecom, the company this week completed the acquisition of the remaining 50 per cent stake in its Zambian subsidiary, CEC Liquid Telecom, from Copperbelt Energy Corporation PLC. The acquisition will help facilitate the group’s digital transformation strategy through an enhanced operating model and the benefit of 100 per cent of the cash flows from CEC Liquid Telecom and its retail arm, Hai Zambia.

Kenya’s leading mobile operator Safaricom also announced that it had revised its Voice, Data, and SMS costs after the recent the recent tax increase.  This came a close to a month after the company unveiled new data packages for its customers.   

On e-commerce, Jumia Kenya announced that it plans to grow its vendor base from the current 10,000 to 15,000 by 2019. The e-commerce leader made this announcement during Jumia Black Friday launch event held in Nairobi. Towards the end of last month, Jumia partnered with Amadeus, a leading travel technology company to launch the first flight marketplace in Africa.  During the same month, Bolloré Transport & Logistics has signed an agreement with Jumia,, and the Cameroon Customs to facilitate e-commerce in Cameroon.

Intelsat S.A., operator of the world’s first Globalized Network and leader in integrated satellite communications, and Q-KON  announced that Q-KON will introduce new, multiple high-speed broadband services powered by the IntelsatOne Flex for Enterprise platform. Whale Cloud, rebranded from ZTEsoft also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Republic of Ghana on innovative city development at the headquarters of Alibaba Group.

In Nigeria, Airtel announced a strategic partnership with Coverage Broadband, a subsidiary of Phase 3 Telecom, to launch 3flix mobile TV service in Nigeria. During the World Cup, the company also entered into a similar partnership with Kwesé iflix to launch a mobile video service.