- Cybastion and Gabon’s ANINF launched a free national digital and cybersecurity training program for 1,000 young Gabonese.
- The program offers three training levels, from basic digital literacy to certified specializations in networks and cybersecurity.
- The initiative builds on a 2025 Gabon–U.S. partnership to support digital infrastructure and youth employability.
U.S. technology company Cybastion and Gabon’s National Agency for Digital Infrastructures and Frequencies (ANINF) officially launched the free program on Tuesday, Jan. 27. The initiative targets young Gabonese seeking skills in digital technologies and cybersecurity.
Presenting the Africa DigiEmpower program, Antonia Akouré-Davain, managing director of Cybastion Gabon, said the country must develop local talent to sustain its digital transformation drive. She said the program aims to support the modernization of Gabon’s digital infrastructure while equipping young people and women with market-ready skills to improve their employability in both the public and private sectors.
The training framework includes three levels, ranging from entry-level courses to advanced technical specializations. The first level, open to participants without prior qualifications, focuses on basic computer skills and the use of digital tools. Advanced levels offer certification tracks in networking, cybersecurity and digital technologies to meet rising demand in the sector.
The program extends a partnership signed in 2025 between Cybastion and the Gabonese state to accelerate digital infrastructure development and provide the workforce with globally competitive digital skills. ANINF, a key project partner, will host the training through the ANINF Academy at its headquarters in the ANINF Tower and will support participants throughout the program. The agency said it may recruit top-performing trainees for national digital transformation projects.
Beyond Gabon, the initiative reflects a broader continental challenge. The World Bank estimates that more than 230 million jobs in sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030, in a region where nearly 60% of the population is under 25. By investing in training, Gabon aims to strengthen its human capital, boost youth employment, support the digital economy and position itself within Africa’s growing role in the global digital economy.
This article was initially published in French by Samira Njoya
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM
- Somalia’s parliament approved a cybersecurity law that creates a national governance framework and new response institutions.
- The law establishes a national incident response team, a nine-member cybersecurity committee and an emergency response center.
- The move follows recent cyberattacks, including a 2025 breach of the e-visa platform, and comes as Somalia ranks Tier 4 in the ITU’s Global Cybersecurity Index.
Somalia’s parliament approved the cybersecurity law on Monday, Jan. 26, strengthening the country’s regulatory framework as authorities intensify efforts to secure national cyberspace.
𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐰
— NCA Somalia (@SomaliaNCA) January 26, 2026
Mogadishu, Somalia – January 26, 2026 — The House of the People of the Federal Parliament of Somalia has today officially approved Somalia’s Cybersecurity Law, which aims to protect… pic.twitter.com/7XOgRDLp5A
The National Communications Authority (NCA) said the law establishes a national cybersecurity management framework. The text defines the responsibilities of the Ministry of Communications, assigns a technical role to the telecom regulator, sets obligations for operators of critical infrastructure and details mechanisms for prevention, reporting and response to cyber incidents.
The law also provides for the creation of the Somalia Computer Incident Response Team (SOM-CIRT), alongside a nine-member cybersecurity committee and an emergency intervention center tasked with coordinating rapid responses to cyber incidents.
“The cybersecurity law should play a key role in strengthening digital trust, supporting the growth of the digital economy and intensifying cooperation between public institutions, the private sector and international partners,” the telecom regulator said in a statement.
The approval follows earlier legislative steps. In August 2025, the Somali government approved a draft cybercrime bill. In March 2023, the Data Protection Act entered into force and led to the creation of the Data Protection Authority (ADP), which oversees enforcement of data protection rules.
Beyond domestic regulation, Somalia has pursued international cooperation to protect its cyberspace. The country signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia in August 2025, which authorities view as a global benchmark in cybersecurity. Earlier, in November 2024, Somalia strengthened cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to bolster its capacity to combat online crime.
These initiatives come as cyber threats intensify. In his report State of Cybersecurity in Somalia 2024, Abdullahi Guled, a consultant to the Ministry of Communications, said Somalia recorded several cyber incidents in 2024, although authorities did not disclose many of them publicly. The incidents included ransomware attacks against public institutions and phishing attempts targeting the financial sector.
In November 2025, hackers breached the e-visa platform and compromised the personal data of several thousand people, highlighting vulnerabilities in government digital systems.
