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Facebook reinforces its presence in Africa

September 21, 2020May 12, 2023 Editor

Facebook reinforces its presence in Africa Facebook is in Africa’s good books yet again and this time, the tech giant hopes to develop products made by Africans, for Africans, and the rest of the world. In 2016, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria on what was his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa. While the attraction to the budding tech ecosystem which was already producing some of Africa’s best-known startups was obvious, there was also the underlying influence of Facebook’s pool of high-ranking Nigerian-American executives. Four years later, that influence…

Bolt ventures into food delivery business

August 21, 2020May 17, 2023 Dianne Jacobs

Bolt ventures into the food delivery business Bolt, a Taxi-hailing service is venturing into the food delivery business in Kenya targeting alternative revenue streams as the market has seen reduced mobility in the wake of Covid-19 restrictions. Bolt advertised the position of Country Manager for its food delivery arm in Kenya signaling the beginning of operations towards the end of the year. “We’re already present in 30+ markets across Europe and Africa. Now, it’s time for us to bring the know-how around building a mobility platform to the food delivery…

Google drive,Gmail and Google meet hit by outage

August 20, 2020March 6, 2023 Editor

Thousands of users, mostly in India, parts of the U.S., Australia, Japan, and Malaysia are reporting that they are unable to access the aforementioned Google services including Gmail, Google Drive, and Google Meet. Recently Google Meet added Chromecast support to let you cast your meeting to the company’s Chromecast streaming sticks, Android TV, and smart displays. It is not known if this is the cause. Some users have reported that they are unable to log-in into their Gmail accounts, while others are saying new emails are not showing up in…

Facebook merges Instagram and Messenger chats

August 17, 2020March 6, 2023 Editor

Facebook merges Instagram and Messenger chats Facebook has reportedly started merging Instagram and Messenger chats in a fresh bid, to allow cross-messaging among its family of apps, First spotted by The Verge, the update is for both iOS and Android devices. The update comes with the message: “There’s a New Way to Message on Instagram”. “Once you hit the update, the regular DM icon in the top right of Instagram is replaced by the Facebook Messenger logo,” the report mentioned. Currently, the functionality to message Facebook users from Instagram is…

CBK Proposes law for mobile loan apps

August 13, 2020May 17, 2023 Dianne Jacobs

CBK Proposes law for mobile loan apps Digital app lending companies operating in Kenya are set up for a shake-up after the country’s central bank proposed new laws to regulate monthly interest rates levied on loans by digital lenders in a bid to stamp out what it deems predatory practices. If approved, digital lenders will require approval from the central bank to increase lending rates or launch new products. The move comes in the wake of mounting concern about the scale of predatory lending given the proliferation of startups offering…

Airtel Kenya ventures into the TV streams market

August 10, 2020May 17, 2023 Dianne Jacobs

Airtel Kenya has launched a TV app service to tap into streaming services market

Airtel Kenya ventures into the TV streams market Airtel Kenya a Telecom firm has launched a TV app service in the market as it moves to tap the growing demand for movie streaming services and rev up data consumption on its network. The free service dubbed Airtel TV will allow users to watch movies, documentaries, music, and cartoons, seeking a piece in a market dominated by giants Netflix, Amazon, and Showmax– which provide videos on demand. The service will be free for now, a pointer that seeks to earn money…

New labels for state-affiliated media Twitter accounts

August 7, 2020May 5, 2023 Editor

Twitter adds labels for government officials & state-controlled media

New labels for state-affiliated media Twitter accounts Twitter will introduce new labels for accounts and tweets tied to government officials and “state-affiliated media.” “Twitter provides an unmatched way to connect with, and directly speak to public officials and representatives,” the company wrote in the blog post announcing these changes. “This direct line of communication with leaders and officials has helped to democratize political discourse and increase transparency and accountability.” However, Twitter suggested that these labels are part of a larger effort “to protect that discourse because we believe political reach…

Telkom Kenya cancels merge with Bharti Airtel

August 5, 2020May 18, 2023 Editor

Telkom Kenya cancels merge with Bharti Airtel Telkom Kenya said on Wednesday it was no longer looking to merge its business with the Kenyan unit of India’s Bharti Airtel, citing challenges in securing the required regulatory approvals for the deal reports Reuters. Bharti Airtel had said in February 2019 that its Airtel Networks Kenya unit had agreed to buy Telkom Kenya, the East African nation’s smallest operator in which the state still has a 40% shareholding after a majority stake was sold in 2007. The deal, whose terms have never…

WhatsApp finds a way to curb fake news

August 5, 2020May 18, 2023 olivia Craig

WhatsApp finds a way to curb fake news WhatsApp making more changes to slow the spread of fake news among users and that’s why earlier this year it imposed a strict new limit on message forwarding. This feature means users who plan on forwarding a message that has been identified as “highly forwarded” will only be to send it to a single contact at a time. A “highly forwarded” message is defined as media that has been sent through a chain of five or more contacts. This isn’t the first time…

Facebook to invest $57 Billion in Africa’s economy in next five years

July 24, 2020May 19, 2023 Editor

Facebook’s to invest $57 Billion in Africa’s Economy in next five years

Facebook to invest $57 Billion in Africa’s economy in next five years Facebook has released findings from a study conducted by Analysys Mason called The Impact of Facebook’s Connectivity Initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, that highlights how its investments in infrastructure and connectivity across the region will deliver over $57 Billion in Economic Benefits over the next five years (2020–2024). According to The Economist Intelligence Unit – Inclusive Internet Index 2020, over 800 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are unconnected to the Internet. Facebook’s infrastructure investments and connectivity initiatives include the following:…