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Wearable device sales to hit $42 billion in 2019 says Gartner

November 30, 2018July 3, 2020 Dianne Jacobs

Gartner, Inc. forecasts that worldwide shipments of wearable devices will reach 225 million in 2019, an increase of 25.8 percent from 2018. End-user spending on wearable devices is forecast to reach $42 billion in 2019. Of that, $16.2 billion will be on smartwatches. “At the moment, the smartwatch market is bolstered by the relatively stable and higher average selling price (ASP) of the Apple Watch,” said Alan Antin. senior director at Gartner. “But the overall ASP of smartwatches is expected to slowly decline from $221.99 in 2018 to $210 in…

Disruptive technology emerging markets in Africa could leverage to transform utilities

November 23, 2018November 23, 2018 Editor

The entire installed generation capacity of Africa’s 48 Sub-Saharan countries is just 68 gigawatts, no more than Spain; this is according to the Africa’s Infrastructure report conducted by the World Bank. Up to one-quarter of that capacity is unavailable because of aging plants and poor maintenance. In Sub-Saharan Africa, just one person in five has access to electricity. If current trends continue, fewer than 40% of Sub-Saharan African countries will reach universal access to electricity by 2050. Per capita consumption of electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) averages only…

Founding DG of Kenya’s Vision 2030 secretariat Mugo Kibati, takes over at Telkom Kenya

November 12, 2018

Telecommunications company Telkom Kenya has appointed Mugo Kibati as its new chief executive officer, taking over from Mr Aldo Mareuse. Announcing the change, Telkom Kenya board chair Eddy Njoroge said the firm was grateful to Mr Mareuse for his successful leadership for the period he has been with the company. “Notable milestones achieved during his tenure include the expansion of the company’s network by over 50 per cent, successful rebranding of the company to Telkom and rolling out of a 4G network, resulting in the company becoming the data operator…

Tether burns 500 million Tether coins (USDT) to reduce circulation

October 26, 2018 Editor

Tether has announced the destruction of 500 million Tether coins (USDT). The cryptocurrency issuer said this week that “Tether has redeemed a significant amount of USDT from the circulating supply of tokens.” “In line with this, Tether will destroy 500m USDT from the Tether treasury wallet and will leave the remaining USDT (approx 466m) in the wallet as a preparatory measures for future USDT issuances,” the company added. Tether said that the coin reserve’s destruction, which is a move not often seen in the cryptocurrency space, is in line with…

Can Blockchain + Virtual Reality Boost E-commerce In Africa

October 24, 2018 Dianne Jacobs

eCommerce will be worth $75 billion in Africa’s leading economies, and came into existence as the solution to the stress of beating traffic to get to stores, bringing about a more convenient way of buying and selling. Today, online retail seems to be fast replacing the brick and mortar stores, and warehouses are becoming the one place to order items from. Ventures such as Alibaba, eBay, Payporte, Jumia, and Konga are cashing in big on African’s need to do convenient shopping from the comfort of their homes. While this a…

Distribution Is The Real Disruption, Mobile phones game-changing agri-tech in Africa

October 11, 2018 Editor

While emerging technologies like blockchain and artificial intelligence can capture our imagination, some of the most game-changing innovations for smallholder farmers are more modest. Seeds. Roads. Electricity. While such technologies may seem mundane, they are anything but. Reaching smallholder farmers in rural areas takes a nuanced combination of appropriate innovations, sophisticated distribution systems, and a human touch. One organization celebrated for its approach is One Acre Fund, a non-profit social enterprise working with 600,000 farmers in East Africa. I spoke with Ilana Kessler, Impact Ventures Growth Director, about scaling innovative approaches to help…

Competitive Edge: Tech Giants spent a combined $80 billion last year on big-ticket physical assets stockpile

September 26, 2018 Editor

General Motors Co. and Google couldn’t be more different. GM musters an army of people and machines to produce the 10 million cars it sells each year. What Google makes doesn’t really exist: You type on a laptop or click play on a YouTube video, and Google zips back bits of digital information. But Google parent Alphabet Inc. and the other four dominant U.S. technology companies—Apple, Amazon.com, Microsoft, and Facebook—are fast becoming industrial giants. They spent a combined $80 billion in the last year on big-ticket physical assets, including manufacturing…

Safaricom faces $4.5 million fine $4.5 million for failing to connect smaller firms

September 26, 2018 Editor

Kenya’s biggest telco Safaricom may be fined about $4.5 million by the regulator for failing to connect calls made to smaller firms, according to company and regulatory documents reviewed by Reuters. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has imposed a fine on Safaricom, part-owned by South Africa’s Vodacom and Britain’s Vodafone, of 0.2 percent of its gross revenue for the last financial year, equivalent to 449 million shillings ($4.5 million), the documents show. Safaricom denies the accusation and has secured a temporary suspension of the fine pending a hearing before…