Tag: Lagos

Upcoming African technology takes tech world by storm

During a time when the gaze of the world’s technology lovers is firmly on technologically developed areas such as North America, East Asia and Europe, the notion that one of the least developed areas on the planet, Africa, could soon be producing some of the hottest upcoming technology and gadgets is a rather strange thought. The fact is, however, that there are a variety of new and upcoming African additions to the technology market that are going to change the face of the continent, and perhaps beyond.

Jumia

OLPC_HaitiOn a continent where the vast majority of transactions are completed via cash or mobile phone, the idea of Amazon-like delivery services seems a distant possibility. Despite the lack of credit and debit card capacity in African countries, however, companies are stepping in to the online realm, taking advantage of the current climate. Jumia is akin to Amazon, yet delivers good within the Nigerian cities Lagos and Abuja via motorcycle to customers, payments being made with cash on delivery.

mPawa

There are an estimated 750,000,000 SIM cards in Africa, many African people having their own mobile phones with call and SMS capacity. mPawa takes advantage of the current state of the African telecoms market, matching employers with potential employees that have the correct skill set. The service does work via online, but can also be used via SMS.

Mint Smartphone

South African technology companies Mint and CZ Electronics have teamed together recently, aiming to produce Africa’s first smartphone. The company, once a subsidiary of Alcatel, is aiming to produce an affordable, top-quality smartphone that will contain a dual core processor, camera, HD screen and Wi-Fi/3G/4G connections. Soon, Africans everywhere will be able to watch videos on Youtube, acess and get involved with social networks such as Facebook, and play online games on providers such as Springbokcasino in complete security. It’s likely all of these sites will be poised for a huge amount of growth as the African online market booms.

Kopo Kopo

In countries where the majority of payments are made via mobiles, shop owners everywhere are cottoning on to the trend and the possibilities that go with being able to conduct payments in a mobile manner. Kopo Kopo is a Kenyan start-up that allows consumers to make payments via their mobile phones at any store or merchant who has signed up to the service.

Troops deployed to fight Ebola

Hundreds of troops were deployed in Sierra Leone and Liberia yesterday under an emergency plan to fight the worst-ever outbreak of the Ebola virus, which has killed more than 826 people in West Africa.

Panic among communities, which have attacked health workers and threatened to burn down isolation wards, prompted regional governments to impose tough measures last week, including closing schools and quarantining the remote forest region worst affected by the disease.

The haemorrhagic virus, which has no known cure, has infected more than 1400 people, straining the capacity of underfunded health systems and aid groups in one of the poorest regions in the world.

Despite pleas for help from aid groups, the number of cases is also creeping steadily higher in Guinea, where the outbreak originated in February. And Nigeria’s megacity Lagos recorded its second case yesterday, in a doctor who treated US victim Patrick Sawyer.

Convoys of military trucks ferried troops and medical workers to Sierra Leone’s far east, where the density of cases is highest. Military spokesman Colonel Michael Samoura said the operation, codenamed Octopus, involved about 750 military personnel.

Isolated communities will be quarantined but healthcare workers will have freedom of movement to keep the communities supplied with food.

In neighbouring Liberia, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and ministers held a crisis meeting on Sunday to put in place a series of anti-Ebola measures as police contained infected communities in the north of the country.

“The situation will probably get worse before it gets better,” Liberian Information Minister Lewis Brown said.

“We are overstretched. We need support; we need resources; we need workers.”

The World Health Organisation plans to launch a $100-million response plan.

WHO CEO Margaret Chan warned regional leaders that Ebola was outpacing their efforts to fight it and warned of “catastrophic” consequences if the situation deteriorated.

Source: Reuters