Author: Staff Writer

The 2017 shortlisted finalists for the second West Africa Mobile Awards (WAMAS), the first truly West African technology awards to recognise the region’s leading mobile and tech companies, have been announced. An excellent response drew over 150 submissions from across 14 countries. Following the success of last year’s WAMAS, 2017…

There is an online challenge currently gathering momentum and followers on the internet. It is the “Blue Whale” Suicide challenge. It is also known as “A Silent House”, “A Sea of Whale”, “Wake Me Up At 2.40a.m.” It is played on many social media platforms. Players are given a master…

Facebook is rolling out Messenger Lite in 132 additional countries including Nigeria, Germany, Colombia, Italy, Vietnam, Algeria, Morocco, Peru, Turkey, Japan, Taiwan and the Netherlands. This announcement was made by David Marcus, head of Messenger on his Facebook page. According to him, “Making sure that everyone can have a great…

Zimbabwe-based smartphone maker, Gtel, unveiled its new flagship smartphones at the Holiday Inn in Bulawayo yesterday. They are the Gtel X5 and X5 Plus. A noticeable feature of these phones is the fact the front cameras have a higher resolution than the rear cameras, thus making it optimal for selfies.…

Guaranty Trust Bank plc has released its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 to the Nigerian and London Stock Exchanges. A review of the results shows positive performance across all financial indices, reaffirming the Bank’s position as one of the most profitable and well managed financial…

Launched in 2016, Quickteller Paypoint was designed to take financial services to the nooks and crannies of Nigerian communities, providing access to underserved  markets. Revealed at the maiden Quickteller Paypoint agents forum which held in Lagos recently; about 40 agents were onboarded during the first few months of operation. As…

It used to be that when a company or business was created, everyone was located in one central spot. Whether you had a large warehouse or a small office with a handful of people, communicating with each other was relatively easy. However, times have certainly changed. Today’s businesses have a…

In Twitter’s financial report released today, the social media company said monthly active usage (MAU) grew by 9 million quarter-over-quarter, reaching 328 million. Other highlights are as shown below: Other highlights: Twitter’s audience continued to grow with accelerating momentum in Q1. DAU grew 14% year-over-year, an acceleration from 11% in Q4’16,…

Finally it seems that we might be witnessing the final eradication of the scourge called Malaria. The World Health Organisation has announced that it will be co-ordinating a pilot implementation programme for the world’s first malaria vaccine. Ghana, Malawi and Kenya have been chosen as the countries to participate in…

An Opinion Piece by Aliko Dangote and Bill Gates This week, more than 138,000 vaccinators will fan out across five African countries in the Lake Chad area in a push to eliminate polio in Africa and rid the world of this terrible disease forever. They will take boats across fast-flowing…

The famous Computer Village at Ikeja in Lagos state is to be relocated to the ICT Park Katangowa in in Agbado/OkeOdo LCDA. This statement was made yesterday at the Y2017 Ministerial Press Briefing to mark the second year in office of His Excellency, Mr AkinwunmiAmbode, governor of Lagos state. https://twitter.com/followlasg/status/856836104187772928 This is…

Just late last year, Netflix announced that it was giving up launching in China due to regulatory issues. Now the streaming giant has announced that it will be seeking an alternative way by entering into a licensing deal with Baidu’s video service, iQiyi. The announcement was made on the sidelines of the…

Are you one of those people who constantly forget where you parked your car when you get to the crowded parking lot? Now Google Maps can now help you find where you parked your car. And it is very simple. Google Maps launched this feature as part of a Google…

(Please note the video is not in English. To see the subtitle in English, click on the “cc” icon at the bottom right on the YouTube video and select “English” subtitle). A single individual is enough for hope to exist, and that individual can be you, says His Holiness Pope…

Infinix Mobility ushered in its first product for 2017, the Infinix S2, tagged the world’s first wefie smartphone at a media briefing in Lagos yesterday. The new smartphone is the 2nd product from the brand’s hugely successful lifestyle ‘HOT S’ series. The ‘Infinix S2’ marks new innovation and also lifestyle upgrade…

Innovate Ventures is running for a second year their highly successful tech start-up accelerator – The Innovate Accelerator. Launched in partnership with VC4A , Telesom and Oxfam as part of Work in Progress! project, Innovate Accelerator saw over 180 applications submitted for last year’s inaugural cohort. This year the accelerator has…

Econet Media has signed a multi-territory broadcast agreement with TURNER which includes some of its most acclaimed kids and news channels. This agreement is significant as it adds some of the world’s most loved broadcast brands to Kwesé TV’s diverse content offering which is premised on delivering premium programming for…

More than 100 small businesses in Nigeria’s Food Industry will be provided with free storefronts at the GTBank Food and Drink which holds during the Worker’s Day holiday, on Sunday the 30th of April and Monday the 1st of May, 2017. Organised by foremost African Financial Institution, Guaranty Trust Bank…

Barclays Group and Techstars have announced the ten companies in the 2017 Barclays Accelerator Cape Town Class. This is the second class  of the Barclays Accelerator. Applications opened in November 2016 and were received from  52 countries across the globe and across a wide array of innovative Fintech companies. The 2017 programme…

African developers shared the stage with Facebook and developers from around the world, showcasing innovative products and services they have created for their local communities and the global market Facebook celebrated the achievements and products of its growing African developer and partner ecosystem at its annual F8 developer conference , held…