Southern Africa
South Africa Begins First COVID-19 Vaccine Trial
Sourced from Getty Images The University of Witswatersrand has announced that South Africa’s first COVID-19 vaccine trial is set to begin, with participants to be enrolled by the end of the week. “This is a landmark moment for South Africa and Africa at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. As we enter winter in South Africa and pressure increases on public hospitals, now more than ever we need a vaccine to prevent infection by COVID-19,” Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University and Director of the South Africa Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit, Shabir Madhi, says in a virtual briefing. This new trial aims to find a vaccine that will prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection, which is the virus that causes COVID-19. “We began screening participants for ...
South Africa’s President Praises Amazon’s Job Creation Efforts
Sourced from 2OceansVibe. South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa has commended Amazon for its commitment to creating over 3000 jobs for locals. Ramaphosa notes, in his weekly newsletter, that this development comes at a time when many businesses are doing all they can to stay afloat in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. “Our economy is in the throes of the anticipated fallout from this global crisis. The predictions of businesses shutting down and jobs being lost are materialising,” he writes. In spite of this, Amazon is investing in the creation of new virtual jobs in Customer Service in South Africa. The company says that these roles will range from customer service associates to technical experts who will work virtually and provide 24/7 support to Amazon custo...
Telkom Records R43 billion in Revenue, Up 3%
Image sourced from My Broadband South African network provider, Telkom has delivered a solid top-line performance in the year to 31 March 2020, with revenue increasing 3.0% to R43.0 billion, mainly driven by a 54.4% increase in mobile service revenue. The company says its performance was underpinned by capital investments of R7.8 billion within the same period. The mobile business continues to gain scale and remains the fastest-growing mobile business in South Africa. With 12 million customers, it now accounts for 35% of Telkom’s total operating revenues. “Our Group revenue performance represents how ongoing investment – particularly in mobile, IT and masts and towers – enables Telkom to grow new revenue streams and offset traditional business shrinkage,” says Telkom Group Chief Executive,...
Cell C to Cut Over 900 Jobs, Almost 40% of its Workforce
Image sourced from Town Press South African network provider, Cell C has confirmed that it could retrench up to 960 employees – including junior management and semi-skilled staff – resulting in cuts of almost 40% of its workforce. “Cell C can confirm that it is has reached a difficult decision and initiated discussions with junior management and semi-skilled staff to implement a restructuring of its operations so as to align the organisation with its new operating model,” says a Cell C spokesperson. “Earlier this year, senior management positions were aligned to this revised operating model and new organisational structure. This process was completed in May and resulted in 30 positions being affected,” she said. Cell C began reevaluating its workforce in March 2020 and was said to be looki...
There are 577 Malware Attacks in South Africa Every Hour, Research Shows
Sourced from Republic Title The 2019 KnowBe4 African Report found that the continent is increasingly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. The report highlighted how vulnerable users were when it came to recognising cyber-threats and managing their risk profiles. In 2020, Accenture released a report entitled ‘Insight into the Cyberthreat Landscape in South Africa’ that revealed that there are around 577 malware attacks every hour, many of them are unsuccessful, however. Cybercrime has turned towards Africa and is putting its people and organisations at risk. “With cybercrime shifting its attention towards emerging economies and with Africa’s internet penetration about to double to one billion internet users by 2022, the African continent has become an attractive target for cybercrime,” says Anna Co...
Facebook Launches “My Digital World” Across Sub-Saharan Africa
Facebook has launched “My Digital World” – a programme designed to equip the youth and general public across Sub-Saharan Africa with digital skills needed to navigate the digital world. My Digital World is a consolidation of all Facebook digital literacy programmes including Safe Online with Facebook, Ilizwe Lam, and eZibo and will be offered virtually this year to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook has over the years trained thousands of people on digital literacy skills and is this year preparing to train close to 20,000 participants across Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire and Ethiopia on safe, responsible and beneficial usage of the digital platforms. “We remain committed to equipping young people and the general public across Sub-Saharan Africa with th...