Somalia ranked in Tier 4 out of 5 in the International Telecommunication Union’s Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, which the ITU said “demonstrates a basic commitment to cybersecurity.” The country scored 37.38 out of 100 and still needs to strengthen technical, legal and capacity-building measures to improve resilience.
This article was initially published in French by Isaac K. Kassouwi
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM
- South African accountant Bernice Houy founded Fintura in 2023 to centralize and automate accounting firm operations.
- The platform integrates task management, compliance tracking, client data and an AI assistant to cut administrative workload.
- Houy previously led Xena Accounting and now mentors startups while expanding Fintura’s footprint.
Bernice Houy is a seasoned South African accountant and a technology entrepreneur. She founded and now leads Fintura, an online platform designed to simplify the daily work of accountants, particularly those operating in South Africa.
Founded in 2023, Fintura helps accounting firms reduce the heavy administrative burden that often diverts professionals from their core advisory role. Instead of forcing firms to juggle multiple tools to manage daily tasks, deadlines, compliance requirements and client communication, the platform consolidates all functions into a single digital workspace.
Fintura offers a suite of features tailored to the operational needs of accounting professionals. The platform automates repetitive tasks such as deadline tracking and key data collection. It also centralizes client information, improves monitoring of legal and administrative obligations and brings documents, reminders and internal communications together within one application.
In addition, the platform integrates an intelligent virtual assistant named Hank. The assistant answers questions, sends deadline reminders, retrieves documents and suggests templates. Through these functions, Hank helps accountants save time and reduce the risk of oversight.
Before launching Fintura, Houy founded Xena Accounting in 2018. She led the accounting, business and tax advisory firm as chief executive until 2025. She now serves as a mentor at the Founder Institute, a global startup accelerator.
Houy holds a bachelor’s degree in financial accounting obtained in 2017 from the University of South Africa. She completed her academic training in 2023 with a postgraduate diploma in accounting from the Milpark School of Financial Services, a South African business school.
Houy began her professional career in 2014 as an account manager at Fenns Incorporated, an accounting firm. From 2020 to 2024, she served on the finance committee of Justice Desk Africa, a human rights organization. At the same time, she worked as chief financial officer at Solutions For Africa, an organization that develops capacity-building solutions for businesses, individuals and institutions across Africa and beyond.
This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM
- South African entrepreneur Nicolas van Zyl founded Naritive in 2021 to redesign digital advertising around social media behaviors.
- Naritive develops interactive formats such as Ad Stories and Ad Social to increase attention, engagement and message recall.
- Van Zyl combines a legal background with senior roles in media agencies and esports governance.
Nicolas van Zyl is a trained lawyer and a South African entrepreneur. He founded and now leads Naritive, an international company specializing in digital advertising.
Founded in 2021 under the name NXD, Naritive supports brands in designing advertising experiences that are more engaging, interactive and visible online. The company moves away from traditional advertising formats, which users often ignore, and instead develops creations inspired by social media usage. These formats aim to capture attention, drive interaction and strengthen message recall.
Naritive develops several advertising formats. The first, Ad Stories, mirrors the structure and visual language of popular social media stories and delivers them as interactive and immersive advertisements. Another format, Ad Social, converts content already published on social media into advertisements distributed across the wider web while preserving original interaction mechanisms.
In addition, the company offers The Naritive Platform, an advertising platform that centralizes the creation, management and deployment of these formats. The platform provides tools that convert visual or social content into interactive ads, integrate features such as polls, clickable areas or animations, and distribute campaigns across multiple digital environments.
Alongside his work at Naritive, Nicolas van Zyl serves as partner and non-executive director at Mettlestate, a leading esports and gaming company in South Africa.
He graduated from the University of Cape Town, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in English, history and philosophy in 2012, a bachelor’s degree in law in 2015 and a master’s degree in human rights law in 2017.
In 2017, he joined Mercurial Media, an advertising company, as an intern and later became digital campaign manager. In 2018, he joined Nettrade Programmatic, a media solutions agency, where he successively held roles as head of advertising operations and head of performance. In 2020, he continued his career at OMD Worldwide South Africa as head of digital accounts.
This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM
Aya Data, a Ghanaian startup focused on data annotation and AI services, has raised $900,000 in seed funding to expand its AyaGrow and AyaSpeech products and hire new staff. Founded in 2021, the company trains workers for technical data jobs while developing tools for agricultural monitoring and speech recognition systems designed for African languages.
