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Chatbot Uptake to Remain Robust in Nigeria

Sourced from UC Today. Nigerian firms that offer extensive customer support on their platforms are eagerly snapping up chatbot solutions to improve Customer Experience (CX) and drive down costs. This technology is becoming simpler, cheaper to deploy, and can be integrated across various chat channels. Chatbots are rapidly changing the game for many businesses, as AI-driven bots start to communicate more efficiently and effectively with end-users while giving organisations better insight into their customers. What’s more, this technology provides organisations with cost optimisation by decreasing operating expenses, in addition to offering scalability without impacting quality. As a result, this frees up resources for the organisation in order to pursue other opportunities. /* custom css */...

5G Critical to Nigeria’s Development, Claim Engineers

Sourced from PC Mag Engineers in the field of electronics have thrown their weight behind the need for Nigeria to deploy 5G technology. This comes after the country’s communication commission announced that, despite news on social media, it had not given out any licenses for network operators to begin to deploy 5G technologies. These engineers, under the umbrella of the Nigerian Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers (NIEEE), say that despite false claims that have impacted the deployment of the technology globally, the development potential for the country is massive. Keeping with this, the body says that Nigeria should not be left out of the opportunities that come with 5G technology. Speaking at a Zoom meeting on the topic “Expert Insights on 5G Concerns,” the national chairman ...

Twitter Allows Staff to Work from Home Indefinitely

Image sourced from Mission Statement Academy Yesterday, CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey sent an email to Twitter staff, notifying employees that they will able to continue working from home as long as they see fit. Dorsey notes in the same email that Twitter was an early adopter of a work-from-home model, however – much like the rest of the world – that has only been accelerated by COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Twitter confirmed this decision in an email to Tech Crunch: “We were uniquely positioned to respond quickly and allow folks to work from home given our emphasis on decentralization and supporting a distributed workforce capable of working from anywhere. The past few months have proven we can make that work. So if our employees are in a role and situation that enables them to work from ho...

Loon and Vodacom Increase Internet Access in Mozambique

Image sourced from MIT Technology Review Alphabet’s Loon and Vodacom have signed a deal to use Loon’s balloon-powered Internet solution to expand the Vodacom network in Mozambique. In terms of the agreement, Loon will help Vodacom provide service to under-served parts of the country with a network of floating cellphone towers that operate 20 kilometres above Earth. Using the Loon solution, Vodacom will expand mobile network access to Cabo Delgado and Niassa provinces, two regions that have proven hard to cover in the past due to the vast and logistically challenging geographical areas, together with low population density. This partnership aims to provide a 4G service that supports Data, Voice, SMS and USSD, which will also enable mobile financial services. The service will be available to...

Fiorano Announces Technology to Simplify ISO 20022 Adoption

Fiorano Software, a leading Enterprise Integration Middleware, API Management and Banking Solutions specialist, announced today the availability of its ISO 20022 Technology platform to simplify and accelerate ISO 20022 adoption for financial institutions. Fiorano’s technology will enable rapid adoption of the ISO 20022 messaging standard using inbuilt code-less integration, mapping and transformation components that support SWIFT MT, SWIFT MX and ISO 20022 standard translations and transformations out-of-the-box.  “The ISO 20022 standard is becoming common language for payments data across the globe. Unfortunately, introducing ISO 20022 into traditional IT environments is not easy as it touches multiple backend systems and the rich nature of messages means maintaining data fidelity ca...

INTERVIEW: Rentoza – Africa’s First On-Demand Rental Platform

New startup Rentoza is Africa’s first on-demand rental platform. Started by a group of 4 South Africans convinced the stuff hiding in the bottom of their cupboards and garages should be paying rent for taking up so much space – stuff that they didn’t want to sell because they might need them again. So often things are bought but only needed for a while, like a cot that your baby grew out of or bicycles laying to rust. That’s why they thought it would be great to help ordinary people turn these things into money without selling them. Even better, they realized you don’t need to buy the items you only need occasionally, because you can rent them from someone who already has them. With this plan, they created Rentoza to help people live life on their own terms. /* custom css */ .tdi_3_3b3.td-...

MTN Donates 5000 Smartphones to COVID-19 Field Workers

Sourced from Business Tech MTN Business has announced that it will donate 5 000 smartphones, each preloaded with 3GB of data, to the Limpopo Provincial Department of Health. These devices are to be distributed to field workers for the conducting of tests, screening of citizens and tracing of people that may have come into contact with patients that have been found to have the coronavirus. In addition to the smartphones, MTN has also pledged to conduct free after-sales services such as repairs device replacement, on-site device support, service and account management. As of 11 May 2020, 54 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in Limpopo, with 3 deaths and 28 recoveries according to statistics provided by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases. The number of confirmed cases ...

COVID-19: TransUnion Provides Key Info to Kenya’s Financial Services Providers

Global information and insights company TransUnion says Kenya’s financial services providers and consumer credit market will have to drive a robust, proactive response to the COVID-19 crisis if they are to manage the risks to the industry, with the pandemic expected to have a major impact on the country’s economy and the consumer landscape. Past crises and initial data suggest there will be ‘a significant reduction’ in the quality and volume of credit in Kenya as consumers and businesses grapple with lower income. What will define the COVID-19 pandemic for the consumer credit market is how banks and lenders respond to the challenges it presents, says Billy Owino, CEO of TransUnion Kenya. To help the consumer credit market respond to the crisis, TransUnion this morning launched its COVID-19...

3 Key Trends for the FMCG Sector Post-Pandemic

Sourced from Footstuffs SA. It’s clear that the Coronavirus has changed the landscape for FMCGs (Fast-moving consumer goods) – in some ways permanently. However, despite its similarities, the impact has not been the same across its subsectors and through the supply chain. Itumeleng Merafe, Head of Interest Rate Structuring at Investec says that “the lockdown has hit the economy hard and despite efforts by the government and Reserve Bank to mitigate the effects, ultimately only a medical solution is likely to provide lasting relief to consumers and businesses servicing those consumers.” The market for fast-moving consumer goods faces considerable changes – impacted by the demand for consumer-packaged goods, changes in household spending, increase in e-commerce and frequency of shop visits. ...

Cybercrime has Increased by 33%, Report Shows

The 100 Days of Coronavirus report – published by Mimecast – shows that the volume of malicious and opportunistic cybercrime has increased significantly by 33% in the period January to March 2020. The new report has found that in the period January to March 2020 monthly volumes of: Spam and opportunistic cybercrime detections increased by 26.3%, Impersonation fraud detections increased by 30.3%, Malware detections increased by 35.16%, and Blocking of URL clicks increased by 55.8%, meaning people are more likely now to click on unsafe links than before the outbreak. Over the months of February and March, as South Africa reported its first case and moved swiftly into lockdown, the Threat Intelligence Team saw dramatic increases in cyberattacks in Sub-Saharan Africa. Carl Wearn, Head of E-Cri...

One-in-Three Ransomware Attacks Target Corporate Users

Sourced from Kaspersky On May 12, 2017, the largest ransomware epidemic in history, WannaCry, reached its peak. Three years later, this and other ransomware threats are still affecting people and companies. Recent Kaspersky research has revealed that in 2019, WannaCry kept its position at the top of the most prevalent ransomware families, while almost a third (30%) of those targeted by ransomware were corporate users. On 12 May 2020, Kaspersky and INTERPOL continue to urge organisations to think about backing up their data and adopting relevant protection so that they could avoid any potential ransomware siege and a catastrophe similar to WannaCry doesn’t happen again. Ransomware has become a big challenge for many organisations. Even though this is not the most advanced threat from a tech...