Southern Africa
South Africa’s GDP Falls by 2% During First Quarter of 2020
Sourced from Finance Monthly. According to Statistics South Africa, the country’s economy decreased by 2.0% in the first quarter of 2020. Extending the technical recession the country found itself in in the last quarter of 2019. Stats SA’s latest quarterly GDP figures come only a week after SA’s finance minister Tito Mboweni tabled a supplementary budget in part of the country’s response against the COVID-19 pandemic. South Africa is the worst affected country in the continent. Treasury now expects the country’s GDP to contract by a record 7.2% by the end of the year, while tax revenues are expected to fall over R300 billion shorter then what was estimated in February’s budget. Fin24 reports that the global economy is likewise looking dour. The UK is reporting a 2.2% contraction between Ja...
INTERVIEW: How IBM and WITS are Enabling Data-Driven Decisions to Flatten the COVID-19 Curve
With the ongoing battle against the spread of COVID-19, it’s said that timely and accurate data could help governments stay ahead of new transmissions and ultimately flatten the curve. With this in mind, IBM Research Africa, WITS University and the Gauteng provincial government have joined forces to develop a powerful data-driven dashboard to help make data-driven decisions when it comes to halting the spread of the virus. ITNA’s Jenna Delport spoke to Sibusisiwe Makhanya, Data Scientist at IBM Research Africa, about this pioneering tool and how it’s aiding the government during this pandemic. Here’s is what transpired: With the ongoing battle against the spread of COVID-19 in mind, how does timely and accurate data assist government to stay ahead of new transmissions and flatten the curve...
GirlCode to Host Virtual Hackathon Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
GirlCode has announced that its inaugural hackathon will be taking place – this time as a virtual event held in August to coincide with the Women’s Month celebration. The organisation says that COVID-19 has presented a unique opportunity to provide innovative solutions to bridge the digital divide, hence the seventh instalment of the annual hackathon is dubbed “Hack from Home”. GirlCode notes that the global pandemic’s impact on the vulnerable populations of South Africa is unprecedented but with various lockdown restrictions imposed, technology was and still is relevant to allow us to work, transact and to keep us connected. The hackathon’s objective is to entrench and elevate interest in coding and in turn, afford tertiary students eager to join the software industry with an opportunity ...
The Value of Digital Currencies During the Age of COVID-19
Sourced from Hacker Noon. “Money is no longer the commodity it was a decade ago. How we acquire money is changing, and so is the form of money,” writes John Lombela, MD of African investment and tech company Cryptovecs Capital. He says that with the changing business landscape and the digital evolution, the only way one can define their digital future is by becoming familiar and looking at new digital assets especially if they are seeking funding for their business. “Gone are the days of depending on a bank loan or family and friends investing in your business. Entrepreneurs and those seeking funding can now consider cryptocurrency lending because it offers high yielding gains through margin trading on specific exchanges by lending cryptocurrencies,” Lombela continues. This move has result...
New POPI Act Regulations – Here’s Everything You Should Know
Sourced from Europa EU. Progress is being made to promote the protection of personal information in South Africa. President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the commencement of parts of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). The remaining provisions of the Act will be addressed once the Information Regulator assume its powers, functions and duties in terms of the Act. The sections that will commence today, 1 July 2020 and include the conditions for processing personal information, procedures for dealing with complaints and provisions regulating direct marketing by means of unsolicited electronic communication. Sections 2 – 38, 55 – 109, 111 and 114 (1), (2) and (3) commences on 1 July 2020 and Sections 110 and 114(4) will commence on 30 June 2021. What does this mean? According t...
Huawei to Launch 3 New Gadgets in South Africa
Huawei has announced that it will be launching a total of three new gadgets to its South African market – the Huawei Watch GT 2e smartwatch, the Huawei Y6P smartphone and the Huawei Matepad T8 tablet. The devices will be officially unveiled during Huawei’s first-ever livestream sale, taking place at 7pm SAST on 1 July 2020. Here’s a closer look at the new contenders in Huawei’s lineup: Huawei Watch GT 2e This smartwatch is the latest addition to Huawei’s popular Huawei Watch GT 2 Series and is designed to inspire an active lifestyle. Supported by two-week-long battery life, the device supports precise heart rate monitoring, abnormal heart rate reminders, pressure level monitoring and sleep monitoring features that allow users to understand their health status in real-time. /* custom ...