Enakl, a Moroccan startup founded in 2022, has raised $2.3 million in seed funding to speed up the deployment of its shared mobility services. Its technology helps corporate clients and public agencies build and manage flexible transport networks in real time. The company said the funds will support sales expansion, the launch of a new software product and pilot new shared-fleet models.
WhatsApp is testing a linked secondary account feature on Android that would let parents create child-friendly profiles with limited functionality. Messages could be restricted to approved contacts, while some parts of the app would remain inaccessible, though end-to-end encryption would still apply. The feature is still in development and has no announced release date, but it aims to bring parental controls directly into the platform.
- Kenya plans to launch a digital platform to automate external debt payments, improving transparency and reducing processing delays.
- External debt totals roughly $42 billion, nearly half of the country’s public debt.
- The platform integrates key systems, including Meridian debt management and the Central Bank exchange-rate system.
Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo disclosed the initiative on January 27, following a project briefing attended by officials from the Budget Office, Auditor General, and World Bank representatives.
The system is scheduled to go live on Monday, February 2, 2026, with a one-month parallel run to ensure a secure transition.
The platform will integrate several core components: the Meridian debt management system, the Central Bank of Kenya’s exchange-rate system, and the Treasury’s payment request and approval processes.
This architecture will automate the entire payment chain—from instruction generation to approval and execution—replacing manual workflows with secure digital processes.
Chris Kiptoo said the platform “should reduce delays and errors while improving oversight of the country’s financial obligations.”
Kenya’s external debt stood at about 5.5 trillion shillings ($42 billion) at the end of 2025, nearly half of its total public debt, which exceeds 11 trillion shillings.
Fitch Ratings highlighted growing financing needs and stressed the importance of efficiently managing external borrowing in 2026.
The digital platform aims to accelerate transaction processing, enhance transparency, and improve public fund traceability. It should also facilitate coordination among government agencies and strengthen financial oversight.
The Treasury acknowledges potential cybersecurity risks in moving to a fully digital system.
Officials must safeguard against intrusions, fraud, and technical failures. Protecting sensitive data and ensuring system resilience will be critical to guarantee reliable and uninterrupted debt service.
This article was initially published in French by Samira Njoya
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM
Moroccan proptech Yakeey just closed a record $15 million Series A round to scale its operations across Africa. Founded in 2023 by Karim Beqqali, the platform secured backing from the IFC and Beltone Venture Capital, among others. Yakeey is set to redefine the real estate market by leveraging data and AI to streamline transactions and provide cutting-edge financing options.
Egyptian fintech leader Valu has secured a 3-billion-Egyptian-pound ($63.6 million) short-term financing agreement with the National Bank of Egypt. A pioneer in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) payment space, Valu also offers investment and payroll management solutions. This funding is set to fuel the company’s expansion following its recent launch in Jordan.
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Nigerian fintech leader Paga has teamed up with PayPal to launch a new direct-link service. Starting Tuesday, January 27, users in Nigeria can receive global payments straight to their digital wallets. These funds are instantly available in Naira for bill payments, shopping, or bank transfers.
- Cameroonian entrepreneur Franklin Kamga co-founded and leads Notch Pay, an online payment platform launched in 2019.
- Notch Pay centralizes multiple payment methods to help African businesses collect payments online.
- The platform targets enterprises of all sizes with tools for payment links, invoicing, and transaction management.
Franklin Kamga is a Cameroonian software developer and technology entrepreneur. He co-founded and serves as chief executive officer of Notch Pay, an online payment platform built to simplify financial transactions in Africa.
Founded in 2019 by Franklin Kamga and B. Zile Tankeu, Notch Pay provides an intuitive and secure solution. The platform centralizes multiple payment methods in a single interface. As a result, businesses can receive money online without operational complexity.
The platform enables merchants to collect payments from sales conducted through websites or mobile applications.
Users generate payment links and share them via email, SMS, or instant messaging services. This functionality allows customers to complete purchases quickly without complex systems.
Notch Pay also offers an invoicing feature. Businesses can send invoices and track related payments through the platform.
Through a connected professional account, users access a comprehensive dashboard. The interface displays transaction history, payment tracking, and customer management tools. The platform also provides operational tools to support business monitoring and decision-making.
Notch Pay adapts its services to different user profiles. Entrepreneurs, small businesses, associations, and large organizations can access solutions tailored to their needs.
