The multimillion dollar ‘ChakaChaya neEcoCash’ promotion is back. Now in its third successive year, this year’s promotion is offering more prizes, including cash, houses, a Cape Town cruise, property stands, goats and cows – not to mention a trip for two to the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Egypt, which the Zimbabwe Warriors recently…
By Talkmore Thulani Gandiwa Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook have transformed the way political figures interact with their constituencies. Fifteen years ago, campaigns were drastically different. Reflect back to Robert Mugabe Vs Morgan Tsvangirai election of 2002. There was hardly social media. Facebook was to be launched two years after these elections, and when it came…
As the 19th edition of the Africa Utility week and PowerGEN event kicks off, GE unveiled a whitepaper today on Re-imagining the future of power in Sub-Saharan Africa Whitepaper highlights the future gamechangers in the energy landscape in Sub- Saharan Africa; Discusses the factors contributing to energy transformation and the enabling environment; Outlines the market’s response…
When it comes to creating cutting-edge strategies that endear brands to their audiences, Ringier Digital Marketing (RDM) continues to go all out to provide professional digital marketing services to brands in Africa and beyond In a bid to continuously provide world class services to clients, the company has assembled a team of creative strategists –…
Global premier mobile phone brand TECNO Mobile (www.TECNO-Mobile.com) announced plans at Google IO 2019 which will see its SPARK 3 Pro running on Android™ P™ operating system upgrade to join Q Beta on May 7th. Stephen HA, Vice President of TRANSSION and GM of TECNO Mobile, said: “We are delighted to announce our further expansion…
. The framework agreement between the two organizations was signed in Madrid by Jaime Cabal, Deputy Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, and by Eduardo Navarro, Director of Communication, Corporate Affairs, Branding and Sustainability of Telefónica. • The alliance, whose first phase will be in effect until the end of 2020, revolves around four initial…
Econet Wireless has lit up the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) with its recently-launched Buddie Beatz music app that features an extensive choice of music by top local and African artists. In what could well become the hub of African music, Econet’s ZITF stand has been abuzz with visitors donning ‘silent disco’ headphones to sample…
As expected, leading mobile network operator Econet Wireless – which won last year’s Best ICT Exhibition award and the coveted Best Overall Business Stand award – is back at the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) this year, showcasing its growing range of smart consumer and business products to an even wider market than in previous…
Vaya Mobility service, which is now available in all major Zimbabwean cities and towns, has hit Bulawayo by storm, taking advantage of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) to launch its new Vaya Shuttle service by offering free rides to exhibitors, business people and professionals travelling to the Trade Fair by air. Throughout the Trade…
Zimbabwe has a mobile penetration rate of 102.7 percent (according to PORTAZ January 2018) meaning over 100 percent of the Zimbabwean population has access to the internet, which is the biggest source of information. There is now a need for every sector of our government to have a web presence. The flagship ministry of our…
Econet Wireless has started piloting mobile games on 100 000 randomly selected customers, ahead of full commercial launch at the end of the month. The pilot follows the successful launch of Elevate Gaming, unveiled at the inaugural Elevate Gaming Tournament two weeks back. “We are pleased to announce this new phase in our rollout of…
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is working, with the support of African Union (AU), to create a digital ecosystem that will eliminate the major bottlenecks to trade finance flows within Africa, Bank President Prof. Benedict Oramah has announced in Washington D.C. Delivering an address on 11 April at the IGD Frontier 100 Forum organized by the Initiative…
The Digital Lab Africa (DLA) call for projects #3 closed on the 31st of January 2019 with around 500 entries from over 30 Sub-Saharan African countries. The DLA digital content industry experts have chosenthe 30 finalists who will compete in the DLA online pitch competition. The startups, entrepreneurs and creators are all from the African…
By Byron Mutingwende Mr Cloffas Nyagumbo, the Green Innovation Hub (GiHub) Project Manager and Deputy Country Director of SNV Zimbabwe had a one-on-one meeting with Spiked Online Media wherein he laid out the advantages of the initiative to the youths and the economy. He said the GiHub seeks to address challenges around youth unemployment, climate…
Econet Wireless has commissioned a 466KW solar power plant at its Willowvale industrial complex in Harare, the largest commercial and industrial carport and roof mount installation of its kind to be deployed in the country. The solar plant was engineered and designed by Distributed Power Africa (DPA), Econet’s solar business in line with the company’s…
By Charles Dhewa Contrary to the hype in which ICTs are presented as a panacea, ICTs-related costs in many African countries eroding the meagre promised benefits. Countless studies and articles (including this one https://www.techzim.co.zw/2019/03/cost-of-mobile-data-in-zimbabwe-should-we-even-compare/) show that the cost of data is increasing in Africa when such costs are decreasing in other parts of the world….
