Minister: Why Twitter, other platforms must register to operate in Nigeria
The Federal Government says its directive that Over the Top (OTT) and social media platforms operating in the country must register and obtain license to operate is in conformity with global trend. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this on Friday when he featured on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) programme “Good Morning Nigeria’’ monitored by newsmen. NAN reports that the Federal Government recently suspended operations of Twitter and directed that all OTT and social media platforms operating in the country must register with Corporate Affairs Commission. The Federal Government said they must also apply for licensing with the National Broadcasting Commission ( NBC). NAN reports that OTT media service is a media service offered directly to viewers via t...
NPC: Census will not consider religion, ethnicity
The National Population Commission says the population census will not take into consideration the number of adherents of any religion or the number of members of ethnic groups. It, therefore, denied including a religious category in the questionnaires being distributed in the first pre-test exercise for the next population and housing census in the country. The Director, Public Affairs of the NPC, Udi Joseph, said this in a statement on Wednesday while reacting to viral Whatsapp messages claiming the NPC had made two separate categories for Muslims and one category for Christians in its questionnaire. In a statement titled, ‘NPC Refutes Fake News on Religion in Census Questionnaires’, the organisation said even in previous population census exercises, religion and ethnicity were not consi...
India warns Twitter of consequences if it fails to follow new rules
India’s government has told Twitter it could face “unintended consequences” if it fails to comply with the country’s new social media rules, Reuters reported. India’s technology minister wrote in a June 5th letter to Twitter that the company’s responses to previous government letters about the new rules did not confirm whether Twitter was in full compliance, according to Reuters. Under India’s Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, which took effect in May, social media companies could be subject to legal action if they fail to follow the code’s provisions, which are aimed at regulating the platforms’ content. The new rules call for platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and WhatsApp to remove content within 36 hours of receiving a legal order. The rules also require the compani...
Musician apologises to Kogi commissioner, others over allegation of wife snatching
A Kogi-based musician, Tanimu Yunusa, has apologised to the State Commissioner for Work, Engr Abubakar Ohere, over allegation of attempting to induce and snatch his wife. Tanimu, who is also known as 2rich, a local Ebira musician from Obehira in Okene local government area of Kogi state in a music video recorded in Ebira Language and released on Thursday admitted that he made error for lying the allegation against the commissioner. “My father Ohere, I’m sorry” Tanimu said severally in the video, while displaying several photos of him and the commissioner in a bid to tell the viewers that they have come a long way. Tanimu also apologised to the governor of the State, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, admitting severally that he was wrong and begged for his understanding and forgiveness. He also apologis...
Infobip to Roll Out WhatsApp for Business in Botswana
/* custom css */ .tdi_3_ec0.td-a-rec-img{ text-align: left; }.tdi_3_ec0.td-a-rec-img img{ margin: 0 auto 0 0; } Infobip has joined forces with Redbullet to roll out an Automated WhatsApp for Business API channel to its clients with the option of a breakout to a live agent. Established in 2010, Redbullet is a Botswana-based company that provides omnichannel solutions to enterprise customers in the local market. Bakang Sebele, Co-Founder of the ICT company says that they approached Infobip based on its reputation as a big omnichannel provider in South Africa. It had previously also used Infobip’s SMS platform before developing its own. “WhatsApp for Business is a fairly new technology in Botswana, but most people here use WhatsApp as their preferred channel of communication. It mad...
Ekiti governor endorses outcome of Southwest APC leaders’ meeting
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, wholeheartedly supports the stance of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Southwest leaders at their meeting that took place in Lagos on Sunday, May 23rd, 2021 despite his absence at the meeting. Dr. Fayemi’s absence at the meeting was a result of a mix up in the invitation sent out for the meeting. For clarity, the invitation for the meeting which was said to have been sent via Whatsapp by Mr. Tunde Rahman, an aide to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, never got to Governor Fayemi. The absence of an invitation for the Southwest APC leaders meeting prevented the Governor from attending the meeting, as he was not aware. Governor Fayemi however sent an apology to the meeting through former Ekiti State Governor and Minister of Industries, Trade and Investments, Otun...