Franklin Kamga earned a software engineering degree in 2015 from the African Institute of Computer Science in Cameroon.
He began his professional career in 2016 as a web developer at Dark Code, a creative agency. In 2020, he joined LGL Transport as a full-stack developer.
This article was initially published in French by Melchior Koba
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM
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Zimbabwe and Australia discussed bilateral cooperation on artificial intelligence and ICT development.
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President Emmerson Mnangagwa plans to launch Zimbabwe’s national AI strategy in March 2026.
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Australia offered technical support as Zimbabwe expands digital investment and connectivity.
Zimbabwe continues its digital transformation drive. Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister Tatenda Mavetera met Australia’s ambassador to Zimbabwe, Minoli Perera, on Monday, January 26, 2026. The meeting focused on exploring bilateral cooperation opportunities in information and communication technologies.
The discussions centered on Zimbabwe’s forthcoming national artificial intelligence strategy. President Emmerson Mnangagwa plans to launch the strategy in March 2026. The roadmap aims to define national priorities for digital innovation, public service modernization, and technological skills development.
Official data showed rising momentum in Zimbabwe’s digital sector. ICT investments increased by 14.5%, alongside improvements in connectivity. Mobile penetration reached 103%, while internet penetration rose to 83%. These figures reflected broader access to digital services across the population.
Australia signaled readiness to support Harare through technical assistance and expertise sharing. Canberra operates an advanced national AI framework. In December 2025, the Australian government unveiled a National AI Plan to accelerate adoption across the economy.
McKinsey estimated that artificial intelligence and automation could generate between $170 billion and $600 billion in additional GDP for Australia by 2030.
The proposed cooperation could cover training, skills transfer, AI governance, and support for local start-ups. Harare aims to structure a job-creating digital ecosystem. The objective carries demographic urgency, as more than 60% of Zimbabwe’s population stands under the age of 25.
Through closer ties with Canberra, Zimbabwe seeks to strengthen its regional technological position. By prioritizing artificial intelligence and international partnerships, the country aims to use digital development as a strategic lever for economic diversification and sustainable growth.
This article was initially published in French by Samira Njoya
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM
- Egypt’s parliament plans legislation to restrict children’s access to social media platforms.
- President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi publicly urged age limits on minors’ social media use.
- Egypt joins a global regulatory trend as Africa lags in child online protection frameworks.
Egypt’s parliament announced on Sunday, January 25, its intention to draft legislation regulating children’s use of social media. The House of Representatives released the information in an official statement. The statement said the draft law aims to limit the negative effects of digital exposure on minors, including psychological and behavioral risks associated with early use of social platforms.
Lawmakers said they plan to hold consultations with the government and specialized institutions. The process aims to design an appropriate legal framework. The framework seeks to establish mechanisms to control children’s access to social media. The framework also seeks to regulate the practices of digital platforms operating in Egypt.
The initiative follows direct political momentum. President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi called on the government and parliament one day earlier to examine restrictions on children’s social media use. The president said authorities should consider limits until children reach an age at which they can “manage properly” these digital tools.
Through this move, Egyptian authorities align with a growing global debate over child protection in digital spaces.
Several countries have already adopted concrete measures to regulate minors’ access to social platforms. In France, the National Assembly recently approved at first reading a bill banning social media for children under 15.
Australia adopted a landmark law in December 2025 banning access to social media for children under 16. The law requires platforms to delete non-compliant accounts. The law also imposes heavy fines for violations.
Online child protection remains uneven across Africa. The International Telecommunication Union said that only 39 African countries had adopted a national child online protection strategy in 2024.
At the same time, 32% of African states remained in the drafting phase. Meanwhile, 41% of countries had taken no action. The situation contrasts with rapid digital growth. The ITU said one child worldwide connects to the internet for the first time every half-second.
For Egypt, adoption of such legislation could strengthen protections against digital risks. These risks include cyberbullying, exposure to inappropriate content, and social pressure linked to intensive screen use.
However, the legislative process remains complex. Member of parliament Amira El-Adly recently highlighted the lack of reliable official data on children’s internet use in Egypt. She also cited the absence of verified data on psychological and behavioral impacts. This data gap could complicate the creation of a framework that is effective, balanced, and enforceable.
This article was initially published in French by Samira Njoya
Adapted in English by Ange J.A de BERRY QUENUM