U.S. security concerns about 5G mobile networks built by Chinese telecoms giant Huawei appear to be driven by politics and trade rather than any evidence, the head of the U.N. internet and telecoms agency said on Friday. Houlin Zhao, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), told reporters in Geneva that security of 5G networks…
Liquid Telecom has confirmed that it has completed the US$180 million sale of an 8 percent stake to the British government Sovereign Wealth Fund for developing countries known as Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC). The company said in a statement through the Irish Stock Exchange that all conditions precedent to a deal that was announced in…
A science teacher from rural Kenya, who gives away most of his salary to support poorer pupils, has won a $1m prize (£760,000) for the world’s best teacher. Peter Tabichi, a member of the Franciscan religious order, won the 2019 Global Teacher Prize. Brother Peter has been praised for his achievements in a deprived school…
In an effort to promote the widespread adoption of crypto, a team of developers have created a wallet that will allow its users to access digital currency services from within their favourite messaging applications such as WhatsApp. Using the Wuabit service users will soon be able to send, receive, trade, and perform other tasks relating to…
The annual Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development – COM2019 (www.UNECA.org/CFM2019) – kicked off in Marrakesh on Wednesday, with emphasis on the importance of digitalisation in enhancing African economies as the continent celebrates the first anniversary of the highly hailed and historic signing of the Africa Continental…
Econet Wireless has issued a statement denying reports that its network faces collapse due to the non-payment of a foreign debt to a network platform supplier. Media reports doing the rounds are that a $17 million foreign currency payment outstanding to Swedish telecommunications multinational Ericsson is at the centre of Econet’s troubles after the Reserve…
By Byron Mutingwende The Simuka-Phakama 2018 Green enterPRIZE Innovation Challenge is creating a platform for green enterprise development and eco-innovation to thrive Zimbabwe by empowering the citizens and businesses, particularly the youth and women, to become drivers of green and decent jobs creation. By facilitating their access to a tailored business development programme, supported by…
OmniContact centre to help organisations focus on their core business activities, reduce costs The Econet group today unveiled the OmniContact – a standalone ‘business process outsourcing’ (BPO) unit that will offer local and foreign businesses, both private and public enterprises, a wide range of specialised outsourced services, designed to free them to focus on their…
Getting an ambulance anywhere in Zimbabwe will now be as easy and as simple as a click on your mobile phone following the launch of Vaya Ambulance service today. The launch follows research by Vaya – a subsidiary Cassava-On-Demand Services – that revealed that there were over 130 active ambulances in the country operated by…
Rwanda has embraced technology and is now preparing its young population for the future by launching a coding academy. The school’s motto “born to code” encourages young people interested in coding to pursue it as a career. The academy focusses on cyber security and software programming, and 30 girls and 30 boys enrolled in the…
The eCommerce Africa Conference and Exhibition, delivered by DHL, is hosted by South African conferencing company, Kinetic DHL Express (www.DHL.com) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has announced that the company has once again signed on as lead sponsor for the 2019 DHL eCommerce Africa Conference and Exhibition, which will be held at the Cape Town International Convention Center…
Rwanda has launched a satellite named Icyerekezo, which will bring internet connectivity to students at Nkombo Island, in Lake Kivu. Rwanda wants to bridge internet connection in rural areas around the country. A satellite named Icyerekezo by students from Nkombo Island in rural Rwanda at Lake Kivu was launched on the 26th of February, 2019….
