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HIV-Fighting Strategy Could Help Against COVID-19

Sourced from Getty Images. While vaccines for the world-stopping coronavirus could be months, or even years away – there are some researchers who are looking to see if they can stop people who are at high risk of getting sick in the first place. The Verge writes that this is a proven strategy and preventative drugs have been used for decades to help people protect themselves against malaria, and more recently, against HIV. There has never been an effective vaccine against HIV, but now people can take a daily medication that reduces the risks of contracting the disease from sexual activity by 99%. Known as Pre-Exposure Prophylactic, or PrEP, the drug is used to prevent disease in people who haven’t yet been exposed to it. “We have an incredibly powerful tool that can, for myself personally,...

Is the US Trade Ban Limiting China’s Tech Dominance? Huawei Thinks So

Image sourced from Al Jazeera Last week US President, Donald Trump extended the national trade ban by another year – a move which a senior Huawei Technologies executive believes is “really designed to safeguard American dominance of global tech”. Similarly, Head of Consumer Electronics at Huawei, Richard Yu says “The so-called cybersecurity reasons are merely an excuse. The key is the threat to the technology hegemony of the US”. The order prohibits American companies from buying, selling or using any hardware from Chinese technology companies in fear that it will result in ‘cyber-exploitation’ by China. Already in 2019, President Trump claimed that Huawei is a threat to American national security. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_ea4.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_ea4.td-a-rec-img img{ ma...

New Windows 10X OS Struggling to Perform Basic Functions

Sourced from The Sun UK. Microsoft has spent a good while now pushing for a single version of Windows that can run on every type of device, and while the company hasn’t managed to achieve this as well as they might have liked in the past – now the company seems to be close to finally reaching that “one Windows” ecosystem. Enter Windows 10X. A new edition of Windows 10 designed for dual-screen devices like Microsoft’s upcoming Surface Neo. The operating system is also slated to be introduced to all devices running a Microsoft OS in the near future. That’s the plan, at least for now. Now, according to MS Power User, Microsoft is not satisfied with the performance of a number of Win32 apps when virtualised in 10X. When in the background, these apps are struggling to perform basic tasks such a...

Facebook and SANBS Partner to Increase Blood Donations in South Africa

Facebook, the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) and the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) are working together to encourage people to donate blood. Starting on Monday, 18 May 2020, South Africans who are over 18 years old will have the option to sign up as blood donors on Facebook, be notified when blood donor centres near them have an urgent need for donations and invite friends to donate. With South Africa being the first African country that Facebook has launched this feature, this initiative comes at a crucial time as the country starts to see a significant drop in blood donations as a result of people staying home to prevent the spread of COVID-19, despite health institutions like the World Health Organization saying it is still safe to donate blood. How It Works /* custom ...

Facebook Buys Giphy for $400-Million

Sourced from Dialogue Pakistan One of Facebook’s largest and most notable acquisitions in recent memory is for a service commonly used to find reaction GIFs for funny memes. Giphy is a platform where users can create and share their own GIFs of whatever it is they want – from TV show snippets to baby’s eating lemons or cats texting. Facebook says it had acquired Giphy and that the service will soon become part of the social media titan’s Instagram team – making it far easier for users to find relevant GIFs for their stories and direct messages. A Facebook spokesperson told CNN that the company isn’t disclosing the terms of the deal. Reportedly, according to Axios, this deal is worth $400-million. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_acb.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_acb.td-a-rec-img img{ marg...

Mukuru Launches Grocery Service to support Zimbabwean Families from South Africa

Image sourced from Mukuru African remittance provider Mukuru has launched Mukuru Groceries – a service that hopes to give South African based customers the ability to send groceries to their families and communities in Zimbabwe. With this service, customers can place orders for a basket of groceries that include 21 staples such as Mealie Meal, cooking oil, sugar, salt, rice, etc. To facilitate ease of use, Mukuru Groceries is available via USSD and Whatsapp. Existing customers will not be required to register for the service, they can simply create orders via USSD and WhatsApp, making it as easy to send groceries home as it is to send money. Mukuru says that this service has come at a time when many families are struggling to obtain basic commodities as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. /...