Scam Attempts on Gumtree Have Surged During South Africa’s Lockdown
British classifieds platform popular with South Africans, Gumtree has seen an increase in scams during the country’s lockdown with criminals and fraudsters benefiting from scamming people over a distance. Estelle Nagel of Gumtree says that “The pandemic has seen more South Africans sell their items in an attempt to raise additional cash, and as those listings increase, so do scam attempts.” “With lockdown, buyers and sellers are inclined to transact online only rather than face to face or without viewing an item in person and using electronic payment methods rather than cash. This does lead to more instances of fraud,” she continues. With more and more South Africans desperately searching for cash during these tough times, Nagel says, they may be less risk-averse than normal and more likel...
MultiChoice Joins the UN’s Campaign Against COVID-19 Misinformation
Sourced from Tech Central. The MultiChoice Group has announced its latest initiative in the fight against COVID-19. As part of its ongoing efforts to raise awareness through information, the Group has come on board as an official supporter of the United Nations’ global COVID-19 awareness campaign: Pause which launched globally on 30 June 2020. The aim of the Pause campaign is to highlight the dangers of sharing false information related to COVID-19. The campaign asks everyone to “pause, think and take care” before sharing information which could be inaccurate or misinformed and may have harmful effects. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_8ec.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_8ec.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “We are in a moment of global reckoning as COVID-19 and its social and econom...
MTN Launches 5G Network – Everything You Need to Know
Image sourced from Pinterest. MTN South Africa has launched its commercial 5G network, providing access to 100 sites across the country. “Today, from MTN’s birthplace of South Africa, we are stepping up our digital revolution with the next generation of telecommunication technology, demonstrating to all South Africans that 5G is no longer just an idea. It is here, it works and it has the capacity to bring about exponential improvements to our economy, and to the lives of the people we serve,” says MTN SA CEO Godfrey Motsa during the company’s live-streamed launch event. The network today covers specific parts of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Port Elizabeth, Durban and other smaller towns. “Our 5G strategy has been years in the making and we are confident that we have built a stron...
South African Organisations Lag Behind Global Average of Cybersecurity Resilience
Email and data security company, Mimecast, unveiled its fourth-annual State of Email Security 2020 report. This report summarises details from 1,025 global IT decision-makers on the current state of cybersecurity. The findings in this year’s report demonstrate that despite high levels of confidence in respondents’ cyber resilience strategies, there is a clear need for improvement. While a large majority (77%) of respondents say they have or are actively rolling out a cyber resilience strategy, only 62% of South African organisations are doing the same. Yet an astounding 47% of local organisations – and 60% of global ones – believe it is inevitable or likely they will suffer from an email-borne attack in the coming year. South African respondents cite data loss (35%), a decrease in employee...
eCommerce Activity Reaches Record High – Offering Hope for Local Economy
Sourced from IOL. eCommerce is said to be providing a ray of hope for South Africa’s local economy with transactions hitting a record high in May and June. And, while there will be some levelling off, DPO South Africa says the new love affair with digital commerce is unlikely to fade in coming months, offering some relief in an otherwise grim economy. “The last weekend in May saw transactions per minute hit four times that of the busiest minute experienced during Black Friday last year. June was similar to May and we expect our monthly volumes for the rest of the year to settle at around 40 per cent higher than last year,” explains Peter Harvey, MD of DPO South Africa. According to Harvey, the adoption of eCommerce should be seen as a very positive sign after the depressing financial metri...
Huawei’s Child-friendly MatePad T8 Now Available in South Africa
As many parents continue to keep their young ones at home, children are beginning to adapt to digital technologies at an exceedingly rapid rate. The days of colouring-in books have now been replaced by tablets and interactive face-to-face classes with teachers have morphed into engaging online lessons. This change seems to be almost seamless for today’s technologically astute children, whose only impediment to truly embracing a digitally transformed way of learning and playing is a lack of the right tools. Today, tablets need to adhere to a variety of criteria in order to truly benefit today’s youth, as well as their families. Devices need to be durable, light, powerful, and of course – fun. With this in mind, Huawei has launched the MatePad T8 – a feature-packed tablet that comes in a lig...