Telkom VS Gaming to Bring Esports League to Virtual Comic Con Africa
Sourced from Students Brands. The 2020 edition of Comic Con Africa will be held virtually for the first time ever. Comic Con announced that this year’s edition of the biggest event in the pop culture and gaming calendar will go ahead from 24 – 27 September 2020; bringing a virtual Con to fans in their own homes. “The (COVID-19) pandemic has forced all aspects of the sports fraternity to relook their approach. Luckily for us, nothing much has changed; VS Gaming continued to host its online leagues through this time. With the postponement of Comic Con Africa the VS Gaming flagship Masters tournament will conclude and the revised structure will be shared with our community soon,” says Wanda Mkhize, Telkom VS Gaming Spokesperson. In light of the new developments, Telkom VS Gaming in partnershi...
MTN, Cell C and rain Zero-rate Education Programmes for Youth
Major telecommunications companies MTN, Cell C and rain have zero-rated the OLICO Maths Education Programme which provides puzzles and problem-solving activities, competitions, games and weekly challenges to keep learners busy, connected and engaged. This decision followed the closure of schools in the COVID-19 pandemic’s local lockdown restrictions, which compounded learning challenges even further for the notoriously under-resourced youth in some of South Africa’s largest townships. Launched in 2008, the OLICO Maths Education Programme has provided effective and increasingly popular after-school tutoring and training in Alexandra, Diepsloot, Bosmont, Dunoon and Heideveld, and partners using OLICO maths content are working in Soweto, Ivory Park, Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and deep-rural Easte...
South Africa Looks to be Expanding its Nuclear Power Infrastructure
Sourced from the South African. South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has taken another step towards building a new nuclear-power program. On Sunday, the department had issued a request for information for 2500 megawatts of capacity, the ministry says in a statement. Submissions for the request will close on 15 September. Given the long lead-time of building additional new nuclear capacity, upfront planning is necessary for security of energy supply to society. @DMRE_ZA has published the RFI intended to commence preparatory work to develop plans for a future nuclear energy build programme. pic.twitter.com/bln7ZRdbh5 — Gwede Mantashe (@GwedeMantashe1) June 14, 2020 “This will enable the department to gain insight into the cost of the program, possible ownership structure...
Level 2 B-BBEE Rating Awarded to Networks Unlimited, Showing Continued Commitment to SA
Value-added distributor Networks Unlimited Africa has been certified as a Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Level 2 contributor. This rating will assist both the company as well as its partners when it comes to competing in the marketplace. Networks Unlimited Africa distributes best-of-breed products and offers the latest solutions within the converged technology, data centre, networking, and security landscapes. CEO Anton Jacobsz comments, “This rating is a matter of great pride for us because it is not merely a certificate, but a recognition of the investment the company has made in its people – through both internal skills development, as well as the upliftment programmes and initiatives we have deployed and developed across all pillars of the B-BBEE codes.” “Networks Unli...
Telecom Giant Orange May Launch in Nigeria and South Africa Very Soon
Sourced from MSNBC. France’s largest telecom group Orange is considering entering the South African and Nigerian markets, according to its CEO. “It could make sense to be in economies such as Nigeria and South Africa,” Orange’s CEO Stephane Richard, says, according to a report by Reuters. “If one considers there are things to do, the time frame I am considering is rather a few months than a few years,” he continues. Richard declined to comment when asked about a possible interest in taking a stake in MTN. Orange and MTN Group have worked together to launch an African mobile payment company, Mowali. Orange has 208 million subscribers, while MTN has 257 million subscribers. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_e4d.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_e4d.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } They ar...
South African Government Working on Plans to Re-Open Cinemas Across the Country
A new set of regulations gazetted by the SA government on Thursday shows that movie theatres might be opening again across the country sometime soon. Cinemas are currently closed, not allowed to operate during Level 3 of the national lockdown. For it now it seems that the new government regulations have included theatres and cinemas in an arrangement that allows competitors to negotiate amongst each other, and with their landlords in order to lower rent and allow for rent holidays. In normal times, these negotiations are restricted by South Africa’s competition laws. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_eae.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_eae.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “The Department (of trade and industry) has received representation from stakeholders in the cinema exhibition ind...