COVID-19 Exposes Lack of ICT Policy in Nigeria’s Education System

Sourced from the Chronicle of Education The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragile state of Nigeria’s education system. A system which the Guardian Nigeria describes as “messy,” one that “lacks information and communications technology (ICT) ingredients, leaving the system to churn out half-baked graduates.” They write that with the continued closure of schools in an attempt to contain the spread of the pandemic – children are now going to be severely disadvantaged, and their families will suffer because of the interrupted learning, compromised nutrition, childcare problems, and consequent economic cost to families who could not work. Today, the distinctive rise of e-learning had made education change drastically – teaching can be undertaken remotely and on digital platforms. But in Nig...

Coronavirus Could Cost Global Economy $8.8 Trillion

Sourced from Finance Monthly. The coronavirus pandemic could cost the global economy between $5.8-trillion and $8.8-trillion, according to the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The BBC reports that this is more than double last month’s prediction and equates to 6.4%-9.7% of the world’s economic output. This comes as measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 continue to paralyse economic activity around the world. Globally, authorities have taken aggressive action to cushion their economies from the outbreak’s impact. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_160.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_160.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } “This new analysis presents a broad picture of the very significant potential economic impact of Covid-19,” the ADB’s chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada says. “It also highli...

Vodacom Welcomes Launch of AWS Data Centres in South Africa

Image sourced from Blog dbi services Amazon Web Services (AWS) – alongside launching its next wave of data centres in South Africa – has partnered with Vodacom to grow the South African mobile networks offering further and deliver improved business, cloud and other solutions to its clients. “Vodacom is an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner with operations across the African continent, so naturally we are very pleased that they have made the decision to invest in the South African market, as well as the broader African market, by opening these data centres in Cape Town,” says Shameel Joosub, Vodacom Group CEO. “The most exciting aspect of this is the integration of AWS into the Vodacom Network, which will allow our clients to take advantage of the benefits of both offerings, and use them to tr...

Opera’s OPay Still Planning African Expansion via Nigerian “Super App”

Sourced from TechCrunch. Opera’s African fintech startup OPay remains committed to building a multi-service super app in Nigeria as the foundation to expand on the continent. OPay will also continue to operate ORide for limited passenger service — though the company is shifting the motorcycle ride-hail operation toward logistics businesses. These updates were offered by Opera’s VP of Investor Relations and advisor to Opay, Derrick Nueman speaking to TechCrunch. Opera’s plans are coming to fruition in the context of fierce competition among fintech and mobility companies in the West African country. Nigeria is home to the continent’s largest economy, biggest population and is the top destination for VC to African startups, as of 2019. In 2018, Opera launched the Opay mobile money platf...

Why African Governments Must Continue Supporting Tech Systems

Sourced from Redbubble and iStock. For the first time in living memory, nations across the world have imposed strict travel restrictions to minimize the damage caused by COVID-19. Many countries have decided to pre-emptively close their borders and halt the spread and transmission of the virus. The current health crisis and the closure of borders remind us of the importance and origin of biometric technologies and African governments’ core ICT infrastructure when, only a few years ago, basic information systems were non-existent. Tracing the presence of foreign nationals within a particular country would have simply not been possible. As little as 20 to 30 years ago, many African nations had little to no ICT infrastructure embedded into government operations. Technologies that did exist el...

TikTok Accused of Breaching Child Privacy Regulations

Sourced from Cosmico At least twenty advocacy groups have accused TikTok of violating child privacy regulations in the US and breaching a settlement that the viral video app agreed with the Federal Trade Commission last year over a previous privacy complaint. The groups, which include the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the Center for Digital Democracy and the Electronic Privacy Information Center, have all filed complaints with the US Watchdog saying that they believe that the social media platform is “in contempt” of the terms of the 2019 settlement, as well as children’s privacy regulations. ArsTechnica reports that TikTok, owned by Chinese tech group ByteDance, was fined $5.7-million in February last year for illegally collecting children’s data as it began to rise in popular...