Facebook removes groups targeting Africa, finds link to French military

Facebook removes groups targeting Africa, finds link to French military

Social media giant Facebook announced Tuesday that it has shut down three different groups behind the spread of disinformation in African nations, including one network the company traced to “individuals associated with French military.” Facebook said the violations for “coordinated inauthentic behavior on behalf of a foreign or government entity”…

Africa’s health tech takes flight in the fight against COVID

Africa’s health tech takes flight in the fight against COVID

The Urumuri robot helping to screen passengers at Rwanda’s Kigali International Airport is just one of more than 120 health technology innovations that Africans are using in the fight against COVID-19. That’s according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) analysis of 1,000 new or modified technologies developed around the…

Facebook to open new office in Nigeria

Social media giant Facebook announced Friday a new office in Lagos, Nigeria, meant to support operations in sub-Saharan Africa. It is expected to be operational next year. The office will be home to several teams for sales, partnerships and communication, as well as becoming the first Facebook office on the…

Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso turn to tech in counterterrorism

When extremists attacked a Côte d’Ivoire checkpoint last month at the border with Burkina Faso, killing several Ivorian military personnel, the incident underscored growing concern that the threat of West Africa’s armed groups was creeping into yet another nation. At least 30 suspected militants including Burkinabe leader Ali Sidibe were…

Senegal’s water shortages require a long-term strategy

Senegal’s capital Dakar is facing yet another water shortage, though this time concerns have been exacerbated by the ongoing Covid-19 epidemic and the greater need for personal hygiene. “How do you wash your hands during a coronavirus crisis when the heat is coming?” Papa Mbodj, the father of a 9-month-old…

NGO says Iranian boats are illegally fishing in Somali waters

Roughly 200 Iranian fishing boats operating illegally have been detected in waters off Somalia and Yemen, according to a new NGO investigation. Global Fishing Watch (GFW) and Trygg Mat Tracking (TMT) are partners in a study that relied on increasingly available tracking technology – used to help boats avoid collisions…

South Africa, U.S. see major telecom outages

South Africa’s Telkom wasn’t the only service to suffer an outage on Monday, although the nationwide disruption in its 086 call center services and its 0800 toll-free numbers caused plenty of business disruption. In the United States, it seemed like every communications service was down as what many suspect was…

Africa CDC rolls out new COVID-19 dashboard tool

There’s a new tool in the fight against COVID-19, and it’s a tech tool from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention that shows the impact of the coronavirus pandemic across the continent in one easy-to-use dashboard. The interactive COVID-19 dashboard linked here keeps real-time cumulative case totals for…

Egypt advances space program with 10-year plan

Egypt is advancing its goals in space, following approval last week of a 10-year development plan for the Egyptian Space Agency (EgSA) established in August. The agency launched its first communications satellite in November, as part of a plan to ensure mobile and Internet services for all of Egypt as…

South Africa’s undersea cable service repaired at last

Repairs on two undersea cables that provide Internet and phone service to southern African nations have finally been completed after more than a month of disruptions. That’s according to Openserve, the infrastructure arm of South Africa’s Telkom charged with coordinating the repairs on two damaged cable lines, the WACS and…