Turkcell
MTN Appoints New CEO of Simfy/ayoba
South Africa’s MTN Group yesterday announced the appointment of Burak Akinci as CEO of Simfy (ayoba), reporting to the MTN Group Chief Digital and Fintech Officer Serigne Dioum. Akinci will also be in charge of the company’s ayoba super app. Effective 1 September 2021, Burak joins MTN from Turkcell, a converged telecommunication and technology services provider, founded and headquartered in Turkey, where he was CEO of BiP, an instant messaging platform with millions of users across 192 countries. Burak, with over 20 years of experience in marketing, digital businesses and technologies, led the build-out of the BiP platform, which has more than 30 million users. In his new role, he will be based in Cape Town. “We are thrilled that an executive of Burak’s calibre is joining us. His appointme...
WhatsApp delays data sharing change after backlash
WhatsApp on Friday postponed a data-sharing change as users concerned about privacy fled the Facebook-owned messaging service and flocked to rivals Telegram and Signal. The smartphone app, a huge hit across the world, cancelled its February 8 deadline for accepting an update to its terms concerning sharing data with Facebook, saying it would use the pause to clear up misinformation around privacy and security. “We’ve heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update,” WhatsApp said in a blog post. “This update does not expand our ability to share data with Facebook.” It said it would instead “go to people gradually to review the policy at their own pace before new business options are available on May 15.” The update concerns how merchants using WhatsApp to cha...