Ogun governor suspends aide arrested for ‘fraud’ in US
The governor of Ogun State, Dapo Abiodun, has suspended his aide, Abidemi Rufai, who was arrested in the United States for an alleged $350,000 (about N140 million) COVID-19 unemployment fraud. Kunle Somorin, Abiodun’s chief press secretary, confirmed the suspension to newsmen on Tuesday. This was also confirmed to newsmen by the chief press secretary to Abiodun, Kunle Somorin. “Our position is that the law should take its course,” Somorin said in a WhatsApp interview. “Meanwhile, the governor has ordered his immediate suspension from office to answer charges against him.” Sources within the government told newsmen that the governor took the action immediately he was briefed about Rufai’s arrest. This newspaper earlier reported that Rufai, Senior Special Assistant to Abiodun, was arrested l...
South African can Use WhatsApp to Pay SMEs
Image sourced from YoMZanzi Nedbank, Mastercard and Ukheshe have partnered to launch Money Message – a new payment platform that lets small businesses receive secure in-chat payments from their customers via WhatsApp. A first in South Africa, the solution is expected to enable merchants to send an invoice requesting payment from any customer seamlessly through WhatsApp. Their customers in turn can quickly settle payment directly from the platform. “The need for a diverse range of contactless payment methods is more important today than we could have possibly imagined, as we seek to rebuild the economy by giving businesses the ability to transact in a safe and secure way,” says Chipo Mushwana, Executive of Emerging Payments at Nedbank. “In order to support entrepreneurship and sustainable b...
What does WhatsApp’s Privacy Policy Update Mean for Businesses
Despite public pushback, Facebook-owned messaging app WhatsApp will be going ahead with the privacy policy update it announced earlier this year. While the public has begun to appreciate that WhatsApp’s privacy rules are in fact still very much in favour of the user, with messages sent remaining private and encrypted at all times, what will this mean for brands that use the app to reach and engage with consumers? “The benefits for brands are massive,” says Kyle Oosthuizen, COO at Blue Robot. “These updates form part of Facebook’s efforts to make communicating with a business secure, better and easier for everyone. The new updates will be made to business features that will help businesses engage with their users in a more intuitive and more advanced way.” “2021 is the year that WhatsApp wi...
Unpacking the Economic Impact of COVID 19 on SMBs in South Africa
One in two small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in South Africa has yet to see revenues recover to pre-pandemic levels, according to the latest edition of Facebook’s Global State of Small Business Report. 50% of operational South African SMBs on Facebook reported that their sales in February were lower than the equivalent month last year. Some 74% reported that they were operational or engaging in any revenue-generating activities, while 8% of operational SMBs on Facebook expected challenges related to cash flow and 20% expected challenges related to demand or a lack of customers in the next few months. Continuing trends observed throughout the pandemic: Women-owned South African businesses have been hit especially hard. Some 71% of women-led SMBs (vs. 77% of men-led SMBs) on Facebook ...
African’s Reluctant to Leave WhatsApp Despite Increase in Cybersecurity Concerns
Africa’s mobile users are increasingly concerned about the mobile risks and the potential for digital identity theft; however, this is not stopping them from using their favourite messaging platforms and applications. This emerged in new research carried out by KnowBe4 among smartphone users in Nigeria, Mauritius, Egypt, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, Morocco and Botswana. The survey gauged the opinions of Africa’s mobile users on the recent decision by WhatsApp to update their terms and conditions, sharing metadata with the rest of the Facebook group of companies. The survey found that not only did the majority of the respondents across Africa intend to continue using WhatsApp; but also, that their favourite alternative to WhatsApp was Facebook Messenger. Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy &...