By Special correspondent A FUEL solutions technology company, Garage and Forecourt (Pvt) Ltd, is rolling out an ITC based fuel management system that it argues might be panacea to manual and less accurate fuel gauging and management currently dogging service stations. According to managing director Omalli Jani, the new system replaces convectional dipsticks used to…
By Byron Mutingwende The rising academic giant, David Mascott Country School has once again stamped its authority as a pacesetter in the education field by offering unique learning facilities and services. The imposing modern facility located in the pristine area of Norton exudes an aura of excellence. The Spiked Online Media crew caught…
Listed technology company Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe today launched Akello Edutech, a digital learning platform which offers education and learning resources for learners of all age groups – from primary school to post-graduate students. Speaking at the launch of the platform in Harare, Cassava Smartech CEO Mr Eddie Chibi said Akello Edutech – which will incorporate…
At Mobile World Congress, Orange (www.Orange.com) partners with KaiOS Technologies(www.KaiOSTech.com) and UNISOC (www.UNISOC.com) to launch a phone with voice recognition at $US 20 in 16 countries in Africa and the Middle-East : Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Jordan, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Sierra Leone and Tunisia. An…
The Bank has launched its digital services in Tanzania and Ghana following successful roll-outs in Côte d’Ivoire and Uganda Standard Chartered (www.SC.com) yesterday announced it had completed a simultaneous multi-market launch of its digitally-led retail banks in Tanzania and Ghana, with Kenya’s roll out scheduled to occur shortly. This follows the launches of the Bank’s…
Astel, a leading provider for IT infrastructure and office automation solutions on the African continent, and Utimaco, the global #2 in Hardware Security Modules (HSMs), today announced a distribution partnership for the Africa region. HSMs by Utimaco provide the ‘Root of Trust’ to a wide range of industries, encompassing financial and payment services, the automotive…
By Byron Mutingwende City of Harare is in the process of coming up with a Master Plan and is embracing the case study of Kigali in Rwanda that was part of secondary research done by junior officers who joined the municipality in 2018. According to Mr Tinashe Bobo, the focus was on Kigali, which is…
. Programme offers EcoCash customers unprecedented value; set to reward both customers and merchants for ‘living the Ecocash way’ EcoCash, Cassava Smartech’s fintech business, has launched a real-time rewards programme on a digital wallet that will earn customers up to 15 percent of value transacted. A first on a mobile money service, the EcoCash Rewards…
By the time the next planting season starts, farmers will be able to find a tractor within minutes, anywhere in Zimbabwe. This is part of an ambitious plan by Vaya, a division of Cassava SmartTech, to expand the range of services available on its mobility and logistics App. According to Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe CEO Mr…
By Tendai Guvamombe Few days ago Zimbabwe joined community of nations in ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a move which came at the back of mass production of nuclear warheads by giant powers threatening world disorder, a fiasco which could eventually turn into a global crisis. Science in its unique form is sobering…
Mobile Network operator NetOne lit up the social scenes with its Valentine’s Day campaign that culminated in a dinner for some of its lucky customers. February being the month of love gave NetOne an opportunity to extend love to its valued subscribers through a twelve-day social media campaign dubbed #YourOneYourOnly. The campaign had different themes for…
By Byron Mutingwende The Forum for African Women Educationalists – Zimbabwe Chapter (FAWEZI) is working to promote the uptake and performance of girls in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). “As an organisation that has been working in schools in Zimbabwe since 1998, FAWEZI has been implementing various projects to promote girls education….
Econet has launched a ground-breaking, rural electrification programme worth millions of dollars under the name Ugesi Energy, that is set to help transform rural enterprises and create employment. Ugesi is the second Econet energy business following the successful launch two years ago of Distributed Power Africa (DPA), the group’s commercial solar business with a focus…
NetOne has sent on forced leave its top two executives who are Sibusiso Ndlovu, the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) as well as its Chief Operating Officer (COO) Brian Mutandiro. “One of the two executives was force-marched off the building while resisting the suspension and suspected to be concealing evidence. The two executives will be on indefinite…
These biometric solutions enable the police force to better solve crimes through the electronic collection, storage and processing of fingerprints, palm prints and facial captures Gemalto (www.Gemalto.com), the world leader in digital security, is supplying its Cogent Automated Biometric Identification System (CABIS) (https://bit.ly/2SmrB2t) and LiveScan (https://bit.ly/2I7sM0Z) technology to the Ugandan Police. These biometric solutions enable the police force to…
Kenneth Makate has sued his former funders, Raining Men Trade, for fraud and is fighting the company’s claim to a share of his settlement with Vodacom. Raining Men Trade was reportedly placed into business rescue this year after not receiving payment from Makate. The company helped bankroll Makate’s court case against Vodacom which sought compensation…
Development spending efforts should target improved food safety for African consumers, who need greater information and awareness to be able to demand higher standards, finds the Global Food Safety Partnership. More than half of donor funded food safety initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa are focused on overseas markets, with less than half on domestic consumers, a new report…
