Brief (580)
On Thursday, October 26, the Prix Galien USA Awards committee announced the winners of the 2023 edition of the Prix Galien USA, named after the forefather of modern medicine and pharmacology. Kenyan incubator Villgro Africa, which supports startups operating in the healthcare sector, was selected in the Best Incubator and Accelerator category.
Last November 2, DRC Prime Minister Sama Lukonde Kyenge officially inaugurated a data center built by Huwaei at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in the framework of a project to modernize ICT infrastructure.
The data center, financed by the Export-Import Bank of China, will centralize, merge, secure, and store the activities of the country's financial authorities.
Pan-African payments gateway MFS Africa, founded in 2009 by Dare Okoudjou (photo) and based in Johannesburg, South Africa, announced on Wednesday, November 1 its name change to Onafriq. The change comes as the firm embarks on its North American expansion after several acquisitions.
"As we embark on this next phase of our journey, we wanted a name that reflects our aspiration of wiring up the whole continent into one network of networks with pathways from and to every African and every African business," explains Dare Okoudjou.
Maisha Meds, a digital platform that helps people access healthcare at affordable costs, has received $5.25 million in scale-up funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The funds will support the startup in its aim to extend its mobile software to 7,500 pharmacies and clinics, providing subsidized care to nearly a million patients.
Last Wednesday, October 25, Pascal Nyamulinda, Director General of the National Agency for the Identification of Persons (ANIP), officially launched anip.bj, the agency’s official mobile application.
The application aims to facilitate the acquisition of administrative documents, help users check the authenticity of those documents, and submit claims and complaints. For the time being, it is only available for Android devices.
The Universal Postal Union has dispatched two technical experts to Chad as part of a mission running from Monday, October 23 to Friday, October 27. The experts will assess the operational readiness of the postal service operator SPTE and train staff on the use of the international mail processing platform (IPS.POST) and the customs declaration system (CDS.POST).
On Wednesday, October 25, the Guinean Ministry of Technical Education, Vocational Training and Employment announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese technology firm Huawei. The aim is to build smart classrooms at the Kindia Vocational Center and Camara Laye in Conakry.
On Wednesday, October 18, Benin’s Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitizationannounced the 2023 edition of itsyearlyevent SENUM (Digital Week) wouldbeheldfromNovember 6 to 10 at the Congress Center of Cotonou. This year, the eventwillbeheldaround the theme “Emerging technologies to accelerate the digital transformation of States.”
The Mauritian government recently announced that new mobile identification measures would become enforceable on October 31, 2023.
According to authorities, from the aforementioned date, all current cell phone subscribers will have to re-register their SIM or Esim cards. The main aim is to ensure that every SIM card in use is registered in the name of the individual using it, thereby strengthening subscriber protection against identity theft, various forms of fraud, and malicious practices.
The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) recently unveiled its Digitalisation and IT Strategy 2023/24-2027/28.
This five-year strategy aims, among other things, to improve services to taxpayers, modernize URA systems, streamline online services, and develop a high-performance, diverse workforce, all thanks to cutting-edge technologies. It also aims to create a reliable, secure, and interoperable digital environment that makes it easier for taxpayers to meet their tax obligations.
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The Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications (CIT), the sponsor of Egypt's digital industry, is currently participating in GITEX Global 2023 with 19 Egyptian tech companies.
The said companies are currently showcasing their expertise to other participants in Dubai. The aim is to establish partnerships with international companies and explore the latest trends and innovations in the communications and information technology sector.
iiDENTIFii, a startup that developed facial authentication technology for smartphones and computers, announced last week the signing of a partnership with Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO). The partnership aims to roll out the startup’s ID solutions in Zambia. "In Zambia, we aim to address challenges related to digital exclusion, limited access to services, and identity fraud. Many individuals across the continent lack recognized identification, which hampers their access to banking, healthcare, and government services,” explained Gur Sheva, founder of iiDENTIFii.
On the sidelines of the Regional Cybersecurity Week Abu Dhabi, October 8 to 13, Chad's Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Economy, Mahamat Allahou Taher, and the head of the UAE government's Cybersecurity Council, Mohamed Hamad Al Kuwaiti, signed a memorandum of understanding.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two countries will collaborate in the fields of cybersecurity, the fight against cybercrime, and international cooperation in cyber matters, among other things.
Last week, French development agency AFD announced the ten African startups that won the 2023 edition of the AFD Digital Challenge. They are Adinkra (Cameroon), Colorfol (Cameroon), Vortex (Nigeria), Aflamin (Morocco), IAMNATIV (Uganda), SkanTicket (Ivory Coast), ShazaCin (South Africa), SongBoost (Kenya), AkooBooks (Ghana) and Oroko Radio (Ghana).